Common Sense Note
Parents should know that this collection of 1940s Disney shorts shows nephews Huey, Dewey and Louie acting dastardly toward their uncle by pulling practical jokes that kids may want to imitate. Otherwise, there's not much to be concerned about here.
Families may want to discuss how this cartoon is different from cartoons today. Do the jokes still hold up? Why or why not? How does the animation compare?
Common Sense Review
Reviewed By: Paul Trandahl
After forgetting about his date with Minnie, Mickey Mouse has only 15 minutes to get himself together and meet her before she dumps him in "Mickey's Delayed Date."
In "Pluto's Heart Throb," Pluto falls in love with a cute girl dog, but must contend with a rival in the shape of an oversized bulldog.
When Donald Duck forcibly ejects his nephews from his date with Daisy in "Mr. Duck Steps Out," Huey, Dewey, and Louie plot their revenge.
This Disney romance collection is a mixed bag. The Donald Duck cartoon is a fast-paced, beautifully animated gem -- a perfect example of the Disney machine firing on all cylinders. But the Mickey and Pluto cartoons are, for the most part, uninspired. But because of the relative absence of cartoon violence, the video may be a wise choice for younger kids.
As the 1940s progressed, Disney's emphasis shifted to features, both animated and live action, and the studio's theatrical shorts received less and less attention. The results were cartoons that still looked good by any other studio's standards, but lacked the extravagance of Disney's earlier work. And after nearly 20 years of cartoon production, a certain weariness had crept into some of their output.
The first two cartoons in this compilation reflect the trend of diminishing returns. Both are pleasant enough, but neither is especially funny, and neither have any impressively rendered flights of fancy to compensate for the absence of big laughs.
In contrast, "Mr. Duck Steps Out," the last cartoon in the collection, has an energy conspicuously lacking in the previous two. Produced in 1940, its climax has Donald inadvertently swallowing a heated-up ear of corn (provided by Huey, Dewey, and Louie) which starts popping inside the hapless duck as he tries to dance a jitterbug with Daisy. She gets the wildest dance of her life as Donald's body jerks about uncontrollably, popcorn shooting from his mouth, all to the beat of lively '40s swing music. Such imaginatively staged and animated scenes were typical of the Disney cartoonists when they were working at the top of their game.
While this video is worth owning for the final cartoon alone, the other two Disney romance sets, Mickey Loves Minnie and Sweetheart Stories, both feature stronger overall cartoon lineups and may entertain the whole family better than this one.
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ViolenceCartoonish violence |
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Social BehaviorDonald Duck is nasty to his nephews in "Mr. Duck Steps Out." Huey, Dewey, and Louie take revenge by attempting to sabotage Donald's date with Daisy. |
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CommercialismThis video is a compilation from 1940s Disney shorts, and is part of the Disney juggernaut. |
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