Toon Talk: Classic Cartoon Favorites
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Toon Talk
Disney Film & Video Reviews by Kirby C. Holt
Volumes 1-4: Starring Mickey, Donald, Goofy and Chip ‘n Dale
Disney DVDs
Designed for the casual Disney viewer, the new Walt Disney Classic Cartoon Favorites DVD series recently made its debut with four initial volumes featuring shorts starring Mickey Mouse, Donald Duck, Goofy and Chip ‘n Dale. With no bonus features and offering roughly an hour of programming each, these are (outside of the Chip ‘n Dale set) definitely not for collectors; think of them as the DVD equivalent of the CD soundtrack collections … the true Disney collector already owns all the original versions in one form or the other, these are just a repackaging of them for the masses. And while there is certainly nothing wrong with that, the selections made could have at least been a more inspired.
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Take Volume 1: Starring Mickey; offering a mere seven shorts (Donald has eight, the other two nine each), this is a paltry bunch, with no historically significant choices and mostly of the “yeah, it’s a Mickey, but he’s barely in it�? variety. Of the shorts included, only On Ice and Hawaiian Holiday could be considered even minor classics, and all are previously available on the Walt Disney Treasures: Mickey Mouse in Living Color sets (The Little Whirlwind on Volume 2, all others on Volume 1).
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Volume 2: Starring Donald rates slightly better, giving us Inferior Decorator and Bee at the Beach (both co-starring Buzz-Buzz (a.k.a. Spike) the bumble-bee), the only two not yet covered by the Chronological Donald Treasures set. Otherwise, the only important short here is Don Donald, the screen debut of Daisy Duck.