The Wonderful World Of Mickey Mouse

I thought the Narrator wraparound was quite dull.

First Cartoon:

Cute premise and role for Craig Robinson.

Sort of in the spirit of The Sorcerer's Apprentice for Mickey. 3 1/2 stars.

Second Cartoon:

Bill Farmer continues to be a revelation as Goofy. I maintain the Paul Rudish shorts are Farmer's career highpoint.

I laughed at the snow spilling out of the teapot.

Cute: 3 1/2 stars.

Third Cartoon:

The musical number at the end was beyond cheesy.

There's no crying in ice dancing!

Like the cameos for Chip and Dale, Friend Owl, and Thumper.

I laughed at Mickey silently mouthing "I love you." It was animated perfectly.

Pretty good, but the end was a little too saccharine. 3 stars.

Special Overall: 3 1/2 stars.

Keith David made a much better Narrator that the lady who did the winter special.

First Cartoon.

Was that cameo the first animated appearance of Bucky Bug? A pity the cartoon was silent. I would have liked to have heard him rhyme.

I love that the sun was Dopey from Snow White. He's animated like a Spumco character.

Any gripes? Yeah, and this is a problem for MANY of the silent cartoons on the show. With no dialogue, what the plot or struggle of the characters are isn't actually evident. I had no idea what was actually happening. Good silent cartoons make you understand the plot even without words. Paul Rudish's Mickey Mouse is just a loud, fast mess that you hopefully won't think too hard on. 3 stars.

Second Cartoon:

Liked the cameos for Alice from Wonderland, Chip and Dale (who are somehow squirrels at the beginning of the cartoon) and Humphrey the Bear. 3 stars.

Third Cartoon:

Tons of Easter Eggs in the one. I'll mention as many as I noticed.

Tigger cameo.

Mary Poppins reference.

Possible Pinocchio reference, although the guy driving Jiminy's truck wasn't Jiminy Cricket.

A reference to something called "Splashdance" which is I believe an 80's Mickey fad that I (thankfully) missed.

Brief appearance of the Sorcerer's Hat.

T-shirt from Potatoland.

Cameo from Mrs. Potts from Beauty and the Beast.

Some clear Star Wars and Muppets IPs can be seen in the garbage monster at the end.

It wasn't a good cartoon, but it was a nerdy one, which makes it PASS for good. 3 1/2 stars.

Special Overall: 3 stars.

I like that this felt more like an actual special instead of an anthology. I especially like how the stories complimented and crossed over with each other as the events were happening concurrently. It took very careful comic timing to keep all of that straight, especially six times.

Old school Scrooge McDuck voice. I love David Tennant as an actor. Ultimately, I think he's all wrong for Scrooge. John Kassir is not as pitch-perfect as Alan Young was. But I appreciate that that's what he was actually going for here.

Mickey and Daisy simply CANNOT make small-talk. There is a reason those two characters never share scenes with just each other.

I like that Goofy's cartoon shifted in and out of a "How To" outing.

Better than the Winter and Spring specials. ****1/2.

"Let give 'im pumpkin to talk about!" is like the worst action movie line ever.

I like that it's not an anthology, and they simply decided to do a half-hour cartoon. Really, the anthology format of the first two specials actually took away the selling point of making them a half hour to begin with. They might as well have been individual Wonderful World episodes.

Cool seeing Humphrey the Bear.

I liked it. ***1/2.

Out of all of the Paul Rudish Mickey Mouse cartoons, that was the best. Bar none. I'm also wondering if it's the last. It was so perfect and definitive that it felt to me that a series finale vibe was attached. I could be wrong. But I'm thinking it might be the last cartoon in this continuity, because there would never need to be another one.

Or is it? This suggests all Mickey Mouse cartoons actually take place in the SAME continuity! I love the idea that Mickey claims the round eyes latter years Mickey has are "contact lenses".

And we don't just get the Steamboat Willie whistle tune. We get The Mickey Mouse Club Theme Song too! Definite series finale vibes with THAT for sure.

I loved the orchestrals, and if the animation wasn't able to completely mimic the classic black and white cell animation in every respect, at least the old-timey music felt authentic.

That was a perfect Mickey Mouse cartoon, and a wonderful way to celebrate his entire legacy. 5 stars.