L'aratro di Topolino

Another of the Ub Iwerks animated (and directed) Mickey Mouse cartoons from his time with Disney in the late 20's; here Mickey is on a farm, milking a cow, surrounded by some other farm animals who make sounds, and Minnie comes along. The charm and total joy in seeing this short is seeing Mickey Mouse at a time when he was basically the Bad Boy, in capital letters. He plants a giant kiss on Minnie Mouse's face without any asking, and gets a swift bucket of milk over his head after she huffs and puffs. He also without any sense of right or wrong gets this cow into a state where she's just had it with him.

There's a chase (of course), with the perspective of the cow coming at the camera - as if in a very early 3D - and it ends with a pig being used as the new plow (!) Very short on plot, but if you love black and white Mickey Mouse cartoons, the likes of which were just about the animators and Walt Disney trying to make sure they got this thing called synchronized sound down - and, to be sure, all the other competitors didn't have them beat in that regard at the time - this is another wonderful one, with gags a-plenty and (relatively innocent) attitude to spare.

The Ployboy (1929)

*** (out of 4)

If you're looking for plot then it's best you stay away from this Mickey Mouse short, which has him working in the fields with his cow Clarabelle. She's refusing to work that well so Mickey ends up getting into some trouble. THE PLOYBOY is a pretty entertaining cartoon even though it contains pretty much zero story. It's basically a cute little film thanks in large part to the animation but there's also a nice little score that goes along with it as Mickey and Minnie both whistle a nice tune. There are some funny moments to be found including one sequence where Mickey gets fed up with Clarabelle licking him so he has to resort to a couple tricks.

I don't expect a cute person (or mouse) like Mickey to be tough to animals. Here, we see him cherish the soil using a plough. But when it breaks, he thinks a pig will be ideal for his job, the pig is not willing, but he forces him to work. The film is not bad, but I can't bear such criminal stuff.

Not much of a plot in this cartoon, as with earlier black and white Disney shorts. However, you will get a few chuckles when seeing Minnie storm off after Mickey kisses her, and from seeing Mickey attempt to go about doing his farm chores, plowing with Horace and milking Clarabelle. After a bee stings Horace, it's all chaos from there, and you'll pretty much get the picture.

Grade B-

I have always liked Disney and Mickey Mouse. The Plowboy is not one of their best, with a very thin and basic plot(not unusual for Disney cartoons at that time, but sometimes here it is so thin that if it weren't for everything else working so well The Plowboy would be rendered pointless). The voices have also been better later on, Minnie's singing voice I personally did find grating, though I have heard worse. However, it is worth watching for several reasons. I identified completely with both Mickey and Minnie here, especially the former, he with his frustration as he is mocked and she with her shy flirtatiousness. Horace and Clarabelle's appearances are pleasing also, more to actually to see them present rather in what they do, I actually felt rather mad at Horace when he mocked Mickey. The animation is just beautiful, the backgrounds are smooth and the character animation is some of the best of the early Mickey Mouse shorts, how Mickey's frustration is etched on his face is very well done in particular. As well as Minnie's introduction- here in the guise of a jaunty dance rather than Mickey approaching her- being refreshingly atypical to what we're used to. The music has always been a driving force as to why Disney cartoons have always worked so well, and it is full of its usual energy. Minnie's Yoo Hoo is so catchy. The gags do sound ridiculous in hindsight, but they're not. A lot of them are very endearing and funny, especially the gag when the pig, rooster and goat are fleeing from the runaway Horace, and smash into a tree(it's the result that makes it so funny). Overall, nothing special in terms of story, but the characters, animation, music and gags make The Plowboy a good cartoon in my view. 8/10 Bethany Cox