[yasr_overall_rating]
For Halloween, Mickey has tricked out his house like a “tomb, sweet, tomb” and along with his pals Donald and Goofy, plans to tell hair-raising Halloween stories! However, his attempt at being scary falls flatter than a pancake. Can Mickey conjure up a truly terrifying tale before the stroke of midnight?
Sometimes it feels like we are so inundated with short animations for children that nothing really stands out as exceptional. Even Disney’s Mickey and Minnie are among the characters who are so well-known that….well, sometimes they are boring. But let me just say, this film was incredibly exceptional and will easily captivate any age!
The animation itself is adorably done to mimic some of the older styles of drawing with thicker lines and less fluid movements. Even the characters seem to be detailed as a sort of throwback to the more original versions of Mickey and his gang. The colors are a little more muted and nearly everything about the aesthetic appeal of the film satisfies that quiet ache for days long forgotten. Even the music is more musical theater style and the accompanying visual choreography is reminiscent of the 1940s “Fantasia.”
As if this isn’t enough, the storytelling and dialogue and humor are delightfully sassy and witty. From word play to unexpected humor, the cleverness of the stories is both educational and enthralling. For example, in one of the five bonus shorts, Mickey, Goofy, and Donald are hunting down a terrifying vampire. They’re all telling the story together and Mickey says “Goofy shows up with garlic and stakes,” but then the image changes from wooden stakes to juicy steaks because Goofy thinks that it is so much better to tell it that way! Using humor to play with homonyms is a great way to help kids visualize identical sounds, but associate different meanings.
Simply put, this is a great DVD of two primary stories – one about Halloween and one about Christmas – and also includes the five bonus shorts with the same holiday themes. It’s a pleasure to watch and my kids have already watched it twice!! This could easily be a holiday classic for your family to enjoy this year!
Now available on Disney DVD
