Chasseurs de baleines

This is a cartoon that features, in a rare move, all three of Disney's biggest stars: Mickey, Donald and Goofy. They work on a ship and each run into scores of mishaps. Mickey couldn't get his bucket of water to dump into the ocean; Donald's can't have a moment's peace during his lunch break; and Goofy is having trouble firing a cannon. Things get worse when they run into a whale that resembles Monstro from Pinocchio.

It's a story full of slapstick comedy and misadventures. Good for laughs but I think it leaves you wishing that the three guys would get a break from all the misfortune once in a while. Even though this is labeled a Mickey Mouse cartoon, he doesn't have any dialog in the short and Donald and Goofy take more center stage in the plot. In addition, the animation is great and the voice talents of Clarence Nash and Pinto Colvig brought charm and uniqueness to the characters.

Grade B

Like all the Mickey Mouse films of the late 1930s, this one featured absolutely stunning animation—the sort that set Disney apart from all its competition. Mickey, Donald and Goofy are wonderfully animated but the backgrounds are what really stood out for me—with its exquisite details and colors.

This particular short features the trio involved in an especially politically incorrect job—whale hunting! I guess things were a lot different back then, as such behavior today would be seriously frowned on in a kids movie! Regardless, it's a lot of fun to see the three in action—in particular, Goofy. The Goof is up to his usual stupid hijinks and I found myself laughing out loud several times when he was trying to fire the harpoon gun. Overall, a lot of fun and well worth seeing.

Not a classic by all means, but great fun regardless. Mickey doesn't feature that much here, but Goofy and Donald have plenty to do and as pretty much always are peerless. The animation is done in a very nice fluid and colourful visual style, and the music is rousing and clever. Also prevalent are some interesting sight gags, and the whale is a great point of interest. When it comes to cartoon whales I prefer Willie from Willie the Operatic Whale and Spot from the Little Mermaid series, but this whale is memorable. The story is simple and a tad predictable but only occasionally, but it is effective mostly. The voice acting is well done, with Clarence Nash coming off best.

Overall, nicely done and entertaining. 9/10 Bethany Cox

Mickey, Donald and Goofy are whale hunters? How disgusting! But this was made back when Disney was non-PC. Which is really how it should have stayed if you don't mind me contradicting myself.

Obviously, because of their clumsiness, they aren't actually going to kill any whale and you can bet your bottom dollar that their whaling ship ain't gonna be afloat by the end.

In the usual hijinks Donald is tormented as seagulls eat his sandwiches and Goofy can't fire a harpoon to save himself (am I the only one who saw pretty strong phallic imagery with that cannon?) and Mickey does...nothing. Why is this even categorised as a Mickey cartoon? The bit inside the whale is cute, the rest never rises above adequacy.

The Whalers (1938)

*** (out of 4)

Charming animated short from Disney has Mickey, Donald and Goofy out on the open sea where the goal is to capture a whale. They end up finding one but things don't go as planned especially when Goofy winds up inside the whale. THE WHALERS is a pretty good short from Disney and while it's certainly no classic it at least has enough good moments to where fans should enjoy it. Needless to say, the highlight is when Goofy winds up inside the whale where he must try and be creative to get out. In reality this is mainly a Goofy and Donald short because Mickey only has two small scenes and he doesn't say a word throughout.