Two-Gun Mickey

This is a nice little treat--Mickey and Minnie out in the old west. I liked how the Disney folks tried these characters in a variety of time periods--thus keeping the cartoons fresh and interesting. I also like how this is just like a Gene Autry or Roy Rogers film...but in cartoon form!

The short begins with Minnie arriving in a western town. She meets up with Mickey but rebuffs his offer to help, as she is the clichéd woman of western B-movies--the self-sufficient woman who says "I can take care of myself"! However, when she withdraws a wad of cash from the bank and Pete and his gang chase her, she really is in need of help--and in rushes our hero, Mickey. Ultimately "I can take care of myself" takes on an all new meaning at the film's conclusion.

All in all, a really cute and well made outing for the pair. Not only does it offer a nice new locale but it's very entertaining--particularly if you are a B-western fan. Worth seeing twice.

A Walt Disney MICKEY MOUSE Cartoon.

When Miss Minnie is menaced by Bandit Pete, it's TWO-GUN MICKEY who comes riding to her rescue.

Exciting & funny, as well as being a wonderful Western spoof, this was one of the best of the Mouse's black & white films. Sharp-eyed viewers will notice that the animators couldn't remember which leg Pete had pegged - it keeps switching from side to side. Walt Disney supplied Mickey's squeaky voice.

Walt Disney (1901-1966) was always intrigued by drawings. As a lad in Marceline, Missouri, he sketched farm animals on scraps of paper; later, as an ambulance driver in France during the First World War, he drew figures on the sides of his vehicle. Back in Kansas City, along with artist Ub Iwerks, Walt developed a primitive animation studio that provided animated commercials and tiny cartoons for the local movie theaters. Always the innovator, his ALICE IN CARTOONLAND series broke ground in placing a live figure in a cartoon universe. Business reversals sent Disney & Iwerks to Hollywood in 1923, where Walt's older brother Roy became his lifelong business manager & counselor. When a mildly successful series with Oswald The Lucky Rabbit was snatched away by the distributor, the character of Mickey Mouse sprung into Walt's imagination, ensuring Disney's immortality. The happy arrival of sound technology made Mickey's screen debut, STEAMBOAT WILLIE (1928), a tremendous audience success with its use of synchronized music. The SILLY SYMPHONIES soon appeared, and Walt's growing crew of marvelously talented animators were quickly conquering new territory with full color, illusions of depth and radical advancements in personality development, an arena in which Walt's genius was unbeatable. Mickey's feisty, naughty behavior had captured millions of fans, but he was soon to be joined by other animated companions: temperamental Donald Duck, intellectually-challenged Goofy and energetic Pluto. All this was in preparation for Walt's grandest dream - feature length animated films. Against a blizzard of doomsayers, Walt persevered and over the next decades delighted children of all ages with the adventures of Snow White, Pinocchio, Dumbo, Bambi & Peter Pan. Walt never forgot that his fortunes were all started by a mouse, or that simplicity of message and lots of hard work always pay off.

I always enjoy Disney and Mickey Mouse cartoons, and Two-Gun Mickey is no exception. The basic concept is rather routine, no much different from the other Mickey rescues Minnie idea, and Pete's pegged leg strangely keeps switching from side to side. However, Two-Gun Mickey is always interesting and entertaining, full of action and great gags. I love the western feel also and the music has the energy you'd expect from a Disney cartoon. Mickey and Minnie are very likable protagonists and Pete is a great villainous foil. The voice work of Walt Disney, Marcellite Garner and Billy Bletcher are impeccable here. And when it comes to the animation, that is what makes Two-Gun Mickey so interesting, beautiful and smooth with inventive use of camera, panoramic views of the deserts and tight close-up shots of Mickey and Pete grappling over Minnie. Another point of interest was Mickey daydreaming about Minnie, instead of slowing down the action it makes you empathise with Mickey more and enhances also I think the storytelling. Overall, very interesting cartoon. 8/10 Bethany Cox