Alpine Climbers

A Walt Disney MICKEY MOUSE Cartoon.

ALPINE CLIMBERS Mickey & Donald get themselves into trouble by picking edelweiss & swiping eagle's eggs.

This is a very funny little film, which provides fine scope for Donald to vent his famous temper. Incongruously, Pluto is also brought along, but has a humorous inebriated scene with a friendly St. Bernard. Mickey has some good moments, but plays definite second fiddle to Donald. They are voiced by Walt Disney & Clarence Nash, respectively.

The snowy-white edelweiss, which cheers Donald's heart, is a woolly-leafed herb (Leontopodium alpinum) which grows in the higher regions of Europe & Asia. It is much beloved by the peoples of the Alps and is the floral emblem of Switzerland. During World War Two, it served as the secret symbol of the Austrian Underground which fought against the Nazis.

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 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.

The typical chaos that follows Mickey and Donald everywhere provide most of the laughs in this cartoon. They're climbing the Alps and literally dragging Pluto behind them. Donald decides to mad at a little mountain goat for some reason, Mickey attempts the ridiculously evil crime of stealing an eagles eggs and Pluto ends up freezing and being rescued by one of those mountain dwelling St. Bernards with the barrel of booze (do these really exist btw?).

It's 10 minutes of putting the characters through as much aggravation as possible withing their environment. A lot of Mickey/Donald cartoons are like this and this one is nothing special.

Not one of my absolute favourite cartoons, but one I do love Alpine Climbers anyhow. The character designs have been a little better before and since, but still there is a certain charm to them. The colours have a nice contrast between light and dark and the backgrounds are fluid and not too jerky. The music is energetic and dynamic, as you'd expect from a Disney cartoon. The story is simple, but never dull, and all three characters are great. Mickey is good and likable, though it's in the climax where he's at his most involved. For me, while Donald still delights with his frustration and cantankerous personality Pluto is as cute as ever and his moments are the best in Alpine Climbers. All the gags are funny and imaginatively spaced-out, the best being the moment between Pluto and the St Bernard Dog who comes to his aid, though the fun climax and the gag between Donald and the baby goat are just as effective. All in all, great fun. 9.5/10 Bethany Cox

One of Disney's funniest shorts. Highly recommend.

I own all of the four films with Silly Symphonies and Micky Mouse. I found many of the short films to be masterpieces. They are all so very well-done and funny.

This one is about Mickey,Donald and Pluto that is going to go out and climb a mountain. It's a hilarious little film with many funny things in it.