El sastrecillo valiente

The next short in the Disney Plus 'Shorts' section was "The Brave Tailor", a Mickey Mouse effort from 1938, that is a loose retelling of the Brothers Grimm Fairy tale.

A Kingdom has been terrorised by a giant (Eddie Holden) and requires a brave knight to eliminate him. Mickey Mouse (Walt Disney) kills seven flies in one go in his workshop and opens his window to brag about it, the villagers he speaks to are already talking about killing the giant and when Mickey says he "killed seven with one blow" a misunderstanding sees him hired as a giant killer. Though naturally reluctant, he's offered the hand of Princess Minnie (Marcellite Garner) as a reward and decides to give it a go.

This is one of the absolute undisputed classics and it brought back vivid memories from my childhood seeing it again. The animation style is already iconic, even this early on with the character designs spot on. The audio mix is less successful, with some decisions, such as the realistic rather than stylised performances from the crowd sounding jarringly odd. If you wanted to be hyper critical about the story, it doesn't actually add up to very much once the quest has started.

Those are quibbles really, in a cartoon that is an undisputed classic and well worth the nostalgic occasion.

One of my favorite Disney cartoons when I was growing up, as I would always rent this cartoon at the local video store when it was part of a video compilation of cartoon shorts.

This short stars Mickey Mouse as the Brave Little Taylor who single handedly takes on a giant when he was invading his peaceful village. It is fun to see Mickey worm himself in and around the giant as he attempts to bring him down.

The giant himself is pretty comical looking, but you could tell he is a force to be reckon with as the entire earth trembles as he stomps by. It is also nice to see Mickey in an underdog role without any magic tricks to save the day, instead, relying on his physical self.

This cartoon short serves a good message that heroes can come in small packages, and quick wit and thinking can defeat even the strongest or biggest foes.

Grade A

This time Mickey is starring all on his own, with no back-up. And for a change he's actually got a good story instead of the usual 'disaster' plots. In this cartoon, he plays a tailor who, through a series of misunderstandings, is sent on a mission by the king to take out a giant who is about to pound on their village. Princess Minnie is his reward so obviously he's going to oblige no matter how impossible that mission may be.

Shock horror, there are actually some laughs and Mickey manages to hold our attention instead of making us drift away. The gimmicks and imagination are very good and the ending in which the villagers use the sleeping giant as a power source is very clever.

Definitely one of the best Mickey shorts.

Watching this in the early 80's as a child I loved this short. And now in 2018 watching it again, I assumed it was at least made in the late 50's. Because of the quality and craftsmanship. Shocked and even more impressed now that I now it was created in the late 30's. Still holds up and should be on the shelf of any Disney or animation fan.

This short, nominated for an Oscar for 1938, is the best color Mickey Mouse short, certainly and maybe the best short ever starring this most illustrious of rodents. Because of a misapprehension of a simple declarative sentence, our stalwart sets out on a course to become a somewhat reluctant hero. Well-executed and with Disney's usual attention to detail, this is an excellent cartoon, but it had the great misfortune to come out in the same year as an equally marvelous cartoon (also made by Disney) and so did not bring home the statuette for Walt. Most recommended.