02.06
Four shorts this month- two new blog entries and two previous entries, “Mickey’s Service Station” and “Thru the Mirror”. Instead of repeating my opinions on them, just read these.
Now for the new shorts-
The Band Concert (1935)
Here we go, one of the big ones. This cartoon is regarded as being one of the most important from the 1930’s for being Mickey’s first fully Technicolor cartoon. Although the Silly Symphonies became colorized a couple of years prior to the release of this short, Mickey’s undying popularity allowed the studio to be cheap and continue making his shorts in black and white for the time being. This cartoon was an important transition not just for the studio but for animation and film in general, further contributing to the lasting appeal of colorization.
It’s also a great short. Mickey leads a band concert being performed by familiar faces, as Donald wrecks havoc throughout. Some of Donald’s actions are intentional, but a fair amount are harmless, and he doesn’t mean to cause any damage to Mickey or the gang, which makes it a funny short. It’s not just Donald that becomes a problem, as a bee and a tornado wrecks things near the end as well.
Despite that, Mickey gets his big finish while Donald gets booed off, and the cartoon ends triumphantly.
Mother Pluto (1936)
In this one, Pluto inexplicably becomes the father to a group of chicks on the farm. He has to watch for them, feed them, and everything. While it’s a tough burden for Pluto to handle himself, being just a dog, he does his best and shows that he has heart. By the end, the mother hen discovers her children are missing and takes matters into her own hands.
This is a more cute short than a funny one, but fun to watch nonetheless. Pluto has a likable personality by himself, and is a surprisingly good father. It’s nice to see him care fore other creatures like them, since he tends to be more hostile to cats or other ones most of the time. This is just a good, warm cartoon to watch for just about anyone.
Two good shorts, and the second is all about Pluto rather than his owner. This was a pretty good, if small, haul
Originally posted on Wednesday, April 27, 2011.