From Patrick Malone : Yes, yes, yes, yes
yes ... a thousand times, yes! This is what I had expected the "Mouse Tails"
series to be like. I'm not too familiar with the comic featuring "The Phantom
Blot" so I'm working from a small disadvantage in comparing it to that. But
as it stands by itself, this one was ... dare I say it ... absolutely perfect.
The set-up was good at the beginning with a lot of good silliness. (Watch
for a nice throw-away gag at the beginning which you might miss if you're
not looking carefully: Goofy accidentally throws his hat into one of the
fans which slices it into pieces. Without missing a beat, he merely reaches
into his back pocket and pulls out another one and goes on as if nothing
had happened. I loved it.)
But the silliness gives way to the drama of the situation and a lot of good
excitement as the trio (and specifically Mickey) battle the Blot from outside
of his blimp / hot-air balloon. The animation is crisp and clean, and doesn't
drag on too long to ruin the spell. There is a nice exciting sequence where
Mickey is swinging wildly around the balloon held only by a roll of adhesive
tape. And the ending truly did surprise me; I thought they had forgotten
something somewhere.
Given the success of this short, may I suggest a modest proposal for the
short-shorts? It seems to me that these would be the perfect vehicles for
a series comparable to the "cliffhanger" type serials of the 30's and 40's.
Maybe an Indiana Jones type adventure series where you had to keep tuning
in week after week to see what happens. Any thoughts?
From Davey-kns : The Blot makes Mouse Works!!
yesyesyesyesYES!YES!!YES!! Finally Michael Eisner does something RIGHT!!
This is straight from the comic books I used to read and love from the Eighties!
Fourteen Minutes is too short for this rivarly. They should make Mouseworks
a daily show and then put a new Saturday Morning version with the graphics
upped several notices (make them Anime to be daring) where the old comics
get special treatment! Have Mickey make a team like Chip'n'Dale's Rescue
Rangers--Bring Back Gadget!!--and have Ozzy Ozborne voice act for the Blot
so that the Blot will have the 'Disney Villian' status he deserves!
From Lee Suggs : Whoa! Maybe my favorite
short of the whole "MouseWorks" series. According to others this one is based
on the classic Mickey Mouse comic books. I've seen very few of those, so
I can't comment on that. However, this is a wonderful short wherever the
idea for it came from. These trio shorts (Mickey, Donald, and Goofy) have
been very uneven. Some of them have even been awful. (Turkey Catchers, Ugh!)
Here they hit a homerun. Start with a wonderful villain (the apparently
non-vertebrate Blot)who really wants to KILL Mickey Mouse, add in a ridiculous
plot to steal all the money in the world, and add in non-stop action and
gags. Mickey gets to stomp on the Blot, Goofy and Donald provide comedy relief
(and save Mickey), and everything works out O.K. in the end. This is how
they should handle Mickey's character all the time. So to a fanatical Mickey
fan this is one fabulous short.
From Jessie : Loved this episode! Totally
funny, and full of gags and humor plus a dab of drama and a little disney
cartoons spirit. This episode kept me on the edge of my seat and applauded
at the end. When was the last time we saw Mickey dangling way up in the air
on a blimp with the only thing holding him is some tape? Not even in a Mickey
saves Minnie cartoon. They should make more shorts like these, and I think
they should definatly have this as a series. I'd be nice to see Minnie and
Daisy, and even Pluto appear in some episodes though if they actually did
make this a series. The Phanton Blot really is Disney Villian device!
