Disabling a movie clip behind another one

Hello yet again,

is it possible to disable a button behind a movie clip?

i have a page with buttons on the screen, but upon a trigger, a movie clip opens (sort of like a pop up) that covers most of the screen including the buttons. in this opened movie clip, there are more buttons (sort of like a mini game) but the trouble is that the buttons from behind are interfering. Also, when the movie clip/pop up is to be closed, i would like everything from before to be intact as it was before the pop up was opened. i have tried using alpha but am not happy with this approach. are there any other ways?

Arelle