Open Discussion for Disney Shorts?

[Semaj]

Hey there, hi there, ho there,

I'm a new member who has blown in just today!

I realized belatedly that I should participate in a forum that's open to Disney discussion, being a life-long Disney fan. I've been to places like disneyshorts.org and the Golden Age of Cartoons Forum, except talks of Disney's shorts have been infrequent at both places.

In the former, you can leave reviews on individual shorts, but it takes a while before your review is posted on the website. The whole site has also been down several times over the years. In the latter, the forums are open to talks of old-school cartoons (from Disney, Warner Bros, Lantz, MGM, Fleischer/Famous, etc.), except the usual stream of discussion bends towards the Warner Bros. stable. Attempts to hold a broader stream have met with little enthusiasm. Which is a shame, because it's one of the most civil places you'll ever visit.

I had heard about this place after a recent GAC incident, and decided to give it a try.

If anyone wants to chat on some classic Mickey, Donald, or Goofy shorts, in a singular thread, or in weekly discussion rounds, I'm available!

[Tangled]

The best Disney short in a while (actually Pixar XD) is probably the "Day and Night" short that was in front of Toy Story 3 when I saw it. It's super creative and has excellent animation (the characters are handrawn, but see through, and the characters are like windows to a CGI world. It looks really cool )

[TheValentineBros]

Hey Semaj. I wanna say that the best animated Disney short (that includes PIXAR) has to be Presto. It has a humor used from Tex Avery and Looney Tunes, and the animation is spectacular, and that's saying a lot because PIXAR's animation for the shorts and the films are great.

[Escapay]

One of my favorite cartoon shorts is "Father Noah's Ark," but probably because I grew up with it as a kid. I generally prefer the black&white Mickey Mouse shorts to his color ones. He's more rambunctious and fun than his color counterpart.

I know Heil Donald Duck will chime in eventually with "Der Fuehrer's Face".

albert

[TheValentineBros]

I was waiting for you to say that.

[Heil Donald Duck]

Propaganda Disney shorts are pretty good one of mine other favorite Education for Death so I think that pepole thats thinks that Disney is only about sweet hart stories need to see them to get broader view on Disney.

[Goliath]

I generally prefer the black&white Mickey Mouse shorts to his color ones. He's more rambunctious and fun than his color counterpart.

Funny, I feel the other way around. I find most of the black-and-white Mickey Mouse shorts to be rather boring. I can watch them from a historic perspective, but I think there's not much entertainment value in it for modern audiences; whereas the colored cartoons have held up very well. A lot of those black-and-white cartoons suffer from the lack of a plot. Especially the early years, every other short was about Mickey making music. The innovation of Disney was to have cartoons with synchronized sound, and that alone was entertainment enough for the audience. Shorts were made up of a string of gags and that was that.

As the years went by, story became much more important and gags had to develop from the characters' personalities. Character animation became important. The black-and-white Mickeys have a crudeness to it that the colored one don't have. (Generally speaking, 'cause one can't really drawn the line between b&w and color, as that's somewhat artificial.)

[Barbossa]

So whatever happened to all these new shorts they were gonna release? So far the only one I've seen was Goofy in How To Hook-Up Your Home Theater.

I want to see some more. And attached to movies like Tangled and TRON.

[Semaj]

I generally prefer the black&white Mickey Mouse shorts to his color ones. He's more rambunctious and fun than his color counterpart.

Funny, I feel the other way around. I find most of the black-and-white Mickey Mouse shorts to be rather boring. I can watch them from a historic perspective, but I think there's not much entertainment value in it for modern audiences; whereas the colored cartoons have held up very well. A lot of those black-and-white cartoons suffer from the lack of a plot. Especially the early years, every other short was about Mickey making music. The innovation of Disney was to have cartoons with synchronized sound, and that alone was entertainment enough for the audience. Shorts were made up of a string of gags and that was that.

As the years went by, story became much more important and gags had to develop from the characters' personalities. Character animation became important. The black-and-white Mickeys have a crudeness to it that the colored one don't have. (Generally speaking, 'cause one can't really drawn the line between b&w and color, as that's somewhat artificial.)

The only problem with Mickey is that his transition into color was coincidentally the time his co-stars were becoming more prominent than him. Pluto, Donald, and Goofy would all eventually gain their own series, but after a brief revival campaign that began with Fantasia, Mickey was reduced to being Pluto's occasional guest star for the remainder of his theatrical career.

I would've preferred if they kept up with the Mickey Mouse from 1941, from shorts like The Little Whirlwind and The Nifty Nineties. Mickey was at his most active and appealing during this period, where he was in control of his own stories, and it helped that they could've easily drawn interest in the changing sensibilities of the time.

