Mickey's Remedy

A Mickey Mouse Cartoon

Release Date : September 25, 1999

Synopsis

Donald decides to give Mickey a try in controlling his three nephews. But Mickey has more than a few surprises up his sleeve, including the threat of "Bolvainian Brain Fever."

Characters

Mickey Mouse

Pluto

Goofy

Donald Duck

Huey, Dewey and Louie

Credits

Television

Mickey Mouse Works: Season 2 - Episode 3

House of Mouse: Season 3 - Episode 21

Technical Specification

Comments

From Patrick Malone : Now here was a switch. Donald drops his nephews off at Mickey's house to see if he can do anything with them. ("They can't be that bad. What could go wrong?") Turns out he can, in a delightful twist on the central gag in the 1948 short Soup's On. This is the first time that I can remember that Mickey has been teamed with Donald's nephews. Given the pairing, Mickey gets to show a lot more personality here; he's much more authoritarian, and much more active. He's actually allowed to instigate some of the action here rather than let havoc break out around him, or let the supporting players get the attention.

Donald's temper was what the nephews could always capitalize on; Mickey's easy-going ways weren't something they could deal with. Or, maybe because Mickey had never really dealt with them directly before, he just wasn't sure what he would have to expect. Because of this, it makes it easier to believe that Mickey could pull the wool over their eyes as he does. Donald would never had had such a successful plan; somehow we expected it from Mickey. Goofy also turns in an adequate show in a quick cameo as the "doctor." The "tools" he throws out of his bag got a good chuckle out of me, especially the kicker at the end. All in all, it's good to see them experimenting with new pairings and trying to mix it up a bit more.

From J. D. Weil : Mickey baby-sitting Donald's nephews? Yougottabekidding! But that's what happens when Donald gets fed up with the boy's pranks and turns the job over to Mickey who can barely take care of himself. Ah,but there's a catch. When the boys get up to their old tricks, Mickey wises up quickly and turns the tables on them. It's a bit of a role reversal all the the pranks that the boys used to play on their uncle now is played on them by Mickey (withan assist from Goofy, or should I say Dr. Goofy, P.G.(Goofy Practicianer). The role reversal ploy is could be pretty funny if the personalities involved are well-defined, but Mickey's personality is a bit too fuzzy for this to work well. Good idea, though.

From Juan F. Lara : This short didn't get started until Mickey turned the tables on the nephews. And it turned out to be a great idea to give Mickey a chance to demonstrate his capabilities as a trickster. The scene where the nephews thought they were dead might've seemed unexpectedly nasty for Mickey. But all through the tricks he pulled on the nephews Mickey kept his usual smile. That smile implied to me that Mickey was just playing around without meaning any real harm. So the tricks he pulled were believable for Mickey, and a lot of fun to watch.

But the short wasted a lot of time on Mickey messing up his kitchen (see Mickey Tries to Cook) and on Goofy's cameo. Both scenes were just pointless slapstick, with Goofy's scene resembling his scenes in Donald's Dinner Date. Also, this short had another example of Patrick Malone's complaint that characters talk unneccessarily. Mickey didn't have to read out the fake illness's name and symptoms at the start. They could've just shown pages of the book as Mickey put the symptoms on the nephews, and then have Mickey read the book aloud after the fact. I also thought the "space probe" running gag fell flat. Wouldn't a power drill have worked better?

From Davey-kins : The first short I taped is also mose rememberable, if for no other reason than the idea I get from it about a fanfict Idea: "Donald Gets a Space Probe" I dare anyone to write that!

From Lee Suggs : One of my favorite shorts of the series. Mickey maintains his nice guy personality while getting the best of Huey, Dewey, and Louie. The short moves nicely and makes good use of all the characters. I especially like the parts where Mickey convinces the boys they have a fatal illness, and then later that they have died and gone to the "baaaaad" place.