Since the mid-late 1990s, Disney has made a few absolutely terrific cartoon shorts starring the old familiar characters. After a long hiatus and after having appeared in some rather insipid films starting in the 1950s, the series has been given some wonderful life in recent years, but unfortunately the number of these shorts is small--and you'd barely notice that they were released. Films like MICKEY'S BRAIN, HOW TO HOOK UP YOUR HOME THEATER and HOW TO HAUNT A HOUSE are among these wonderful newer shorts. While they have a lot of similarities to the best Disney shorts of the 1930s and 40s, they have a modern zaniness and tongue-in-cheek style that makes them unique--not just copies of the older classics.
In HOW TO HAUNT A HOUSE, the film looks a lot like the many "How To" films which have starred Goofy, but its absolutely bizarre style and sensibilities make this a must-see film. As a narrator lists the steps needed to haunt a home, poor Goofy is used (and abused) to teach these lessons. For example, as he's needed to haunt a home, he is killed as the cartoon begins!! That is certainly NOT something you'd have seen in the older cartoons and the film is filled with stuff like this. Funny, irreverent and a breath of fresh air--this is a film you just have to see to believe. Great stuff here.
