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"A Mickey Mouse Cartoon"
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Released by United Artists Pictures
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This short was inspired by the silent Charlie Chaplin film "The Gold Rush."
From Jerry Edwards : One of the best "Mickey saves Minnie from Pete" shorts - mainly due to its connection to the Chaplin film. The opening scenery showing the outside of the Klondike Bar is especially well animated. The early scene of Mickey being kind to a starving, freezing Minnie is especially well done. I love one scene with creative use of "lighting" in which the only light is from the gun shots in the dark. One scene of especially poor animation really jumps out at me since the rest of the short is so well animated. One of four men around a table is drawn as part of the background and is not animated - obviously a cost-cutting move that is very jarring to me.
From Ryan : Poor Minnie is rescued from the bitter cold by Mickey who is the piano player of a Klondike saloon. As Jerry Edwards pointed out, the animation is quite well done. I liked the gun scene in the bar. Now that was great animation and it was definitely life-like. That scene may scare the dickens out of some small children, but that is NOT Disney's problem. Another funny scene was where Mickey was trying to get Pluto to mush, but Pluto goes and sniffs a tree.
From Mike : This is, easily, my favorite Mickey 'toon. Brilliant animation, simple but great plot and all the great scenes such as Mickey and Pete (or Peirre) are fighting on the springs, Pluto going fast again once he spots a rabbit, and Goofy's small cameo. The snow is very well animated and when Mickey is talking to starved Minnie ("Guess we're both nobody")is great. Not as funny as say "Steamboat Willie or "The Chain Gang", but just great with the animation, plot, and just the whole damn thing is perfect.
From Gijs Grob : In essence this short is "Gallopin' Gaucho" in Canada. But what an execution of such an old idea! The gags are plenty and funny and build up to a fast paced finale. If any Mickey Mouse cartoon anticipates the Warner Brothers/MGM style, this one must be it.
This short is unique for its time in its clever integration of story and gags: the gags are not bonuses, but really add to the story. My favorite highlight must be the ridiculous fight between Mickey and Peg Leg Pete hindered by spiral springs.
Because of the strong similarities in setting and storyline Tex Avery's 'The Shooting of Dan McGoo' (MGM, 1946) could almost be considered a remake of this wonderful cartoon.
From Bill I. : Although this was the simple "Mickey saves Minnie from Pete" it was one of the best in the collection. It had some great animation (the gunfight where you could see only during the lashes of light from the guns) to the outrageous chase scene in the end. Mickey in this short is the way he should have stayed; brash, fearless and he had that sharp "edge" that made him number one. I also enjoyed the short cameo Goofy had, dancing with the barmaid. The scene with Mickey and Pete fighting with springs attached to both of them was just funny. It seems to me that the storywriters in the early days just had great imaginations. The animators also did a fine job when the cabin was going down the hill. And of course the happy ending made this a positive 9.
Referenced Comments
This is strictly a personal observation and there are undoubtedly those who will disagree with me.
Do I have a favorite short? Well, I have a favorite character, and that is Mickey Mouse. Of Mickey's 120 shorts, I tend to gravitate to the pre-1934 black-and-white shorts that were made when Disney was building an image, not trying to protect it, and before the stifling restrictions of the Production Code. Back then Mickey had an ebullience, an optimism, and a spirit of adventure that is somewhat lacking in later installments of the series. There was was also a delightful brattiness that made these films fun to watch, and a pacing that you couldn't find anywhere else. Back then, you were more interested in what that guy was doing rather than trying to figure out how they were making him do it. Maybe that's why I'm attracted to film shorts of that era.
So there you have it. Ebullience, optimism, brattiness, adventure, and pacing. If there was a single short where all these elements came together in just the right proportions, it would be "The Klondike Kid".
--- J. D. Weil