DVDizzy Forum

Definitely one of Jack Hannah's best cartoons, especially with Donald.

My personal favourite of all the Disney shorts is Lambert the Sheepish Lion. I saw it for the first time on my first holiday to WDW when I was five and I've loved it ever since; I love the animation and that the wolf is actually a very scary character, not to mention the narration of Sterling Holloway. Some of my other favourites are Little Hiawatha, Toot, Whistle, Plunk and Boom, the Humphrey the Bear cartoons and most of Donald Duck's cartoons. The Donald cartoon I particularly love is one that I can't remember the title of; in it he takes something that allows him to speak normally.

In observation of Earth Day...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4ol28kPT ... re=related

I am such a Chip 'n' Dale fan that it's hard for me to not list three of my favorites:

"Breakfast for Three"

"Toy Tinkers"

"Trailer Horn"

"Trailer Horn" is one of the better cartoons with all the torment that Chip 'n' Dale give Donald who is just trying to enjoy his camping trip.

Picking my favorite disney short is a tough decision.

Mickey Mouse="Lend a Paw"
Donald Duck="Der Fuehrer's Face"
Goofy="Victory Vehicles"
Pluto="Private Pluto"
Chip N Dale="Two Chips and a Miss"

When it comes to the brand character shorts (Mickey, Donald etc.) I like Trick or Treat best. It's one of the few examples of older Disney explicitly referencing Halloween, features a catchy theme song, good gags and a unique character in Witch Hazel.

But my favorite Disney shorts are A Symposium of Popular Songs and Ben and Me. The former has great songs and gives Ludwig a really good chance to shine along with the wonderfully stylized stop-motion musical bits. Ben and Me benefits from the 20-something munite runtime in developing its story which is quite cute, but looking at my love of other Disney mouse tales (Rescuers, GMD) I probably have a bias towards these kinds of storys.

I've been watching 'The Complete Goofy' on dvd now, and I've seen 'Mickey Mouse in Living Color- Vol. 2' and I know how Donald Duck's cartoon career ended, and I have to ask... does anybody know why Disney made *all* their lead characters into dull suburban averagemen? I mean, first it was Mickey, then Goofy and with shorts like 'How to have an accident at home/at work' it even happened to Donald!

All shorts made after 1950 all suffer from it. All the characteristics we loved about the characters are removed. Donald used to be the instigator of conflicts and the one seeking fights left and right and that made him funny. Then, he becomes the blame-less victim of bees, bears and chipmunks. Whenever 'Jack Hannah' is on the Donald-cartoons as a director, I know I'm not going to enjoy it. Mickey is a story apart. I didn't like him much as the mischievous (sp?) troublemaker of the black and white cartoons, but I think he was at his best in the 1930 cartoons alongside Donald & Goofy. Then suddenly, he becomes second fiddle to his pet dog in his own cartoon series! Goofy had a great thing going for him in the 'How to'-series, and then they change him in this boring suburban George Geef, with lifeless and humorless cartoons like Hello Aloha and Cold War. They even changed his voice and cut off his ears!

Anybody has any idea why Disney insisted on fucking up their lead characters like that?

I like the Donald Duck World War II cartoons. The fact that they have some basis in reality make them really good.

I also like Lonesome Ghosts, How to Hook Up Your Home Theater, the one where Pluto is in the Hall of Mirrors, Clock Cleaners, The Little Whirlwind, Nifty Nineties, The Band Concert, Chicken Little (that ending was really dark), The Little Match Girl, Roller Coaster Rabbit, and The Old Mill. Those are among the best of the shorts.

Goliath wrote:I've been watching 'The Complete Goofy' on dvd now, and I've seen 'Mickey Mouse in Living Color- Vol. 2' and I know how Donald Duck's cartoon career ended, and I have to ask... does anybody know why Disney made *all* their lead characters into dull suburban averagemen? I mean, first it was Mickey, then Goofy and with shorts like 'How to have an accident at home/at work' it even happened to Donald!

They basically followed the American culture of each decade. Mickey, Donald, and Goofy's odd jobs throughout the 30's were reflective of the Depression-era economy. Donald was a part-time private and part-time tourist of Latin America during World War II. The characters' suburbanization reflected the start of the post-war Baby Boomer generation.

All shorts made after 1950 all suffer from it. All the characteristics we loved about the characters are removed. Donald used to be the instigator of conflicts and the one seeking fights left and right and that made him funny. Then, he becomes the blame-less victim of bees, bears and chipmunks. Whenever 'Jack Hannah' is on the Donald-cartoons as a director, I know I'm not going to enjoy it. Mickey is a story apart. I didn't like him much as the mischievous (sp?) troublemaker of the black and white cartoons, but I think he was at his best in the 1930 cartoons alongside Donald & Goofy. Then suddenly, he becomes second fiddle to his pet dog in his own cartoon series! Goofy had a great thing going for him in the 'How to'-series, and then they change him in this boring suburban George Geef, with lifeless and humorless cartoons like Hello Aloha and Cold War. They even changed his voice and cut off his ears!

