Mickey, Donald, Goofy: The Three Musketeers

DisneyToon studios produced a direct-to-video animated adaptation of The Three Musketeers in 2004 called Mickey, Donald, Goofy: The Three Musketeers. Starring Wayne Allwine, Tony Anselmo, Bill Farmer, Russi Taylor, Tres MacNellie, Jim Cummings, April Winchell, Jeff Bennett, Maurice LaMarche, and Rob Paulsen. It was also the first direct-to-video feature  to be featured in the Kingdom Hearts series.

In a story told by the Troubador (Paulsen), Mickey (Allwine), Donald (Anselmo), and Goofy (Farmer) are three janitors who dream of becoming musketeers. However, Mickey’s size, Donald’s cowardice and Goofy’s intelligence impedes them from doing so. But they do get their chance when Captain Pete (Cummings), who is planning to take over the kingdom, decides to promote them in the hopes they’ll be bungling enough to not ruin his plans.

This version of The Three Musketeers isn’t great, but it’s somewhat decent. The plot may be thin, but it does have good humor by making fun of some of the usual Disney tropes.

The trio are made musketeers almost immediately after Pete berated them and told them they never would be. Even with their brainlessness, they should feel something is amiss. Princess Minnie also holds an idiot ball, with her readily accepting their incompetence with Pete’s explanation that they’re really good at perceived threats.

On the other hand, the film does poke fun at various running gags found in Disney shorts as well as other conventions. For one, Minnie finds it destiny that she and Mickey are supposed to be together because “they have the same last name.” Also, after cutting to the opera poster with the jingle for a third time, right after a character mentions the opera, Pete mentions the song is starting to get pretty catchy.

Despite a pretty dumb plot with characters that don’t really have a good grasp on anything, Mickey, Donald, Goof: The Three Musketeers is actually pretty fun. 

#58

An Extremely Goofy Movie

Disney released yet another direct-to-video sequel in 2000, this time, to A Goofy Movie. Starring everyone from the original film, plus Jeff Bennett, Vicki Lewis, Brad Garrett, and Bebe Neuwirth, An Extremely Goofy Movie is the only Disney direct-to-video sequel to rate higher than its predecessor on Rotten Tomatoes until 2006.

In the film, Max heads to college and looks to compete in the College X-Games. However, Goofy is fired from his job and must go back to college to finish his degree. He arrives at Max’s school, joins a rival team and befriends the librarian, who shares his love of 1970s nostalgia. Meanwhile, PJ falls in love with a poet.

As Rotten Tomatoes notes, this film is actually considerably better than its predecessor. The background animations don’t freeze like they did and the subject is much more interesting. It makes sense to have the film be centered on sports, as the X Games were hitting their peak in popularity at the time.

While it seems Max took a step backwards in characterization, it must be realized that he was excited to finally start his own life, but Goofy bounced back into it and started messing everything up. And Goofy was dealing with empty nest syndrome, of course he would want to come to the same school Max was in. Unlike the first film, the two do communicate, but this time it just leads to a falling out which is repaired in the eleventh hour.

Giving Goofy a love interest is actually a great idea, mainly because it gives him someone other than Max to have intimate interactions with. Besides, him and Sylvia tearing it up Disco Style is perfect. Same with PJ. Having him finally express himself and break away from being an neurotic mess helps to develop his character and make him finally be who he was meant to be.

The music was great as well, but I have a predisposition to music from the 70s. 

One thing though, there’s the suspicious absence of Roxanne. With Max doing everything he could to be with her in the first film, it seems odd that she wouldn’t show up. She wasn’t even mentioned.

#28

Mickey's Once Upon a Christmas

Well, we’re back to Disney. And the category.

Disney put out a direct to video Christmas movie November 9, 1999. Mickey’s Once Upon a Christmas was a package film with three segments. Starring Wayne Allwine, Tony Anselmo, Jeff Bennett, Alan Young, Jim Cummings, Bill Farmer and Frank Welker, it was narrated by Kelsey Grammer.

The first segment, “Stuck on Christmas” puts Huey, Dewey and Louie in a Groundhog Day loop on Christmas day. And they soon get tired of it.

“A Very Goofy Christmas” has Max question Santa’s existence and Goofy is determined to keep his faith alive.

