The Barnyard Broadcast

While not one of my absolute favourite Mickey Mouse cartoons, it is for me one of the better cartoons of his set in the barnyard. The beginning with the cats listening to the radio struck me as unnecessary, though the very opening shot is fun. The supporting characters such as Clarabelle and Horace don't have all that much to do, but seeing them is a pleasure by itself. The kittens though are really cute and mischievous and come very close to stealing the show. But it is Mickey's short, here he drives the plot and his kindly manner introducing everything, his interplay with the kitten and his facial expression at the end is a joy. The cat is a fun character and is a big part of why the chaotic ending is so hilarious. We see Pluto also briefly, and while you expect him to either cause chaos or come to the rescue we just get an early shot of him and then he disappears. A little disappointing but considering the main crux of the short perhaps necessary also. The gags are very funny, especially the kittens coming up through the floorboards, Mickey using horseshoes for chimes, Horace playing the saw and Mickey cutting the piano in half with Clarabelle still playing it. The animation is crisp and clean, the pacing is lively and the music enhances the action splendidly. Overall, a fun, great ride. 9/10 Bethany Cox

Mickey has a good thing going, but he has trouble with success. Instead of capitalizing on good fortune, he messes things up. He is doing a kind of barn dance radio show (Grand Old Oprey sort of thing). The music is good and he is entertaining. But a cat and her kittens invades the barn (it's probably their home) and Mickey goes nuts trying to get rid of it. Soon total havoc breaks out. I liked this one, even though I felt sort of sad at the result.

A Walt Disney MICKEY MOUSE Cartoon.

THE BARNYARD BROADCAST from Mickey's Station ICU is disrupted by the persistent depredations of a stray cat & her incorrigible kittens.

This enjoyable black & white film shows a little more about the euterpian versatility of Mickey's friends: Clarabelle Cow tickles the ivories, while Horace Horsecollar is proficient on both the violin and the musical saw & Minnie delights with the saxophone and harp. The scene showing the kittens attempting to nurse off of the electrical equipment dials is a bit of an eye-opener. Walt Disney supplies Mickey's squeaky voice.

Walt Disney (1901-1966) was always intrigued by drawings. As a lad in Marceline, Missouri, he sketched farm animals on scraps of paper; later, as an ambulance driver in France during the First World War, he drew figures on the sides of his vehicle. Back in Kansas City, along with artist Ub Iwerks, Walt developed a primitive animation studio that provided animated commercials and tiny cartoons for the local movie theaters. Always the innovator, his ALICE IN CARTOONLAND series broke ground in placing a live figure in a cartoon universe. Business reversals sent Disney & Iwerks to Hollywood in 1923, where Walt's older brother Roy became his lifelong business manager & counselor. When a mildly successful series with Oswald The Lucky Rabbit was snatched away by the distributor, the character of Mickey Mouse sprung into Walt's imagination, ensuring Disney's immortality. The happy arrival of sound technology made Mickey's screen debut, STEAMBOAT WILLIE (1928), a tremendous audience success with its use of synchronized music. The SILLY SYMPHONIES soon appeared, and Walt's growing crew of marvelously talented animators were quickly conquering new territory with full color, illusions of depth and radical advancements in personality development, an arena in which Walt's genius was unbeatable. Mickey's feisty, naughty behavior had captured millions of fans, but he was soon to be joined by other animated companions: temperamental Donald Duck, intellectually-challenged Goofy and energetic Pluto. All this was in preparation for Walt's grandest dream - feature length animated films. Against a blizzard of doomsayers, Walt persevered and over the next decades delighted children of all ages with the adventures of Snow White, Pinocchio, Bambi, Peter Pan and Mr. Toad. Walt never forgot that his fortunes were all started by a mouse, or that simplicity of message and lots of hard work always pay off.

This is a rather funny Mickey cartoon, where he runs a radio station from his barn. His friends play various musical numbers there, but they were interrupted by a cat and his litter of kittens. Annoying little felines, but hilarious results as poor Mickey try to contain the situation. I got some laugh-out-loud moments watching this one.

Grade B+

If it wasn't for the appearance of some annoying cats late in the cartoon, "The Barnyard Broadcast" wouldn't be worth your time. After all, most of the cartoon consists of Mickey and his friends playing music--a concept that wears very, very thin very quickly. Fortunately, late in the film, a single cat appears and messes up the radio broadcast. And, soon, the cat's kittens appear and REALLY mess up the broadcast. It's clever and absolutely saves the cartoon--and makes it all worth seeing.

By the way, this is an odd cartoon if you think about it. Mickey is a VERY large mouse and he spends much of the picture chasing the cats instead of the other way around!! use chasing cats?!