We’re always interested to see how our members continue to celebrate Walt’s legacy. Les Mize & his Mickey Mouse Christmas House were previously featured on Storyboard in 2012.
Les’ daughter Eileen shared what the family has been up to since.
Les Mize was thrilled to be recognized as Member of the Month in December 2012 for being a Mickey Mouse collector and sharing his collection and love of Christmas each year at his home in Marinwood, California. “It’s fun to be able to share our 40+ year tradition with the neighborhood and beyond,” he said. What had started as a local holiday tradition for many, gained national attention in 2013.
The ABC network approached our family, known as Team Mize (17 members and 3 generations strong), regarding a new reality Christmas decoration show that they were launching. We decided to throw our name into the proverbial hat and submitted an amateur intro video and visuals of the decorations for consideration. The network was interested—it was ABC after all!
So the 2013 Christmas season began a lot earlier for Team Mize as we became one of 20 families nationwide to compete on the first reality show of its kind, The Great Christmas Light Fight. “When we were first approached, the name of the show was Lights, Camera, Christmas,” commented Les, who was excited to be considered for the show at all. “We thought we would be able to bring something unique to the competition with our Mickey Mouse Christmas theme.”
The nature of the competition gave Team Mize 21 days to start and complete our display with film crews being on site to document the first couple of days and that last few days of “finishing touches.” Then, there was the big reveal with celebrity judges Sabrina Soto and Michael Moloney. All of this was done in the month of October. With the warm California fall weather, it made it a little challenging to be thinking about a white Christmas and chestnuts roasting on an open fire. But Team Mize was up to the challenge.
It was all hands on deck, and we pulled out all the stops. There were certain items brought out of retirement, items that finally got long overdue repairs and replacements, and the Mize “Imagineers” created some new elements in the hopes of wooing the judges.
It was a great family effort and everyone worked together in the midst of busy careers and family commitments. When 21 days passed, Team Mize was ready for the judges. All in all, it was a very fun experience and one that Team Mize will talk and laugh about for years to come. We were featured in the final episode on December 23, 2013. All the publicity and attention made for a very fun Christmas season with plenty of extra visitors. Everyone was so warm and appreciative. Complete strangers were cheering for us. It brought a real sense of community to the area as neighbors gathered in the driveway on any given evening during December.
Once the show aired, Team Mize was overwhelmed by the show of support. While we did not win the “Light Fight” competition, we were thrilled to have been involved. So many people remarked that, “You were robbed,” or “You should have won,” but the one thing everyone agrees on is that they all love the Mickey Mouse Christmas House.
A couple of new things that were added in 2013 included a Radiator Springs vignette which featured fun Cars-themed props and a personalized “Welcome to Radiator Springs” sign post. Another addition was the Toy Story Window which had a team of green army men scaling the side of the house to the second story window in an effort to bring Christmas lights up to Woody who was decorating Andy’s room for Christmas. The Green Army men got a lot of coverage on the Light Fight show so that was definitely something people wanted to see in person.
Inside the garage window display, where in the past a life-size Mickey had been seated in a rocking chair “reading” a Mickey Christmas book to the latest Disney character from the silver screen, we brought Mickey into the digital age by seating him at a desk with a Mickey Mouse computer monitor, which displayed a looped slide show of pictures of Christmases past. Joining Mickey were Olaf from Frozen and characters from Monsters University. On the other side of the garage display, Lighting McQueen (driven by Woody) raced down the alpine slopes against Mater (driven by Sully), Eeyore on skates, and Minnie and Mickey in a sled, with Tigger holding the checkered flag at the finish line.
Something else that came out of being part of The Great Christmas Light Fight, and a thrill for Les, the collector, were some of the people that went out of their way to congratulate or comment—such as renowned Disney artist Mike Peraza who shared, “From an old Disney artist, let me say I really enjoyed seeing your home decorated in such a beautiful way over the holidays on the ‘Light Fight’ show.” Then, there was a special phone call from Bret Iwan, the official voice of Mickey Mouse, to chat with us on Christmas Eve, which was a real thrill. Then, there was a private “meet and greet” and photo op with Minnie and Mickey on a trip to Disneyland at the tail end of the Christmas season.
There were so many fun, magical moments and countless memories created by being involved with The Great Christmas Light Fight—and that’s what it’s all about. Team Mize often recalls one of Walt’s famous lines, “It all started with a mouse.”
To learn more about Marinwood’s Mickey Mouse Christmas House, visit them on Facebook.