The Beach Party

A Walt Disney MICKEY MOUSE Cartoon.

Mickey, Minnie & friends are enjoying THE BEACH PARTY they've arranged (with swimming & a picnic), until Pluto inadvertently disturbs a wrathful octopus...

This very enjoyable little black & white film includes lots of humor and action - the mood is established right from the start with the playing of 'By The Sea' on the soundtrack. The cartoon also provides supporting actors Horace Horsecollar & Clarabelle Cow with unusually good rolls.

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, Dumbo, Bambi & Peter Pan. 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 short from Disney stars all the stars of the time, Mickey, Minnie, Clarabelle, Horace and Pluto (Goofy and Donald were still waiting to be created by the studio). The five go to the beach for a picnic and a swim. There are plenty of gags involving the characters but most involve Pluto behaving like a dog--and suffering the consequences. So, when he chases a crab, the crab snaps his tale and nose. And, when he bothers an octopus, the creature runs amok and it takes the combined forces of Mickey, Minnie, Clarabelle and Horace (well, mostly Horace) to rescue the dog.

This short works well because of its high gag content--they just come one after the other. Additionally, the singing and cutesiness you often see in early cartoons is missing--allowing the viewer to simply enjoy the humor and lovely animation. Well worth your time.

It would seem that this group can't do much without eventually having everything fall apart. That's classical comedy. In this one, a trip to the beach turns sour. Everyone is having a good time until Pluto decides to chase a crab across the beach. He eventually incurs the wrath of an octopus who destroys virtually everything in sight. It is a call to arms for the participants once again to use everything at their disposal to combat this menace. Quite average, in my opinion.

The Beach Party is not one of my favourite ever shorts, but I find it a delightful one all the same for many reasons. The animation is very good here, the black and white is crisp and I love how fluid and bouncy it all is. The music is catchy and upbeat, with a great sense of rhythm and beautiful orchestration. The characters are all great in their own way. Mickey has always been likable and he is here, even if he doesn't have the best moments of The Beach Party, while Pluto is cute and full of energy with some of the best gags and the octopus is suitably antagonistic. I also love The Beach Party for having two oft-neglected characters Horace and Clarabelle, and their gags are some of the funniest they ever had. The story is not the most original in terms of concept, but skips along nicely. But The Beach Party's best asset is the sight gags. There are plenty of them, and a vast majority of them are hilarious. Pluto's encounters with a crab is similar to Hawaiian Holiday but funny all the same, and the fight with the octopus is inspired, but for me the best part is Mickey getting tangled in Clarabelle's bloomers and she clobbers him thinking he's an astray sea creature. In conclusion, a delightful Disney short if perhaps not quite among the masterpieces. 9/10 Bethany Cox