Hello and welcome back to Classic Shorts Showcase. Today on Showcase, we will once again be joining Mickey as he takes us on a trip Around The World In 80 Days.
Narration
Narrator - John Cleese
Cleese once again returns as narrator and while he did a good job, I found him somewhat forgettable. I mean he wasn't bad but after this short ended, I had forgotten about him.
The Plot
In this short we follow Mickey along with Goofy as they travel around the world in 80 days so that Mickey can gain inheritance money from his dead unseen uncle. Why is it always a dead uncle? Anyways back on topic, Mickey sets out due to this but Scrooge McDuck serves as the villain in this short trying to stop Mickey from getting the money as it would make him richer. Mickey's journey takes him through the entire world and many different ways of travel and of course along the way, Mickey falls in love. Oh, I forgot to mention that in this short Mickey runs an orphanage and has too many bills to count so he really needs to get the money so that he save the orphanage and there is a fun little cameo from the children of Robin Hood in the orphanage. The plot while simple and more then likely deviated from the source was a fun ride and much easier for this Disney fan to follow than Midsummer Night's Dream as this story is in my opinion more accessible to the public audience then Shakespeare.
Characters
For this one, I'll be breaking it down into Main & Villain. With that out of the way, let's begin.
Main Characters
Mickey voiced by Wayne Allwine
Compared to our last short, Mickey was more in line with what people may think of Mickey as today. Being a sweet, caring person trying to do good. That comes through very well here and it works for this short. Though I will say at times Mickey for as much as I like him can be overshadowed by Goofy's antics or Scrooge trying to stop our hero but all the same, he was fun and I really wanted Mickey to do well and now I'll admit the idea of having a rundown orphanage isn't anything new and while I'll admit that this short could've worked without that idea but at the same time, it did add conflict and give Mickey a reason to try and complete his trip. It was simple but it did give Mickey purpose.
Goofy voiced by Bill Farmer
Goofy was really funny in this short but of course, I'd expect nothing less from Goofy. He was very supportive of Mickey and wanted to help him succeed and just seeing Goofy go along on the trip with him was neat and really Goofy helped Mickey with a lot of the transportation such as finding an elephant that Goofy ended up taking back the the orphanage with him as I believe that he worked there under Mickey and with the amount of bills piled up to pay off the orphanage, Goofy would've lost his job if they had not made it back in time. Which was almost the case until they realized that they had gained time when they returned.
Princess Minnie voiced by Russi Taylor
Okay is it just me or does Minnie's outfit make anyone else think of Slave Leia Minnie. No that's probably just me. I can't recall exactly where Mickey met Minnie but I want to say it was Asia. I may be wrong and if I am I do apologize. Now like with all adaptions involving Mickey & Minnie save for Mickey's Christmas Carol, where they're already married, Mickey falls for Minnie and vice versa. What is really funny is that just like in our last short, which involved Minnie unwillingly taking part in a arranged marriage, the same is true here but unlike Midsummer Night's Dream, where it never gets to the marriage, here we actually see the marriage and Minnie's suitor so to speak remains unseen as Mickey saves Minnie from the marriage and takes her on the rest of the trip with him. There is one shot at the very end, that I really love because if you've read my blogs in the past and have any previous knowledge of Wayne Allwine and Russi Taylor, you'd know that they were actually married and at the end of this short, we actually get to see Mickey and Minnie in wedding garments. Which I really loved, here take a look for yourselves.
Villain
Scrooge voiced by Alan Young
Now I'll admit that I do see why they chose Scrooge as the villain for this short even if it is a bit perplexing considering that while yes he is greedy and in love wit money, in most other cartoons featuring Scrooge, he's never been truly evil. For this though I again turn back to the actor theory that I brought up during my review of Mickey, Donald, and Goofy: The Three Musketeers to explain how a certain character may be acting differently in an adaption then how the audience normally sees them. Now compared to Donald being a coward in The The Three Musketeers, Scrooge being a greedy banker was less of a stress as parts of that were already in him and with his character, they just expanded on his greediness and for this short, he served his purpose and although there was one moment that I didn't particularly care for pertaining to Scrooge even if it did make sense in the context of this short. Towards the latter part of the short when Mickey, Goofy, and Minnie get on a boat to get back home from the U.S., Scrooge is there spying on them and dumps the coal needed to run the boat overboard. Again, this goes back to the actor theory and perhaps it's a bit more of a stretch but I think it can work if you let it and try to put aside what you know of these characters and enjoy him for what they are in this short.
My Final Thoughts
Now I'll admit that I do believe there are more flaws and cliches in this short when compared to Midsummer Night's Dream. Yet, I find that this short is much more enjoyable than that short as not only do I find this story more accessible to the general audience. I know I went over this last time with Midsummer Night's Dream but I find it to be a harder story to get across in a condensed amount of time but with Around The World In 80 Days, I feel that while yes, it is a cliched short, this short does a better job of telling the story and I don't feel as though that I need to know the source material whereas I had that nagging feeling throughout Midsummer Night's Dream. Perhaps that feeling comes from how well known Shakespeare is and while II would call his work timeless, I would also contend that the works of Jules Verne, the author of this short's source is more accessible to today's audience. At the end of the day, while I enjoy both of these shorts, I think I enjoy this one more. Do note that while I have the next Showcase written, it'll be going on a short hiatus as starting next week, we will be starting our visit to the Hundred Acre Wood.
