"Nature's Wonderland" is the eighth season 4 short of the new Mickey Mouse (2013) series created by Paul Rudish for the Disney Channel and Disney.com. It's the 66th to air on the Disney Channel and to be put up on Disney.com.
Mickey takes Minnie on a trip to Nature's Wonderland to visit the Rainbow Caverns, using an old souvenir map to guide them, only to find a "a big thundering mountain" and an abandoned mine train in its place. The two must venture through the perilous abandoned mines while trying to save each other's lives to get there.
Tropes:
- Friend-or-Idol Decision: Mickey has to choose between throwing his prized map into the train's furnace to make it go faster, or keeping it and risk falling down with the collapsing track.
- Hope Spot: Mickey manages to stop the train before it crashes into a large pile of dynamite. Unfortunately, the sparks from the train lights all the fuses at once, blowing the train sky high.
- Inevitable Waterfall: Mickey and Minnie go down one of these in a mine cart.
- Ironic Echo: One just seconds apart, no less.Mickey: Our troubles are all behind us!(sees the train tracks collapsing from behind him and fast catching up)Mickey: OUR TROUBLES ARE ALL BEHIND US!!!
- Milestone Celebration: Though not on the exact date, this short comes 40 years after Nature's Wonderland was closed down.
- Mythology Gag: When Mickey can't find the Rainbow Caverns with his map, he complains about how somebody "put a big thundering mountain on top of it". This is a reference to how Big Thunder Mountain Railroad replaced the Mine Train Through Nature's Wonderland ride that the Rainbow Caverns come from.
- Recycled Soundtrack: The scene in the Rainbow Caverns utilizes the original musical score
for the scene in the attraction. - Runaway Train: Mickey and Minnie end up on one, as a homage to Big Thunder Mountain Railroad, causing both to enter a perilous ride through the mines on a uncontrollable train.
- Shout-Out:
- The entire short is a tribute to the Mine Train Through Nature's Wonderland attraction that operated at Disneyland from 1956 to 1977. There are also several references to the replacement attraction, Big Thunder Mountain Railroad.
- Mickey and Minnie sing new lyrics to the tune of "Little Wooden Head".
- The attraction poster◊ for the Disneyland Railroad's Grand Canyon Diorama is recreated in one shot.
- The drawing of Walt Disney on the map comes from the "Disneyland Fun Maps", poster-sized souvenir maps that have been released every few years since the 1960s.
- Several captions on Mickey's map are named after various True Life Adventure films, including Beaver Valley, Olympic Elk, Bear Country and Living Desert. The True Life Adventures globe is also used in the title card.
- Mickey's map is an actual historical item from the original promotions for the attraction.
- Minnie throwing all the coal and even the shovel into the firebox is a clear reference to the animated short The Brave Engineer.
- Wink "Ding!": Done as an exchange between Mickey and his map's drawing of Walt Disney.
