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ChicRawIdol A brilliant film that helped define a genre

BelSports This is a coming of age storyline that you've seen in one form or another for decades. It takes a truly unique voice to make yet another one worth watching.

Anoushka Slater While it doesn't offer any answers, it both thrills and makes you think.

OllieSuave-007 Not much of a plot to the story, but plenty of song and dance with matching music to the characters' movements. No laughs in this one, and it's more like a miniature music without the singing. Grade C

Robert Reynolds This is an early Disney short featuring Mickey, Minnie and Pluto. There will be spoilers ahead:The title pretty much says it all-Mickey, Minnie and Pluto go on a picnic. Pluto gets treated rather roughly, being first leashed to the back of the car when they drive out to have the picnic and then used rather strangely at the end. I suspect PETA probably wouldn't care much for this one.The bulk of the cartoon consists of Mickey and Minnie singing and dancing while various critters and insects swipe their food. There's quite a bit of repetition with regard to gags, probably to save time and money by reusing the same materials. Much of the animation is nice and some of the gags are funny, but there isn't a whole lot here to be enthusiastic about. Some of the animals/insects stealing food footage is quite good and there's some enjoyable dancing footage, but the short is kind of thin.This short is available on the Mickey Mouse In Black and White, Volume Two Disney Treasures DVD set and the set is worth tracking down.

MartinHafer "The Picnic" is an odd blending of ultra-cutesy (yeck!) with good old fashioned cynicism--making for an unusual but very watchable cartoon short.It begins with Mickey going to pick up Minnie and her dog, Rover*. And, in a scene VERY reminiscent of "National Lampoon's Vacation", they tie the dog's lead to the rear bumper and set out for a picnic. Once there, Rover runs about trying to catch rabbits while Mickey and Minnie and the other animals dance about to the music. It would all have been nauseating except that soon the animals and bugs begin stealing all of the picnic items--which is pretty funny. Overall, compared to the average cartoon of the time, this one is superior and rather clever. Certainly not among Mickey's best but quite good. Also, the print is a bit scratchy but not enough to discourage you from watching.*Rover is clearly an early version of Pluto and looks exactly like him. But, the sign on the doghouse clearly says 'Rover'.

Ron Oliver A Walt Disney MICKEY MOUSE Cartoon.Mickey romances Minnie during THE PICNIC they enjoy in the country.An enjoyable little black & white film, with the entire plot being dictated by the lively soundtrack. That's "Minnie's Yoo Hoo!" - one of Mickey's earliest theme songs - which the Mouse is performing during the opening scene; later, he and Miss Minnie dance to "In The Good Old Summertime." Pluto is Minnie's dog this time around. Walt Disney supplies Mickey's speaking 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, Bambi, Peter Pan and Mr. Toad. 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.