Mickey Mouse, Mad Scientist...The Worm Turns (003)

 The Worm Turns...A Mickey Mouse Cartoon

SYNOPSIS: Mickey Mouse makes the food chain stand on its head, and makes a "Courage Builder" potion that makes the prey attack the predator!

ORIGINAL RELEASE: January 2nd, 1937
SUPERVISION: Ben Sharpsteen
STORY: Otto Englander
ANIMATION: Pete Burness, Chuck Couch, Al Eugster, and many other people I don't feel like listing
MUSICAL DIRECTION: Frank Churchill
STUDIO: Walt Disney Productions (producer), United Artists (distributor)

Pre-Show Remarks

We have approached the first Disney cartoon of the year...very unsure what to expect. I read somewhere that this cartoon was a test for the laboratory scene in Snow White. If the cartoon does suck, at least it'll look pretty.

(By the way, you keen-eyed readers might have noticed a slight update in the information chart. From here on out, this will be used in all future reviews. And yes, I know this review is rather...late. But life happens.)

In My Opinion...

Competent Cartoon, But Curious And Creepy

This is a very...interesting cartoon. The premise is fun, but the execution here could be a little better. I find it curious that the cartoon's title card features a worm and a bird, but neither are featured in the short proper. Mickey is a mouse, but there is another feral mouse in Mickey's(?) living room--they both look nothing alike. The music feels inappropriately circus-y in some scenes. There are quite a few nice looking shots, though--the very beginning with Mickey's lab, for example. And the animation is very wacky and fun--the screenshots don't do it justice.

Next time...Various Terrytoon animals go out to sail in Salty McGuire

Merrie Melody Deals With Mean Mice...He Was Her Man (002)

  He Was Her Man...A Merrie Melodie Cartoon

SYNOPSIS: An unstable relationship on display. A gold-digging mouse--the rat!--ditches his loyal wife for another dame...much to her dismay.
SUPERVISION: I. Freleng
STORY: N/A
ANIMATION: Paul Smith, Cal Dalton
MUSICAL DIRECTION: Carl W. Stalling
STUDIO: Warner Bros., Leon Schlesinger Productions

And so, we reach the first Warner cartoon of the year. Hopefully this is a good one, but I'd take anything to wash the horrible saccharine taste of Gifts from the Air out of my mouth. Now, onto the cartoon!

In My Opinion...

Rude Rats Really Make Me "Merrie"

Two cartoons in, and we're already getting good. As this is a Warner Bros. cartoon, the entertainment value improves tremendously compared to the saccharine garbage from the previous cartoon. The timing is slick, the animation is wonderful, and the music score is gorgeous, what more can I say? Since this one is a little darker compared to other Warner cartoons from this era, we probably won't see it on HBO Max anytime soon. But you never know!

Next time...Even more mice, this time of the "Disney" variety, in The Worm Turns