One of my personal favourites of the early 40s Mickey shorts. I in general love the great animation and characterisations of the characters involved, and both of those are evident in The Little Whirlwind. The short starts off in a familiar fashion, with Minnie setting a baked cake on the window ledge and Mickey in want of it, but instead of being entirely predictable it works as setting the tone and meat of the story very well. The animation is wonderful, I loved the vibrant colours and the detail of the backgrounds and Mickey and Minnie are a little more refined and rounded in their designs, in a way more familiar to us. If I had to single out my favourite piece of animation, it has to be when Mickey is peering at the window, the head swelling/shrinking complete with ripples was really a genius image. The music is energetic and beautifully orchestrated, adding to the pace and humour of the short. The story is simple but never dull or predictable. For one thing, Mickey with a little whirlwind at this point had never been seen before in Disney shorts, and also when reading the title and the premise you'd immediately think Daisy and Donald, it was a refreshing change to have characters less obvious filling the roles. The gags are great, the best being when the little whirlwind develops the leaves in a march, and the increasing destruction caused by it and his mother provided some real meat to the short and without Mickey saying a word. Every bit as good are the characterisations. The whirlwinds are very well animated and really add much to the short. Minnie is not in much, but the ending is her funniest bit and it is a classic. Mickey is the star here though. I loved that he was in the spotlight rather than just a supporting character, with his frustration, his determination to do his best and his chuckling and shrugging of the shoulders as he keeps going he is a character you immediately relate to. All in all, a real breezy treasure of a Disney short. 10/10 Bethany Cox
Review of The Little Whirlwind
