Have a lot of fondness for 'House of Mouse'. Love Disney and the concept was such an interesting and for Disney shows at the time a unique one. There are times where it could have done more with the concept, with showing more of some of the guests and not focusing all the featured cartoons on Mickey and the gang. It is however so much fun and how it makes an effort to retain the spirit of the classic old cartoons is to be lauded.
"Timon and Pumbaa" is not one of my favourite 'House of Mouse' episodes, as to be expected though it is very entertaining. Once again, really like that it and the rest of the show tries to and succeeds in making the personalities of Mickey and the rest of the gang true to those of their "golden age" ones when they first came out (1930s-1950s), especially Donald. Except that Mickey is far more interesting in personality in 'House of Mouse', feels like a lead character, is used well and isn't over-shadowed by the rest of the characters. Minnie is also more resourceful.
Concept-wise, "Timon and Pumbaa" is a familiar one. One that we've seen a fair bit and with more freshness and the ending is foreseeable. Having said that, it's very entertainingly handled and Timon and Pumbaa and their great chemistry are very well suited to it.
It is interesting always in 'House of Mouse' to see how it utilises various Disney characters from previous films and cartoons, the obvious ones being fellow characters from 'The Lion King' (still one of my favourite Disney films). They are used well and evoke a real sense of nostalgia.
The featured cartoons generally are very nice to watch and as ever do a great job being true to the spirit of the golden age cartoons. Especially successful here is 'Golf Nut Donald', very true in spirit to the classic Donald Duck and Chip and Dale cartoons and maintain the style of the gags and the personalities of cantankerous Donald and adorable, funny and suitably mischievous Chip and Dale. 'Pluto's Magic Paws' is also a good story for Pluto, who is as cute and energetic as he is in the older cartoons and the cartoon makes the most of the concept. Mickey is a fairly underused support character here, then again he was in the older cartoons as well.
Will admit to not being the biggest fan of the "Mickey to the Rescue" cartoons, the different settings, gags and what is done to get out the scrape are interesting but the series is repetitive, very formulaic and predictable and the voice actors have little to do (Jim Cummings being restricted to typical villain clichés and maniacal laughter in every cartoon and it got old quickly, not blaming Cummings). This one is also to me irrelevant to the episode's story as well.
While not surprising in outcome, the story is lively and engaging, kept afloat by the character interaction, characters and the atmosphere. The writing is clever and very funny, even with the deliberately corny moment and pun which made me grin rather than groan.
Furthermore, the animation is very colourful, smooth in movement and with some meticulous detail. The cheap recycling footage for the audience reactions at the end of the featured cartoons does jar and annoy though. The music is suitably groovy and cleverly used, while the theme song is one of the catchiest of any Disney show in the past twenty years.
Voice acting is very good as always.
Overall, very enjoyable and well done. 8/10 Bethany Cox
"Timon and Pumbaa" is not one of my favourite 'House of Mouse' episodes, as to be expected though it is very entertaining. Once again, really like that it and the rest of the show tries to and succeeds in making the personalities of Mickey and the rest of the gang true to those of their "golden age" ones when they first came out (1930s-1950s), especially Donald. Except that Mickey is far more interesting in personality in 'House of Mouse', feels like a lead character, is used well and isn't over-shadowed by the rest of the characters. Minnie is also more resourceful.
Concept-wise, "Timon and Pumbaa" is a familiar one. One that we've seen a fair bit and with more freshness and the ending is foreseeable. Having said that, it's very entertainingly handled and Timon and Pumbaa and their great chemistry are very well suited to it.
It is interesting always in 'House of Mouse' to see how it utilises various Disney characters from previous films and cartoons, the obvious ones being fellow characters from 'The Lion King' (still one of my favourite Disney films). They are used well and evoke a real sense of nostalgia.
The featured cartoons generally are very nice to watch and as ever do a great job being true to the spirit of the golden age cartoons. Especially successful here is 'Golf Nut Donald', very true in spirit to the classic Donald Duck and Chip and Dale cartoons and maintain the style of the gags and the personalities of cantankerous Donald and adorable, funny and suitably mischievous Chip and Dale. 'Pluto's Magic Paws' is also a good story for Pluto, who is as cute and energetic as he is in the older cartoons and the cartoon makes the most of the concept. Mickey is a fairly underused support character here, then again he was in the older cartoons as well.
Will admit to not being the biggest fan of the "Mickey to the Rescue" cartoons, the different settings, gags and what is done to get out the scrape are interesting but the series is repetitive, very formulaic and predictable and the voice actors have little to do (Jim Cummings being restricted to typical villain clichés and maniacal laughter in every cartoon and it got old quickly, not blaming Cummings). This one is also to me irrelevant to the episode's story as well.
While not surprising in outcome, the story is lively and engaging, kept afloat by the character interaction, characters and the atmosphere. The writing is clever and very funny, even with the deliberately corny moment and pun which made me grin rather than groan.
Furthermore, the animation is very colourful, smooth in movement and with some meticulous detail. The cheap recycling footage for the audience reactions at the end of the featured cartoons does jar and annoy though. The music is suitably groovy and cleverly used, while the theme song is one of the catchiest of any Disney show in the past twenty years.
Voice acting is very good as always.
Overall, very enjoyable and well done. 8/10 Bethany Cox
