The Gallopin' Gaucho

Walt Disney knew he had a winning model in Mickey when he introduced the character in May 1928's "Plane Crazy." But he was discouraged not buyers wanted to pick up the cartoon. He had Ub Iwerks draw up a second Mickey cartoon, "The Gallopin' Gaucho," in an attempt to create interest in his mouse. Mickey is not the innocent rodent fans later knew him by. He rides into town on a South American rhea-not an ostrich as most believe his transport looks like. He enters a tavern and immediately lights up a cigar, swilling a beer with it. Minnie displays an erotic tango dance movement, and the two recreate Douglas Fairbanks' lusty steps with Lupe Valez in his 1927 "The Gaucho." The evil Black Pete, familiar to fans of Disney's "Alice's Comedies" and "Oswald the Lucky Rabbit," kidnaps Minnie and drags her out of the place. Mickey retrieves his rhea, only to discover the giant bird is smashed by drinking several beers. The mouse ends up carrying the passed out rhea while Pete brings Minnie to a house upstairs to take advantage of her. Mickey uses a Fairbanks trick to get up to Pete's third floor bedroom where the two duel with swords. Mickey throws a bedpan, landing over Pete's head, incapacitating him. Minnie escapes with Mickey on top of the now sober rhea. They all race behind a screen of trees, hiding what the two mouses romantically intend to do.

Viewers were ambivalent towards Disney's new cartoon, released August 1928. In the preview surveys, a majority felt felt Mickey, Minnie and Black Pete acted immoral and not characters they wanted their kids to look up to. What's unusual about "The Gallopin' Goucho" is Minnie is first seen wearing her famous oversized shoes early in the cartoon, but doesn't have them on towards the end. Disney wasn't totally in despair with his first two Mickey cartoons' rejection and would revisit them after sound was introduced to animation months later. Over a course of time, Mickey changed his adult behavior, appealing more to children than adults. The rodent became a model of good behavior, a wholesome character where parents weren't embarrassed by his actions.

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.

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.

One of the earliest Mickey and Minnie cartoons, about Mickey trying to save Minnie from a mean cat who stole her after they two mice were doing the tango. The tango was the most funniest part in the cartoon short, with their eyes furiously gazing at each other. The rest of the story is just the usual rescue-the-damsel-in-distress plot, not much to laugh about.

Grade C

Personally, unlike the other reviewers of this cartoon, I found "Galloppin' Gaucho" very entertaining and I personally prefer it to Mickey Mouse's first two cartoons before it, "Plane Crazy" and "Steamboat Willie", for the following reasons: 1. In the previous episodes, Mickey Mouse was quite a horrible, prank-playing character, who could be quite mean to Minnie Mouse or innocent animals. In this episode, he was not particularly mean to anyone (anyone innocent, anyway) and was very good to Minnie. 2. The plot in this cartoon is somewhat cliché, but I found it very entertaining all the same and is a plot change from the Looney Tunes cartoons I usually watch (where no respected girlfriend is featured). 3. As I mentioned before, Mickey Mouse and Minnie Mouse are very "cool" in this episode and they both dance very well (in a sort of slow-music style).

In this cartoon, Mickey Mouse is travelling on an ostrich/rhea, in South America and he stops at a bar by the road. There, he sees a very attractive female mouse, dancing to the guitar. She too notices Mickey and also finds him very attractive and they dance together (once both have impressed each other a little more). Suddenly, Minnie Mouse is snatched away by a huge (but normal size in real-life comparison from mice to cats) and fierce cat, who obviously plans on eating her. He takes Minnie away to his abode and Mickey quickly decides to go on after her. Will Mickey Mouse save his new love in time? I recommend this cartoon to anyone who enjoys Mickey and Minnie Mouse cartoons in general and to people who like old cartoons with a clever slapstick style intertwined with the story. Enjoy "Gallopin' Gaucho"! :-) 8 and a half out of ten.