Ye Olden Days

A Walt Disney MICKEY MOUSE Cartoon.

In YE OLDEN DAYS, medieval minstrel Mickey tries to rescue Princess Minnie from marrying a foolish, dimwitted Prince.

This is an excellent old black & white cartoon and features fine animation, action & plenty of humor. As the Prince, Goofy appears in his early - and blessedly brief - Dippy Dawg incarnation. A feisty Clarabelle Cow plays Minnie's lady-in-waiting. Walt Disney provides 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, 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 1933 Mickey Mouse short is one of my favorites. In a medieval setting, Mickey, the wandering minstrel, saves Princess Minnie from Prince Goofy of Poopoopadoo, who was forcing her to marry him. Yep, in this short, Goofy, the prince, plays a villain. It sounds strange, but it's true. This is the first Mickey short set in a medieval background, and the second is the highly popular 1938 colored short "The Brave Little Tailor," based on the Grimm fairy tale.

I know I say this, but I don't have a preferred scene in this cartoon, as I enjoy it entirely from start to finish. And again, it's another favorite.

This 1933 B&W cartoon is notable for the fact that it was made before the character 'Goofy' was known as 'Goofy'. He was called 'Dippy Dawg'. The opening scene containing a scroll listing the character,'The Prince' as 'Dippy Dawg'. That is the reason for the appearance of a tail, as noted by a prior reviewer. Goofy is not the only Disney character who underwent a metamorphosis, and it is interesting to compare the older characters with the ones that evolved, in this case 'Goofy'/'Dippy Dawg'.

'Ye Olden Days (1933)' is a short animation that sees Mickey Mouse attempt to rescue Minnie from an arranged marriage with Dippy Dawg (later known as Goofy). It's fairly standard sort of stuff, with little in the way of inventive set-pieces or funny sight-gags. It is, however, well animated. There are moments that come close to provoking a chuckle and, in general, the piece moves at a decent pace. It's not all that good, though, even when compared to its similarly aged peers. 5/10.

I really enjoyed this silly symphony. It was fun and enjoyable, with some genuinely funny moments, my favourite being when Mickey spikes Goofy in the bottom with a broken spear. The short is set in a medieval age, and because of that, it was jolly fun from start to finish. The animation in colourful and vibrant Technicolour is really very nice to look at, and all the characters, especially Mickey as a minstrel are endearing. The vocals of Pinto Colvig, Walt Disney and Marcelitte Garner are flawless, and the music is rousing and wholly memorable. If you love Silly Symphonies or Disney in general, then I think you have a winner in the name of Ye Olden Days. 10/10 Bethany Cox