Fun and Fancy Free
Disney had provided the voice for Mickey Mouse since his debut in 1928, and "Fun and Fancy Free" was the last time he would voice the role regularly, as he no longer had the time or energy to do so. Disney recorded most of Mickey's dialogue in the spring and summer of 1941. Sound effects artist Jimmy MacDonald would become the character's new voice actor, starting in 1948. Disney, however, did reprise the role for the introduction to the original 1955–59 run of "The Mickey Mouse Club".
The Mickey Mouse Club
Although the show remained popular, ABC decided to cancel the show after its fourth season, as Disney and the ABC network could not come to terms for renewal. The cancellation in September 1959 was attributable to several factors: the Disney studios did not realize high-profit margins from merchandise sales, the sponsors were uninterested in educational programming for children, and many commercials were needed in order to pay for the show. After canceling "The Mickey Mouse Club", ABC also refused to let Disney air the show on another network. Walt Disney filed a lawsuit against ABC, and won the damages in a settlement; however, he had to agree that both the "Mickey Mouse Club" and "Zorro" could not be aired on any major network. This left "Walt Disney Presents" (initially titled "Disneyland", later retitled the "Walt Disney's Wonderful World of Color" when it moved to NBC) as the only Disney series left on prime time until 1972 when "The Mouse Factory" went on the air. The prohibition against major U.S. broadcast network play of the original "Mickey Mouse Club" (or any later version) became moot when Disney acquired ABC in 1996, but no plans have been announced for an ABC airing of any version of "The Mickey Mouse Club" produced between 1955 and 1996 or for a new network series.