A very enjoyable, if slightly raucous early short from Walt, 'Alpine Climbers' follows our boys Mickey Mouse, Donald Duck and Pluto the dog as they journey through the Alps and endure a series of misadventures with the local fauna, including a mother eagle, two mountain goats and a rescue St. Bernard. I have some pretty distinct memories of watching it several times over in my childhood, and have always adored it, if only for the scenes between Pluto and the aforementioned St. Bernard who, in a drunken state, he falls completely in love with (and whose gender, incidentally, is never specified, though I guess it isn't too important!) I just can't resist the moment where he gets triple vision and erroneously believes that the bewildered rescue aid dog is returning his suggestive gestures well face it, no one does mute comedy quite as Pluto does. And the St. Bernard's character design is a pleasure.
Overall though, Pluto's story makes up only a very small aspect of 'Alpine Climbers', and to be perfectly honest the rest is pretty much take or leave. It's certainly entertaining, and works neatly as a showcase of all three characters' defining dispositions Mickey as the mellow straight man, Donald as the temperamental angry man, and Pluto as the naïve sweetie (he's just so darn cute!). At the same time, it's interesting to watch from a retrospective point of view just to see the more old school character designs. Still, though the skits involving Mickey and Donald are amusing enough in their own right, really there's just too much of the generic slapstick and calamity you can find in any number of these cartoon shorts, which does give it a somewhat undistinguished tone. That said, it's always delightful to see Donald fly by using his tail feathers as a propeller that's inspired genius, plan and simple!
In my eyes, 'Alpine Climbers' is definitely deserving of its classic status, though it's mostly thanks to the input of Pluto and that gorgeous St. Bernard a subplot which is just brimming with cuteness and charm. In between, there are some pretty noteworthy lessons to be picked up on about interfering with the local ecosystems of wherever you may go (again, you should never attempt to steal eagle eggs from their nests really, I'd expect Mickey Mouse to know better than that!)
Grade: A-
Overall though, Pluto's story makes up only a very small aspect of 'Alpine Climbers', and to be perfectly honest the rest is pretty much take or leave. It's certainly entertaining, and works neatly as a showcase of all three characters' defining dispositions Mickey as the mellow straight man, Donald as the temperamental angry man, and Pluto as the naïve sweetie (he's just so darn cute!). At the same time, it's interesting to watch from a retrospective point of view just to see the more old school character designs. Still, though the skits involving Mickey and Donald are amusing enough in their own right, really there's just too much of the generic slapstick and calamity you can find in any number of these cartoon shorts, which does give it a somewhat undistinguished tone. That said, it's always delightful to see Donald fly by using his tail feathers as a propeller that's inspired genius, plan and simple!
In my eyes, 'Alpine Climbers' is definitely deserving of its classic status, though it's mostly thanks to the input of Pluto and that gorgeous St. Bernard a subplot which is just brimming with cuteness and charm. In between, there are some pretty noteworthy lessons to be picked up on about interfering with the local ecosystems of wherever you may go (again, you should never attempt to steal eagle eggs from their nests really, I'd expect Mickey Mouse to know better than that!)
Grade: A-
