For four whole decades, Disney played it so safe with Mickey that they barely put him in anything. But that changed in 1995 with the horror-themed Runaway Brain, Disney’s first theatrical Mickey short since 1953. In it, Mickey is a young adult slacker who needs to quickly raise money to buy Minnie an anniversary gift, which is why he allows himself to be experimented on for science and swaps his brain with that of a giant monster.
Runaway Brain was edgy, wacky and violent, and it seemed to scare Disney off of taking any more chances with Mickey. Reports of it being “banned” are exaggerated, but it’s certainly controversial.