Cartoon Classic Favorites – Best Pals – Mickey & Minnie (Vol. 10)
Cartoon Classic Favorites – Best Pals – Donald & Daisy (Vol. 11)
Cartoon Classic Favorites – Best Pals – Mickey & Pluto (Vol. 12)
Various directors including Charles A. Nichols, Jack King, Jack Kinney, Milt Schaffer.
Starring:
Walt Disney………. Mickey Mouse
Clarence Nash………. Donald Duck, other ducks
Ronald Colman
Pinto Colvig
Ruth Clifford
Release Dates: April 11th for all.
Be prepared to enter a strange new world, a world where giant mice keeps cats and dogs as pets, a world full of brutal, thuggish, misshapen creatures who sole goal in life is to torment any innocent sap that steps out his or her door, a world where children swarm like locusts and nothing is to be trusted.
The wonderful world of DISNEY!
As you can tell from the title these re the latest volumes of Disney’s “Cartoon Classic Favorites” line. Each disc is sold separately, costs about 16 bucks, and contains 8 cartoons for a total running time of just under an hour a piece.
The discs are all pretty bare bones. Each has 8 cartoons, 8 commercials for other Disney DVDs, optional subtitles in English and French, and a French audio track. That’s it. There don’t include any information about the cartoons, any special features, no info on the directors, writers or stars, nothing. Although, I will say that subtitles are pretty useful for many of the cartoons as Disney Characters tend not to have the clearest of speaking voices. And there is probably much drunken fun to be had by means of watching Donald Duck cartoons in French.
The cartoons themselves range from 1936’s “Mickey’s Rival”(on Vol, 10) till 1954’s “Donald’s Diary” (on Vol. 11). So, historically there are a couple of different eras represented here, but each seems to hold high standards to the craft. The animation is wonderful, the backgrounds are beautiful, and there are some really nice character designs. (I should note that “Mickey’s Rival” is the only cartoon on any of these three discs that predates 1940, and thus really sticks out as different from the lot.)
Volume 10 is probably the weakest in the bunch. The stories are pretty weak, and nothing is terribly funny. Quaint is the word that pops into mind. The best of the lot is “Pluto’s Sweater.”
Wait a second. “Pluto’s Sweater”?
Yes, that’s right, Volume 10 is haphazardly named. The thing is called “Best Pals Mickey and Minnie.” One would assume that the cartoons would, ya know, be Mickey and Minnie cartoons. Upon watching the disc, however, we get a cartoon about Pluto and Figaro, a cartoon about Figaro, a cartoon abut Pluto and a gopher, a cartoon about Figaro and a bird, etc. Only 3 of the 8 cartoons contain Mickey Mouse. Most of the cartoons on the disc are these old Charles Nichols cartoons of the late ’40s/early ’50s where Minnie Mouse plays the overbearing mother figure to her dog Pluto and cat Figaro. I guess they figure that a “Figaro” collection wouldn’t have the proper name recognition to sell. (They’re probably right.)
Volume 11 “Best Pals Donald and Daisy” is much more entertaining. (That is the opinion of both myself and my nearly 3 year old daughter, so you know that it is right.) This disc consists mostly of Jack King cartoons from the mid ’40s. The volume features the exploits of dangerous sociopath Donald, as he attempts to woo the manipulative violent, emotionally volatile, and somewhat loose Daisy. Hampering his quest are his own emotional demons in “Cured Duck”, a suave and sophisticated Doppelganger in “Donald’s Double Trouble”, and cruel rodents Chip and Dale in “Crazy Over Daisy”.
While Volume 11 is the most enjoyable, it also presents a series of troubling problems mostly due to an odd sense of continuity from cartoon to cartoon. Daisy sometimes speaks like Donald, other times she speaks normally. Huey, Dewey, and Louie seem to be both Donald’s nephews and Daisy’s brothers. That kinda creeps me out. But hey, at least the title is accurate as all of the cartoons feature both Donald and Daisy. Though, I hardly call them “pals” as such. I guess “Donald and Daisy: Mentally Unstable Lovers” is even less marketable to the kids than a Figaro collection.
Volume 12 is “Best Pals Mickey and Pluto” and features more of the Charles A. Nichols Pluto cartoons. Once again, Mickey doesn’t play a terribly important role. That’s fine I guess as Mickey has the personality of dry toast, but I don’t appreciate the misnomer. Highlights here include “Pluto’s Housewarming” which is a fairly cute little short about Pluto trying to kick a turtle out of his new doghouse and Clyde Geronimi’s “Pluto and the Armadillo”
Here is what to expect from these DVDs.
1. They aren’t really set up to be “collector’s” sets or anything like that.
2. They are set up with Fastplay, and seem to be made so that a parent can shove one into a DVD player and leave their kid for an hour.
3. The cartoons show a fine display of craft.
4. The cartoons are so much more chill than cartoons of today. Many feature very minimal dialogue, relaxing music, peaceful backgrounds, etc.
5. There are a couple of minor things that might offend some hyper-sensitive viewers. (e.g. Donald Duck smokes a cigar, Pluto doing a take as an Asian stereotype, etc.) But these are few and far between.
Overall, the discs aren’t a terribly great value. You have to buy three separate volumes to 24 cartoons. There is no reason why all 24 couldn’t be put on one disc. These are 50 year old cartoons, they have already been paid for, it costs Disney virtually nothing to put these things out, yet they still have a retail value of $14.99. I’m pretty cheap, but it seems like Disney could cut its fans a break. 10 bucks a disc or $20 for a disc that has all 2 dozen cartoons.
