Grand Opéra

BUILDING ON THE success and artistic acclaim achieved with the release of Mickey Mouse & Company in THE BAND CONCERT, Disney took the next logical step. Taking the Band inside a Concert Hall, adding the visuals of the Opera and bringing new, rising star Donald Duck further into the Spotlight, Walt moved the animation envelope just a little closer to his realization of his true dream of doing a Full Length, Feature Animation Picture.

AS IS SO often the case, a cartoon will follow the inter-related actions of two or three characters. In this manner, a story can freely and naturally develop the gags that will both drive the story and please the funny-bone.

IN THE CASE of this picture, we contrast Mickey's earnest attention with both Pluto's animal curiosity and Donald Duck's inaudible and confusing singing in the lead male role on stage.

AS FAR AS the participation by familiar Disney character, there is a quick drop-off in numbers. In the Orchestra Pit we have only Goofy and Clarabelle Cow. The rest of the various sections are populated with some cookie-cutter dog characters. Then there is Donald and the Hen from THE WISE LITTLE HEN; which was Donald's first picture.

THAT WAS ONLY two years earlier; proving how rapidly the Duck's star was rising.

In this cartoon short, Mickey Mouse is conducting an opera when he chases Pluto away, only to have him tangle with his runaway magician hat. Meanwhile, Clara Cluck sings a pretty mundane opera number with her somewhat annoying voice, as Clarabelle Cow plays the flute and Donald Duck serves as Clara's male lead. It results in some funny moments as Donald and Clara's awkward chemistry are depicted, all the while Pluto spars with the magician hat and Mickey frantically tries to keep the entire opera under control. However, what results is a pretty chaotic mess. The actual humor is kept at a minimum, so, as a result, I've seen funnier cartoons than this from Disney.

Grade C+

Eesh, if I were making an Opera I would NOT cast a hen as the fat lady. Sorry. She's just awful, that noise...ugh! I think Disney should have realized her singing would have put people off! The 1 minute shot of her just singing was too much to bear.

As usual for a Disney cartoon, calamity is not far behind. Backstage Pluto is being tormented by rabbits in a top hat, conductor Mickey is desperately trying to keep the Opera from falling apart and Donald has trouble with his acting skills and prodding stuff with his sword prop.

The audience gets a fair chuckle as everything goes badly. And the cartoon ends on an abrupt note, as many Disney toons do. Mildly funny.

A Walt Disney MICKEY MOUSE Cartoon.

Mme. Clara Cluck & Donald Duck are performing Rigoletto - very badly - as a part of MICKEY'S GRAND OPERA.

The duet with the Duck & the Cluck in this wonderful little film is absolutely hilarious. The subplot, in which poor Pluto tries to capture a magic hat busy disgorging scores of white rabbits, doves & mice, is the perfect counterpoint. Watch the orchestra carefully to spot flautist Clarabelle Cow and violinist Goofy. Florence Gill does the clucking for Clara, Clarence Nash provides Donald with his unique voice, Walt Disney does the honors for Mickey.

Walt Disney (1901-1966) was always intrigued by pictures & 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 storm of naysayers, 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.