Mickey Mouse in Black and White: A chaotic trip back to the start

Is it worth your time?

If you have any interest in animation history or just want to see a version of Mickey that smokes, drinks, and generally acts like a hooligan, then yes. This is for the curious and the nostalgic.

If you prefer your cartoons squeaky clean and sanitized, you are probably going to hate these. Mickey was not a saint back then. He was a menace.

There is something weirdly hypnotic about watching these on a modern screen. The black and white contrast is so sharp it almost hurts your eyes. I found myself staring at the background textures more than the characters sometimes.

The sound design is just relentless. It’s all whistles, sliding trombone notes, and frantic piano thumping. It reminds me a bit of the frantic energy in Favorite Melodies, though maybe even more unhinged.

Some random observations:

• Mickey’s eyes are just black pac-men for most of these. It’s surprisingly expressive.
• The way they animate animals walking through walls is so smooth it makes modern CGI look stiff.
• I spent about ten minutes trying to figure out why the background cow looks so depressed in one scene. No answer found.

There’s a short where he’s basically running a farm and everything goes to hell in about thirty seconds. It’s pure chaos. It feels a lot like Making Good in terms of just throwing things at the screen and hoping they stick.

I forgot how mean these shorts could be. Characters are constantly getting poked, prodded, or turned into musical instruments. It’s not cruel, just very, very physical.

The pacing is honestly all over the place. Some gags hit like a truck, and others just kind of trail off into nothing. It feels like the animators were making it up as they went along. Which, to be fair, they probably were.

Sometimes the screen goes slightly blurry, and you can see the grain of the film. I loved that. It felt real, you know? Like you're holding onto a piece of history that’s trying to fall apart.

I didn't watch every single minute in one sitting. You shouldn't either. Take it in chunks. These cartoons weren't made to be binged like a Netflix show. They were made to be a quick, loud break in a day.

Definitely don't look for a coherent plot. You won't find one. Just sit back and let the weird, rubbery nonsense happen.