Alpine Climbers

We saw this cartoon at Disney Caribbean Beach recently and our 7 year old daughter loved it. We would love to get it on DVD or tape. The cartoon went round with some others in a loop and we looked forward to seeing this one every day. I and my husband also loved it. Very cleverly done and lovely cameos. Mickey who is leading the climb, starts yodelling, and Donald repeats the tune in his inimitable style. Nobody sings like Donald Duck! Pluto has to be hoisted up behind them, and is not amused. Usual trouble ensues. The trio are rescued by a St. Bernard. The rum barrel is emptied during the shenanigans and all are happy in the end!!!

A very enjoyable, if slightly raucous early short from Walt, 'Alpine Climbers' follows our boys Mickey Mouse, Donald Duck and Pluto the dog as they journey through the Alps and endure a series of misadventures with the local fauna, including a mother eagle, two mountain goats and a rescue St. Bernard. I have some pretty distinct memories of watching it several times over in my childhood, and have always adored it, if only for the scenes between Pluto and the aforementioned St. Bernard who, in a drunken state, he falls completely in love with (and whose gender, incidentally, is never specified, though I guess it isn't too important!) I just can't resist the moment where he gets triple vision and erroneously believes that the bewildered rescue aid dog is returning his suggestive gestures – well face it, no one does mute comedy quite as Pluto does. And the St. Bernard's character design is a pleasure.

Overall though, Pluto's story makes up only a very small aspect of 'Alpine Climbers', and to be perfectly honest the rest is pretty much take or leave. It's certainly entertaining, and works neatly as a showcase of all three characters' defining dispositions – Mickey as the mellow straight man, Donald as the temperamental angry man, and Pluto as the naïve sweetie (he's just so darn cute!). At the same time, it's interesting to watch from a retrospective point of view just to see the more old school character designs. Still, though the skits involving Mickey and Donald are amusing enough in their own right, really there's just too much of the generic slapstick and calamity you can find in any number of these cartoon shorts, which does give it a somewhat undistinguished tone. That said, it's always delightful to see Donald fly by using his tail feathers as a propeller – that's inspired genius, plan and simple!

In my eyes, 'Alpine Climbers' is definitely deserving of its classic status, though it's mostly thanks to the input of Pluto and that gorgeous St. Bernard – a subplot which is just brimming with cuteness and charm. In between, there are some pretty noteworthy lessons to be picked up on about interfering with the local ecosystems of wherever you may go (again, you should never attempt to steal eagle eggs from their nests – really, I'd expect Mickey Mouse to know better than that!)

Grade: A-

Mickey Mouse, Donald Duck and Pluto climb a mountain. Actually Pluto isn't really climbing, he is hanging with a rope detached to the other two. When they are on the top all three find their own problems.

This is a very nice short. Mickey has some trouble with eagles, Donald with a lamb and Pluto with another dog. Some things were really funny. I enjoyed this one very much.

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

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.