Mickey's Descent Into Madness

One of the few films that I've seen that manages to contain everything it wants in a successful manner. The themes of the story aren't exactly subtle, although there's enough depth to make for a compelling story despite the 17 minute runtime.

The premise as well makes the video seem like a joke, similar to the previous film in the series, however this takes a shift in tone immediately in a way that should be striking to many viewers. The grim tone never goes away, and instead reinforces the anti-war messaging the film utilizes.

The characters as well are pretty good for a 17m film, and while they could've been fleshed out more in a longer film, this is the far exceeding the characterization that the majority of short films can dream of producing.

Animation: The animation is a mix of 2D and 3D and it's some of the most impressive animation i've ever seen on YouTube, especially the 3D backgrounds which look gorgeous! The coloring and texturing looks fantastic and it makes for an amazing experience. It looks down right cinematic at times. The whole thing just has this cinematic feel and look through the editing and cinematography. It's fantastic.

Story: The story is really amazing. Mickey, Donald and Goofy are very interesting characters, i'm not good enough to tell you why they're interesting or not but, the story is very well written and when it's mixed together with the good directing and editing it makes for a story that's very engaging and interesting to watch. I wouldn't say it an overly complicated story but, nevertheless, it's extremely engaging.

Voice Acting: All the voice actors are freaking amazing! Matthew's deep as hell voice is enjoyable to listen to and his acting is great. MeatCanyon really impressed me with his amazing acting! Lynch is also fantastic as Goofy.

This went from a meme and ascended into a serious, art house-level depiction on war, regret, and damnation. I feel for Mickey, while simultaneously being disgusted by his cowardice. Goofy's family grounded him and allowed his moral compass to be guided by empathy and love, allowing him to weather the war with something resembling a soul. Mickey by contrast was a typical teenager, a relatively empty vessel, perfect for manipulation by a predatory military industrial complex. This entry explores what happens when you hang up the uniform and reenter society - that the cliches that got you through combat and allowed you to pull the trigger are just empty talk, leaving you unprepared to deal with the trauma once the guns go silent and the specter of perspective rears its head years later.

Brilliant work.