Rendez-vous retardé

A Walt Disney MICKEY MOUSE Cartoon.

With Minnie already miffed by MICKEY'S DELAYED DATE to meet her, the Mouse scurries to get dressed & downtown, with assistance from Pluto.

This little film has an amusing story and the animators have given Mickey a certain insouciant air (when decked out in top hat & tails) that quite suits the world's most respected rodent.

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 will always pay off.

When "Mickey's Delayed Date" begins, the title screen shows a copyright date of 1941...though IMDB lists the date as being 1947...the same for Wikipedia. After watching, I am inclined to believe and Wikipedia, as the style of Mickey was quite different from 1941 to 1947....and the same can be said for the backgrounds in these shorts. The 1941 era shorts tended to have finer quality and more three dimensional looking backgrounds and Mickey was more finely drawn.

When the story begins, Mickey is asleep and Minnie calls to wonder why he hasn't arrived for their date. He quickly rushes off to meet her and again and again he gets into trouble. He also forgets the tickets he'll need for the date....and Pluto chases him down to bring them to him.

This is an okay cartoon. The animation is about on par with the stuff coming from Looney Toons and slightly less impressive than MGM shorts of 1947. Worth seeing but also a bit blander than the earlier Mickey shorts.

I love Disney and Mickey Mouse; I loved Mickey's Delayed Date. It is beautifully animated, with the backgrounds typically fluid and the colours(and Mickey) looking elegant. The music as always is dynamic and energetic, ever enhancing the pace, dialogue and sight gags, which are all very amusing especially with the top hat. The story is a snappily paced and cute one too, while all the characters from likable Mickey, energetic Pluto, well-meaning Minnie to the top hat that has a personality of its own are on great form as are the voice actors.

Overall, a cute amusing cartoon, the classics never get old as far as I'm concerned. 10/10 Bethany Cox

This short is by no means a classic, but it is entertaining and has a cute and (for me) an offbeat ending. Sight gags for the most part, this is amusing, if light, occasionally popping up on The Ink and Paint Club. Well worth watching. Recommended.

This is a fun Mickey and Minnie cartoon, where Mickey showcases some of his magic, courtesy of his top hat, as he hurriedly dresses to meet Minnie for a dance date after oversleeping.

It's great seeing Mickey scrambled to shower, dress and make it to the dance hall, with the help of Pluto. Mickey's magic top hat isn't cooperating much as it shrinks and enlarges while Pluto tries to grab it for Mickey.

More comedy ensues when Mickey leaves his house without the dance tickets and Pluto races to give it to Mickey, dodging trash cans and cars along the way.

Great fun! Grade A