Volume 1 of Mickey and the Roadster Racers Zooms Onto DVD

For the longest time, Disney Junior was turned on in our house so that our little boy could get his fill of MICKEY MOUSE CLUBHOUSE. Now that he's older, he's a bit past interacting with the television screen to pick a Mouse-ka-tool, but he still loves Mickey Mouse, his Hot Wheels, and his racetrack sets.

Which makes MICKEY AND THE ROADSTER RACERS a natural for him. (And I fully expect there to be a Disney racetrack of the vehicles just in time for Santa to impact my budget this year.)

With MICKEY AND THE ROADSTER RACERS, the gang is still all about friendship, cooperation, and solving problems. But there's no call for Toodles, and the stories are a bit more advanced than the preschool-oriented CLUBHOUSE episodes. Mickey, Minnie, Donald, Daisy and Goofy all have cars that can convert into racing vehicles (an option I expect the inevitable toys to have), and they compete against each other when they're not solving other dilemmas around Mickey's garage (such as tracking down a runaway tire that holds special meaning for a visiting friend).

The episodes are split into separate adventures, with the second putting the focus on Minnie and Daisy as the Happy Helpers, where they find someone in trouble and come up with a solution to the problem.

For certain, the episodes contain the requisite amount of silliness for younger viewers, and the "Race for the Rigatoni Ribbon!" might have been a little bit a-heavy on-a the Italian-a accents, but for little fans of Mickey and the gang, it's a great transitional show for the kids who are growing out of their CLUBHOUSE years but are still little Mouseketeers. Or, to quote the boy who watched it before I did, after I asked him if it was any good: "It's not good. It's great!"

This DVD release includes a physical bonus -- a metal plate licence that can be customized with the stick-on letters. Episodes incluce "Mickey's Wild Tire / Sittin' Kitty," "Goofy Gas! / Little Big Ape," and "Race for the Rigatoni Ribbon! / Roaming Around Rome." The disc also includes a bonus episode, "Mickey's Perfecto Day! / Running of the Roadsters."

And, oh look! Thanks, Disney...