Mickey's Birthday Party

This short is aptly titled: it is a birthday party for Mickey. Disney released much more interesting and engaging shorts than this, but it is quite a collection of the majority of significant characters in Disney shorts and is at least worth seeing on that score. The animation, as is typical, is excellent. Worth seeing at least once.

This short was released in conjunction with the 25th anniversary of Mickey Mouse. The film kind of plays like your grandparent's home movies. There aren't many comic situations, just a lot of the classic Disney characters clowning around in front of the camera. There really isn't any story. The animation is classic Disney but only Goofy's attempts at making a birthday cake results in any comedy.

This is a cool cartoon short from Walt Disney, rich in animation and featuring some of the best drawings of the characters, including that of Mickey, Minnie, Donald and Goofy.

Minnie surprises Mickey with a get-together of his favorite friends on his birthday at her house. There are plenty of fun moments including Minnie playing on the organ (Mickey's new birthday gift), Donald doing a Spanish dance, and Donald doing the salsa with Clara Cluck (which was more he could handle at the end!).

Another funny moment is when Goofy attempts multiple times to bake a cake, only to fumble it each time. So, he resorted to buying one from a bakery, only to accidentally tossing it at Mickey.

This is one great party. Awesome seeing so many characters together: Mickey, Minnie, Donald, Goofy, Clara Cluck and Carabelle Cow - all having fun celebrating the Mouse's birthday and doing the conga!

Grade A

A Walt Disney MICKEY MOUSE Cartoon.

Minnie gets help from Donald Duck, Goofy, Clarabelle Cow, Horace Horsecollar & Clara Cluck to make MICKEY'S BIRTHDAY PARTY a big success.

Lots of fun in this little film, with much amusement derived from watching Madame Cluck nearly dance the feathers off Donald and seeing hapless Goofy turned loose in Minnie's kitchen. Also of interest is enjoying Horace, Clarabelle & the formidable Clara in their virtual swan song performances. Subsequently, Clara would make only the most fleeting of curtain calls 41 years later in MICKEY'S CHRISTMAS CAROL (1983), while it would be another 48 years until Clarabelle & Horace had substantial roles again, in THE PRINCE AND THE PAUPER (1990). Blame must regrettably be laid at Disney's door for allowing these talented thespians to be forcibly retired from the screen. Clarence Nash & Florence Gill provide the unique voices for the Duck & the Cluck. For the record, Mickey turned 14 in November of 1942, the year this cartoon was released.

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 will always pay off.

Not one of my favourites, but a nice cartoon all the same. The story is rather routine, though crisply paced and never less than entertaining, and Mickey though as likable as ever even for a character that has his name in the title plays second fiddle in terms of laughs to Goofy and Donald. Goofy and Donald are just great though, Goofy's hopeless attempts to bake a cake and his idea at the end represented by a light bulb that he reaches up to touch are the highlights of the cartoon and Donald's dancing was great to see, amusing and interesting. Another good scene was the Conga Train, which does make you want to go to the Rio Festival. The animation is bright and colourful, and the music from the whimsical orchestration to the rhythmic South American dance music(even a little bit of atonality on the organ) is typically wonderful. I also appreciated seeing the likes of Clara, Horace and Clarabelle, all three fun in their own way and makes one wish they were in more cartoons. All in all, a fun if not completely exceptional cartoon. 8/10 Bethany Cox