Mickey Mouse Works was created to recreate the golden age of Disney's animated shorts, featuring some of Disney’s most popular characters. By using basic colors and the original sound effects, effort was put forth to capture the look and feel of classic Disney.
Each half-hour episode consisted of a variety of cartoons, varying in length from ninety seconds to twelve minutes. These shorts fell into three general types: the brief gag cartoons, the longer character-based cartoons, and the more classically-based "Mouse Tales" (usually the show's longest segment). The character-based segments also included "Silly Symphonies", carrying on the tradition of that series of theatrical shorts.