TheLittleSongbird Van Beuren cartoons are extremely variable, especially in the number of gags and whether the absurdist humour shines through enough (sometimes it does, other times it doesn't), but are strangely interesting. Although they are often poorly animated with barely existent stories and less than compelling lead characters, they are also often outstandingly scored, there can be some fun support characters and some are well-timed and amusing.'The Goose that Laid the Golden Egg' is most interesting for being a Felix the Cat cartoon that is in colour and has sound. As far as the Van Beuren "Rainbow Parade" cartoons go, all three Felix the Cat cartoons, of which 'The Goose that Laid the Golden Egg' is the first, are among the best of the "Rainbow Parade" series. Not great as such, being fairly bland compared to the earlier silent black and white Felix the Cat cartoons which had more vigour and humour of the surreal/absurdist kind. Also worth the while, despite how all of the above sounded.A lot of strengths in 'The Goose that Laid the Golden Egg'. The best being the pretty great animation, one of the best looking of the "Rainbow Parade" series, having more refinement in the drawing than usually seen, and one of the best looking Felix the Cat cartoons. Compared to the animation in the Cubby the Bear, most of the (human) Tom and Jerry and other cartoons of Van Beuren, their production values came on a long way when switching to colour. The background detail is meticulous and even better are the ravishing colours that pop out at you.Just as good is the music score, it is so beautifully and cleverly orchestrated, is great fun to listen to and full of lively energy, doing so well with enhancing the action. The synchronisation is sharp and neat. Wasn't bored, while not completely excited, watching 'The Goose that Laid the Golden Egg', with the final battle being a lot of fun and Captain Kidd a suitably dastardly antagonist. There is a charm and it never gets overly sugary. The goose character is nice and the Great Depression element was intriguing and not laid on too thick.However, the story is over-familiar, with not an awful lot new brought to the table. The ending can be seen from quite some distance away. Felix is likeable enough but there is a preference too for his original personality, one that was much stronger and one that set him apart from other silent animated characters from that era.In the laughs department, 'The Goose that Laid the Golden Egg' is lacking. Not completely humourless, but there isn't enough and not much that sticks in the mind anyhow. For Felix the Cat, with the surreal/absurdist humour missing, this was pretty tame, how he caught up with the boat was an exception. The cartoon takes a little too long to get going, with the climactic moments being where things most come alive, and comes close to being on the sugary side.On the whole, nice enough and passes the time more than decently but no classic. 6/10 Bethany Cox

Horst in Translation ([email protected]) "The Goose That Laid the Golden Egg" is a 7-minute cartoon that has its 80th anniversary this year. Felix the Cat is probably mostly known for his black-and-white short films, in which he is a bit of a pioneer before the Golden Years of Animation, but he existed afterward too and this is his attempt at a transition. Not too successful in my opinion. This cartoon delivered almost more from a dramatic than comedic perspective. The locations and items used are interesting, but the comedy is almost non-existent or simply over so quickly that it does not stay in the mind. Maybe this character really works best with black-and-white silent films. I did not enjoy this short film here. Lacks completely the smartness that other films from that era had. Thumbs down.

Michael_Elliott The Goose That Laid the Golden Egg (1936) ** 1/2 (out of 4)Felix the Cat is in possession of a goose that can lay golden eggs so he has no problem sharing his wealth with the people of the community. Captain Kidd discovers this goose and steals it in hopes to give him riches so Felix must try and rescue his friend.As other reviewers have pointed out, this film was certainly meant to have an undertone in that people should be helping others during the Depression era. With that said, the movie manages to be quite entertaining thanks in large part to the animation and colors. I really loved the way the golden tone of the eggs looked and I especially enjoyed the design of the goose. There's a wonderful fight sequence at the end that helps keeping the acting moving along. There's certainly nothing ground-breaking here but it's an entertaining short.

ccthemovieman-1 Wow, this is the first cartoon I've seen that addresses The Great Depression in the 1930s. The first scene has Felix The Cat manning a little stand that says "Relief Bureau" and he's handing out a handful of gold coins to every person in line. "Don't thank me," he says; "thank him.""Him" isn't FDR or the government: it's a goose in the back of the booth who is laying golden eggs. After dishing out the coins, Felix goes back and tells "Goldie" that she's doing "good work, so keep it up!" Felix takes her eggs and grinds them into coins so he can dish out the next batch.It doesn't long for the villain, "Captain Kidd," disguised as a woman, to appear at the back window, seeing the goose and figuring out what's happening. So, moments later, he steals the valuable goose. Even though Felix knows who it is, Kidd succeeds and takes the goose aboard his pirate ship and sails away.The cartoon turns into a pirate adventure story when Felix, who figures out a way to get on Kidd's ship via turning himself into a human cannonball (hey, it's a cartoon!) battles it out aboard ship with the peg-legged and sword-wielding Kidd.Overall, more for kids but adults can enjoy this, too, almost like an old-fashioned Errol Flynn pirate movie, except in animated form. The duels between Felix and Kidd are well done.