Walt Disney Treasures Review: Mickey Mouse in Black and White Volume Two

Stars: 4 out of 5
Pros: Many of the later cartoons

Cons: Early cartoons get repetitive; "The Moose Hunt"

The Bottom Line:

Building a career

More Mickey's early stages

Better as it goes

Mickey's Back in Black (and White)

In the first four waves of the Walt Disney Treasures Collection, they released all of the classic Mickey Mouse shorts. Mickey Mouse in Black and White Volume Two was the last set released, however. While the collector in me is glad to have it for completeness, I can see why they waited. It mainly appeals to die hard fans like me and not to the mass audience like the others did.

This two disc set contains 40 more cartoons from Mickey's early career. As with the first black and white collection, they span Mickey's entire two toned career. The set starts off with 1928's "The Barn Dance" and ends with 1935's "Mickey's Kangaroo."

The cartoons in this set aren't as well known or important as their counter parts in the first set. That set included "Steamboat Willie" as well as several shorts that introduced Donald and Goofy. The shorts here are just run of the mill adventures for the mouse. In fact, Donald and Goofy only make one appearance. Instead, Mickey is surrounded by girlfriend Minnie, dog Pluto, and now forgotten friends Clarabelle Cow and Horace Horse.

As with the first one, you can really see the progression animation took during these early years. The early cartoons are crudely drawn without much detail. They rely heavily on gags and music. Frankly, they get repetitive if watched back to back. As the set progresses, you can see the attention to detail coming to the forefront in the drawings and the beginnings of true stories in these 7 minute cartoons. Heck, the early shorts hardly have any dialogue. While I wouldn't call the later ones dialogue heavy, they do have more.

But even the early ones have their charm. "Mickey's Choo Choo" is a funny train ride. "The Barnyard Battle" is a clever fight to protect the farm from invaders (led by Tom Cat in the days before Peg Leg Pete appears). "Traffic Trouble" is a hilarious look at driving in the big city, at least in 1931 terms. Story really begins to take center stage in disc two with such shorts as "Mickey's Mechanical Man" which finds Mickey trying to train a robot to out box a gorilla in the ring. The most emotionally gripping is "Mickey's Good Deed" in which Mickey sells Pluto to buy Christmas for a poor family.

Not all of these have stood the test of time. Fortunately, some of our attitudes toward race have changed in the last 70 plus years. Instead of deleting or white washing this history, the 10 shorts most affected are separated into the "From the Vault" section. They get a warning introduction by series host Leonard Maltin. Unlike the first set in the series, there is one warning for the entire group instead of repeating the same warning every time you run across one of these on your own. The bad news is you still can't skip it. Frankly, most of these only have one or two slightly objectionable jokes out of a seven minute cartoon. The worst of the bunch is "Mickey's Mellerdrammer" where Mickey and the gang attempt to do a version of Uncle Tom's Cabin. Of course, most of the jokes are about how badly the production comes off and not the fact that the characters are in blackface. The one I found most upsetting was "The Moose Hunt" because at one point Mickey thinks he's shot and killed Pluto. Frankly, that upset me. I can't image what it might do to a kid who couldn't distinguish the order of cartoons.

In addition to the galleries of artwork from the included cartoons, we get some other bonus features. Disc one includes an interview with John Hench who did the official portraits of Mickey for many years. There's also a segment showing off the largest known collection of Mickey Mouse memorabilia from the era. Disc two provided my favorite extra. Mickey Mouse had invaded the comic pages in newspapers during this time, and they provide a serialized storyline from three months worth of Sunday papers. There's no talking; you have to read the dialogue. It was fun to see what those old strips were like. And I enjoyed looking for similarities between the Mickey and the giant story presented here and the "Mickey and the Beanstalk" cartoon that would be made several years later.

To be honest, Mickey Mouse in Black and White Volume Two isn't for everyone. I can't imagine today's kids sitting through some of the oldest shorts here. And the casual fan will miss Mickey's most familiar sidekicks. But as a fan of Disney, I loved being able to watch these old cartoons and see just how far the art of animation came in a few short years.

Included Cartoons:

1928 - The Barn Dance

1929 - The Opry House, When the Cat's Away, The Barnyard Battle, The Plow Boy, Mickey's Choo Choo, The Jazz Fool, Jungle Rhythm, Wild Waves

1930 - Just Mickey, The Barnyard Concert, The Cactus Kid, The Shindig, The Picnic

1931 - Traffic Troubles, The Castaway, Fishin' Around, The Barnyard Broadcast, The Beach Party

1932 - The Mad Dog, Barnyard Olympics, Musical Farmer, Trader Mickey, The Wayward Canary

1933 - Mickey's Pal Pluto, Mickey's Mechanical Man

1934 - Playful Pluto, Mickey's Steam-Roller, Mickey Plays Papa

1935 - Mickey's Kangaroo

From the Vault: The Haunted House (1929), The Moose Hunt (1931), The Delivery Boy (1931), The Grocery Boy (1932), Mickey in Arabia (1932), Mickey's Good Deed (1932), Mickey's Mellerdrammer (1933), The Steeplechase (1933), Shanghaied (1934), Mickey's Man Friday (1935)