By 1939, when the earliest films in this collection were made, Mickey Mouse was the most famous cartoon character in the world. The unsuccessful hunter in "The Pointer" (1939) and the irrepressible magician in "The Sorcerer's Apprentice" (1940) rank among his finest performances. In both films, he sparkles with vitality. But as Mickey grew more popular, more restrictions were placed on what he could do, and the character grew dull. Those restrictions become obvious when the viewer compares these films with the shorts on
Walt Disney Treasures: Mickey Mouse in Living Color. In "Mickey's Birthday Party" (1942), he clowns and stumbles through a comic dance routine, but it feels like he's working for the laughs. In 1936, when a more impish Mickey danced with a deck of cards in "Thru the Mirror," the fun came from the stylish grace of his movements: That Mickey didn't need to mug for the camera. In the later films, Mickey serves as a genial straight man, with Pluto and other side characters supplying the comedy.
A new generation of animators faced the same problems and restrictions when they tried to revive the character in "Mickey's Christmas Carol" (1983) and "The Prince and the Pauper" (1990). The extras include some deleted animation from "The Sorcerer's Apprentice," and the five opening sequences from the "Mickey Mouse Club" (1955), the last time Walt Disney provided the character's voice. (Rated G, suitable for all ages: minor cartoon violence, tobacco use) --Charles Solomon
The celebration of Mickey's color capers continues in this second volume of shorts -- from "Society Dog Show" in 1939 to his last short, "The Simple Things," in 1953 -- and feature film appearances, giving you a decidedly colorful history of the most famous mouse in the world. This outstanding review of Mickey's color career spotlights some very special features, including his groundbreaking performance in "The Sorcerer's Apprentice." You'll also get an inside look at Mickey's recent career through the eyes of his most recent animators, Mark Henn and Andreas Deja, and voice actors Wayne Allwine (Mickey) and Russi Taylor (Minnie). Featuring exclusive introductions by film historian Leonard Maltin, this is a timeless collection from generations past for generations to come.
1 BEWARE the WIDESCREEN
I bought this DVD because it had my favorite cartoon of all time, "Mickey's Christmas Carol". I also have the VHS copy and was hoping I'd be able to do away with that one. But the VHS and DVD versions are NOT THE SAME, and the VHS version is better in some respects. The VHS is full-screen, and the DVD is widescreen. Why is this a problem? Because the top and bottom of the picture were cut off in order to create the wider picture. It's almost as if the DVD creators took the full-screen version, and just pasted a black bar over the picture at the top and bottom. In each frame on the DVD, there are features noticably absent. To compare the two, I played 15 seconds' worth of the VHS, followed by 15 seconds of the DVD, and so forth, and scrutinized each one. The slightly wider DVD picture is NOT WORTH having details cut off from the top & bottom of the picture. Do you like seeing Mickey's face with the tops of his ears missing? Neither do I; it gives me a headache. So many details, gone! I have seen the same thing done to all of my favorite movies on VHS that then came out on DVD widescreen. They all have been significantly chopped off at the top, as if every person was "scalped". Why, why, WHY? I will keep my VHS version of "Mickey's Christmas Carol" to view instead of this DVD version!
2 Cartoons Thumb Up. Historian Thumb Down.
I purcahsed this Disney DVD for my son. He loved the cartoon part very well. However, the historian (real people) appears in too many places. It is not fun for my kid to watch him!
I rate it 4 stars because historian takes off 1 star.
3 The content warnings are really lame...
I was not raised on Walt Disney cartoons... In fact, Mickey and Pluto always seemed a bit square to me, and that impression was amply confirmed on this 2-disc set of some of Mickey's later cartoon appearances (from 1940-53, and then some later cartoons from the 1980s, when the character saw a dramatic revival...) The drawings are nice, but the gags are stale, repetitive and endlessly drawn out, and the plots are incredibly lame in comparison to the vivacious, imaginative Looney Tunes material I grew up on (and still love). Mickey is such a flimsy character, too, and that voice of his is, well, kind of annoying. Sorry... not trying to pick a fight with anyone, it's just how I was raised.
