Common Sense Media Review
By Christy Matte
,
based on child development research. How do we rate?
Cool animation teaching, but kids' art gets lost in shuffle.
Parents Need to Know
Why Age 6+?
Any Positive Content?
Where to Play
Videos and Photos
Disney Animation Artist: Mickey & Friends
What's It About?
DISNEY ANIMATION ARTIST: MICKEY & FRIENDS invites kids to draw popular Disney characters such as Goofy, Mickey Mouse, Minnie Mouse, Donald Duck, and Daisy Duck. The game leads kids through each drawing one line at a time. Kids trace the lines from a green dot to a red dot, in a similar manner to other LeapFrog games like Mr. Pencil. Once the line drawing is complete, kids press a button and the image \"magically\" transforms into a perfect version. They can then color in the image.
The second portion of the game has kids animating a character by drawing multiple images with slight changes from one to another. The final animation incorporates some of the kid's drawings and some of the perfect drawings supplied by the program. The game includes two different levels. It's difficult to tell the difference between them, although the advanced level seems to have additional drawing tips and information.
Is It Any Good?
Disney Animation Artist: Mickey & Friends is a cool idea. Learning to draw such popular characters can be empowering and exciting for kids. It can also help them understand that a complete drawing is just a collection of lines and shapes. Unfortunately, the game doesn't live up to the potential. The first issue is that once you've drawn a line/shape, it's there. You can't erase or change it. If you make a mistake, you have to build on the mistake for the rest of the image. But even if you create something that feels like a masterpiece, the game will replace it entirely with the stock image before the coloring stage. It can be frustrating and demoralizing, especially for older kids.
The animation section does retain some of the child's work, but it's not for those who like immediate gratification. It has the same drawing challenges in terms of the lack of editing tools. And kids will have to work on numerous images required for animation. If you have a child who is old enough to be able to follow the directions, but young enough to not care that their drawing is being replaced, this could be a hit. It may even inspire them to create more artwork offline. Otherwise, your budding artist may just end up frustrated and annoyed.
Talk to Your Kids About ...
Families can talk about how animation works. What other things can you animate?
They can also discuss the role of tech toys in their lives. What kinds of rules do you need to manage these kind of tech toys?
This game teaches you how to break a bigger picture down into smaller steps. Are there other times when it's easier to break a task down? Would this make it easier to clean your room? Do your homework?
Game Details
- Platform : LeapFrog games
- Subjects : Arts : drawing , film
- Skills : Emotional Development : identifying emotions , Communication : listening
- Pricing structure :
- Available online? : Not available online
- Publisher : LeapFrog
- Release date : December 15, 2011
- Genre : Art
- Topics : Arts , Book Characters
- ESRB rating :
- Last updated : October 1, 2025
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