Le cirque de Mickey

A Walt Disney MICKEY MOUSE Cartoon.

Multitudes of naughty orphan mice nearly demolish poor MICKEY'S CIRCUS during a very chaotic performance.

There are lots of laughs in this very well-animated little film. Temperamental Donald Duck is the center of attention as he attempts to control his ill-trained sea lions. Walt Disney & Clarence Nash supplied the unique voices for the Mouse & the Duck, respectively.

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 comic 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, Dumbo, Bambi & Peter Pan. Walt never forgot that his fortunes were all started by a mouse, or that childlike simplicity of message and lots of hard work always pay off.

'Mickey's Circus' is a pretty funny animated short starring Mickey who announces Donald Duck and his sea-lions in a circus. There are three adult sea lions and one little one and especially the little one causes some trouble. Of course from that point everything else goes terribly wrong as well.

This is a nice short. There are quite some funny moments. Especially the moments where the little sea lion has a fight with Donald over a fish is very good. Near the end Mickey returns in the short when he ends up in the trapeze because Donald can't control his sea lions. Another nice one from Disney.

Mickey's Circus is having an 'orphans for free' day. All of the orphans appear to be Mickey Mice. His circus ain't up to much as far as we see. All he appears to have are a bunch of dancing seals, they baby is the cutest.

Though classed as a Mickey cartoon, he disappears for most of the show, leaving Donald to go crazy in that way he always does. Obviously the seals torment Donald and cause him no end of grief but why do the orphans suddenly turn on Mickey's Circus? The pack him and Donald into the cannon and blast them off. Nothing like saying thanks huh?

There are a few laughs in this one. But not a lot. I don't like circuses.

This cartoon short is called Mickey's Circus, but the show belonged to Donald Duck. He attempts to put on a sea lion act for the orphans, but the sea lions got the best of Donald, stealing the fish and wrestling with Donald. Soon, both Donald and Mickey find themselves in an unexpected high-wire act, thanks to mischievous orphans.

Kids might find this short funny, but I thought much of the story is annoying with the unrelenting baby sea lion stealing Donald's fish and spoiling his show to the orphans' blatant disregard for the safety of Mickey and Donald by electrifying the wire and putting oil on it. Some thanks they show to our two heroes, who put on a free show for them! Not a fun cartoon.

Grade D---

Mickey's Circus was one of my all-time favourite cartoons as a kid and I still love it now. Despite it being Mickey's Circus though, I found Mickey sidelined. Considering that the characters that stole the show were Donald, funny and temperamental as ever, and the cute sea lions, I thought a more fitting title could've been Donald's Circus. However, it is always amusing, especially the sequences with Donald, the Sea Lions and the fish and Donald on the tightrope. The story may be slightly routine, but the gags and action are always exciting, and elevated by the energetic music, including a sped-up version of Offenbach's Can Can and beautiful Technicolour animation. The Orphans are a bratty lot, but there is something appealing also about them. Walt Disney and especially Clarence Nash's voice work is as bravura as always. Overall, a great cartoon, with Donald and the Sea Lions stealing the show. 9/10 Bethany Cox