Fishin' Around (1931) Poster

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6/10
Smart Fish
Hitchcoc1 December 2018
I don't know that Mickey and Pluto ever had a chance. First of all, they show disrespect for the rules and sink the "No Fishing" sign. Soon they are dropping their hooks but the fish are in awe of their stupidity. They play trick after trick on the two. Pluto does some underwater exploring and just gets into more trouble. The whole thing is pretty predictable and one dimensional. Pluto has certainly become a major character and a challenge to his owner.
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7/10
Didn't wow me but still fun
TheLittleSongbird16 August 2012
I would watch anything with Mickey and Pluto in it, and while Fishin' Around is not one of their best efforts it is still worth watching. The story is rather routine and some of the first half is a little slow and only mildly amusing than funny. However, the animation is quite good, it isn't amazing with some moments that could have done with more fluidity, but Mickey's facial expressions really do come alive and the opening scenes with Mickey and Pluto rowing with the reflections and the oars and fish interrupting them have some interesting work too. The music is lively and helps to enhance the action. There are some good gags also especially Mickey catching the No Fishing sign he'd sunk earlier in front of the sheriff. Pluto barking underwater and being chased by the giant fish was also a good touch. Mickey even with a bit of the rebellious personality is very likable and Pluto is also a vital and energetic asset to Fishin' Around. There are a couple of times where he could have amped up the comedy just a tad, like chasing the fish more but this is typical cute and energetic Pluto and I love that. The sheriff is a great character as well, a big part of the reason why the second half for me came to life more effectively. All in all, fun but nothing extraordinary. 7/10 Bethany Cox
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5/10
Early Mickey & Pluto
TheOtherFool30 May 2004
Mickey and Pluto go fishin', even though it's not permitted. They get stopped by a policeman but escape him through Pluto's 50 horsepower tale apparently...

Walt Disney (30 at the time) himself did the voice of Mickey (as he did a lot of times, I didn't know that before I looked up this movie), but the movie on the whole was a bit disappointing. The animation is a bit crappy (though this one is older than I first expected) and the story is only so and so, in particular the first half. Once the policeman arrives at the scene the real fun begins but it's too little too late I'm afraid.

5/10 for this early Disney.
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4/10
The way that this film glorifies brazen criminality . . .
pixrox126 December 2021
Warning: Spoilers
. . . smacks of a Kremlin plot to inculcate the sort of disrespect for American Law that breeds chaos, calamity and carnage within the ranks of our U. S. Homeland's most impressionable young viewers, prompting them as adults to filch police shields and barricades to maim law enforcement personnel in and around our U. S. Capitol. Red Commie plant Mikhail "Mickey" Mouse begins FISHING AROUND by destroying a posted "No Fishing" zone sign and then attempting to poach our finny friends in crass disregard for our Social Welfare. Even when nailed Red-Handed by a badge-bearing cop, Mikhail chooses to resist arrest. This Moscow miscreant is pictured successfully fleeing and eluding the long arm of the police, as the KGB Quisling fellow travelers egg on corruptible tykes with the idea that nefarious scofflaws always have the last laugh. Why not bribe the once-esteemed U..S. Congress to keep Mikhail under copyright in perpetuity to cover up his pernicious origin story?
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8/10
Mickey...the wanton criminal!
planktonrules29 April 2012
Warning: Spoilers
In the early days of Mickey Mouse, our beloved hero wasn't the 100% wholesome character he later became. As a result, he's actually often better in the early films--as he isn't so squeaky clean. Here in "Fishin' Around", Mickey and Pluto are in their boat fishing. When they come upon a sign saying 'NO FISHING' they do what is typical of early Mickey--they throw the sign away and fish there anyway! I really appreciated this. Much of the rest of the cartoon is adorably cute (but not to the level of saccharine!)--with Pluto and Mickey as two very inept fishermen. Eventually the game warden arrives--at which point Mickey readily admits to fishing and makes his escape.

"Fishin' Around" is a silly little film with its emphasis squarely on comedy. It also helps that the cartoon in wonderfully animated and is a visual and emotional treat. Well worth seeing.
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2/10
What a boring cartoon!
OllieSuave-0076 March 2018
This is a really boring cartoon starring Mickey and Pluto. There's no plot or story, just them two doing a lot of fishing, or at lease attempting to. No laughs nor adventures, just a lot of barking from Pluto and fishing-rod holding from Mickey. Toward the second half of the cartoon, there's still sheriff who seemed to be after Mickey and Pluto, which really was out of place for a fishing cartoon.

Mickey and Pluto are definitely amusing, but this cartoon didn't take the cake.

Grade D---
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10/10
Mr. Mouse Hooks The Bait
Ron Oliver28 September 2002
A Walt Disney MICKEY MOUSE Cartoon.

Mickey & Pluto find plenty of trouble while FISHIN' AROUND on the lake.

This is a fun little black & white cartoon, with plenty of humor. The fish our pals encounter are certainly a strange breed - they all have navels. Walt Disney supplies Mickey's voice.

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 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, Bambi, Peter Pan and Mr. Toad. Walt never forgot that his fortunes were all started by a mouse, or that simplicity of message and lots of hard work always pay off.
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9/10
Mickey the scofflaw
llltdesq26 August 2014
Warning: Spoilers
This is an early Disney cartoon featuring Mickey Mouse and Pluto. There will be spoilers ahead:

Mickey and Pluto are out on a lake for some fishing until the boat crashes into a "No Fishing" sign. Given their success at fishing, it likely means "Don't Waste Your Time Trying" as it does "You Can't Do This!", because they run into a very annoying school of fish, headed by an incredibly obnoxious fish.

These fish taunt and laugh at Mickey and Pluto most of the cartoon. There are some sections where animation is clearly reused, particularly one extended gag which is hilarious. There's a nice scene in the middle of the short where Pluto is underwater with some nice gags done there.

A police officer comes along and catches Mickey fishing illegally, though I suspect that if he ever made the acquaintance of these fish, he'd be on Mickey's side. Our heroes escape, of course, and behave rather obnoxiously toward the police officer in the ending gag.

This short is available on the Mickey Mouse In Black and White, Volume Two Disney Treasures DVD set and is well worth tracking down. Most recommended.
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