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.
"Everybody Loves Mickey" is among the better half of the 'House of Mouse' episodes generally. 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.
One understands Donald's hurt and upset and his chemistry with Mortimer, as amusing and as a purposeful annoyance as ever, has wit and intensity. The outcome was satisfying, really like it when Donald realises his mistake and learns from it, and moving.
It is interesting always in 'House of Mouse' to see how it utilises various Disney characters from previous films and cartoons. The "Slay the Beast" number is one of the episode's highlights, with the Angry Villagers seeming to be a parody of The Village People.
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 'Donald's Failed Fourth', which is a classic Donald situation given golden age-style treatment. Seeing Donald and Daisy's charming chemistry and Daisy not being annoying was a delight. 'Mickey's Rival Returns' suits Mickey's personality very well and his pitting off against Mortimer is equally well done.
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, particularly from Tony Anselmo and Maurice LaMarche.
In summary, very good episode. 8/10 Bethany Cox
"Everybody Loves Mickey" is among the better half of the 'House of Mouse' episodes generally. 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.
One understands Donald's hurt and upset and his chemistry with Mortimer, as amusing and as a purposeful annoyance as ever, has wit and intensity. The outcome was satisfying, really like it when Donald realises his mistake and learns from it, and moving.
It is interesting always in 'House of Mouse' to see how it utilises various Disney characters from previous films and cartoons. The "Slay the Beast" number is one of the episode's highlights, with the Angry Villagers seeming to be a parody of The Village People.
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 'Donald's Failed Fourth', which is a classic Donald situation given golden age-style treatment. Seeing Donald and Daisy's charming chemistry and Daisy not being annoying was a delight. 'Mickey's Rival Returns' suits Mickey's personality very well and his pitting off against Mortimer is equally well done.
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, particularly from Tony Anselmo and Maurice LaMarche.
In summary, very good episode. 8/10 Bethany Cox