Narration
Narrator - John Cleese
Cleese once again returns as narrator and while he did a good job, I found him somewhat forgettable. I mean he wasn't bad but after this short ended, I had forgotten about him.
The Plot
In this short we follow Mickey along with Goofy as they travel around the world in 80 days so that Mickey can gain inheritance money from his dead unseen uncle. Why is it always a dead uncle? Anyways back on topic, Mickey sets out due to this but Scrooge McDuck serves as the villain in this short trying to stop Mickey from getting the money as it would make him richer. Mickey's journey takes him through the entire world and many different ways of travel and of course along the way, Mickey falls in love. Oh, I forgot to mention that in this short Mickey runs an orphanage and has too many bills to count so he really needs to get the money so that he save the orphanage and there is a fun little cameo from the children of Robin Hood in the orphanage. The plot while simple and more then likely deviated from the source was a fun ride and much easier for this Disney fan to follow than Midsummer Night's Dream as this story is in my opinion more accessible to the public audience then Shakespeare.
Characters
For this one, I'll be breaking it down into Main & Villain. With that out of the way, let's begin.
Main Characters
Mickey voiced by Wayne Allwine
Compared to our last short, Mickey was more in line with what people may think of Mickey as today. Being a sweet, caring person trying to do good. That comes through very well here and it works for this short. Though I will say at times Mickey for as much as I like him can be overshadowed by Goofy's antics or Scrooge trying to stop our hero but all the same, he was fun and I really wanted Mickey to do well and now I'll admit the idea of having a rundown orphanage isn't anything new and while I'll admit that this short could've worked without that idea but at the same time, it did add conflict and give Mickey a reason to try and complete his trip. It was simple but it did give Mickey purpose.
Goofy voiced by Bill Farmer
Goofy was really funny in this short but of course, I'd expect nothing less from Goofy. He was very supportive of Mickey and wanted to help him succeed and just seeing Goofy go along on the trip with him was neat and really Goofy helped Mickey with a lot of the transportation such as finding an elephant that Goofy ended up taking back the the orphanage with him as I believe that he worked there under Mickey and with the amount of bills piled up to pay off the orphanage, Goofy would've lost his job if they had not made it back in time. Which was almost the case until they realized that they had gained time when they returned.
Princess Minnie voiced by Russi Taylor
Okay is it just me or does Minnie's outfit make anyone else think of Slave Leia Minnie. No that's probably just me. I can't recall exactly where Mickey met Minnie but I want to say it was Asia. I may be wrong and if I am I do apologize. Now like with all adaptions involving Mickey & Minnie save for Mickey's Christmas Carol, where they're already married, Mickey falls for Minnie and vice versa. What is really funny is that just like in our last short, which involved Minnie unwillingly taking part in a arranged marriage, the same is true here but unlike Midsummer Night's Dream, where it never gets to the marriage, here we actually see the marriage and Minnie's suitor so to speak remains unseen as Mickey saves Minnie from the marriage and takes her on the rest of the trip with him. There is one shot at the very end, that I really love because if you've read my blogs in the past and have any previous knowledge of Wayne Allwine and Russi Taylor, you'd know that they were actually married and at the end of this short, we actually get to see Mickey and Minnie in wedding garments. Which I really loved, here take a look for yourselves.
Villain
Scrooge voiced by Alan Young
Now I'll admit that I do see why they chose Scrooge as the villain for this short even if it is a bit perplexing considering that while yes he is greedy and in love wit money, in most other cartoons featuring Scrooge, he's never been truly evil. For this though I again turn back to the actor theory that I brought up during my review of Mickey, Donald, and Goofy: The Three Musketeers to explain how a certain character may be acting differently in an adaption then how the audience normally sees them. Now compared to Donald being a coward in The The Three Musketeers, Scrooge being a greedy banker was less of a stress as parts of that were already in him and with his character, they just expanded on his greediness and for this short, he served his purpose and although there was one moment that I didn't particularly care for pertaining to Scrooge even if it did make sense in the context of this short. Towards the latter part of the short when Mickey, Goofy, and Minnie get on a boat to get back home from the U.S., Scrooge is there spying on them and dumps the coal needed to run the boat overboard. Again, this goes back to the actor theory and perhaps it's a bit more of a stretch but I think it can work if you let it and try to put aside what you know of these characters and enjoy him for what they are in this short.
My Final Thoughts
Now I'll admit that I do believe there are more flaws and cliches in this short when compared to Midsummer Night's Dream. Yet, I find that this short is much more enjoyable than that short as not only do I find this story more accessible to the general audience. I know I went over this last time with Midsummer Night's Dream but I find it to be a harder story to get across in a condensed amount of time but with Around The World In 80 Days, I feel that while yes, it is a cliched short, this short does a better job of telling the story and I don't feel as though that I need to know the source material whereas I had that nagging feeling throughout Midsummer Night's Dream. Perhaps that feeling comes from how well known Shakespeare is and while II would call his work timeless, I would also contend that the works of Jules Verne, the author of this short's source is more accessible to today's audience. At the end of the day, while I enjoy both of these shorts, I think I enjoy this one more. Do note that while I have the next Showcase written, it'll be going on a short hiatus as starting next week, we will be starting our visit to the Hundred Acre Wood.
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