Cinema Tuesdays Review

It was the early 1940s, and the mouse could read the writing on the wall. Donald Duck had become Walt Disney's most popular character, while Mickey Mouse, while still selling a lot of merchandise for the company, was now the de facto Disney mascot. As such, his "role" in the Disney cartoons changed, from being a mischievous little bugger, to being your friendly neighbor next door.

Part of the Walt Disney Treasures series, Mickey Mouse in Living Color (Vol. 2) includes all of Mickey's film appearances from "Society Dog Show (1939)" to the Oscar-nominated "Runaway Brain (1995)." Only 175,000 copies of this limited edition 2-disc set are being produced.

While Mickey's cartoon appearances did become more pedestrian in the 1940s, there are some standout performances; most of them involve Mickey's faithful pooch Pluto. In "Plutopia," Pluto is terrorized by a cat while he and Mickey are camping. During a dream sequence, Pluto imagines the cat doing his every bidding, which turns out to be a hilarious situation. And in "Pluto's Party," the neighborhood kids hog all of Pluto's presents and cake on his birthday, but Mickey saves the day in the end. Mickey gets into hot water with Minnie in "Mickey's Delayed Date," and "The Nifty Nineties" showcases Walt Disney's love of nostalgia, and hints at the ideas behind Disneyland's Main Street, USA. Other shorts such as "Mickey Down Under" and "The Simple Things" are less interesting, illustrating what must have been a frustrating situation for Disney writers-how do you write the company mascot into funny situations without getting him into too much trouble? Mickey's famous appearance in "The Sorcerer's Apprentice" is also included on Disc One.

Disc Two of the set features what I think are some of Mickey's greatest displays of "acting." Mickey's performance in "Mickey's Christmas Carol" is just as good as "The Sorcerer's Apprentice." Nominated for an Academy Award for Best Animated Short Subject, 1983, "Mickey's Christmas Carol" brings together many of the Disney characters, including Donald, Goofy, and Uncle Scrooge, to tell Dickens' classic tale. And "The Prince and the Pauper" (1990) features Mickey in a dual role. Conversations with animators Andreas Dejas and Mark Henn reveal the hard work that went into these shorts, as they explain different choices made to bring Mickey back to life in the 1980s, as he had been absent from the silver screen since the early '50s.

Bonus features on the set include a charming interview with the current voices of Mickey and Minnie Mouse, real-life husband and wife Wayne Allwine and Russi Taylor. Also included are some of Mickey's appearances on the "Disneyland" TV program, and short animated excerpts from "The Mickey Mouse Club." Several artwork and poster galleries are included, too.

In all, Mickey Mouse in Living Color (Vol. Two), is an excellent though not necessarily essential addition to the home video library.

6/4/04

Back to the main Cinema Tuesdays Reviews page

More about the Cinema Tuesdays series