Anyway, I picked this volume up because I had read about how it contained several long-deleted cartoons that supposedly had offensive material (ethnic stereotypes, etc.) and as a student of pop culture, I wanted to check it out and see what all the fuss was about... The material in question is called into sharp focus by a series of insincere introductory mea culpas by host Leonard Maltin, who invariably says the same thing: "Oh, we certainly don't condone this sort of thing now...!! But look at how far we've come as a society that we can now look down upon it..." Which is all very well and fine (except that we have to see Maltin onscreen every ten minutes or so...) except for one thing... None of the material is really all that racy or offensive...! A stereotyped Italian accent? An Amos'n'Andy genie in the bottle? Mickey dresses up as a cigar store Indian for two seconds to elude a pursuer? Someone gets drunk in one cartoon? Someone uses a gun in another? The things that the Disney folks bent over backwards to apologize for are pretty paltry and absurd, this is taking the confluence of political correctness and "family values" morality to ridiculous lengths, if you ask me. And if Disney is going to be so all-fired, touchie-feelie, super-sensitive about anything that could conceivably offend anyone in their audience, then why isn't there an apology for the broad Southern accent used in the cartoon called "R'Coon Dawg"? Apparently hicks 'n' hillbillies are still fair game, even now in this enlightened era of the 21th Century. Well, my land, honey chile!! Wut will them thar big-city slickers think uv next? Gol-durn.
4 Awesome, but...
Mickey Mouse in Living Color Volume 2 is great. It features a multitude of Mickey/Pluto shorts and some really cool extras. Each cartoon has its good points and bad points (some more than others) but overall a very, very awesome set. The best part is having Mickey and the Beanstalk, Mickey's Christmas Carol, and The Prince and the Pauper all together in one set :)
Unfortunately, when you use the Play All feature, it doesn't just play the cartoons. Many of the cartoons feature a brief introduction from DVD host Leonard Maltin. Now, you would think these introductions would tell you a bit about the history of the short, how the story was conceived, who directed it, whatever. But, no, all these introductions are for is to warn viewer about possible "offensive" material found in the shorts. It really saddens me that we live in a world where people cannot see the past as past and accept they way things were at the time. Instead, we have these really annoying clips of Maltin telling us how much more "enlightened" we are nowadays. He says the same repetitive things in each intro.
The public domain releases of old cartoon from the '30s and '40s that you can get at Wal-Mart for a dollar have the same type of supposedly offensive material (actually, probably more of it than anything Disney would ever have). We don't, however, have Leonard Maltin there warning us of the dangers of supposedly un-PC material. Whatever. Aside from that, this set is awesome! :)
5 Good for Pluto fans
For Pluto fans, this DVD would be good to complement Pluto's Walt Disney Treasures DVD. A lot of the cartoons not only feature, but in my opinion, star the hilarious mutt. Many of these cartoons I found more entertaining than those contained on the Pluto DVD. The DVD also features "The Sorcerer's Apprentice" and "A Christmas Carrol," two classic half-hour Mickey Mouse cartoons that I thouroughly enjoyed. Although I did not enjoy "The Prince and the Pauper" and "Runaway Brain," two other longer than normal shorts, children might enjoy them for the amount of action contained. I cant compare this DVD (volume Two) to the first DVD (volume one) because I have not seen Vol 1. In fact, one bad thing about these DVDs is that the Disney Corporation labels them as "collectibles," charges more than they are worth, and if you are unlucky to not get the DVD when it firsts comes out the only place you will find it is used on the internet, in "acceptable" condition, and for a rediculous amount of money. So if you think that you would want these cartoons, be sure to grab the DVD soon. (Or on the other hand, you could wait about 10 years for Disney to re-release the Treasures Collection and **** over all the people who paid outrageous prices for them)
6 Is it just me, or did the writing get worse after WW2?
There are 2 things that bother me about this collection (the first involves the headline).
1. The collection is great right up to 1942 (right up to the hilarious "The Symphony Hour"), but after that (starting with 1947), the cartoons get (almost) boring. They focus around Pluto, and leave Mickey to play straight man. Did one of the writers die in world war 2? Malton doesnt focus on this in the intro (or any other parts I can find).