[sunhuntin]

does "one by one" count as a short or siily symphony? [was on the lion king 2 dvd]

[Escapay]

Funny, I feel the other way around. I find most of the black-and-white Mickey Mouse shorts to be rather boring. I can watch them from a historic perspective, but I think there's not much entertainment value in it for modern audiences; whereas the colored cartoons have held up very well. A lot of those black-and-white cartoons suffer from the lack of a plot. Especially the early years, every other short was about Mickey making music. The innovation of Disney was to have cartoons with synchronized sound, and that alone was entertainment enough for the audience. Shorts were made up of a string of gags and that was that.

As the years went by, story became much more important and gags had to develop from the characters' personalities. Character animation became important. The black-and-white Mickeys have a crudeness to it that the colored one don't have. (Generally speaking, 'cause one can't really drawn the line between b&w and color, as that's somewhat artificial.)

The only problem with Mickey is that his transition into color was coincidentally the time his co-stars were becoming more prominent than him. Pluto, Donald, and Goofy would all eventually gain their own series, but after a brief revival campaign that began with Fantasia, Mickey was reduced to being Pluto's occasional guest star for the remainder of his theatrical career.

That's more or less why I prefer early early Mickey to his established persona today. He actually did things, as opposed to just being there. Even if it's just singing a song or having a gag. He was an active player in his own series, rather than the supporting character. Obviously as the series progressed, the production values grew as did the animation, but Mickey ended up losing a great deal of sass and bite that early Mickey flourished in. He gradually becomes too nice to do things he used to do and a lot of his later shorts reflect that as he doesn't get a chance to do much at all.

does "one by one" count as a short or siily symphony? [was on the lion king 2 dvd]

It's a short.

albert

[Heil Donald Duck]

does "one by one" count as a short or siily symphony? [was on the lion king 2 dvd]

It's a short.

albert[/quote]

Albert is correct it is a short but it's not an theatrical shorts as it wasn't released in theater but it was released on DVD so stright-to-vidieo/DVD short more accurate.

[Goliath]

@ Semaj:

I agree on most points. Remember, there were still shorts like 'Brave little tailor' and 'The pointer', in which Mickey was the main star, but in the other ones, Donald and Goofy indeed played a bigger role. I don't think that's a downside. I think they made for a nice ensemble and I think Mickey needed that support. He wasn't a very strong personality who could easily carry a short alone, like Donald. Mickey always needed some other character, even if it was only Minnie; Donald could be all alone for the entire short and still be entertaining.

I agree that shorts like 'The Nifty Nineties' and 'Mickey and the Seal' made very good use of the character. They had humor and a lot of charm and appeal; thanks to Fred Moore once again. You're also right when you say in later years, he became Pluto's co-star. I always hated those shorts. They weren't every funny, but then again I don't think Pluto's a very funny character. The quality of animation had seriously declined by that time, but you also see that in the later Donald Duck and Goofy cartoons. They almost approach tv standards.

I would say the best time for Disney shorts was 1934-1944.

[sunhuntin]

sweet, thanks for that! i love it... the animation is amazing and the song is inspiring.

[RIPJoeRanft]

One of the many great things about YouTube is the sheer amount of animated shorts on the site.

A favorite Disney short of all mine is from 1936, called The Three Little Wolves. The music is terrific, especially that creepy German chant performed by the Wolf. And I adore the animation, particularly once the two pigs are kidnapped by the wolves.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R38yK8JUY7k

[Semaj]

Yeah, Disney has been particularly liberal recently about allowing their content to be shown on YouTube, ironic to their reputation of being tight-fisted when it comes to legal matters.

I loved the Three Little Pigs sequels. 1939's The Practical Pig features some of roundest, bounciest animation out of any Disney short, including shots from Frank & Ollie. The lie detector is simply brilliant.

[Semaj]

I've been revisiting some Donald Duck cartoons, and came across thisone.

I really like this one, because this was a rare time Donald battled a bird who's every bit as crafty and stubborn as he is.

[RIPJoeRanft]

I've been revisiting some Donald Duck cartoons, and came across thisone.

I really like this one, because this was a rare time Donald battled a bird who's every bit as crafty and stubborn as he is.

The animators did a pretty poor job synching the words with his mouth, particularly from :54-:59 and 2:47-49. Donald is a prick (at least he creepily realizes it at 1:27) for waking up that middle-aged looking pelican. I'm not exactly an expert at deciphering Donald's mumbled English, but doesn't it sound like Donald is calling the pelican a "dumb, dumb bastard" at 3:00? And the grimace animation and sound that Donald makes when he finds the fish at 3:35 is classic.

But as far as Donald vs. Birds go, nothing beats the Clown of the Jungle, the Aracuan Bird! One of my all-time favorite Disney characters.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zlWF-uC8kB8

[Semaj]

Spring is here, so I thought I'd post this cartoon. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pTDTrcFUsLw

It's one of my favorite Pluto shorts. Not surprising that all of the YouTube comments revolve around the catepillar-butterfly transformation.

[avonleastories95]

I would say, without a doubt, the best Disney cartoon is Trick or Treat. I mean really, this short was above its time.
"This hurts me worse than it does you. Now take a longer start, BOUT A MILE OR TWO![/b]