Horst in Translation ([email protected])
"Mickey's Grand Opera" is as you probably already guessed from the title a Disney cartoon and a really old one indeed. People having their 80th birthday today did not even live when some of Disney's finest filmmakers and voice actors united for this project. Warner Bros is known for stuff like their cartoon version of The Barber of Seville and others and this one here is perhaps Disney's take on the subject. Referencing music in cartoons was a really big thing back then if you take a look at The Cat Concerto being among Tom & Jerry's best-received works. Not for me though. And this one here disappoints as much. Pluto's early shenanigans were as forgettable as the middle part where we see the stage performance and that fat hen was extremely forgettable to be honest. The ending gives us the best moment of these slightly over 7.5 minutes when all these animals appear. And one given the fact that the two key performers are birds too, even if humanized versions, there is some irony to them trying to chase away the tormentors. It is a color cartoon, but if you see Mickey's and Donald's looks (a bit of a white-feathered Daffy), you will certainly realized that these are still earlier versions of the beloved duck and mouse characters. Poor Mickey only working with fools here. Overall, I give this one a thumbs-down, especially from the comedic perspective it was a disappointment and Mickey may have been the conductor, but he really wasn't as much in charge as you could think when reading the title, probably because he was the only one not causing chaos. But chaos does not equal comedy. Don't watch.
OllieSuave-007
In this cartoon short, Mickey Mouse is conducting an opera when he chases Pluto away, only to have him tangle with his runaway magician hat. Meanwhile, Clara Cluck sings a pretty mundane opera number with her somewhat annoying voice, as Clarabelle Cow plays the flute and Donald Duck serves as Clara's male lead. It results in some funny moments as Donald and Clara's awkward chemistry are depicted, all the while Pluto spars with the magician hat and Mickey frantically tries to keep the entire opera under control. However, what results is a pretty chaotic mess. The actual humor is kept at a minimum, so, as a result, I've seen funnier cartoons than this from Disney.Grade C+
TheLittleSongbird
Mickey's Grand Opera is very special to me, as I love the Disney Silly Symphonies and I love opera, so this was a perfect match. I always had loved this cartoon, and I still do. The animation is not jaw-dropping, but it still has beautiful colours with nice light and dark contrasts and all the backgrounds and characters are well drawn. The music is outstanding, not just the energetic background music, but also the inclusion of the Prelude of Act 3 of Wagner's Lohengrin and Clara and Donald butchering with hilarious results the Quartet Bella Figlia D'Amore from Verdi's Rigoletto, she with her high-pitched clucks, he with his guttural quacks, and then there's the chaos going on and off stage as well. The story, really starting to get going after Pluto finds the hat, is simple, but well-paced and not too routine, but other than the music it was the characters and gags that made Mickey's Opera House. Mickey is not the centre of the action but here as the role of conductor he is the one who controls it. His repeated Go Homes are quite harsh, even for the usually kindly Mickey, and evokes sympathy for Pluto. Clara and Donald are hilarious, especially when Donald gets his sword stuck and then gets a frog stuck in his throat(reminding one of Orphans' Picnic), but it's Pluto, especially with the hat that is the cause of all the conflict and chaos, that steals the show for me. The birds and rabbits flying out of the hat, after it falls down the tuba, over the orchestra was an inspired touch, I liked the brief cameos of Clarabelle and Goofy(on flute and violin respectively) and the ending is just hilarious. All in all, a classic and heartily recommended. 10/10 Bethany Cox
Ron Oliver
A Walt Disney MICKEY MOUSE Cartoon.Mme. Clara Cluck & Donald Duck are performing Rigoletto - very badly - as a part of MICKEY'S GRAND OPERA.The duet with the Duck & the Cluck in this wonderful little film is absolutely hilarious. The subplot, in which poor Pluto tries to capture a magic hat busy disgorging scores of white rabbits, doves & mice, is the perfect counterpoint. Watch the orchestra carefully to spot flautist Clarabelle Cow and violinist Goofy. Florence Gill does the clucking for Clara, Clarence Nash provides Donald with his unique voice, Walt Disney does the honors for Mickey.Walt Disney (1901-1966) was always intrigued by pictures & 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 comic 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 storm of naysayers, Walt persevered and over the next decades delighted children of all ages with the adventures of Snow White, Pinocchio, Dumbo, Bambi & Peter Pan. Walt never forgot that his fortunes were all started by a mouse, or that childlike simplicity of message and lots of hard work always pay off.