2. Have we "come so far" that we need to apologize for every ethnicity used in animation. Aparently Malton (or Eisner in disguise) feels the need to. On this collection, Malton is more specific on the incorectness. Maybe they should have just put a parental sticker on the can instead. Makes you wonder why they're putting off on releasing "Song of the South" (I can just see it. A 30 minute intro by Leonard Malton explaining that the era was POST Cival war).
Disc 2 is the one that shines on this collection. A full length "Mickey's Christmas Carol", "The Prince and the Pauper", and the short "The Runaway Brain" (all in a wonderful 1.85:1 aspect ratio), plus some pretty outstanding bonus features.
This one is definately a keeper. It's just not as good as Vol. 1.
Incidentally, there is an easter egg. One of the musical notes can be highlighted, then press enter (it's in the bonus menu). Some good historic stuff.
Also, my hat's off to Leonard Malton. The PC statements may be anoying, but at least we get the animations UNEDITED. Leonard, if you're reading this, let's talk "Song of the South".
7 Amazing DVD set....
When I first ordered this DVD set (along with all the other Disney Treasures Sets), I did not expect the 3 short films (Mickey's Christmas Carol, The Prince and the Pauper, and Runaway Brain) to be in glorious Widescreen, Enhanced for 16:9 televisions. This was an excellent choice by Disney, please keep it up!
8 The Latest Chapter in a Long Career
This volume in the Disney Treasures series features the latest work from studio icon Mickey Mouse. This set covers the longest time period, starting in 1939 and running up to his most resent short, "Runaway Brain."
Disc One features the remaining color shorts. There are 18 of them here, ranging from 1939 to 1953. In many of them, Mickey plays a supporting role, usually to Pluto. He still gets chances to shine in such shorts as "Mickey's Delayed Date" and "Mickey and the Seal." I especially enjoyed "Tugboat Mickey," although here Donald and Goofy get to shine more then Mickey does. Especially interesting was "Orphan's Benefit," a complete update of the Black and White classic including color and the current look of all the classic characters. Disc one includes Mickey's early big screen appearances, including "The Sorcerer's Apprentice" and "Mickey and the Beanstalk." This second one is the original version. I was hoping it would be the one I grew up watching on TV, but it makes sense it wouldn't be. There's also a fun Easter Egg to find.
Disc Two brings us Mickey's comeback of the 80's and 90's. Here we get three cartoons, "Mickey's Christmas Carol," "The Prince and the Pauper," and "Runaway Brain." Personally, I'm thrilled to have the first on DVD since I watching it every Christmas. The second is a fun reworking of Mark Twain's classic. I remember not being impressed with the final one when I saw it in the theater, and my impression still holds up today. All three are presented in wide screen since, being more modern, that's their original aspect ratio.
The second disc is where you'll find the majority of the bonus features. These include interviews with current animators who have worked on Mickey and an interesting interview with the current voices for Mickey and Minnie. Other highlights include Mickey's appearances on "The Mickey Mouse Club" opening, two "Tricks of our Trade" episodes of Disneyland, and a special from the 80's on the making of "Mickey's Christmas Carol."
For those looking for more Mickey Mouse shorts on DVD, this will certainly fit the bill. Some will argue that this isn't Mickey's best work. Personally, I loved going through everything on here. It's nice to see Disney preserving and releasing its history for all of us to enjoy.
9 GREAT DISNEY DVD
I grew up in the 80's watching all the Disney shorts on the Disney Channel and I loved the shorts very much, they were such a part of my childhood. I watched the Disney Channel not that long ago and all of the shorts are gone, they have nothing but teen comedies and dramas, I couldnt believe it! I mean the shorts are what made Disney, to just take them off the channel completely was ridiculous. When I saw this DVD Collection I had to buy it immediatley just so that I could someday show my children the shorts that I grew up with and that I still treasure even today. So I would highly recommend buying this DVD!
