Facing hot competition for the King of Saturday Morning title from newly top-rated Kids’ WB! (as well as all the usual contenders), Disney is dusting off its biggest toon star for its Saturday noon slot on ABC. Starting May 1, Mickey joins Pluto, Goofy, Donald Duck and love interest Minnie in Mickey MouseWorks, a show comprised of shorts from 60 seconds to 12 minutes in length. The current 13 x half-hour order for the series is in production, and work on a second season of 26 episodes has just begun. It’s the first original Mickey product since the 1950’s, and it’s the first time Mickey has appeared together with these Disney characters in a series.

On the heels of its

record-setting launch of Pokémon and Batman Beyond, Kids’ WB! has added the hot duo to its fall weekend lineup (which will be the shows’ exclusive U.S. home), and will insert new titles into its burgeoning Saturday morning sked.

After scoring the highest-ever ratings in a dual time slot on Saturday mornings, Pokémon and Batman Beyond will also air Monday through Friday starting this fall. Pokémon will be stripped daily at 3:30 p.m., and Batman Beyond will run at least twice a week as part of the hour-long 4 p.m. block featuring The New Batman/Superman Adventures.

Kids’ WB! fall Saturday morning lineup also adds the new Marquis Tollin/Robbins live-action series On the Ropes (which centers around high school wrestling) between Batman Beyond and Pokémon at 9:30 a.m., and Detention, a new animated comedy from Warner Bros. Television Animation, follows at 10:30 a.m.