Things Shore Are Swell For Runaway Railway Mickey Mouse Made Of Shells

I am now officially a Florida resident.  And I was inspired to make a Mickey Mouse (as he appears in the new Walt Disney World Mickey and Minnie's Runaway Railway attraction) out of sea shells, rocks, and shark teeth.  A black and white Mickey Mouse dark ride had been in the planning stages for Disney parks since at least the 1970s (one was called Mickey's Madhouse).  We finally got one in 2020 at Disney's Hollywood Studios.  Runaway Railway is based of the (somewhat polarizing) newer Paul Rudish-directed Mickey Mouse shorts.  I actually love Mickey in these cartoons, as he is voiced with some swagger by Silicon Valley star Chris Diamantopoulos.

I also made Goofy out of shells and sea junk.  Goofy is the train conductor in Runaway Railway.

Goofy is ready for a vacation to Potatoland.

I also built Peg Leg Pete.  Pete's ears are made of shark teeth and his grinning mouth is a cool white rock.

In Runaway Railway, Pete is a construction worker.  When Pete uses his jackhammer, the buildings around him shake.

Pluto appears throughout Runaway Railway, chasing after Mickey and Minnie.

These new Mickey Mouse shorts have a very different take on Pluto, exploring a rivalry with Goofy.

Donald Duck has a few small cameo appearances in Runaway Railway.

Donald Duck is very much a supporting character in the new Mickey Mouse shorts.  The creators have allowed Mickey Mouse to have more of the traits that Donald is known for, giving Mickey more to do and be more interesting as a character.

I also built the Orange Bird.  The Florida Orange Bird was created by Disney for the Florida Citrus Commission and became a fixture at Adventureland near the Enchanted Tiki Room at Walt Disney World in 1971.

The Orange Bird became popular at Tokyo Disneyland circa 2004 due to the character's association with Japan's Orange Day in April.  The Orange Bird became visible in the Stateside Parks in recent years after being absent for a long time.

Zip a dee doo dah!  It is Brer Fox from Walt Disney World's Splash Mountain (and the movie, Song of the South).

Brer Fox is made out of Florida shells, but his Splash Mountain rock base is from my brother's ranch in Texas.

Everybody's got a laughing place.  Brer Rabbit's is Splash Mountain.

How do you do?  Just fine, thanks for asking.

Brer Bear is causing problems upstream at Splash Mountain.

It is the truth.  It's actual.  Everything is satisfactual.

We're all mad here.  How do you run from what is inside your head?

Wipe that silly grin off your face, Cheshire Cat.

I am the terror that flaps in the night.  I am the sand in your swimsuit.  I am Darkwing Duck!

The daring duck of mystery defies death yet again, to defeat the dastardly denizens of darkness!

Roadrunner, the Coyote is after you!  Iron ore from my brother's ranch in Texas inspired me to build the famous Southwestern Warner Brothers characters.

The Roadrunner is a mix of Florida seashore junk, and the base is genuine Texas iron ore.

Wile E. Coyote plots to capture the famous Western bird.

The Coyote is made of a mix of rocks and shells.  The "boulders" behind him are iron ore.

Sufferin' Succotash!  It is Sylvester!

Sylvester is on the hunt for Tweety Bird.

I tawt I taw a puddy tat!

Bad ol' puddy tat!

Woo hoo!  Daffy Duck enjoys pond life.

Thank goodness it's rabbit season, not duck season.

I live in Venice, Florida, which is the Shark Tooth Capital of the World.  I grew up visiting the beaches in Venice, so I have some shark tooth hunting skills.  I started making sculptures out of found beach materials in recent years.  The first cartoon character I made out of shells was Fred Flintstone.

Fred Flintstone was a request from my Aunt.  I had to carefully pack Fred up so she could take him back to Indiana with her.

I have been selling my own designs.  The latest figures are animals from Australia.  I love Australian Animals.  I think I've only ever seen a Koala at Busch Gardens in Tampa years back.

I was especially excited to find pieces of coral to use for the Koala's ears.  I also found coral for his eucalyptus.


A Platypus seems like the ultimate farm animal because it produces eggs and milk.

Though they are cute and odd, a platypus is actually very dangerous.

In addition to eggs and milk, the strange platypus produces venom.

I enjoy finding interesting bases for these figures.

I love the 1950s, so I had to build some Greasers.  These are Sea Rockabilly guys.

The cool leather jacketed dude on the Motorcycle is a little bit Fonzie, a little bit Elvis.  The Surfer can keep his hair looking perfect even when he's in the ocean.

In Venice, I've seen a few guys driving hot rods.

This cool cruiser was inspired by Luke Perry and Outsiders era Matt Dillon.

Conrad Birdie from Bye Bye Birdie was on my mind when I put together this guitar player.

The Sea Rockabilly Chick knows all the latest dance moves.