10 Middling Mickey
I guess from a collector's point of view, it's great to have these shorts all in one place; in fact, the Disney company should be lauded for making them available at all. But this second collection of Mickey's color shorts falls far short (no pun intended) of others in the Disney Treasures Collection (particularly Mickey's B&Ws, Donald's shorts & the amazing set of wartime cartoons just released) for the simple reason that they're just not very good. "Mickey and the Beanstalk" and a few cartoons aside, the collection here is not particularly innovative or entertaining. And listening to Mickey and pals singing lousy lyrics to Verdi opera in "The Prince and the Pauper" is terribly painful in light of the extraordinary songs that Ashman & Menken were to write for Disney not too long after. This collection illustrates one thing above all else: how Disney's animation factory ran out of steam (big time) in the late 40s - early 80s. And that Mickey evolved from a spirited imp into a suburban bore.
11 wired weird
This prodcut is a great product, let's list the good and bad points.
Good Points-
This product has all of his shorts where Volume 1 left off which is great. The shorts are very entertaining although most of them are about Pluto. I'll explain more about that int he bad points. Now this dvd set includes THe Sorcerer's Apprentice which is great, and also has very good bonuses. Mickey and The Beanstalk is very good, but they could've removed the story at the beginnign witht he kids and the other guy reading it it ruins the movie, now MIckey's Chrsitmas Carol and The Prince and The Pauper were amazing, the best part of the dvd, i watche'dt he more than the shorts. And Runaway Brain was a good short.
Bad Points-
Most of the shorts were mainly about Pluto, I mean Pluto's Birthday Party. The title has a picture of mickey in it and it is about pluto and not Mickey, they should've included that in The Complete Pluto. Hmmm this dvd does have some other bad. On eof the bonsuses was Mouse Mania, it was not very good, I mean teh short makes no sense, but the other's like Mickey's Comebacks are great.
Overall
This product had a 4 Star becuase of two things, shorts being more about Pluto than Mickey and Mouse Mania was the worst, but the short From Implaucible to Impoissible is great.
12 wired weird
This prodcut is a great product, let's list the good and bad points.
Good Points-
This product has all of his shorts where Volume 1 left off which is great. The shorts are very entertaining although most of them are about Pluto. I'll explain more about that int he bad points. Now this dvd set includes THe Sorcerer's Apprentice which is great, and also has very good bonuses. Mickey and The Beanstalk is very good, but they could've removed the story at the beginnign witht he kids and the other guy reading it it ruins the movie, now MIckey's Chrsitmas Carol and The Prince and The Pauper were amazing, the best part of the dvd, i watche'dt he more than the shorts. And Runaway Brain was a good short.
Bad Points-
Most of the shorts were mainly about Pluto, I mean Pluto's Birthday Party. The title has a picture of mickey in it and it is about pluto and not Mickey, they should've included that in The Complete Pluto. Hmmm this dvd does have some other bad. On eof the bonsuses was Mouse Mania, it was not very good, I mean teh short makes no sense, but the other's like Mickey's Comebacks are great.
Overall
This product had a 4 Star becuase of two things, shorts being more about Pluto than Mickey and Mouse Mania was the worst, but the short From Implaucible to Impoissible is great.
13 unfortunately people do react
yes, it is true. there is a huge number of PC population that would get up and scream that Mickey Mouse has offended them, and that Disney should be sued for even showing these unfeeling depictions of stereotypes. it is no longer possible to make fun of anything without offending someone. soon, there will be no comedy, for the fear of offense. so if an intro from Maltin is what it takes to see the original masterpieces restored and saved on DVD, so be it.
14 Give Leonard a break!
I love the Disney Treasure series. And I must admit that the constant apologizing of Leonard Maltin got on my nerves. That is until I found out that Disney was originally planning on editing out all of the possibly "offensive" attributes of the cartoons, and the only way that they agreed to keep the cartoons uncut was with the persistent insitence of Mr. Maltin to keep them the way that they were. The execs., however would only agree to the request if Maltin provided "warnings" (or what have you) before some of the shorts. So before you criticize Leonard again, please understand that if it weren't for him the cartoons that wouldn't have been cut completely would be severely edited. So, despite the slight annoyance of the ridiculously PC intros, I would like to thank Mr. Maltin for at least sticking up for Walt's origninal visions, and above all a sense of humor!
15 Complete Mickey Mouse
Growing up as a kid in the 80s, my only real exposure to Mickey Mouse in animated form was in Mickey's Christmas Carol, and it soon became a personal favorite of mine.
