User Reviews

"Mickey's Good Deed" is a 7.5-minute cartoon from 1932, so this one has its 85th anniversary this year already and it is one of the uncountable directorial efforts by Burt Gillett with Pinto Colvig and Walt Disney in charge of the voice acting and this is actually from the year when Disney won his first Oscar. It is a black-and-white cartoon still, but that is really the only thing keeping it away from the greatness of the Golden Age of Animation. This film really succeeded in his own right and it is an amazing watch for the holidays especially. Its greatest success is the emotional impact really, be it the difference between the rich and poor people's home, Mickey's sacrifice, the way he sits next to the snow Pluto near the end or the touching reunion. There is so much heart in this one here. Sure you can find flaws if you look closely enough for them like how nobody recognizes Santa Mouse despite all the noise he's making, but don't be a Grinch! The music was pretty wonderful too. Without a doubt, this is among the very best 1932 has to offer and I am not just talking about cartoons, but about all films here. I highly recommend the watch.

When this Mickey Mouse cartoon began, I was absolutely blown away by the backgrounds and the animation. The snow scene was positively gorgeous, even if it was in black & white. The care and detail given to this was quite impressive. As for the story, it's a bit thick and schmaltzy. Depending on your tolerance for such stuff will strongly impact your enjoyment of "Mickey's Good Deed".

The short begins with Mickey and Pluto out in the snow serenading folks in order to earn some money for Christmas. But, Mickey's musical instrument gets broken and they both are starving. Mickey also knows of a woman with 10 kids who must do without this Christmas. So, in desperation, Mickey sells Pluto(!!) to a rich guy whose brat wants Pluto. The Christmas is a success for the family but Mickey is heartbroken. Eventually, though, the brat tires of Pluto and he runs away--right into the arms of Mickey.

Hmmm...now that I type this out, it really DOES sound really syrupy. Still, it's quite entertaining and well made.

. . . as anyone who has been to a home improvements store recently well knows. Yet when the sorry rodent mentioned in MICKEY'S GOOD DEED finds that all of the "donations" passersby have contributed to his tin cup in response to his rendition of "Oh Come, All Ye Faithful" on a wintry sidewalk that he's partially blocking with his double bass are in the form of barely merited valuable pieces of man-ware, such as nuts, bolts and screws, the ungrateful vermin turns up his nose in disdain. What a sad commentary on the Holiday Season Spirit of Giving!

This is an early Mickey Mouse short produced by the Disney studio. There will be spoilers ahead:

This is a warm, charming and funny Christmas short with a plot, which was a comparatively rare occurrence in the early years for Disney shorts. Mickey and Pluto are "busking" (playing music for money in the street) with minimal results. Mickey and Pluto stop in front of a rich man's house, where the most obnoxious brat lives. This poster child for birth control screams that he "wants doggie" and an attempt to buy Pluto is made and rejected by Mickey.

Mickey and Pluto watch as Mickey's instrument is destroyed by a passing sled and then sadly walk on until they come to a house where a poor family lives. Mickey chooses to sell Pluto to give the family a merry Christmas.

Meanwhile, the brat is happily destroying everything and tormenting Pluto until his father, exasperated beyond endurance, tells the butler to get rid of Pluto and administers some child psychology to his Damien wannabe. Pluto sets out to find Mickey, with a turkey attached to his tail. He finds Mickey and there is much rejoicing. It's a sweet ending to the short.

This short is available on the Disney Treasures Mickey Mouse In Black and White, Volume Two and it and the set are well worth finding. Most highly recommended.

I know Disney has a poor reputation these days, but we all need to remember that once, a long time ago, they used to make GOOD cartoons. Their era of making good stuff seemed to die out in the 2000s, at least in my opinion, but in their heyday, Disney manufactured masterpieces, and this is one of them. Our story features Mickey Mouse and Pluto as street musicians during an icy winter in the Great Depression. Hopefully they fare better than Laurel and Hardy did. Sadly, they do not, as the creeps who passed them by only dropped screws and nails into their cup. Wow, this is a town full of jerks. I know it's the Depression, but if you don't have the money to give, don't put anything in the cup. Now, this is a very good representation of the haves and the have-nots of the world, and what I mean by that is while Mickey and Pluto are clearly the have-nots, inside a nearby mansion is a very spoiled have. A pig father is trying to pacify his bratty son, who seems to dislike every toy given to him. That is, until he hears a howling outside. He sees Pluto and immediately wants him. Instead of being a parent and saying no, the father gives the butler money to go buy the dog... kinda funny, considering the butler is a dog himself. The two of them book it, with Mickey asserting that he will not sell Pluto, as he's all he's got. They elude the butler, but end up sliding on a frozen pond and sadly lose their fiddle to a careless one-horse open sleigh driver who wasn't watching where they were going. To add insult to injury, the sleigh riders wish Mickey a Merry Christmas. Man, why does this town hate him so much? If not for the snow, I'd say they lived in Anaheim. Well, since this cartoon wasn't already depressing enough, Mickey hears sobbing from a nearby house and looks in to see a lonely woman in tears, as her husband, Peg-Leg Pete, is in prison, and she's left to take care of their twenty kittens, who are all dreaming of Santa Claus paying them a visit, but their cupboards are bare and their goldfish is a skeleton. Man, these guys are bad off. It broke Mickey's heart to see them in such a way and he wished for a way to help them. Then, he hit upon a brilliant idea.

He agreed to sell Pluto to the greedy pig family, with the intent to use the money to help that starving cat family, and at the same time, give Pluto a home from out of the cold. His heart was definitely in the right place, though I don't know how willing Pluto was to go along with it, as no sooner does he meet his new junior master does he get conked in the head with a mallet, and then gets knocked about by his train set. Well, at least the little monster was happy, and so would that cat family, for Mickey hauled a bundle of presents and a tree to their house and set it up while they slept, trying to keep it quiet, but those noisy toys wouldn't cooperate. The mouse felt very proud of himself for bringing them a merry Christmas, all while Pluto was being run ragged by that horrible child, who kept throwing things at him and his father. Since this was finally his limit, the father finally had the dog thrown out of the house and then took his bratty child over his knee and gave him a well deserved spanking. Good, and after that, he should spank himself for spoiling his son so much, though like most rich folks, I doubt he'll take any responsibility for his actions. As luck would have it, a cooked turkey got tied to Pluto's tail, so just as Mickey sat alone at a fire, toasting a hot dog with a snow replica of Pluto, the genuine article suddenly appeared! Best friends reunited, they feast and enjoy the holiday.

A very well made cartoon, as it has plenty of heart and displays a very good message. It brilliantly shows how some folks have next to nothing, while some have everything and take it for granted. It shows that you can make a difference, no matter how insignificant you may feel and regardless of what your circumstances may be. For 1932, it does a great job of showing just how dire circumstances were for some folks during the Great Depression. As I pointed out earlier, Mickey and Pluto being street musicians in winter was also done in Laurel and Hardy's 1929 short, Below Zero. Much like there, they don't make any money and their musical instruments get destroyed. But at least things turned out alright for Mickey and Pluto. I think we can all agree that the rotten pig child got what he deserved in the end (pun intended). What did he want Pluto for, to abuse and torture? This kid is going to grow up to be a psychopath. Throwing things at Pluto and hitting him, that's just wrong. You NEVER treat your pets that way. So, this Christmas, if you want a little classic Disney to, well, not exactly brighten the holiday, but to help you appreciate what you've got and how you can make a difference in someone else's life in your own way, I recommend Mickey's Good Deed.