Until the early 1960’s, if you went to see a movie, you were often greeted with an animated short before the main attraction began. Disney would probably be considered king of the “shorts,” with only Looney Tunes being able to mount any sort of real competition.
Have a Laugh!, launched on TV in 2009 and premiering on DVD last fall, looks introduce a whole new generation of fans to cartoon shorts. Given airtime between shows, Have a Laugh! consists of newly-edited, re-voiced versions of classic cartoons featuring Mickey Mouse, Donald Duck, Goofy, Pluto, and the rest of the beloved Disney gang. Thankfully though, the DVD sets feature the animated shorts in their original, unedited form, with a wonderfully remastered picture and remixed soundtrack.
If there’s a disappointment here, it’s that we get only five full shorts, adding up to a paltry 36:56 of playback. However, these shorts, originally released between 1938 and 1950, star Mickey Mouse, Donald Duck, and Goofy in their color heyday. If you’re a fan of these characters and/or animated shorts, you’ll likely want to give this DVD a look.
The disc also includes the shorter edits as they appear(ed) on television. While they don’t appeal to a purist such as myself, included these may have been a good thing for children with shorter attention spans, or for those who simply prefer the voices and edits that gives them a slightly more modern feel. It should be noted that the way the disc is set up, the non-edited version plays first, and then the edited one. By doing this, one gets the impression the studio is not so subtlety endorsing the original versions.
Here are the shorts included, along with their original and edited runtimes.
1. Mickey’s Delayed Date (1947) (6:49 / 2:47) Woken from an inopportune nap, Mickey Mouse rushes to get to his date with Minnie, with disastrous results
2. The Whalers (1938) (8:15 / 2:47) Mickey, Donald, and Goofy work a whaling boat, with, not surprisingly, little success.
3. Chef Donald (1941) (7:32 / 2:47) Donald Duck tries to make a waffle following along with a radio cooking program, but ends up having to do battle with a stretchy, rubber cement-based mix.
4. How to Play Baseball (1942) (7:58 / 2:32) In one of his signature “how to” shorts, Goofy demonstrates America’s pastime, playing all of the positions on both teams (and umpire too)
5. Pluto and the Gopher (1950) (6:22 / 2:47) In search of an elusive gopher, Pluto digs up Minnie’s home and garden.
Beyond the shorts, we get three 90-second “BLAM!” segments. The vintage clips are nice, but sarcastic commentary and choppy editing has been added. The clips are from: How to Play Golf, Donald’s Golf Game, Chef Donald, and Goofy’s Glider. Let’s just say the word “BLAM!” is used A LOT and leave it there…
Lastly, “Re-MICKS”, simply edits silent black and white cartoon clips to contemporary songs. The technique is especially enjoyable when it’s not limiting itself to music from Disney Channel productions. That’s the case here, where Mickey and Minnie’s activities are set to The Black Eyed Peas’ 2009 hit “I Gotta Feeling.” Enjoyable.
The picture quality is excellent for a DVD. All the cartoons are presented in their original Academy ratios of 1.33:1. The image shows little evidence of its advanced age. Each cartoon is amazingly sharp throughout, with no real distinct blemishes or issues.
The original versions of the shorts are presented in 2.0 sound recreating their original monaural mixes. The recent “short versions” are treated to full Dolby Digital 5.1. In truth, the redone soundtracks are easier on the ears, their faithful new readings (performed by the pros who voice the characters for Mickey Mouse Clubhouse and other official venues, replacing the likes of Pinto Colvig and Walt Disney himself) and sound effects wielding clarity and depth impossible back in the ’30s and ’40s. Still, the original soundtracks come across as well as could be expected. The hearing impaired and foreign language speakers are covered in subtitles and dubs, which extend to the entire feature presentation, except for The Black Eyed Peas’ lyrics.