This DVD set finishes off the theatrical releases of Mickey Mouse, right up to his most recent film "Runaway Brain." This DVD is great as it includes scenes from Feature length films that Mickey Appeared in, such as "Sorcerer's Apprentice," from "Fantasia," and "Mickey and the Beanstalk" from "Fun and Fancy Free."
Truthfully most of the shorts on this set are when Mickey was no longer the most popular animated star at Disney. In some of these cartoons he takes a supporting role to Donald and Pluto, but the full charm of these cartoons is still there.
Leonard Maltin, an expert on animation and movie history, is on the disc with special features. He also appears more often then not to preface certain cartoons to let us know that they are not "Politically Correct." While other reviewers found this annoying, I would rather have the preface then have Disney keep these treasures locked in a vault. Think "Song of the South" as an example.
16 They are consistent...
... at Disney's, because if they are proud of the crap they're making now, they're right to be ashamed of what their predecessors did. But, I'm not quite sure which is worse: cutting like they did for "Saludos Amigosos", or, like they're doing now, marring the DVDs with a new "Politikally Korrekt" feature (which doesn't even get a disabling option in the menu for people with a fully working and correct mind). If the nerds who 'think' (although the word is not very appropriate for the activity of the messy thing between their ears) that even the past should be adjusted to their nonsensical view of the present, why don't they destroy all evidence of that "shameful past": books, movies, magazines, and even people remembering this past; so, although some 20 years late, they would give a good start to George Orwell 1984's world. I never got much consideration before for Leonard Maltin as a film critic (he's too much of an Hollywood enforcer for that). And this new kind of performance he's doing for Disney won't help improving my opinion.
17 Excellent!!! Also, Wave 4 announced!
I am very happy with the Disney Treasures Wave 3 collection. It's great to finally have Mickey's Christmas Carol, Runaway Brain, and Prince and the Pauper finally available on DVD along with the other classic Mickey films. Also enjoyed On the Front Lines, Chronological Donald, and Tomorrowland. They did not let me down. It has also been announced (and I've heard from a very reliable source) that the Disney Treasures Wave 4 will most likely be released in December. They are going to be "Mickey Mouse in Black and White Vol.2","Disney's True Life Adventures","A Pluto Collection", and the one I'm excited about, "The Original Mickey Mouse Club, Season One." Anyway, thank you Disney, and keep them coming! They are worth the wait!
18 Maltin has to go!
Once again, Disney has put together an impressive collection of cartoons; in this case, a wonderful assortment of Mickey Mouse cartoons. (Plus a lot of behind the scenes stuff, and a few easter eggs.)
But Leonard Maltin's commentary hits an all time low on this DVD set. To begin with, he explains to us how these shorts aren't really as good as Mickey's earlier work,(leaving us to wonder why we've just invested our money in them!), but, some of them are kind of cute, so we may actually enjoy them.
Then, he jumps back on the old political correctness bandwagon and feels obligated to explain to us (very often!) how these cartoons are not PC by modern standards, but that, rather than 'putting them on the shelf' (lest someone be ... gasp! ... offended) we should watch them and appreciate how times have changed, and how much more sensitive and understanding we are today. (Yeah ... like contemporary movies NEVER contain stereogypes ...) The commentary before "Mr. Mouse Takes a Trip" (in which he explains that Disney didn't MEAN to be bigoted and prejudiced when he had Mickey disguise himself as an Indian and say "How!") is bad enough -- but when he came on before "The Nifty Nineties" to tell us all that the scene where Minnie and Mickey attend a vaudville show is not PC by modern standards (because it contains comic references to drinking -- and we all know that drunkeness is not funny), but we should just try and accept it in the spirit in which it was intended --I was ready to throw something at the screen.
Maltin occassionally has some interesting things to say, but I'm far more offended by his belief that viewers are too stupid to understand that humor changes with the times and that life was different 60+ years ago than I could ever be by the fact that a cartoon might contain a bit of ethnic/racial stereotyping.
Buy the set, but when Maltin comes on the screen, take a bathroom break.
