From Juan F. Lara : Only the club story was
new this time, and I was lukewarm to that story.
It's trite when the guests do the exact same plotlines they did in the movies
they're from. So I was put off when Jafar used Donald for what I thought
was a plot to get "the lamp"...again. It turned out that Jafar actually had
different plans. I was pleasantly surprised when they revealed his real scheme,
and that last scene featuring him was funny. I wasn't happy with what happened
to Donald though. He went along with Jafar ONLY because Jafar hypnotized
him. Donald didn't deserve to get punished at all. In other eps the time
for the nightclub scene has seemed too short to get through all the story
they wanted to do. This time though they apparently had not enough story
to fill out the whole time. So they had to put in a B-plot to fill out the
time. I had been wondering why no one had already noticed the food that Gus
Goose had been stealing. But Gus and Goofy's B-plot didn't interest me much.
The A-plot featured a long visit to the club's prop room, aping "Raiders
of the Lost Ark". I had fun spotting the props the makers put in the room
from a wide variety of films. ( One prop was a plug for Donald's "Fantasia
2000" clip. ) In the end, Donald redid the "Aladdin" scene where Al found
and got the lamp. He just redid that scene and so I don't that's enough to
be funny. Similarly, Goofy wound up redoing a scene from "Lonesome Ghosts".
From Lee Suggs : House of Mouse is exceeding
my expectations every week! This week the happenings in the House became
as much a treat as the cartoon shorts. In fact, I would say the House narrative
was an EXCELLENT short. It all starts with Mickey calling Donald a ham. (Nice
bit here with the Three Little Pigs who find the ham joke hilarious.) Donald
is irritated by this, but not too upset. (Donald does being upset pretty
well, so you can generally tell when he's a bit angry.) Enter Jafar, who
gets Donald's attention by pointing out what a fool Mickey is making of him.
He then hypnotizes Donald and sends him after the LAMP. While this is going
on Goofy is trying to figure out what's happening with the food orders, since
none of them are making it to the tables. He enlists the cook's help in his
investigation. (The cook is Gus the Goose, if you know Gus you can see where
this is going.) Goofy is amusing in his Sherlock Holmes hat as he tries to
solve the mystery. (This leads to a nice cameo by The Great Mouse Detective's
cast involving a piece of cheese in a dangerous place! :o) Meanwhile Donald
is searching through the HOM's storeroom for Aladdin's Lamp. (There are all
sorts of interesting things in the storeroom: a sword in a stone, a spinning
wheel, a pride rock, to name just a few.) After surviving "Noah's Flood"
(a clever reference to "Fantasia 2000") Donald find the Lamp. Unfortunately
he also finds the "Forbidden Treasure". You can guess what happens next.
Back in the HOM, Mrs. Potts is doing a dance number with the table settings.
(Bet you can't guess what the music for this is. ;o) Suddenly Donald pops
through the floor riding Carpet just ahead of a flaming death. (Where have
we seen this before?) He delivers the Lamp to Jafer, but it turns out to
be the WRONG one! Jafar wanted MICKEY's Lamp. This turns out to be a clock/lamp
tacky souvenir. (A Flea Market special if I ever saw one.) Mickey generously
gives Jafar his lamp, and Jafer does a great reprisal of the time he obtained
Aladdin's Lamp. He then gleefully disappears in cloud of smoke. Mickey mentions
that Jafar should be angry with Donald for getting the wrong lamp, and Jafer
pops back to take care of that. Jafar's curse solves Goofy's mystery since
Donald in now a REAL ham, and Gus decides to take advantage. As I said a
wonderful ride through all kinds of references and sight gags.
This week's episode ends with an ad for "Cave of Wonders Storage" which is
extremely clever and signs off with the disclaimer- "Not safe from a diamond
in the rough". While there were no new shorts this week, I think the HOM's
wild happenings make this the best episode yet.
