Have a lot of fondness for 'House of Mouse'. Love Disney and the concept was such an interesting and for Disney shows at the time a unique one. There are times where it could have done more with the concept, with showing more of some of the guests and not focusing all the featured cartoons on Mickey and the gang. It is however so much fun and how it makes an effort to retain the spirit of the classic old cartoons is to be lauded.
"Big Bad Wolf Daddy" does an even better job with the concept than "The Stolen Cartoons" does and is an enormously entertaining episode in its own right. Really like that it and the rest of the show tries to and succeeds in making the personalities of Mickey and the rest of the gang true to those of their "golden age" ones when they first came out (1930s-1950s), especially Donald. Except that Mickey is far more interesting in personality in 'House of Mouse', feels like a lead character, is used well and isn't over-shadowed by the rest of the characters. Minnie is also more resourceful.
Also successful in maintaining the spirit of the "golden age" cartoons is the featured cartoons themselves. Particularly successful in this is 'How to Be Groovy, Cool, and Fly", which actually feels like the classic "How to" Goofy cartoons in a modern setting, including Goofy's endearing but hilarious ineptitude at certain skills, clever sight gags and the fourth wall narration that entertains and teaches.
Seeing other Disney characters from numerous Disney films and cartoons was a large part of the pleasure, with some very nice moments with them. There are some fun names for various foods on the menu based on characters' names, but it is in the "Who's Afraid of the Bad Wolf" song where it's particularly noticeable. The characters from the Three Little Pigs cartoons from the 30s form the band and then various Disney characters in the audience appear. There are even references and connections to 'Saturday Night Fever' and 'Miami Vice'.
While not surprising in outcome, the story is lively and engaging, kept afloat by the character interaction, characters and the atmosphere. The writing is clever and very funny, even with the deliberately corny moment and pun which made me grin rather than groan.
Furthermore, the animation is very colourful, smooth in movement and with some meticulous detail. The cheap recycling footage for the audience reactions at the end of the featured cartoons does jar and annoy though. The music is suitably groovy and cleverly used, while the theme song is one of the catchiest of any Disney show in the past twenty years. "Who's Afraid of the Big Bad Wolf", the iconic theme from the 30s Three Little Pigs cartoons but jazzed up, is enormous fun, as is the Big Bad Wolf character, and also enjoyed the Andrews Sisters-inspired (or at least that seems to be the case to me) singing of the Bimbettes.
Voice acting is great, do prefer Wayne Allwine and Russi Taylor's voice work of Mickey and Minnie to Walt Disney and Marcelite Garner, Bill Farmer sounds very similar to Pinto Colvig without being an imitation and Tony Anselmo fills big duck shoes in a way that does Clarence Nash justice (again similar but not an imitation). Jim Cummings clearly was enjoying himself as the Big Bad Wolf, more blustery than Billy Bletcher and not as deep in voice but he is very well suited to the character.
In conclusion, great episode again. 9/10 Bethany Cox
"Big Bad Wolf Daddy" does an even better job with the concept than "The Stolen Cartoons" does and is an enormously entertaining episode in its own right. Really like that it and the rest of the show tries to and succeeds in making the personalities of Mickey and the rest of the gang true to those of their "golden age" ones when they first came out (1930s-1950s), especially Donald. Except that Mickey is far more interesting in personality in 'House of Mouse', feels like a lead character, is used well and isn't over-shadowed by the rest of the characters. Minnie is also more resourceful.
Also successful in maintaining the spirit of the "golden age" cartoons is the featured cartoons themselves. Particularly successful in this is 'How to Be Groovy, Cool, and Fly", which actually feels like the classic "How to" Goofy cartoons in a modern setting, including Goofy's endearing but hilarious ineptitude at certain skills, clever sight gags and the fourth wall narration that entertains and teaches.
Seeing other Disney characters from numerous Disney films and cartoons was a large part of the pleasure, with some very nice moments with them. There are some fun names for various foods on the menu based on characters' names, but it is in the "Who's Afraid of the Bad Wolf" song where it's particularly noticeable. The characters from the Three Little Pigs cartoons from the 30s form the band and then various Disney characters in the audience appear. There are even references and connections to 'Saturday Night Fever' and 'Miami Vice'.
While not surprising in outcome, the story is lively and engaging, kept afloat by the character interaction, characters and the atmosphere. The writing is clever and very funny, even with the deliberately corny moment and pun which made me grin rather than groan.
Furthermore, the animation is very colourful, smooth in movement and with some meticulous detail. The cheap recycling footage for the audience reactions at the end of the featured cartoons does jar and annoy though. The music is suitably groovy and cleverly used, while the theme song is one of the catchiest of any Disney show in the past twenty years. "Who's Afraid of the Big Bad Wolf", the iconic theme from the 30s Three Little Pigs cartoons but jazzed up, is enormous fun, as is the Big Bad Wolf character, and also enjoyed the Andrews Sisters-inspired (or at least that seems to be the case to me) singing of the Bimbettes.
Voice acting is great, do prefer Wayne Allwine and Russi Taylor's voice work of Mickey and Minnie to Walt Disney and Marcelite Garner, Bill Farmer sounds very similar to Pinto Colvig without being an imitation and Tony Anselmo fills big duck shoes in a way that does Clarence Nash justice (again similar but not an imitation). Jim Cummings clearly was enjoying himself as the Big Bad Wolf, more blustery than Billy Bletcher and not as deep in voice but he is very well suited to the character.
In conclusion, great episode again. 9/10 Bethany Cox