The Pointer

The Pointer is noteworthy for winning an Oscar, and I happen to love it and consider it a worthy winner. For instance the animation is gorgeous, perhaps one of the better-looking Mickey and Pluto cartoons, with the stylish backgrounds and beautiful colour palette. Not to mention the scenes with Mickey and the bear, apparently the animators had difficulty having Mickey completely right in these, but in terms of movements I think the finished product was a masterstroke. The Disney cartoons also all have wonderful music, and here is no exception. I especially liked the musical scoring of Pluto chasing the caterpillar and also with Pluto and the quails. The story wasn't too predictable and always did entertain, I admit when I was younger the part where Mickey gets angry at Pluto was a turn off but after seen enough cartoons to know that Mickey isn't like that normally that scene is fine to me now. There are also a few funny moments, with Mickey getting the best ones. This is especially true with "Ha, ha, look Pluto it's you"(plus his slow realisation that it isn't Pluto behind him), "Uh I'm Mickey Mouse! You haven't heard of me? At home?" and his final line "BEANS PAH!" Mickey himself is as likable as usual, even when he's angry, and Pluto is cute and energetic, there were even times when I felt sorry for him such as the way he reacts when Mickey is angry and how hard he tries not to move even with quails all over him. All in all, wonderful. 10/10 Bethany Cox

This short is memorable only for the fact that it somehow got nominated for an Oscar in 1939. It is by no means a bad cartoon-the animation is nice, the backgrounds quite detailed and technically, it is up to Disney standards-it just isn't all that memorable or interesting. Just a good, competent, workman-like short that's as filling as oatmeal and as tasty as a rice-cake. An okay cartoon, but for all that, barely a blip on the radar. They show this on The Ink and Paint Club.

This is a rather funny cartoon for both Mickey and Pluto, where they go hunting for quails. Mickey instructs Pluto to point whenever he sees the birds, but Pluto gets sidetrack by a worm and Mickey runs into a bear. Mickey's reaction to seeing the bear was pretty hilarious, muttering and stumbling as he tries to escape the bear's wrath.

Pluto getting the quails stuck to his body was also quite funny, as is the way Mickey berates Pluto for scaring away all the quails at first. Quite some exciting moments in this short.

Grade A-

The only place I ever hoped to see Mickey sporting a gun would be in an editorial cartoon. So much for hoping. The kiddies get to see their favorite mouse lurking around the woods attempting to blow out the bird brains of some quail. He doesn't even flinch when he sees a couple with their babies trailing after them. Nope...he just fires off a round. Cute Walt...really cute.

Nominated for an Oscar? This one hardly deserved a high caliber award. Mickey's constant use of derogatory language was also a big turn-off. I guess if talking trash to your supposed friend and trying to shoot forest creatures is entertainment to you, you'll be wowed by "The Pointer" 1/10

A Walt Disney MICKEY MOUSE Cartoon.

Mickey goes quail hunting, using an enthusiastic Pluto as THE POINTER to find the quarry. Bad idea...

This excellent little film, which was nominated for an Oscar, is hilarious, with first rate animation and plenty of action. Walt Disney provides Mickey with his unique voice; this was the first Mouse cartoon in which the Disney artists drew Mickey with pupils in his eyes.

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.