A Midsummer Nights Dream

    A Mickey Mouse Cartoon

    Release Date : September 25, 1999

    Synopsis

    Mickey, Minnie, Donald and Daisy compete in Shakespeare's tale of mismatched lovers and a special love potion.

    Characters

    Mickey Mouse
    Minnie Mouse
    Goofy
    Donald Duck
    Daisy Duck
    Ludwig von Drake
    Scrooge McDuck
    Oberon

    Credits

    Television

    Mickey Mouse Works: Season 2 - Episode 3
    House of Mouse: Season 3 - Episode 8

    Technical Specification

    Comments

    From Patrick Malone : Shakespeare must be spinning in his grave. This extended short takes it's plot from Shakespeare's play in outline form only, (I don't believe the line "I'm yours, hot stuff" is in the original) and I almost wish I had not had any familiarity with the play. I wanted to see Bottom and the league of actors for one thing; it would have given the writers more leeway to re-introduce some of the older characters. And the dialogue crossing back and forth between modern and Shakespearean English was just a distraction.

    If you can put the original out of your mind, it was a pleasant enough short. It was nice to see more interaction between all four of the players; Mickey, Minnie, Donald and Daisy. Especially the "romance" between Mickey and Daisy; another pairing that I think we've seen the first of here. Goofy reprises his "fairy" role as Puck in what looks like reused animation from "Dance of the Goofys." John Cleese gives a nice intro and outro (although I wasn't too pleased with the Goofy gag at the tail of the short; it seemed like it would have made a more "romantic" ending without that sting at the end.) And John Rhys-Davies turns in a nifty voice-over as Oberon (looking a little bit, now that I think about it, like King Neptune from "The Little Mermaid.")

    More Shakespeare? Would it be too much to ask for "The Merchant of Venice" with Mickey as Antonio and (of course) Pete as Shylock?

    From J. D. Weil : Any resemblance between this cartoon and Shakepeare's comedy is purely accidental. Most of Shakespeare's dialogue has been jettisoned for some perfectly banal lines, and as for the casting? Well, Donald. Daisy. Mickey and Minnie as the romantic couples are alright, I guess, but I have reservations with Scrooge and Von Drake as the elders and Goofy as Puck? Gimmeabreak! I think Magoo did it a lot better.
    From Davey-kins : Note to Uncle Walt: Do not let Goofy play cupid! Not only do we get a Disney first in the Mickey/Daisy pairing, but when he finally gets it right he creates a Mickey/Daisy/Donald triangle. Enter Minnie and chaos ensues! (Poor Girl, I was expecting the dimensional mallet!)

    I've only been taping MMW Episodes in recent events, but this one's the best I've got on tape so far. Of course, when I get to see other eps, I'll let you know.

    Now, if we can get Disney to use the part Shakespeare (sp?) said about Lawyers....heh, heh, heh.

    Damage to Minnie: Had her life threatened by Ludwig (Minnie: "Ack! Slashing!" Scrooge: "That's a fifty thou fine, Laddy, and I'll see to it the NFL Brass collects!") Being the receiving end of a textbook Jerry Springer Episode (Mickey: "Minnie, I love you, but I slept with Daisy last night") Got run over a total of six times (!!) Probably kissed a ton of germs when Mickey swaps his cheek with a string mop, got into the worst four toon pile-up this side of a good NASCAR race, and finally plots the death of Mickey when he considers getting married a nightmare. At least no chairs were flying and I didn't see Steve anywhere. Nice to know that Disney shows some taste.

    From Juan F. Lara : Too little Shakespeare. Some Shakespeare is recited in the Parthenon scene. But then Von Drake took the short on a tangent with his time-eating shtick. King Oberon spoke to Goofy in Shakespearian verse. Then the short spent a lot of time on the obvious gag of Goofy not understanding what Oberon was saying. What little Shakespeare that made it through popped up randomly, and the modern speech that the characters spoke in most of the time clashed badly with the Shakespeare.

    The short took until the commercial break for Goofy/Puck to make his mistake. Then the second half consisted of just the fab four running after each other. In fact it had one lengthy sequence of Mickey and Donald trading off Daisy. The fairfolk were reduced to just Puck and a dull looking Oberon. Sorely missed were Queen Titania and her subplot, and the Pyramis and Thisbe play. With those elements missing this short seemed empty more than anything else.

    The short did end with a plot twist that put me in a good mood regarding it. Overall I liked this short a bit more than Around the World..., but not by much.

    The Athenian setting made me nostalgic for "Hercules". And for "Gargoyles" as well. I missed that show's Titania and Oberon.

    From Lee Suggs : This is a pretty interesting short if you don't mind the fast and loose borrowing of Shakespeare. It was especially interesting when Mickey was in love with Daisy, a nice change of pace. This was an entertaining if not extremely funny short. This series has great potential, all of the entries so far have been pretty good.
    From Nikki : This would have to be one of my favorite Shakespeare plays ever written and to have my favorite characters play the roles was simply amazing. I am sad that I had only seen this once but it was very good. Still that Mickey chasing Daisy thing ...weird!
    From Wei Ancheta : Well I'm one of its lay-out artists so I say it's screenplay is brilliant! I would just like to thank those who appreciate this show.
    From Aaron : WOW! This may just be one of the BEST Mousetails cartoons EVER! It has a WONDERFUL premise that develops into a great plot. It was really strange but interesting to see Mickey in love with Daisy and Donald in love with Minnie. And I laughed my head off to see Goofy play the role of Puck. This cartoon silly and fun plot thread about love. I also thought the ending was very amusing. The wild happenings and the interesting love made this one of the best Mousetails cartoons so far.
    From Daisy : I loved this short. I laughed at the part where Mickey says "I'm yours, hot stuff" to daisy before chasing her. I also loved the bit when Donald woke up, saw Daisy and fell in love with her. I also liked the bit where Mickey were fighting over daisy before chasing each other while carrying her. But my all-time favorite bit was when Donald picks Daisy up and says "Daisy, I love you" before trying to give her a big kiss.

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