On Ice

Another classic Winter/Christmas Disney short. The film features an infamous Pluto vs Donald segment. I found it interesting how different the animation is from this (1930s) to even the Fab Five of the 1940s.

Mickey and the gang are all here, each of them having their own misadventures on ice. Mickey attempts to show off his ice-skating skills to Minnie; Goofy attempts to ice fish; Donald straps skates onto Pluto and laughs at him slipping; and Donald then gets a taste of his own medicine.

It's a somewhat funny little cartoon and it's nice seeing many of Disney's most memorable characters on the screen together. I got some chuckles out of it and the story is perfect for the entire family. The animation is good and the pacing is just right.

Not the most entertaining cartoon I've seen, but it's still good fun.

Grade B

A Walt Disney MICKEY MOUSE Cartoon.

Mickey, Minnie & friends are enjoying their afternoon ON ICE - until prankster Donald Duck suddenly finds himself in terrible peril...

Plenty of action & humor make this one of the Mouse's best cartoons and he generously shares the spotlight with his costars. Pluto's trouble on the slippery surface is great fun, but Goofy's attempts at ice fishing are hilarious. Sharp-eyed viewers will spot a mistake during the opening shot when Horace Horsecollar & Clarabelle Cow are in the foreground for a few seconds - at the same time they can also be spotted in the background as part of the large group of skaters darting about. Walt Disney supplies Mickey's squeaky voice, while Clarence "Ducky" Nash does the honors for Donald.

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.

Gorgeous Technicolor Disney short that features all their big characters from the time. I can't stress enough how rich the colors are and how lovely this is to look at. There's basically three separate stories that all take place at the same time on a frozen lake where everybody is skating. One story has Mickey Mouse helping Minnie learn how to ice skate. This is amusing and fun. Another story has Goofy ice fishing using tobacco! Things don't go as planned. Wait until you see this. The third story is about Donald Duck pranking Pluto by putting ice skates on him and getting him out onto the ice, where naturally the poor dog slips and slides all over. Then Donald gets tangled up with a kite and is pulled towards a waterfall. Everything comes together then with comical results as Mickey has to save Donald. This is a very fun cartoon short that will make any Disney fan happy. I enjoyed the Goofy part a lot but most people will probably get the biggest kick out of Donald's antics.

This short was mentioned by another reviewer as his favorite, so I gave it a shot. It is really quite remarkable. We get all of the Disney characters from this era: Mickey, Minnie, Goofy, Donald, and Pluto. Each is featured at some point. There is also the river and the chaotic nature of it. The most sustained plot element involves Donald playing a cruel trick on Pluto. We know that Donald seldom wins so we just wait and see. High grades for this.