O Piquenique

A Walt Disney MICKEY MOUSE Cartoon.

Mickey romances Minnie during THE PICNIC they enjoy in the country.

An enjoyable little black & white film, with the entire plot being dictated by the lively soundtrack. That's "Minnie's Yoo Hoo!" - one of Mickey's earliest theme songs - which the Mouse is performing during the opening scene; later, he and Miss Minnie dance to "In The Good Old Summertime." Pluto is Minnie's dog this time around. Walt Disney supplies Mickey's speaking voice.

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.

Mickey and Mnnie go on a picnic. They bring enough food to feed an army, but everything goes wrong. Bringing Pluto along was no joy. Mickey brings along a Victrola and plays dance music. While he and Minnie are dancing, everything goes south. There is little plot other than a lack of focus on the part of our famous pair.

Not much of a plot to the story, but plenty of song and dance with matching music to the characters' movements. No laughs in this one, and it's more like a miniature music without the singing.

Grade C

This is very short, but is fully redeemed by surprisingly good black and white animation(though there is a version of it on Youtube in Technicolour) and brilliant music, that does have a very lyrically nostalgic feel to it.

Mickey and Minnie never fail to bring a smile to my face, and the picnic scene itself was very charming fare. But here, I loved Pluto, I thought he was absolutely hilarious, especially when he was chasing the rabbit. The look of Pluto diving in and out of the rabbit holes is enough to crack anybody up.

All in all, very short, but very worthwhile. 10/10 Bethany Cox

"The Picnic" is an odd blending of ultra-cutesy (yeck!) with good old fashioned cynicism--making for an unusual but very watchable cartoon short.

It begins with Mickey going to pick up Minnie and her dog, Rover*. And, in a scene VERY reminiscent of "National Lampoon's Vacation", they tie the dog's lead to the rear bumper and set out for a picnic. Once there, Rover runs about trying to catch rabbits while Mickey and Minnie and the other animals dance about to the music. It would all have been nauseating except that soon the animals and bugs begin stealing all of the picnic items--which is pretty funny. Overall, compared to the average cartoon of the time, this one is superior and rather clever. Certainly not among Mickey's best but quite good. Also, the print is a bit scratchy but not enough to discourage you from watching.

*Rover is clearly an early version of Pluto and looks exactly like him. But, the sign on the doghouse clearly says 'Rover'.