As in other films of this series (the Gorilla Mystery comes to mind), Minnie is a very dumb damsel who dives into danger, and Mickey diverts her from dying. Mickey has a singing voice here which I find awfully unappealing! That's definitely the worst part of this. Apparently it was most likely provided by a random studio employee. The animation is wonderful overall, especially notable are the waves themselves, which are not realistic, but quite comically animated. A number of funny and clever gags throughout with some innuendo. Drawings are quite inconsistent, reminding me of the lookalike mice from Van Beuren cartoons, Milton and Rita. Some shots look like the perfect Ub Iwerks drawings, and others look like weird (though interesting) knockoffs. It is known that at this time, other animators Walt hired really struggled to live up to the standards and consistency of Ub's superb artwork! Some animation errors are apparent (such as elements like Minnie disappearing for a frame). The musical sound effects are pretty interesting and well done, especially using timpani (a.k.a. Kettledrums) for the waves coming in and out, with cymbal crashes for their break. I have to wonder when this language of sound was established for certain effects like this. 1929 was still quite early in the era of sound films, though I know that many of these effects were established in the silent era.
Some of the dancing animal animation was reused in a Silly Symphony I also saw for the first time just earlier today, Arctic Antics, which I would say is not as interesting due to the lack of plot, though I think musically it is better (not that that's a high bar!)
I enjoyed it, though I doubt it's one I'd rewatch often.
Some of the dancing animal animation was reused in a Silly Symphony I also saw for the first time just earlier today, Arctic Antics, which I would say is not as interesting due to the lack of plot, though I think musically it is better (not that that's a high bar!)
I enjoyed it, though I doubt it's one I'd rewatch often.