Common Sense Media Review
By Chris Morris
,
based on child development research. How do we rate?
In cute but flawed app, kids' drawings join video short.
Parents Need to Know
Why Age 6+?
Any Positive Content?
Where to Download
Videos and Photos
Mickey Mouse: Mash Up
Parent and Kid Reviews
What's It About?
Kids will draw and color objects of their choosing, which will be included in a cartoon short starring Mickey, Donald, Goofy, Minnie, and Daisy. They'll also be asked to quickly draw items for Mickey to hide behind when he's unclothed. After drawing pictures with their fingers, kids will be offered the chance to color them using a limited color palette. They'll also participate in mini-games guiding Mickey when he's floating in the air or searching for objects, sometimes by using the phone or tablet's motion control and other times using touch buttons on-screen.
Is It Any Good?
MICKEY MOUSE: MASH UP works a lot better on paper than in reality. Letting kids take part in the creative process of making a cartoon, for example, sounds great. But the drawing feature simply doesn't work well. Straight lines often come out broken. And putting dots on a picture only works some of the time. Similarly, mini-games seem like an easy addition to the app, but they're so simplistic that kids will quickly tire of them.
On the upside, the cartoon short itself is a funny one, and kids likely will enjoy watching as Mickey tries to hide his pants-less state from Minnie and Daisy. And, although a grumpy Goofy may confuse some kids, he's not particularly mean. (Though why Disney used him in the gruff role instead of using its go-to villain Pete is a bit baffling.)
Talk to Your Kids About ...
Families can talk about embarrassment. Can kids think of a time they were embarrassed? Everyone gets embarrassed about something at some point, and it's usually not something to dwell on.
If kids have seen the friendlier version of Goofy, ask them to compare and contrast him with the grumpier version featured in this app.
App Details
- Devices : iPhone , iPod Touch , iPad
- Pricing structure : Paid
- Release date : December 20, 2013
- Genre : Entertainment
- Publisher : Disney
- Version : 1.2
- Minimum software requirements : iOS 5.0 or later
- Last updated : November 11, 2020
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