Mickey's Steam Roller

A Walt Disney MICKEY MOUSE Cartoon.

MICKEY'S STEAMROLLER creates havoc when commandeered by his two infant nephews, Ferdy & Morty.

Good animation and a lively storyline help fuel this little black & white film, which features the only screen appearance by the dreadful duo, Ferdy & Morty. Considering the devastation caused by the runaway steamroller, why is Mickey still smiling at the end of the cartoon? The Mouse's squeaky voice is supplied by Walt Disney.

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.

Whether I grew up with them or not, I have enjoyed Disney. Mickey's Steam Roller is not one their best, but of this particular it is for me one of their more under-appreciated ones. I would have forgiven the slightly routine story, as it is true of many other Disney cartoons(even the funnier ones), if the ending was stronger. Sadly, the ending seemed rather abrupt to me, and for all the trouble Morty and Ferdy caused instead of getting a well-deserved talking to I found it really odd that Mickey acted as if nothing had happened(maybe it was a way to make the entertainment consistent and Mickey no less likable but somehow it didn't work for me). However, the animation is clean and very well done, especially the animation on the steam roller and the anthropomorphic face on its machine as it chases Mickey. The colourised version is also a treat, one of the most richly coloured originally-black-and-white cartoons I've seen actually, and the character designs don't jar too much either. The music sounds lovely and has much character to every scene, while the gags are also great especially the middle with the nephews and the steam-roller, the bit with the conversation hearts was a very cute distraction also. The characters engage, Mickey and Minnie are likable and Morty and Ferdy are adorable and very funny, one wishes why you didn't see much more of them after. In conclusion, very enjoyable but more work on the ending could have helped. 8/10 Bethany Cox

A not-so-funny, hectic little cartoon where two of Mickey's nephews take Mickey's steam roller on a joyride, destroying a third of the town in the process. This really could be a lesson to all the adults out there as to what would happen if you leave your kids unattended outside, especially near huge gadgets or tools.

Grade C+