Venice (and Sarasota in general) is famous for being a former Circus Town.  Aside from the Ringling College of Art and Design in Sarasota, areas around Venice housed the old Ringling Brothers Circus.  There's even a Circus Bridge in Venice.

Naturally, I had to build my own Circus.  The Venezia Brothers Circus!  The Venezia Brothers are a Ringmaster, Clown, and Strongman.  I even made a Unicorn!  Way back in 1984, Ringling Brothers Barnum and Baily had a controversial Unicorn.  It was really just a surgically altered goat.

Disneyland Tomorrowland McDonald's Happy Meal

In 1998, Disneyland park in Anaheim, California got a "New" Tomorrowland.  The area got a bronze "steampunk" look, with inspiration from the Jules Verne feel of Discoveryland at Disneyland Paris that opened in 1992.  Disneyland's new Tomorrowland even got a new "fast" ride called Rocket Rods that took over the old PeopleMover attraction track.  McDonald's promoted the new Tomorrowland, but not in the United States.  This Disneyland Tomorrowland McDonald's Happy Meal was released in Asia.  This particular set is from Thailand.  The four toys interlock to become a little version of Tomorrowland.

The anchor piece of this set is a balancing toy called Minnie's Space Station.

This is marketing at work, as there is no "Space Station" ride in Tomorrowland.  This appears to blend the land's Observatron sculpture with the Astro Orbiter rocket ride.

Here, the Astro Orbiter gets a new name, "Mickey's Astro Rocket."

At Disneyland in California, the Astro Orbiter is at ground level.  In Florida, it is high in the sky on top of the roof of the PeopleMover load station.

Donald's Spinning Saucer is based on...I'm not sure what, actually.  The Flying Saucers ride that existed at Disneyland from 1961 to 1966?

There is a Jet Packs ride at Shanghai Disneyland's Tomorrowland (opened in 2016) and an Alien Spinning Saucers ride coming to Toy Story Land at Disney's Hollywood Studios in Florida (in 2018).

One of the most heavily promoted aspects of the new Tomorrowland was a new "thrill ride" called Rocket Rods.  Here it is called Goofy's Rocket Racer.  This ride took over the old PeopleMover track and was supposed to pop a wheelie and race around Tomorrowland.

Rocket Rods closed for good in 2001, after facing all sorts of technical problems and disappointments.

The "New" Tomorrowland quickly became something in the past.  The concept of Tomorrowland has changed quite a bit at the Disney Parks over the years, and continues to do so.

Pato Donald and Copete: Disney Ducks in Nogales, Mexico

In December of 1987, our visit to family in Phoenix, Arizona included a memorable day trip to Nogales, Mexico.  I was thrilled to find a store selling Mexican Disney comic books.  As a Disney fan, my mind exploded when I discovered that Pato Donald (Donald Duck) and Copete (Fethry) were two different characters.

The source of the confusion was this book, Disney's Wonderful World Of Knowledge.

This was a popular series in the United States.  The books originated in Italy

In the book, we are greeted by our "friend Donald Duck."

Our friend Donald doesn't look like himself in this book.

Donald's wardrobe changes in The Wonderful World of Knowledge seemed very peculiar to me.

Really, really strange costume changes for Donald.  Batman?!?

As I would find out, this wasn't Donald Duck at all.  This was an international Disney comic book character named Copete (AKA Fethry) dressed as his superhero character, the Red Bat.  Disney's Wonderful World of Knowledge was an Italian book series, and this particular book starred a character that was not well known in the United States.  So the publishers just called him Donald.

I was really fascinated with the Mexican Disney comics in Nogales.

The comics I found were small, Digest-sized books.

Copete, I discovered, was a major player in Pato Donald comics.

Though Copete has been very popular outside the United States, apparently the character has been very polarizing in the Disney Comics world.  Count me as a fan of Copete.

Tio Rico (Uncle Scrooge) keeps Pato Donald and Copete's feathers ruffled.

Copete eventually starred in his own comic books.  He even has a nephew (I believe he is playing the newsboy in this particular comic).

Eventually, stories featuring Copete appeared in the United States.  But he is still not well known in America like he is in other countries.

The Pato Donald comic book turned out to be a fantastic souvenir of my trip to Mexico.  I especially love the ads.

This bird mascot is still being used today, though he has been redesigned.

Muy Bueno!  It's the Mexican Quik bunny!

Wow, a tombstone in a Nestle Quik ad.  Things got dark and real.

On the drive from Phoenix to Nogales in 1987, we stopped at a Burger King.  They were selling those Rodney Reindeer Hallmark plush toys.  I wanted one, but did not get one.

A few weeks ago, I was visiting my Mom in Venice, Florida.  We went to Goodwill and I found a Burger King Rodney with the tag.  He was only 57 cents.  This time, I got him.