Anybody has any idea why Disney insisted on fucking up their lead characters like that?

I would say that the suburban environment worked best for Goofy. "George Geef" was basically the character's domesticated alter ego. And Jack Kinney often did effective satire/commentary of the suburban lifestyle.

Mickey didn't seem to benefit from suburbia at all, because he couldn't do anything without Pluto. Pluto, not surprisingly, flourished in the domestic environment.

With a few exceptions, Donald seemed to have the worst suburban experiences. I just never got the appeal of his pair-ups with Chip & Dale or Buzz-Buzz. They're not even real star characters, nor do they draw the same star power as Donald Duck, yet the stories expect us to side with the annoying rodent/insect just because of how "cute" they are, when all they really did was degrade Donald's persona to the easiest route possible.

This all played into Disney's penchant for being eternally distracted by supporting characters, in both the shorts and the movies. As far as shorts go, Jack Hannah proved early on that he was capable of much better storytelling. Under both circumstances, Disney's worst cartoons were often those where rodents and insects conspire to ruin Donald's life for no reason.

In terms of favorite cartoon shorts, for me, well, in terms of Mickey Mouse, my favorite would have to be "Thru the Mirror". And in terms of Goofy, it would have to be "Hockey Homicide". You gotta love that crazy climax at the end of the latter. And that recurring scene of Bertino and Ferguson going at it the instant they get out of the penalty box... only to go back in: "Here come Bertino and Ferguson out of the penalty box... And there go Bertino and Ferguson back into the penalty box."

Happy Birthday, Donald Duck!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A5dowCyaP7I

Semaj wrote:
This all played into Disney's penchant for being eternally distracted by supporting characters, in both the shorts and the movies. As far as shorts go, Jack Hannah proved early on that he was capable of much better storytelling. Under both circumstances, Disney's worst cartoons were often those where rodents and insects conspire to ruin Donald's life for no reason.

Ain't that the truth. Stuff like Donald's Off Day, Lighthouse Keeping, Clown Of The Jungle and Soup's On showed a promising future for Hannah's directing career. Heck, Daddy Duck is a Hannah effort, believe it or not! I could have bet my house on it being a King cartoon, for it uses so many elements that Hannah never employed otherwise (Donald interacting with humans on his level, being an active character, a deservedly sweet ending).

The irony is, when the Donald Duck Theme became the official tune of all the shorts, circa 1949, its lyrics, meant to be tongue-in-cheek, weren't so for the much part if you compared it to the short playing. Don stopped to start arguments. Don started being RIGHT most of the time. At times, he even had the sweetest disposition! He was, however, stuck with all the bad luck, indeed.

Isidro25 wrote:The irony is, when the Donald Duck Theme became the official tune of all the shorts, circa 1949, its lyrics, meant to be tongue-in-cheek, weren't so for the much part if you compared it to the short playing. Don stopped to start arguments. Don started being RIGHT most of the time. At times, he even had the sweetest disposition! He was, however, stuck with all the bad luck, indeed.

Actually the theme was first used in 1947, the first cartoon to use it being "Donald's Dilemma", directed by Jack King.

Big Disney Fan wrote:

Isidro25 wrote:The irony is, when the Donald Duck Theme became the official tune of all the shorts, circa 1949, its lyrics, meant to be tongue-in-cheek, weren't so for the much part if you compared it to the short playing. Don stopped to start arguments. Don started being RIGHT most of the time. At times, he even had the sweetest disposition! He was, however, stuck with all the bad luck, indeed.

Actually the theme was first used in 1947, the first cartoon to use it being "Donald's Dilemma", directed by Jack King.

My bad; I worded that badly. What I meant to say is that the official tune's irony was failing by 1949, not that it debuted on that year.

The cartoon that inspired Cars.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7pxap-M_--k

I love Sterling Holloway's narration.

Semaj wrote:The cartoon that inspired Cars.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7pxap-M_--k

I love Sterling Holloway's narration.

Oh, yeah. Here's a question to chew on: were Sally and Susie separated at birth?




Just look at the two, and you tell me if they don't somehow look alike!

I've seen quite a few Disney/Pixar shorts, and I like most of them. My historic favorite would be Music Land It's just so cute! As for my modern favorite, I would have to say Tinker Toy The textures isn't very good, but the colours and shading are incredible. Along with that, it's simply funny!

I love that short, hadn't seen it for years but I can remember catching it on the Disney Channel when I was younger; watching it makes me wish Disney still made shorts like this. And I agree with Semaj, I love Sterling Holloway's narration, in this short and Lambert the Sheepish Lion.

So apparently, there are people who HATE this Mickey cartoon.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LW-GiEwEx1I

Semaj wrote:So apparently, there are people who HATE this Mickey cartoon.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LW-GiEwEx1I

Um, why? I always liked it!