Symphony Hour (1942)
Mickey as a conductor again.
Story
Under sponsorship by Sylvester Macaroni (Pegleg Pete), Mickey conducts the Light Calvary Overture for the Macaroni Symphony Hour. Unfortunately, Goofy accidentally destroys the symphony’s instruments, making them either sound weird or even unplayable.
Random Facts
Notorious for a scene of Mickey packing a gun and threatening to kill Donald with it. Apparently this scene was cut out on television, but really, it’s no where as bad as a fatality in Mortal Kombat Trilogy so honestly I find it kind of hypocritical.
Mickey originally was conducted during the title. Unfortunately this sequence is not shown on any releases (including Disney+) except for the Limited Gold Edition release, which isn’t exactly a very clean looking print.
Racism concerns over Sylvester Macaroni exist because of his accent and smoking.
Clara Cluck (the hen playing the Cello), Horace Horsecollar (One of the brass players), and Clarabelle Cow (Violin player) don’t appear again after this short. The latter two showed up in the Mickey Mouse Club series in the 50s though… and I’ve yet to see that.
Mickey would end up having a hiatus on starring in cartoons for a while, and even afterwards he only had a few others. This was due to audiences preferring Donald Duck, Goofy, etc. but Mickey would still show up in some Pluto cartoons.
This was at a time when television didn’t really exist and instead people listened to radio way more. In addition, rock n’ roll wasn’t a thing for another decade.
Random Opinions
Looks like a sequel to the Band Concert, only this time Donald Duck feels like he’s being punished. In that cartoon he was harassing everyone with playing the fife – which might explain why he was put in percussion in Symphony Hour. Mickey probably didn’t want Donald to piss off the audience. Considering poor Donald is the single percussionist as well you kinda feel bad for him since he’s being overworked. Least he isn’t working retail.
Unlike most Mickey Mouse cartoons, this one seems to be a little more Looney Tunes like.
Sylvester Macaroni looks more of a typical shitty CEO, not a stereotype.
Scorecard
Visuals | Writing | Tolerance | Audio | Characters |
---|---|---|---|---|
Perfect (10/10) | Perfect (10/10) | Perfect (10/10) | Perfect (10/10) | Perfect (10/10) |
1940s Disney animation is some of the cleanest looking animation out there. | No issues with writing. | Perfectly fine. | Great composition of Light Calvary Overture. | No issues with characters. |
Rating: 49/50 – Perfect (10/10)
Easily one of Mickey’s greatest shorts, and a great one to go out for a while.
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