The Plowboy (1929) Review: Mickey is kind of a jerk on the farm

If you have six minutes and want to see Mickey Mouse before he became a corporate mascot, watch this today. It is for anyone who likes old-school animation or just wants to see a cow get annoyed. People who need high-definition or "deep" plots will definitely hate it.

Mickey is a farm boy here. He’s got these giant pants on that look like they're holding up his whole personality.

He is whistling while he plows a field with a horse that looks like it hasn't slept in three days. 🐴

The horse is actually the first version of Horace Horsecollar. He is not wearing clothes yet, which feels a bit scandalous if you only know the later cartoons where he wears a shirt.

Then Minnie shows up. She is milking a cow that looks very bored with her life.

Mickey tries to sneak up and kiss her. It is actually kind of cringey by today’s standards, honestly.

He basically traps her and forces a kiss while she's trying to work. Minnie’s reaction is to get flustered, but then the cow squirts milk right in Mickey’s face.

I was rooting for the cow. She has a very expressive face for someone made of just a few lines.

There is a lot of physical comedy that feels very "1929." Like when a bee stings the horse and everything goes into fast-forward for no reason.

The horse starts running like crazy and the plow just starts shredding everything in its path. It’s pure chaos.

It reminds me of the chaotic energy in The Poor Rich Cleaners, just minus any of the actual talking. The animation has that "rubber hose" style where limbs just stretch and bend however they want.

It is almost hypnotic to watch. I noticed that the background stays exactly the same for way too long, like the the artists just gave up on drawing new trees.

The sound is a bit scratchy. You can tell they were still figuring out how to sync the music to the the movements back then.

Compared to big movies from that year like Alias Jimmy Valentine, this is just a little snack. But it is a fun snack if you don't overthink it.

Mickey eventually gets kicked by the cow and lands in a tub of water. He looks so pathetic at the end, just sitting there soaking wet.

It's weirdly satisfying to see him lose for once. 🐭

Anyway, it is a quick watch. Just do not expect a masterpiece or anything that makes much sense.

Oh, and the bee. The bee is huge. Like the size of a small bird or a large potato.

That is pretty much it. No big message, just a mouse being a pest on a farm.