Two-Gun Mickey (1934)

Perfect cast and a good story

A brilliant film that helped define a genre

It is an exhilarating, distressing, funny and profound film, with one of the more memorable film scores in years,

Watching it is like watching the spectacle of a class clown at their best: you laugh at their jokes, instigate their defiance, and "ooooh" when they get in trouble.

This is a black and white Mickey produced by Disney studio. There will be spoilers ahead:This is a western cartoon, with Mickey, Minnie and Pegleg Pete doing the standard western trope of Minnie as the plucky western heroine, Mickey as the stalwart hero and Pete playing the bad guy (what else?).Minnie has problems with her horses in the beginning and winds up in undignified circumstances, which prompts Mickey to laugh at here and they get off on the wrong foot. She leaves in a huff, goes to the bank in town and meets Pete, who has designs on her and her money, mostly her money.The bulk of the cartoon is devoted to a chase scene/gun fight, with some excellent animation and great gags. Pete and his gang are no match for Mickey, who has a magic six-gun which never needs reloading and Pete's gang shoots worse than the imperial stormtroopers from Star Wars. Mickey has very little trouble saving the day, he gets in Minnie's good graces, gets a reward from her and they ride back toward town, Pete in custody and in tow.This short is available on the Disney Treasures Mickey Mouse In Black and White, Volume One and both the short and the set are worth having. Most recommended.

The plot of this short is standard: set in the old west, Mickey has to rescue Minnie from bandit Pete (or Pedro as he's called in this, but I'll just refer to him, by his usual title for simplicity's sake). We've seen it a number of times before in these films; however, this little work has something that sets it apart from the others: strong characterization and visual storytelling.Minnie is a cowgirl who wants nothing more than to be independent, a gal who can "take care of herself", which is her mantra throughout the seven minutes. She refuses help from cowboy Mickey when having to get her horses to cross a puddle, and spurns Pete's advances when she comes across him; however, she ends up in over her head when Pete and his gang of bandits pursue her across the prairie, and it's up to Mickey to help her out. It's not often that we get interactions as strong as the ones among the three characters in this cartoon; also, this is one of those MM shorts that shows that Mickey and Minnie were not always devoid of personality. Minnie's still the damsel-in-distress, but at least she tries defending herself in this and even pulls a gun on Pete, so give her points for trying.The way visuals are used in this cartoon is astounding. Two scenes in particular stand out for me: the first is the expressionistic image of Minnie and Pete's silhouettes covering a canyon wall, as he looms over her menacingly. The second is when Mickey and Pete are wrestling and we get extreme close ups of them during the struggle. When discussing this short on the Disney Film Project blog, the author suggested that perhaps the animators were using all these methods as training for the upcoming feature "Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs". It would not surprise me one bit if that proved to be the case. This is one of the greatest Mickey Mouse subjects ever made, be sure to check it out if you're a fan!

This is a nice little treat--Mickey and Minnie out in the old west. I liked how the Disney folks tried these characters in a variety of time periods--thus keeping the cartoons fresh and interesting. I also like how this is just like a Gene Autry or Roy Rogers film...but in cartoon form! The short begins with Minnie arriving in a western town. She meets up with Mickey but rebuffs his offer to help, as she is the clichéd woman of western B-movies--the self-sufficient woman who says "I can take care of myself"! However, when she withdraws a wad of cash from the bank and Pete and his gang chase her, she really is in need of help--and in rushes our hero, Mickey. Ultimately "I can take care of myself" takes on an all new meaning at the film's conclusion.All in all, a really cute and well made outing for the pair. Not only does it offer a nice new locale but it's very entertaining--particularly if you are a B-western fan. Worth seeing twice.

A Walt Disney MICKEY MOUSE Cartoon.When Miss Minnie is menaced by Bandit Pete, it's TWO-GUN MICKEY who comes riding to her rescue.Exciting & funny, as well as being a wonderful Western spoof, this was one of the best of the Mouse's black & white films. Sharp-eyed viewers will notice that the animators couldn't remember which leg Pete had pegged - it keeps switching from side to side. Walt Disney supplied Mickey's squeaky voice.Walt Disney (1901-1966) was always intrigued by drawings. As a lad in Marceline, Missouri, he sketched farm animals on scraps of paper; later, as an ambulance driver in France during the First World War, he drew figures on the sides of his vehicle. Back in Kansas City, along with artist Ub Iwerks, Walt developed a primitive animation studio that provided animated commercials and tiny cartoons for the local movie theaters. Always the innovator, his ALICE IN CARTOONLAND series broke ground in placing a live figure in a cartoon universe. Business reversals sent Disney & Iwerks to Hollywood in 1923, where Walt's older brother Roy became his lifelong business manager & counselor. When a mildly successful series with Oswald The Lucky Rabbit was snatched away by the distributor, the character of Mickey Mouse sprung into Walt's imagination, ensuring Disney's immortality. The happy arrival of sound technology made Mickey's screen debut, STEAMBOAT WILLIE (1928), a tremendous audience success with its use of synchronized music. The SILLY SYMPHONIES soon appeared, and Walt's growing crew of marvelously talented animators were quickly conquering new territory with full color, illusions of depth and radical advancements in personality development, an arena in which Walt's genius was unbeatable. Mickey's feisty, naughty behavior had captured millions of fans, but he was soon to be joined by other animated companions: temperamental Donald Duck, intellectually-challenged Goofy and energetic Pluto. All this was in preparation for Walt's grandest dream - feature length animated films. Against a blizzard of doomsayers, Walt persevered and over the next decades delighted children of all ages with the adventures of Snow White, Pinocchio, Dumbo, Bambi & Peter Pan. Walt never forgot that his fortunes were all started by a mouse, or that simplicity of message and lots of hard work always pay off.