The final segment, “Mickey and Minnie’s Gift of the Magi” centers on the duo planning to give each other great gifts, but can’t because of circumstances. They then sacrifice their prized possessions for the gifts.

When you have an Aesop to teach, there’s one of two ways to do it. You can either present it in a subtle manner or whack the viewer over the head with a sledgehammer. And while these three segments are good, all their lessons come about the latter way.

There’s not much I can say on these other than that, except that the second segment can actually be very relatable. Especially for someone who dealt with the subject matter at that age.

#40

The Spirit of Mickey

A direct-to-video package film was released in 1998. The Spirit of Mickey featured clips from The Mickey Mouse Club and The Wonderful World of Disney in the opening scene and an old message from Walt Disney near the end. It featured the voices of Wayne Allwine, Tony Anselmo, Corey Burton, Bill Farmer and Russi Taylor.

The film has a loose frame of Mickey and friends in a theater introducing 11 old Disney shorts. The shorts include The Band Concert, Thru the Mirror, Lend a Paw, Orphans’ Picnic, The Worm Turns, Mickey’s Surprise Party, Mickey and the Seal, Mickey’s Trailer, Canine Caddy, Mr. Mouse Takes a Trip, and Steamboat Willie.

This was released three months before Mickey’s 70^th birthday, which is probably why it was called Spirit of Mickey.  And these shorts are great in their own right.

The video could have just been the shorts, one after the other. They didn’t need the frame. Which brings me to say, the animation DURING the framed segments was just awful. It’s like they just decided to slap a few things together to make the thing seem coherent.

It’s a short review because there’s not much TO review. #38

A Goofy Movie

Goof Troop was a pretty popular series, causing Disney to produce a theatrical sequel after it ended. Starring Bill Farmer, Jason Marsden, Rob Paulsen, Pauly Shore and Pat Buttram, A Goofy Movie was released April 7, 1995. It ended up being dedicated to Buttram, who died during production.

“I2I” was also one of the first songs I ever put on my iPod.

Goofy (Farmer) is a single father to the teenage Max (Marsden), who gets into trouble on the last day of school. Goofy becomes worried that he hasn’t been spending enough time with Max and decides to take him on a road trip However, Max is more worried about impressing Roxanne (Kellie Martin), a girl at his school. The road trip will mean he’ll have to miss a date with her and he claims it’s because Goofy is taking him to a concert in Los Angeles, where he will appear on stage with the pop sensation, Powerline (Tevin Campbell).

Where Ducktales the Movie felt like a glorified series finale, A Goofy Movie succeeded in actually feeling like a theatrical continuation of the series. It’s set quite a bit after the series too and succeeds in aging Max and PJ well.

Max has grown into a realistic teenager, obsessed with current pop culture and embarrassed at Goofy. Sure he was embarrassed in the series, but here, he actually loathes Goofy at times. And for good reason. Goofy just won’t take the time to shut up and listen. But at the same time, he’s trying to be a good father by doing what he thinks is best for his son. And you can’t really blame him, thanks to Principal Mazur blowing Max’s stunt completely out of proportion, going from harmless interruption and musical interlude to gang fight causing a riot, Goofy thought he was actually doing Max some good. Both sides are actually to blame for the plot. Goofy won’t get Max’s side of the story and Max is too busy brooding after heading out on the open road to tell his father. It’s interesting to see how both characters develop. By the time “Nobody Else But You” is sung, they’ve come to really understand where the other is coming from. And then Goofy makes Max’s lie a reality.

The other characters are pretty flat and are the same from how they were in the series. Pete’s still a dominating father and PJ is still a neurotic twit. There are also characters who don’t appear in the series. Bobby is your stereotypical 90s surfer/stoner. But since he’s voiced by everyone’s favorite washed up 90s stereotypical surfer/stoner actor (Pauly Shore), it’s pulled off moderately well. Though, there’s not much to say for Roxanne, she barely shows up, but it’s easy to see why Max likes her. The best side character is probably Principal Mazur. Because he has no idea what students actually like or want to do and thinks that popular music is cause for believing the student is in a gang and will head for the electric chair. On the other hand, where are Peg and Pistol? There’s a popular theory that she divorced him and took Pistol between series and movie, but there needs to be an actual explanation for their absence.

