Written by Jennifer
May 18, 2009
How can hilarity not ensue?
The Disney Animation Collection gets off to a promising start with "Mickey and the Beanstalk", perhaps one of the most memorable Mickey Mouse cartoons of all time. We watch as Mickey, Goofy, and Donald Duck attempt to make sandwiches out of a single bean and bread sliced so thin that you can see through it. Their poverty is so hilariously pitiful that you can't help hoping that somehow the magic beanstalk will help to turn things around, even if it's at the expense of the dopey giant who lumbers around singing a sort of remix version of "Fe Fi Fo Fum".
The fun continues with "The Brave Little Tailor", one of my personal Mickey Mouse favorites. Like the song from "Lambert the Sheepish Lion", I've had the words "seven in one blow" burned into my brain since I was about eight, and I never tire of watching the comedy of events that unfold when Mickey utters that phrase. He killed seven flies. His neighbors think he means seven giants. How can hilarity not ensue?
Sadly, things take a bit of a disappointing turn after these two cartoons. "Thru The Mirror" is an amusing enough take-off on Through the Looking Glass, but "Gulliver Mickey" has an old, rickety quality that feels anachronistic. We return to modern times for "Mr. Mouse Takes A Trip" as Mickey attempts to smuggle Pluto on a train in his suitcase. It's cute enough, but not really anything to write home about. The real value comes from the first two cartoons, while the rest feels a lot like filler.