19 Too many repeats
Everything on this set looks and sounds great. Technically this is wonderful, but its still a major disappointment when compared to every other Disney Treasure collection released (except Disneyland). The problem is that about half or a little more is repeated on many other DVDs from Disney. I figure there is actually only one DVD's worth of new material here. If you are a Disney fan and have everything, or only somewhat interested in Disney stuff, odds are you're going to have a good chunk of the extras contained here. Yes, the cartoons here are not repeated, but much of the rest of it is. How many times are they going to include the stuff from Fantasia? There is also the many times repeated Plausible Impossible clips, while Mickey and the Beanstalk is half Fun and Fancy Free. Yes, it is nice to have it all in one place but there is a such a thing as too many trips to the well.
I can't understand why there is so little new material, especially since Mickey is the icon for the company, I can't believe they used it all up in the first two Mickey sets.
The content is quite good and had it been a single disc or not one of the limited tins this would be a great set.But the fact that this set is called a Disney Treasure demands this be something special, which it is not, especially when compared to the high standards set by most of the other collections in the series.
20 The Mouse is finally in the house
Finally the wait is over,This and all the walt disney treasures are here,and F.Y.I.(For Your Information)This set,on the front lines and the donald duck collection all have the play all option,enjoy.
21 Excellent and overdue collection of Mickey's Best
I love Mickey Mouse cartoons. They might not be as funny as Donald Duck's, Goofy's or the entire Looney Tunes set, but they do posess a certain little magic, not to mention quality, to them that make them more like little artistic masterpieces rather than comic gems. This said, I'm glad we finally get to see "Runaway Brain" released on DVD, along with fellow Oscar-nominated shorts "The Pointer," "Mickey and the Seal" and "Mickey's Christmas Carol." The extras are more than plentiful and the inclusion of "The Sorcerer's Apprentice", although already available in both Fantasia and Fantasia 2000, is, as always, welcome, especially in a collection that is supposed to showcase what the mouse is all about...I've been a fan forever and I really couldn't have asked for a better DVD set than this!
22 GOOD, BUT NOT AS GOOD AS THE FIRST SET
This second set in the Mickey in living Color presents several more classic Mickey cartoons along with a host of extra features. While the toons are not as strong as those found in volume one they are certainly nothing to sneeze at. Once again film historian and animation fan Leonard Maltin provides an introduction.
"Tugboat Mickey" Tugboat captain Mickey is cleaning his boat when he receives an SOS! Only Mickey, Donald and Goofy can save the day
"Mr. Mouse takes a trip" No dogs are allowed on Pete's train, so Mickey tries to smuggle Pluto aboard with a variety of disguises
"Orphan's Benefit" An ensemble performance emceed by Mickey includes piano playing, an adagio dance, an operatic number, and numerous attempts by Donald Duck to recite "Little Boy Blue.
"Pluto's Christmas Tree" The fir tree that Mickey and Pluto chop down to bring home for Christmas is the home of Chip 'n' Dale. After the tree has been trimmed, the chipmunks delightfully explore their newly decorated surroundings, much to the chagrin of Pluto, the only one who knows that the tree contains the pair. Chip 'n' Dale soon drive Pluto crazy as they explore their new Christmassy surroundings. When Mickey finds out, he chuckles naively and thinks that they're cute.
In addititon to these shorts you get several longer Mickey features including, "Mickey's Christmas Carol, Prince and the Pauper, The Sorcerer's Apprentice, and Mickey and the Beanstalk.
There are also a number of great extra featurettes that make this a must have set.
23 I can not wait for it to come out..
I do hope this collection of mickey mouse cartoons are going to be very entertaining.I am sure they are though.The one cartoon on this collection that I am Particuarly excited about the most is "The Prince and The Pauper" because I wanted to purchase it but, they no longer have this video in stores so I have seen it was going to be on this colection and I got Really happy about that.I am sure this will be a delightful Collection of Mickey mouse cartoons.
24 When will the mouse get to my house?
How many of you out there have been waiting for this title and other titles in the Treasures series since before the holidays? I actually placed this order on November 3 and I am still, patiently waiting, as these titles are very rare an truly worth waiting for. The problem, of course, is not so much in the waiting but the reason (s) we are waiting.