Also, a lot of background characters have a tendency to freeze while there’s still action going onscreen. Seriously. In the diner, people stop eating, the cook stops cooking and the waitress just stands there. I’ve seen television shows that do it better. But it’s only in a few areas and, while distracting, doesn’t really harm the film.

#25

Initial Reaction: A Goofy Movie

As a sequel to the Goof Troop series, this film is quite good. Max has a different VA, but that just shows he's grown up. And further demonstrates that Goofy is oblivious to what's going on with his son.

Max has a very distinct personality in this film, different than he was in the series and it helps to further that distance. And once Goofy finally shuts up and listens, the two bonding over song down a river is actually pretty good.

Yeah, all the songs are good too.

But one obvious flaw is the background animation. You can tell they were focusing more on Pocahontas than this film. It's not badly drawn, but background characters noticeably freeze while there's still action going onscreen. It's kind of distracting.

Right now, I want to put it at #25.

Fun and Fancy Free

September 27, 1947 saw the release of the fourth package film by Disney. Fun and Fancy Free featured two shorts framed by Jiminy Cricket. Starring Cliff Edwards, Edgar Bergen, Luana Patten, Walt Disney, Clarence Nash, Pinto Colvig, Billy Gilbert, Anita Gordon, Dinah Shore, Sterling Holloway and Dennis Day, the film would be the last time Disney voiced Mickey Mouse, replacing himself with Jimmy MacDonald.

The film begins as Jiminy Cricket first appears inside a large plant in a house. Exploring it while singing, he comes across a doll, a teddy bear, a record player and some records. He sets it up to play the story of Bongo

The first segment, Bongo, based on Sinclair Lewis’ “Little Bear Bongo,” features a circus bear named Bongo who wants to be free in the wild. He breaks free and takes about a day before the idealism is met with harsh conditions. The next morning, he meets a female bear named Lulubelle. They fall in love, but an enormous bear named Lumpjaw cuts in. Bongo fails to interpret Lulubelle slapping him as a sign of affection and she accidentally slaps Lumpjaw, causing him to claim her for himself. He forces the bears into a celebration for them. Bongo comes to understand the meaning of slapping one another among bears and challenges Lumpjaw. Bongo is able to outwit Lumpjaw, but the two go over a waterfall. Lumpjaw is swept away and Bongo is able to claim Lulubelle.

Between Bongo and the second short, Jiminy finds a birthday party going on where Edgar Bergen is entertaining Luana Patten and… living ventriloquist dummies.  Bergen sets up the second short, Mickey and the Beanstalk.

An adaptation of Jack and the Beanstalk, Mickey, Donald, and Goofy are peasants living in a place called Happy Valley, which was plagued by drought after a golden harp was stolen from a nearby castle. After Donald tries to kill their cow with an axe, Mickey trades the cow. However, when he comes back, he reveals he traded the cow for beans instead of money. Donald throws tem through a hole in the floor and a beanstalk sprouts overnight. It carries the house to a gigantic kingdom and the three enter the castle. They help themselves to the food, but Willie the Giant spots them. Willie is able to transform himself in to anything and Mickey asks him to turn into a fly when he spots a fly swatter. However, Willie turns into a pink bunny but when he spots them with the swatter, he captures them and locks them in a box. Mickey escapes to find the key and finds the golden harp. He frees the others and takes the harp to her rightful place in Happy Valley, which is returned to normal. They then kill Willie by chopping down the beanstalk.

Actually Willie survives and is looking for Mickey Mouse in Hollywood.

While I have to commend the framing of Jiminy Cricket being in the position to start up the stories, it’s not much of a frame story. It seems like Disney was trying to find a way to force these two stories together and thought the character of Jiminy was the perfect idea. In actuality, the inclusion of Jiminy makes it feel even more forced. And the living ventriloquist dummies? They don’t seem out of place, but seem downright bizarre and disturbing in context of Edgar Bergen entertaining Luana Patten at a party. I realize they wanted some sort of comic relief in the scene, but couldn’t that have been done with actual people? Especially since the dummies eventually just snarked over Bergen’s narration of the beanstalk short.

That’s not to say the shorts aren’t good. Bongo is interesting and Mickey and the Beanstalk is rather enjoyable. But they would have been better had they been released as individual shorts.

Final Call: entertaining shorts, but has an odd frame that feels forced. I did like it better than Make Mine Music though, which makes Fun and Fancy Free my new #6