Topolino e gli spettri

One of the chief features of these early cartoons was dance. Take a piece of music and have an animate or an inanimate object begin to hoof it. In this one, Mickey is caught in a storm and seeks refuge in a spooky old house. It is inhabited by skeletons. They do what they can to frighten him, with great success. But it turns out they are looking for music. Mickey is placed on a stool and forced to play an organ. Then the dancing starts. Using bones as the motif, the undead do quite a good job. There are several surprises along the way. I enjoyed it very much.

Haunted House (1929)

*** (out of 4)

Mickey Mouse is caught in a blizzard when he is forced into an old house, which turns out to be a cavern for skeletons. The main ghoul makes Mickey play the organ while the skeletons dance the night away. I didn't find too many things in this film to be funny but there's no denying the amount of imagination and creativity on display here. The look and atmosphere of the castle makes this a very good horror film and it fits perfectly into the genre more than a lot of non-Disney films. The skeleton dances are quite lively and amusing with Mickey's attempted escape even better. The best looking sequence of the film happens at the start when bats fly towards the screen. The films has a lot of connections with The Skeleton Dance from the same year.

I have always loved the Silly Symphonies and I do have a soft spot for the Mickey Mouse ones. While not my favourite, Haunted House is one of Mickey Mouse's better earlier efforts. There were moments where you can tell there was a Skeleton Dance influence such as a skeleton playing himself like a xylophone, but this didn't put me off at all. The animation very much adds to the atmosphere especially with the effective mix of light and dark shades, the opening is wonderfully eerie and the light-match sequence in the dark hallway is also a masterstroke, showing a depth to Mickey's face and emotions in a way that not many cartoons since have done so well. The music is both energetic and haunting, the story is swift and fun complete with a relevant and interestingly-choreographed dance routine and the gags are imaginative and well-spaced out. And I loved that Mickey is given more to do than usual here, he is a great character but can be bland if with a character like Donald. This is also one of two cartoons where I have seen so much depth to Mickey in terms of animation, the other being The Mad Doctor. The skeletons are wonderfully kooky. All in all, one of Mickey's best. 9/10 Bethany Cox

Haunted House is a true Disney's classic. Mickey is that innocent,funny and sometimes naughty mouse that finds refuge in a old and of course haunted house. Several times Mickey appears to look at the camera when he finds himself in a difficult situation or when he gets surprised by an event. This short movie, made in 1929, has amazing special effects for such an early cartoon. I enjoyed the story simplicity but interesting. I consider this cartoon the best of Disney's black and white era. Also it prompts you to ask yourself how the current TV cartoons, like the horrible Cow and Chicken, has taken the minds of our children.

Cartoons are tough to assign as genre, but this is one, with actual dancing skeletons and other tropes. Enjoyable if repetitive, but it's only 7 minutes or less. Great animation... FREE ONLINE.