Mickey's Revue

Mickey Mouse is the conductor, Horace Horsecollar is the stage manager and Pluto comes there continuously with his nose.Naturally Clarabelle Cow is also seen there.Wilfred Jackson's Mickey's Revue (1932) guarantees you the laughs.It's always hilarious when Pluto comes sniffing on stage and that audience member starts laughing and irritating the other spectators.That audience member happens to be Dippy Dawg, who was later known as Goofy.This is his first appearance.He sure does steal the show.Pinto Colvig is heard as his voice.Marcellite Garner is the voice of Minnie Mouse and Walt Disney himself is the voice of Mickey.This animated movie from 75 years back is great fun for the whole family.This isn't dated in any way.Mickey Mouse and the gang don't age.

In this black and white short, Mickey and Minnie put on a show. In the audience is a loud, obnoxious dog laughing as loud as he can. This character would eventually become Goofy. He looks quite a bit different here, sporting a beard. Goofy's bit is the highlight of the short, it's easy to see why the character was a hit with audiences. A particularly well animated sequence features a bunch of kittens helping Mickey and Minnie out with their musical presentation.

A Walt Disney MICKEY MOUSE Cartoon.

The local community gathers to see MICKEY'S REVUE, a collection of madcap musical moments.

This early black & white film is driven almost entirely by the lively soundtrack - music mavens will recognize 'The Skater's Waltz,' 'Swanee River,' 'Goodnight Ladies,' 'Merrily We Roll Along,' & 'Mendelssohn's Spring Song.' More importantly, it was the cartoon debut of Goofy, seen here in his (mercifully brief) early incarnation as Dippy Dawg. Incidentally, Clarabelle Cow is not one of the three dancing bovines on stage; she can be plainly seen in the audience applauding their performance.

Walt Disney (1901-1966) was always intrigued by drawings. As a lad in Marceline, Missouri, he sketched farm animals on scraps of paper; later, as an ambulance driver in France during the First World War, he drew figures on the sides of his vehicle. Back in Kansas City, along with artist Ub Iwerks, Walt developed a primitive animation studio that provided animated commercials and tiny cartoons for the local movie theaters. Always the innovator, his ALICE IN CARTOONLAND series broke ground in placing a live figure in a cartoon universe. Business reversals sent Disney & Iwerks to Hollywood in 1923, where Walt's older brother Roy became his lifelong business manager & counselor. When a mildly successful series with Oswald The Lucky Rabbit was snatched away by the distributor, the character of Mickey Mouse sprung into Walt's imagination, ensuring Disney's immortality. The happy arrival of sound technology made Mickey's screen debut, STEAMBOAT WILLIE (1928), a tremendous audience success with its use of synchronized music. The SILLY SYMPHONIES soon appeared, and Walt's growing crew of marvelously talented animators were quickly conquering new territory with full color, illusions of depth and radical advancements in personality development, an arena in which Walt's genius was unbeatable. Mickey's feisty, naughty behavior had captured millions of fans, but he was soon to be joined by other animated companions: temperamental Donald Duck, intellectually-challenged Goofy and energetic Pluto. All this was in preparation for Walt's grandest dream - feature length animated films. Against a blizzard of doomsayers, Walt persevered and over the next decades delighted children of all ages with the adventures of Snow White, Pinocchio, Dumbo, Bambi & Peter Pan. Walt never forgot that his fortunes were all started by a mouse, or that simplicity of message and lots of hard work always pay off.

Disney and Mickey Mouse are one of those matches made in heaven. I enjoyed Mickey's Revue, but I didn't love it. As cute and fun as the Pluto causes chaos ending is, I couldn't shake off the vibe that I'd seen it all before. The story does seem very derivative and unoriginal, the set-up has certainly been used before and to better effect. This said, Mickey's Revue is still entertaining stuff. It is interesting for two things, that it is Goofy's first appearance, it's a limited one but one of the few really original things in the short, and that Horace does have more depth than the stereotypical horse you'd expect. Apart from some parts like the audience clapping that does seem re-used, the animation in quality is crisp and clean with the backgrounds not too sparse and the characters well-drawn, the two dogs in the second act of the short are especially interesting in animation. The music especially in the third act and the finale is full of energy and character. And there are some really fun moments, such as the three Clarabelles dancing in a way that is almost mocking the dancing of the song-and-dance routines seen in the shorts before, during and sometimes since Mickey's Revue, the two dogs with their droopy faces that is stone-cold still as their bodies do all the twisting, turning and contorting, the cute kittens helping out with the performance and causing havoc and just seeing Goofy. The characters are all engaging or likable, though there are shorts that show them with more character or animation depth. Overall, nothing new or particularly special but definitely entertaining and somewhat recommended. 7/10 Bethany Cox

Mickey Mouse conducts an orchestra, with Minnie Mouse on the piano, Horace Horsecollar as stage manager, and Pluto continually sneaking on stage only to be getting the hook. This is also the first appearance of Goofy, who is a member of the audience, loudly chewing on nuts and hilariously making his signature laugh to the annoyance of the other audience members.

There's plenty of fun in this cartoon short, from a litter of kittens getting their share of instrument fun to Goofy's goofiness. Lots of good music, too; especially enjoyed Minnie's piano piece.

Lots of characters and plenty of fun!

Grade A