The Gallopin' Gaucho

The Gallopin' Gaucho (1928)

*** (out of 4)

Mickey Mouse is visiting Mexico and walks into a Cantina where he sees Minnie Mouse dancing up a storm. Naturally he jumps in and two begin to have a swell time but then a large cat jumps in and steals her. THE GALLOPIN' GAUCHO was the second of three Mickey cartoons that were made in 1928 and there's no question that, drawing wise, Mickey went through some changes since the first one. With that said, out of the three films this here is clearly the weakest but it's certainly still worth watching and especially if you're not too familiar with these early films. There's certainly good animation throughout but there's really no giant laughs to be had.

A Walt Disney MICKEY MOUSE Cartoon.

THE GALLOPIN' GAUCHO must speed to rescue cantina dancer Minnie from the foul clutches of Pete, the outlaw cat.

This ancient black & white film was only the second Mickey Mouse cartoon released with synchronized sound. It's fun watching The Mouse doing a Douglas Fairbanks spoof - using his tail the way Doug did his bullwhip in THE GAUCHO (1927). Is Mickey's faithful Argentinean mount an ostrich or a rhea? The Disney animators were already making full use of underwear & posterior jokes. Pete still has both legs in this one.

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, Bambi, Peter Pan and Mr. Toad. 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.

This cartoon is one of the shorts Walt Disney produced after his contract in the Oswald business concluded. It also among the earliest cartoons to feature Mickey Mouse.

One thing that intrigues me is the girl mouse who wears pumps that are too big for her (She probably borrowed them from her mom.). When she dances with Mickey, her heels would often slip out. And when the villainous cat captures her, the shoes fell off. I think it would be more interesting if we get to see the shoes actually come off (We can't see it because she was swung past the edge of the screen.).

Anyway, the cartoon is quite fun to watch. Mickey will come to the rescue.

Mickey is a gaucho--an Argentinian cowboy. He rides an ostrich for some reason. He goes to a cantina where Minnie is a dancer. They hook up, but it isn't long before she is kidnapped by Pete, the giant cat. There are all sorts of interesting implausibles, mostly involving mouse tails. Anyway, it's a decent little film. Mickey starts to gain a little personality.

Who knew Mickey Mouse could be so un-pc? Drinking, smoking, picking up strange lady mice in out of the way watering holes. It's primitive, but more fun than his later incarnation.