The Castaway

Mickey is riding a raft in the ocean when he lands on a desert island. It is inhabited by the usual assortment of animals (your basic gorilla, a tiger cub, and that same lion that has been in numerous episodes).. A big box washes ashore and darned if it isn't a piano. So Mickey tries to play but is assaulted at every turn Pretty basic cartoon routines. Apparently, Disney considered his mouse creation quite the virtuoso, having him produce music in almost every early episode.

This is a very silly and fun Mickey Mouse cartoon. The film begins with Mickey stuck on a raft in the ocean. Soon he comes to land--and some land it is. After all, it comes complete with a piano, a tiger, gorillas and lots of other things you should not find in the same place! But considering it's a cartoon and not a documentary, it's no problem. Throughout, the emphasis is on silly fun--and there is lots of it here in "The Castaway"--not to be confused in any way with that Tom Hanks film.

As usual, the Disney folks have exceptional animation and a film that simply is head and shoulders better than the material being released by other companies at the time. And, it's nice to see that over 80 years later, this cartoon still holds up and is as fun as ever. Well worth your time.

Mickey gets stranded on an island full of wild animals, and tries to past the time playing music. Not much plot in this one and not much funny scenes either. Kids might find this cartoon short amusing, but the rest of the audience might find it boring somewhat.

Grade C-

The Castaway is not one Mickey's very best shorts. I happen to think that there are more original shorts out there, that there are those with more gags and perhaps funnier ones as well. However, of the ones using a jungle/island setting, The Castaway is one of the better ones. The setting and story are nothing particularly new, but it is never dull and is a lot of fun. There are some fine gags as well, The Castaway is not one of those laugh-a-minute shorts nor did it intend to be I imagine, but those that are there do make their mark, that with the tiger cub, the fish inside the piano and especially the hilarious final sequence with the alligator. The piano could easily have been a device for another song and dance number, I thought so as well initially, but actually it isn't used for that. It is used for something fresher and I think cleverer though, as a device for the interaction between Mickey and the animals, and it is used to great effect. The animation is also exceptional, especially the exotic(even for black and white) backgrounds and I loved Mickey's happy then frustrated facial expressions(another example of excellent personality animation), and the music is full of energy. Mickey is very likable, and the animals are colourful. All in all, may not be original in terms of settings and such, but still remarkably good. 9/10 Bethany Cox

A Walt Disney MICKEY MOUSE Cartoon.

Mickey THE CASTAWAY makes merry music with the piano which is swept onto the beach of a lonely isle with him.

This little film boasts some interesting animation in the first sequence where the Mouse battles the undulating waves. Once reaching the shore, however, it becomes a typical Mickey & Music story, with all the island creatures reacting rhythmically to the melodies. Walt Disney provides Mickey with his squeaky voice.

Walt Disney (1901-1966) was always intrigued by pictures & 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 comic 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 childlike simplicity of message and lots of hard work will always pay off.