Mickey's Amateurs as always with Disney is worth watching. But I do think they have done much better shorts. I wasn't expecting an innovative story, but there are gags and sequences that look and feel as though they had been done before in other Disney shorts, in the case of Clara Cluck for example a couple certainly have. There were a couple of scenes that didn't work as well as I would've liked as well. Donald forgetting the words to Twinkle Twinkle Little Star after offering Mickey a gift of an apple was funny, but to me the scene itself didn't really make sense as that is a very kid-oriented song and in the audience there wasn't a child in sight. Clara's gag didn't quite work for me either, the only really original thing about it was her getting frustrated and chasing the microphone but the basic set-up is pretty much the same as it in Orphans Benefit and Mickey's Grand Opera. However, the animation is lovely. Mickey does look rather odd to me here, but the backgrounds and colours still look gorgeous. The music is full of life and sparkle, enhancing the humour seamlessly. Most of the gags do work. Donald's second gag in disguise and with an out of control machine gun fared much better, but Goofy, with the one man band contraption, was the one with the best gag. Mickey is likable and sympathetic on the whole though he takes a sidestep compared to the rest of the characters. It was nice to see Clarabelle, and Donald is funny in his temperament, but Goofy is the star here for me. Overall, an entertaining if not amazing short. 7/10 Bethany Cox
Review of Mickey's Amateurs
