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'Mickey Mouse and the Medicine Man'

The following mini comic book was part of a promotional collaboration between Walt Disney and General Mills. It features Mickey and Goofy, two distinct psychoactive drugs, surreptitious dosing, a bad shaman, and a "talking" elephant. When it was first produced, it was one of an 8-comic set that cost 15 cents plus one Wheaties-brand cereal box top.

It is one of several psychoactive drug-related uses of Disney characters that in retrospect appear naive and inappropriate. This commercial, drug-positive use of characters designed for children raises a number of issues of historical interest. The ethnocentric cultural references, including the representation of Africans and the superiority of American medications, stand out even against the odd amphetamines-are-good-for-you backdrop. It is notable that Mickey Mouse gives powerful drugs to two other characters without their knowledge or consent. Read the comic here