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Tuesday, March 29, 2016

Short Subject: The Cactus Kid (1933)



The Gallopin’ Gaucho 2.0 



The plot is the same as that short.  Minnie gets captured by Pete and Mickey gives chase.  There are a few variations such as Mickey riding Horace Horsecollar instead of the ostrich, and updated character designs.   
 There’s also a longer musical step up with Mickey and Minnie dancing, playing the piano, and even Pete getting in on the act before kidnapping Minnie.  I find that there’s a little too much of that this time around, perhaps if they had cut Mickey playing the piano or made the dancing shorter the pace would have felt better.

The animation is nicely timed to the music as always though and I enjoy Mickey getting drug through the cacti even if it does involve repeated animation.  However, the teeth gags I find gross.  The flashing of the gunfire isn’t as nice as say the lighting effect of ‘The Old Mill’ but not bad for early attempts.   

The updated designs and having the movements be more in time to the music does keep this from being just a retelling of the 1928 short, but I find the elongated dance sequences and using everything as an instrument gags drag the pacing down, and the teeth gags just aren’t for me.  As with most shorts it’s not bad there’s just nothing really memorable here.

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