For almost three years since Walt Disney bought the exclusive rights to Technicolor's three-strip system for cartoons beginning with his "Silly Symphonies Flowers and Trees," his Mickey Mouse series was so popular he didn't think he needed to spend the immense amount of money it took to make his cartoons in color. But Disney decided to take the plunge and create Mickey's 73rd short film, February 1935's "The Band Concert," a full-color affair.
Disney was especially attentive in making sure Mickey's color debut was a success. He had his top director, Wilfred Jackson, handle his studio's best artists to create the eight-minute cartoon. Audiences applauded the new look of Mickey in "The Band Concert". The world's most respected conductor, Italy's Arturo Toscanini, was so impress by the cartoon he asked the movie theater's projectionist to rewind the reel and play it again, for a total of six times. So moved by the cartoon he invited Walt to stay at his Italian villa whenever he was in the neighborhood.
Mickey is a conductor of a local orchestra playing in a city park in "The Band Concert." Several Mickey Mouse regulars are in the band, including Goofy, Clarabelle and Peter Pig. Donald Duck arrives on the scene with his truck selling popcorn, peanuts and ice cream. Mr. Duck causes a fuss by playing 'Turkey in the Straw." Mickey gets all bent out of shape before the exciting climax, where a tornado rips through the park while the band is playing Gioachino Rossini's 'The William Tell Overture.' Despite all the chaos, the musicians don't miss a beat as they continue playing while caught up in the whirling tornado.
Film critic Leonard Maltin praised "The Band Concert," acclaiming it as "one of the best cartoons ever made anywhere. There are nuances of expression in Mickey's character throughout this film that had seldom been explored in earlier shorts. The pacing is also entirely different from the standard Mickey Mouse comedies of the early thirties. Instead of trying to pack in a thousand gags a minute, The Band Concert takes its time and builds to a crescendo." The Mickey short has been polled by animation professionals as the best Disney cartoon ever made, ranking third in the 'The 50 Greatest Cartoons' reference book.
Disney was especially attentive in making sure Mickey's color debut was a success. He had his top director, Wilfred Jackson, handle his studio's best artists to create the eight-minute cartoon. Audiences applauded the new look of Mickey in "The Band Concert". The world's most respected conductor, Italy's Arturo Toscanini, was so impress by the cartoon he asked the movie theater's projectionist to rewind the reel and play it again, for a total of six times. So moved by the cartoon he invited Walt to stay at his Italian villa whenever he was in the neighborhood.
Mickey is a conductor of a local orchestra playing in a city park in "The Band Concert." Several Mickey Mouse regulars are in the band, including Goofy, Clarabelle and Peter Pig. Donald Duck arrives on the scene with his truck selling popcorn, peanuts and ice cream. Mr. Duck causes a fuss by playing 'Turkey in the Straw." Mickey gets all bent out of shape before the exciting climax, where a tornado rips through the park while the band is playing Gioachino Rossini's 'The William Tell Overture.' Despite all the chaos, the musicians don't miss a beat as they continue playing while caught up in the whirling tornado.
Film critic Leonard Maltin praised "The Band Concert," acclaiming it as "one of the best cartoons ever made anywhere. There are nuances of expression in Mickey's character throughout this film that had seldom been explored in earlier shorts. The pacing is also entirely different from the standard Mickey Mouse comedies of the early thirties. Instead of trying to pack in a thousand gags a minute, The Band Concert takes its time and builds to a crescendo." The Mickey short has been polled by animation professionals as the best Disney cartoon ever made, ranking third in the 'The 50 Greatest Cartoons' reference book.