Have a lot of fondness for 'House of Mouse'. Love Disney and the concept was such an interesting and for Disney shows at the time a unique one. There are times where it could have done more with the concept, with showing more of some of the guests and not focusing all the featured cartoons on Mickey and the gang. It is however so much fun and how it makes an effort to retain the spirit of the classic old cartoons is to be lauded.
"Music Day" is not one of my favourite 'House of Mouse' episodes. It's certainly not one of my least favourites either, in a show where there is a lot to like about all of the episodes even when some are better than others. It is very good and entertaining even if it didn't blow me away. Really like that it and the rest of the show tries to and succeeds in making the personalities of Mickey and the rest of the gang true to those of their "golden age" ones when they first came out (1930s-1950s), especially Donald. Except that Mickey is far more interesting in personality in 'House of Mouse', feels like a lead character, is used well and isn't over-shadowed by the rest of the characters. Minnie is also more resourceful.
Loved how it embraced and celebrated the music theme and did so to funny and interesting effect.
Personally would have loved to have seen 'Symphony Hour' in full, that cartoon ties with 'The Band Concert' as my favourite of the Disney music-themed cartoons and it deserves much better than just a mere clip. In order to do that, it could easily have not had 'Skating the Half Pipe', although enjoyable we didn't need to have a "How To"-like cartoon when an actual "How to" cartoon fitted the music theme much better.
'How to Be a Rock Star' is hugely entertaining and very interesting to see the different decades in music and styles, it is the very definition of a cartoon that entertains and teaches. It also features one of the highlights of the episode and of the show, Goofy's song/music video, it is so catchy and made me laugh my head off, oddly enough it also would have made for a good record. 'Donald Rocket Ruckus' is classic Donald vs. Huey, Dewey and Louie, meaning a fairly typical plot but lots of funny gags and a sparkling partnership.
It is always nostalgic to see all the various Disney characters from various cartoons, films and shows and it is a big part of the fun too. Particularly so in the reactions to Mickey, Goofy and Donald's hilariously terrible impersonation of the Quackstreet Boys, the other highlight of the episode.
While not surprising in outcome, the story is lively and engaging, kept afloat by the character interaction, characters and the atmosphere. The writing is clever and very funny, even with the deliberately corny moment and pun which made me grin rather than groan (here the whole overdrawn part applies particularly).
Furthermore, the animation is very colourful, smooth in movement and with some meticulous detail. The recycled audience reactions seen at the end of the cartoons throughout the show always looks cheap, not an exception here. The music is suitably groovy and cleverly used, while the theme song is one of the catchiest of any Disney show in the past twenty years.
Voice acting is very good as always, Wayne Allwine is the most well known and longest serving voice actor for Mickey Mouse for good reason. Tony Anselmo is a more than worthy successor to Clarence "Ducky" Nash.
Overall, well done and enjoyable. 8/10 Bethany Cox
"Music Day" is not one of my favourite 'House of Mouse' episodes. It's certainly not one of my least favourites either, in a show where there is a lot to like about all of the episodes even when some are better than others. It is very good and entertaining even if it didn't blow me away. Really like that it and the rest of the show tries to and succeeds in making the personalities of Mickey and the rest of the gang true to those of their "golden age" ones when they first came out (1930s-1950s), especially Donald. Except that Mickey is far more interesting in personality in 'House of Mouse', feels like a lead character, is used well and isn't over-shadowed by the rest of the characters. Minnie is also more resourceful.
Loved how it embraced and celebrated the music theme and did so to funny and interesting effect.
Personally would have loved to have seen 'Symphony Hour' in full, that cartoon ties with 'The Band Concert' as my favourite of the Disney music-themed cartoons and it deserves much better than just a mere clip. In order to do that, it could easily have not had 'Skating the Half Pipe', although enjoyable we didn't need to have a "How To"-like cartoon when an actual "How to" cartoon fitted the music theme much better.
'How to Be a Rock Star' is hugely entertaining and very interesting to see the different decades in music and styles, it is the very definition of a cartoon that entertains and teaches. It also features one of the highlights of the episode and of the show, Goofy's song/music video, it is so catchy and made me laugh my head off, oddly enough it also would have made for a good record. 'Donald Rocket Ruckus' is classic Donald vs. Huey, Dewey and Louie, meaning a fairly typical plot but lots of funny gags and a sparkling partnership.
It is always nostalgic to see all the various Disney characters from various cartoons, films and shows and it is a big part of the fun too. Particularly so in the reactions to Mickey, Goofy and Donald's hilariously terrible impersonation of the Quackstreet Boys, the other highlight of the episode.
While not surprising in outcome, the story is lively and engaging, kept afloat by the character interaction, characters and the atmosphere. The writing is clever and very funny, even with the deliberately corny moment and pun which made me grin rather than groan (here the whole overdrawn part applies particularly).
Furthermore, the animation is very colourful, smooth in movement and with some meticulous detail. The recycled audience reactions seen at the end of the cartoons throughout the show always looks cheap, not an exception here. The music is suitably groovy and cleverly used, while the theme song is one of the catchiest of any Disney show in the past twenty years.
Voice acting is very good as always, Wayne Allwine is the most well known and longest serving voice actor for Mickey Mouse for good reason. Tony Anselmo is a more than worthy successor to Clarence "Ducky" Nash.
Overall, well done and enjoyable. 8/10 Bethany Cox
