Disney's Love Tales (NR, 1995)

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. And 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 first two cartoons in DINSEY'S LOVE TALES 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, the Donald Duck cartoon is a fast-paced, beautifully animated gem -- a perfect example of the Disney machine firing on all cylinders. 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.