6/23/2023 0 Comments Nostalgic air mail pilot picturesThe short starts with some very nice animation of planes landing and taking off before we see Mickey and his plane, with some nice gags involving an oil can. There will be spoilers ahead: Mickey is an airmail pilot in this one. This is an early Mickey Mouse cartoon produced by the Disney studio. Mickey is in his dashing, brave hero side, a side I've always loved to him, Minnie is likable and Pete is appropriately menacing. The music from the energetic title number, repeated throughout in varying ways, to the incidental music is delightful, catchy and beautifully orchestrated. The animation is outstanding also, it is lovingly shaded, very dynamic and keeps the action in full focus. As well as the comedic element, there is a romantic edge that is endearingly sweet, you can really tell that Mickey and Minnie are fond of each other. The inventive ways in which Mickey keeps the plane going is also a delight, as well as the subtle gag with the oil. The gags are just great, especially the one where Pete is being dragged through a church steeple. The story may seem somewhat standard playing as a Mickey vs.Pete scenario, but it is never dull and what is done with it is done in a fresh way. While The Mail Pilot was not one of the Disney shorts that I grew up with, I do consider it now one of their finest from the 1932-3 era. Walt never forgot that his fortunes were all started by a mouse, or that simplicity of message and lots of hard work always pay off. Against a blizzard of doomsayers, Walt persevered and over the next decades delighted children of all ages with the adventures of Snow White, Pinocchio, Dumbo, Bambi & Peter Pan. All this was in preparation for Walt's grandest dream - feature length animated films. 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. 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. The happy arrival of sound technology made Mickey's screen debut, STEAMBOAT WILLIE (1928), a tremendous audience success with its use of synchronized music. 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. Business reversals sent Disney & Iwerks to Hollywood in 1923, where Walt's older brother Roy became his lifelong business manager & counselor. Always the innovator, his ALICE IN CARTOONLAND series broke ground in placing a live figure in a cartoon universe. 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. 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 figures on the sides of his vehicle. Walt Disney (1901-1966) was always intrigued by drawings. Especially good opening shot of the busy airport - notice the hapless autogyro. This is a fine little black & white film, with lots of detail in the animation. Mickey, THE MAIL PILOT, knows his precious cargo must get through - even when menaced by Pete in his bat-like plane.
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