RipDelight This is a tender, generous movie that likes its characters and presents them as real people, full of flaws and strengths.

KnotStronger This is a must-see and one of the best documentaries - and films - of this year.

Taha Avalos The best films of this genre always show a path and provide a takeaway for being a better person.

Fleur Actress is magnificent and exudes a hypnotic screen presence in this affecting drama.

Vimacone Mickey's career starting to recede by the late 1930's as more well rounded cartoon personalities became more popular with audiences. Disney started to focus more on feature films during that time as well, which led to less remarkable cartoon shorts. Donald's cartoons quickly became formulaic, while the Pluto and Goofy shorts were the best source for comedy. Yet, the Mickey cartoons still had the remarkable charm as they always did. One memorable aspect of this short, is that this is one of the few shorts in the 1940's that features Mickey's original supporting characters from his early career, Horace Horsecollar, Clarabelle Cow, and Clara Cluck. Not counting the remake of ORPHAN'S BENEFIT (released a few months earlier), this is sort of a reunion of all of Mickey's regular supporting cast (although Pluto is conspicuously absent). Ken Muse and Riley Thompson do a terrific performance of animating Mickey doing a solo dance number. True to the classic Mickey-Donald-Goofy setup, there's intercutting comic situations involving Donald dancing with Clara and Goofy baking a cake and having troubles with an oven with a mind of its own (I wonder if Volcanic Heat was an actual oven setting in those days; it made for a hilarious gag). The latin beat that the party goers dance to is likely a subtle nod to the Good Neighbor policy that Disney had a hand in while this short was in production.Donald may have been a box office draw for Disney in the 1940's and 50's, but Mickey is the legacy for the cartoon shorts. This is a quintessential Mickey at his best.

OllieSuave-007 This is a cool cartoon short from Walt Disney, rich in animation and featuring some of the best drawings of the characters, including that of Mickey, Minnie, Donald and Goofy.Minnie surprises Mickey with a get-together of his favorite friends on his birthday at her house. There are plenty of fun moments including Minnie playing on the organ (Mickey's new birthday gift), Donald doing a Spanish dance, and Donald doing the salsa with Clara Cluck (which was more he could handle at the end!).Another funny moment is when Goofy attempts multiple times to bake a cake, only to fumble it each time. So, he resorted to buying one from a bakery, only to accidentally tossing it at Mickey.This is one great party. Awesome seeing so many characters together: Mickey, Minnie, Donald, Goofy, Clara Cluck and Carabelle Cow - all having fun celebrating the Mouse's birthday and doing the conga! Grade A

Ron Oliver A Walt Disney MICKEY MOUSE Cartoon.Minnie gets help from Donald Duck, Goofy, Clarabelle Cow, Horace Horsecollar & Clara Cluck to make MICKEY'S BIRTHDAY PARTY a big success.Lots of fun in this little film, with much amusement derived from watching Madame Cluck nearly dance the feathers off Donald and seeing hapless Goofy turned loose in Minnie's kitchen. Also of interest is enjoying Horace, Clarabelle & the formidable Clara in their virtual swan song performances. Subsequently, Clara would make only the most fleeting of curtain calls 41 years later in MICKEY'S CHRISTMAS CAROL (1983), while it would be another 48 years until Clarabelle & Horace had substantial roles again, in THE PRINCE AND THE PAUPER (1990). Blame must regrettably be laid at Disney's door for allowing these talented thespians to be forcibly retired from the screen. Clarence Nash & Florence Gill provide the unique voices for the Duck & the Cluck. For the record, Mickey turned 14 in November of 1942, the year this cartoon was released.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 will always pay off.

Squonk This short was released in conjunction with the 25th anniversary of Mickey Mouse. The film kind of plays like your grandparent's home movies. There aren't many comic situations, just a lot of the classic Disney characters clowning around in front of the camera. There really isn't any story. The animation is classic Disney but only Goofy's attempts at making a birthday cake results in any comedy.