Truth is, these titles are known to be sitting in a warehouse ready to ship. But there they sit allegedly because Michael Eisner wanted to be sure and (#1) remove Roy Disney's printed signature from all the packaging before they shipped (as he had done at around the same time by recalled the completely printed company annual report magazine to strike any reference to Roy Disney that wasn't absolutely essential) and (#2) to wait to ship these DVDs filled with vintage material (which the current management feels has little sales potential), in a up quarter of the year so that lagging sales of the "stale old material" won't be an added burden to an already bad quarter.
So we sit and we wait and only time will tell when we get these vintage wonders from when the Disney Studio was truly Disney. I will be anxious to see if it is really true that Michael Eisner is so small and so petty that he would actually stoop so low as to remove Roy Disney's name from the packaging of these items and, if so, if he personally scratched the name off with the same claw he uses to pinch pennies with.
Cheers for vintage Disney and Jeers for Michael Eisner and his rancid Walt Disney Company!
As Bette Midler so eloquently put it recently, "It's a shame that there is no shame".
25 Runaway Brain
This should be an excellent collection. For the reviewer who stated that "Runaway Brain" has never been released for the public, it's almost true.
It was released on Super 8 color sound movie film just a few years ago by an English company called "Derann films". (You can find them on the internet) Believe it or not, they are still producing new Super 8 film product for people who collect super 8. (surprisingly, it's still going strong.) They have aquired nearly all the animation rights for release of Disney product, with exceptional quality. The other 30 minute long specials starring Mickey from the 80's and 90's are released by them on Super 8 as well.
26 Contents of MM in color 2
According to a mail that Diney Consumer Services sended me, the following are the contents of this set:
"The following information is tentative for MICKEY MOUSE IN LIVING COLOR 2.
BONUS FEATURES:
Disc One:
***Leonard Maltin Introduction***
***"The Sorcerer's Apprentice" with Introduction***
***Deleted Animation from "The Sorcerer's Apprentice" with Introduction***
***"Mickey and the Beanstalk" with Introduction***
Disc Two:
***Leonard Maltin Introduction***
***Mickey's Cartoon Comeback***
***The Voice Behind the Mouse***
***Mouse Mania with Introduction***
***Mickey Cartoon Physics from "The Plausible Impossible" with Introduction***
***Mickey on the Camera Stand from "Tricks of Our Trade" with Introduction***
***Mickey Meets the Maestro with Introduction***
***Color Titles from "The Mickey Mouse Club" with Introduction***
***The Making of "Mickey's Christmas Carol"***
***Publicity & Memorabilia Gallery***
***Story & Background Art Gallery: ***
- The Little Whirlwind
- The Nifty Nineties
- The Pointer
- Symphony Hour
______________________________________________
PROGRAM:
Disc One:
***Society Dog Show***
***The Pointer***
***Tugboat Mickey***
***Pluto's Dream House with Stereotypes Introduction***
***Mr. Mouse Takes a Trip with Stereotypes Introduction***
***The Little Whirlwind***
***The Nifty Nineties with Uncharacteristic Behaviors Introduction***
***Orphan's Benefit***
***Mickey's Birthday Party***
***Symphony Hour with Stereotypes Introduction***
***Mickey's Delayed Date***
***Mickey Down Under***
***Mickey and the Seal***
***Plutopia with Uncharacteristic Behaviors Introduction***
***R'Coon Dawg***
***Pluto's Party***
***Pluto's Christmas Tree***
***The Simple Things***
Disc Two:
***Mickey's Christmas Carol with Introduction***
***The Prince and the Pauper with Introduction***
***Runaway Brain with Introduction***"
In other words... yes!, it will contain "Runaway Brain" (tentatively, of course)
27 Another Fantastic Disney Collection
Disney has already released a collection of Mickey Mouse shorts on DVD. This is the long anticipated sequal that will hopefully contain everything the first DVD missed. The one cartoon i would most like to see is "Runaway Brain" which was released in theaters with "A Kid in King Arthur's Court". Sadly Runaway Brain has yet to be released in any format to the public. Disney has really been doing a great job with digitally remastering it's finest works and making them available to the public. If this DVD is any foreshadowing of whats yet to come from Disney fans should not be dissapointed.
