Les rythmes de la jungle

I would say that half or more of these early Mickey Mouse cartoons involve his turning animals and inanimate objects into musical instruments. Here he faces off with dangerous characters but subdues them with tunes. He also seems able to pull their whiskers or twist their bodies without consequences. This one is loaded with these clever manipulations and comes across pretty well. No plot. Just Mickey doing his thing.

By all means this is not Mickey's best, but is fun and charming still. Some of the backgrounds have a somewhat sparse and primitive look, and the cartoon is virtually plot-less with an abrupt ending. However, the character designs do flow well especially with the lion and also the jungle cat's cute facial expressions. The music is energetic and very catchy, it was nice to hear Turkey in the Straw again, and the dancing shows nifty choreography and flowing movement especially with the lion's hula dance. There are some fun gags, such as Mickey grabbing a branch off a tree and starting to play it like a saxophone and with the Monkeys. Mickey is very likable as ever, and the animals are colourful characters in their own right. Overall, a charming and amusing short if not one of Mickey's best. 8/10 Bethany Cox

Tiger dances, monkeys dance, birds dance, mickey dances, and that's the whole story. Maybe it was good in its day, but its length might still be a problem. A film that features only music and dancing should not be long, but it keeps repeating it again and again to an extent that it becomes boring.

This is not a bad little musical, with Mickey playing all sorts of instruments with a band of animals in the jungle. There's quite a bit of toe-tapping music, including the Blue Danube, Turkey in the Straw, Aloha 'Oe, and Yankee Doodle.

There's really not plot to the cartoon, just plenty of songs and dances.

Grade B-

Inexplicably, this cartoon short finds Mickey in the jungle. And, like most of the early Mickey cartoons, there is an absence of dialog and lots of music. While today this all seems pretty campy, it was state of the art in its day.

For the most part, there really isn't any plot--just lots of jungle creatures parading past the screen--singing and dancing like they are on stage. Then, you get to hear Mickey sing--and it's pretty sad--but fortunately he mostly avoids singing and plays various animals like musical instruments--and abusing them a bit in the process.

Far from a classic, there is still an odd charm about this. And, interestingly, Mickey once again plays (among other songs) "Turkey in the Straw"--the same tune he played in "Steamboat Willie" the year before--which was the first cartoon with sound.