Air Date February 10, 2001
Synopsis
Characters
Credits
Shorts Shown
Comments
Before Valentine's Day I read a lot of net.postings and articles of people feeling aggravated by the holiday, because they don't have a significant other of their own. In light of that I could understand how down Goofy was feeling at the start. I was able to sympathize with Goofy all the way to the end of the episode, and so I enjoyed the Goofy plotthread. As for Daisy's idea of helping Goofy, well that actually had precedent in the shorts. Rich Bellacera once noted that Goofy found himself romancing lots of inanimate objects in the old shorts. I particularly remembered the mannequin he had in "How to Dance". Because of those precedents the gag worked O.K. for me. But still I was a little disappointed because I was expecting something else. With the whole Disney pantheon available I was hoping Craig and Gannaway would pick a feature female character for Goofy's date. Wouldn't it have been really funny if Goofy wound up paired with one of the Disney Heroines? Alternate to that I would've loved seeing Daisy trying to pass herself off as his blind date. At the least they could've used the mannequin from that short I mentioned to make a stronger connection with the past.
Mortimer Mouse's plotthread was funnier. He wasn't the heavy he's been in "Mouseworks" this time. I actually felt a little sympathetic for the old dweeb as he went through his funny and mostly-harmless come-ons. Craig and Gannaway picked an unusual list of secondary female characters for Mortimer to play on. My favorite of those scenes was the stepsisters scene. For once those sisters were in a situation where they weren't the heavies. I loved seeing them get the last laugh on Mortimer, with Lucifer's help.
Ludwig Von Drake had a notable sketch in this ep:
"...the perfect person to fall in love with is someone who is just like
you. And that's why I have made myself the perfect mate."
"Hello there, I am woman."
"It's like what we do in cloning..."
"...without the sheep..."
"...because we..."
"...is ducks."
Now that was a disturbing idea, and LOL funny because of that. I also thought they had an imaginative design for the female clone. Not an exact lookalike this time. (Maybe this was a parody of how Minnie and Daisy look exactly like their beaus.)
Gus Goose made his first appearance as a HoM staff member. I liked that they found a place for this lesser known character from the shorts and the comics.
The nephews finally got to do something different from the Quackstreet Boys routine. Here they used the models of the "Quack Pack" versions of the nephews, though Huey and Louie seemed to have switched outfits. Or colors.
I bet Rich really disliked the resolution to the Goofy plotthread.
House of Mouse ends this week with a very clever advertisement for "Queen of Hearts Cards". The Queen is in excellent form, and the ad ends with "dealing with the Queen of Hearts might be dangerous to your head..." This was a wonderful episode, it would have been perfect if there was a new Valentine Day cartoon.
"Puppy Love" is one of my favorite Mickey Mouse shorts! I particularly like the scene where Mickey and Minnie are playing the piano together.
I want to see Fifi again too! And Clarabelle does belong with Horace.
Perhaps the funniest event of the episode was when Goofy thought Mortimer was his blind date, and Mortimer didn't even try to deny it.... Also, this was the first time we see Gus Goose in an episode, and I found it interesting that his "speech" has returned to soley "honking."
Yes, cocky Mortimer fails to win the hearts of Anastasia and Drizella (Cinderella's step-sisters), Mad Madame Mim, Laverne the Gargoyle, the Queen of Hearts... and, through misfortune, apparently Goofy.... LOL! He sure picked a gaggle of winners to persue there. Each attempt was met by an attack (the Step-sisters were rescued when their cat, Lucifer jumped Mortimer, Laverne was saved by Hugo and Victor, Mim transformed into a dragon and flamed him, etc.). Y'know, as much as Mortimer is meant to be despised, his appearances in MouseWorks and now here in HOM, have really endeared me to him! He's a perfect Jerk! I look forward to some teaming up with Pete in the future if that ever happens (hey, they both hate Mickey! And they both want Minnie!... though not necessarily for the same reasons!).
While entertaining, this ("Donald's Velentine Dollar") wasn't one of my favorite cartoons. Sure Donald is "cheap", but I was more intrigued by all the guest appearances. Seeing the Nephews use their own kites to terrorize their Unca Donald was rather humorous though. Another bit, that I found interesting ONLY because of the new format that this cartoon was presented in, was the stark visual contrast between Daisy at the end of the cartoon and Daisy in the House of Mouse. For someone who's "hair" is merely feathers, she sure can do wonders (re: Quack Pack, HOM, etc.). I love the ponytail though!
I am a fan of Pluto's archnemesis Butch and have always loved seeing them clash. Seeing Pluto get the best of him was sheer genius. Oddly, as in the first time I saw it ("Pluto's Arrow Error") , I was surprised to see Dinah and Butch had become an established couple and Pluto was basically diluding himself by thinking he even had a chance with her.... In every way, Butch is a great parallel to Pete though Dinah is hardly a parallel to Minnie. I'm still waiting for the revival of Fifi the Peke, Minnie's dog, and the mother of Pluto's puppies!
