Camping Out is not quite the very finest of Disney or up there as one of them, but I sure was entertained by it. Some may argue that the short was not very original, actually considering that it doesn't involve just song-and-dance, battles with Pete and Mickey rescuing Minnie I thought it was. Also when you think of the gang initially you'd immediately think of Mickey, Goofy and Donald(and perhaps Pluto), but here it's Mickey, Minnie, Horace and Clarabelle. I as well did identify with the situation, I've had my fair share of problems with bugs on our family camping holidays. The animation is crisp and clean with some nice shadings and the characters drawn well. The music is just wonderful, one of my favourite scores of any of the Disney shorts actually, and seeing how much the music does for them, always enhancing the gags and action, that is saying a lot. This was especially true with the music that opens Camping Out. The voice work is good. But it was the gags and one character that stood out that really made Camping Out work. The gags, revolving around the idea of mosquitoes attacking and the gang repelling them, are non-stop and literally two or three laughs a minute, setting the tone for a light-hearted but constantly funny battle. The standouts were when the mosquitoes lift Horace off the ground when he opens an umbrella to shield himself from the onslaught, and when the mosquitoes were stinging his behind and Horace takes advantage of the situations and tricks them with a waffle iron. The only reason why I am not mentioning all of them is that there are so many it would be impossible to list within the word limit, and I also want to talk about the character who stood out. Mickey, Minnie and Clarabelle are all likable characters and have their good moments, but unusually and interestingly the best character was Horace. Not only does he have the best gags and the most he's had to do to date(mostly it's a couple of brief appearances or something), but he here has a personality that makes him much more than the stereotyped horse he is in other cartoons but makes him think of himself as a man and his mild temper or sense of humour can build to consequences. One does wish that he and Clarabelle had more to do instead of vanishing into oblivion for a while before the show House of Mouse resurrected them. I also loved the relationship between the gang, you can really tell that they are friends and you feel it. All in all, a brilliant short. 10/10 Bethany Cox
