New York Weenie

Hello & welcome back to A Look at Disney.  Today, I'll be reviewing the  4th new   short  from the Mickey Mouse (2013) series, New York Weenie.  As always, here is a link to it on Disney.com.   Now I feel that I should mention that these shorts have decided to take Mickey in a new direction and one that I am okay with.    Yes, the humor may be more in your face and that may not work for everyone but it fits for the Mouse. Well except for Yodelberg, which was just boring.   However I do not feel the same can be said for this short.  Join me today as I take a look at New York Weenie.



The Plot


The plot is pretty simple and straightforward.   Mickey and Minnie are taking a walk through Central Park.   When Minnie's  stomach growls because she is hungry.  So that Mickey buys her a hot dog with extra mustard.  (Blech,  only ketchup on my hot dog. Thank you very much!).   And when Minnie goes to take the first bite,  the weenie jumps out of the bun. And here it becomes a chase through Central Park as Mickey attempts to get his girl's lunch back.   And somehow, the dog becomes sentient.    Ya, just gotta go with it.    And Mickey goes through all of Central Park trying to find the hot dog.  It takes him through an area of strollers as the weenie disguises itself as a hot dog,  goes down some more and stills a purse from a little old lady (voiced by Betty White) and then goes to the lake and we see perhaps the most disturbing image, I've seen in the boat that this dog is in.

AH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!     That is creepy!    And all throughout Mickey's search,   he has beaten up and worn down. The effects of this are starting to make him  act more animal like.  And I don't know why  but I liked that touch.  Yes, it was played for humor but I really thought it was funny and worked as a comedic visual to show everything that Mickey went through just to get Minnie's lunch back to her.  That's a dedicated boyfriend.  Here's the look.

Yeah, that is a little gross but I truthfully find this funny.  In the end,  Mickey gets the dog to Minnie but she doesn't want it.  Understandable but I feel a little bad for Mickey after everything he did.   I mean for Pete's sake,  he rode a lion after going into the lion, when the dog jumped into him to hide from Mickey.

By, the way I really love the design of the lion in this short.    Back on topic,  the little old lady comes back at the end and identifies the weenie as the thief that stole her purse and the dog is arrested.   The hot dog vendor sees this and gives Mickey and Minnie free hot dogs.  Okay, so this short is a little weird and not something you would usually think of regarding Mickey but they made it work.    I cannot deny how much fun, this short is.  It is very entertaining and the story is executed very well.  And on top of that,   it's funny.   I was laughing out loud at some of the things that this short threw at us.  All in all, this was  a very fun short.






Characters


Now there is no need to need to break it down any further then this. With that out of the way, let's begin.



Mickey Mouse voiced by Chris Diamantopoulos

Mickey was just really funny in this short and I love how serious, he was in this short.  And all because he just because he wanted to get Minnie's hot dog back.   It was really entertaining and by the way, that beat up happened after a bunch of moms beat him with their purses for disturbing their sleeping babies looking for the weenie.



Weenie - Unvoiced

The weenie was just weird in that it practically became sentient.   But somehow, it worked and this became a very entertaining almost cat and mouse chase like short.  And again, the chase was executed quite well.  And the Weenie was just odd.  This right here was when Mickey caught up with the Weenie playing a game of poker with homeless people.   Even still,  it was entertaining and the brawl was great.



Minnie voiced by Russi Taylor

Okay, the shorts seriously need to find a way to incorporate Minnie more because just like Yodelberg,  she was barely in it.   You have a great character and a wonderful voice actress that has played Minnie for a long time.   GIVE HER SOMETHING TO DO!!!!    That is all I'm asking.   If used right,  Minnie can be a great companion to Mickey.  You could've had her go the adventure with Mickey.   I don't know but seriously,  Minnie is getting the short end of the stick in these new shorts.  Please,   if we get another short with Mickey and Minnie,  don't take Minnie out of the story at the beginning.  Make her a co star.   It's not that hard, many shorts before you have done that.




 My Final Thoughts


All in all,   I had a lot of fun with this short.  It was a thrilling ride and  I can see myself enjoying this short in repeat viewings.   I still stand by my complaint that Minnie is sadly being under used and that is a crime with this iconic female character, who has such a great history.   I may have to do a Minnie Week in the future to showcase her legacy.  That's not a bad idea. Peace!