The Jazz Fool

I assume that with this title, the Disney folks were parodying the title of the sound sensation "The Jazz Singer", though the film itself has nothing to do with this Jolson film. Instead, it mostly consists of Mickey entertaining the audience by playing the piano in a jazzy fashion. However, several times as he plays there are riffs that sound strongly inspired by George Gershwin. The music is all very pleasant but there just isn't much to the film. As a result of it having no plot and a lot of songs, it doesn't stand up as well as other early Mickey toons. Worth seeing for die-hard Mickey fans and film historians but pretty easy for others to skip.

The shorts in those times were more about showing some pictures on screen rather than telling a story. This one is very similar to Mickey mouse shorts of that period, i.e, it's just music and dancing. If it had amazingly great music or great choreography, I could have liked it. But it's nothing more than normal dancing, with added a naughty piano and some cows.

Prior to the creation of the Hays Office (named for Will Hays, the first official censor, who left Washington just ahead of the posse, having been part of the Harding administration, the most corrupt administration pre-1968) and the installation of the Code in the early 1930s by these paragons of virtue, films were more free-wheeling and cartoons were no exception. The Mickey of this timeframe was closer to Dennis the Menace than the Mouse he came to be just a few years hence. In some ways, this Mickey was more interesting and more fun. Music was almost always large part of cartoons in general and in the early days of sound, was hugely important just as something of a novelty. Excellent score here and hilarious almost from first frame to last. Well worth tracking down. Most recommended.

The Jazz Fool isn't one of the Mickey Mouse cartoons that people go 'Oh, yeah, I LOVE that one!' But then it isn't presenting itself as anything super ambitious; it's something that has some fun ideas, and is there to show Mickey having a good time at the piano. The most creative parts of this involve actually some of the other characters or, you know, 'things'; it's hard to forget the clothes that come off the hanger to dance around, or the cow who takes out its teeth and uses them as xylophone keys and proceeds to make one of the best musical moments of the whole thing.

In this short, Mickey is playing in his 'Big Show' for the animals in the audience, and plays the piano in such a way that it's practically abuse (!) By the end the piano gets its just desserts, but for the most part this short almost acts like one of the Silly Symphony shorts (or a prototype of them); just showing characters having some dilly-dallying to swinging music is enough for five minutes sometimes.

This is not a bad little cartoon featuring Mickey and a host of other Disney characters, playing instruments, including a feisty piano, to some really catchy tunes. Not much of a story here, but a nice musical number that is sure to enchant the younger audience.

Grade B