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6.1/10
Senior Film Conservator
A definitive 6.1/10 rating for a film that redefined the boundaries of cult cinema. Mickey's Choo-Choo remains a cornerstone of transgressive art.
If you have six minutes to spare and a weird obsession with how cartoons used to look before they got all corporate and clean, this is for you. It is a total trip for anyone who likes historical animation.
If you can't stand scratchy audio or characters that look like they are made of cooked noodles, you should probably skip it. It is definitely not for people who need a complex plot.
Mickey is an engineer here, and his train is basically a pile of scrap metal held together by pure vibes. The engine actually breathes and pants like it’s a living animal.
I love how the coal looks like little black circles that don't weigh anything. Mickey just tosses them in and the train gets all excited.
There is this moment where Minnie shows up and they start eating spaghetti. Or maybe it is just a long string? It is hard to tell with the old film grain.
The physics in this thing are just... wrong. But in a good way. The train stretches out like a rubber band when it goes fast.
I noticed the cow on the tracks looks a bit like the ones you might see in much older stuff, maybe even The Savage if you squint. Well, maybe not that serious, but you get what I mean.
Ub Iwerks did the animation and you can really tell. Everything is bouncing constantly, even when the characters are just standing there.
Minnie plays the fiddle—or is it a banjo?—and the whole world just starts dancing. Even the trees seem to have a rhythm.
It reminds me of the simple energy in Dew Drop Inn where people are just trying to have a good time despite the mess. It is very chaotic.
The ending is kind of abrupt. The train falls apart and they just use a cow to pull a cart instead.
It is funny how Mickey doesn't even seem mad that his expensive locomotive is now a pile of trash. He just smiles and keeps going.
One part that felt a bit long was the segment with the whistle. The whistle has a mouth and it keeps screaming at the screen.
It’s a bit louder and more abrasive than some of the stuff in Under the Gaslight. Just a different kind of noise, I guess.
The animation on the wheels is actually pretty impressive for 1929. They have this weird shimmering effect when they spin fast.
I wonder if people back then thought this was peak technology. Probably did.
Watching this makes me realize how much personality we lost when everything became 3D. There is something honest about these hand-drawn mistakes.
Anyway, it's short. You won't regret watching it even if you think it's weird. 🚂
IMDb —
1928
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