Have a lot of fondness for 'House of Mouse'. Love Disney and the concept was such an interesting and for Disney shows at the time a unique one. There are times where it could have done more with the concept, with showing more of some of the guests and not focusing all the featured cartoons on Mickey and the gang. It is however so much fun and how it makes an effort to retain the spirit of the classic old cartoons is to be lauded.
"Goofy's Valentine Date" may be the weakest of the four episodes up to this very early stage of the show, but it has a lot of fun and charm in true 'House of Mouse' style. Once again, really like that it and the rest of the show tries to and succeeds in making the personalities of Mickey and the rest of the gang true to those of their "golden age" ones when they first came out (1930s-1950s), especially Donald. Except that Mickey is far more interesting in personality in 'House of Mouse', feels like a lead character, is used well and isn't over-shadowed by the rest of the characters. Minnie is also more resourceful.
Always have felt sorry for Goofy in "Goofy's Valentine Date", and do relate to his situation (being someone who's also a failure when it comes to love and finding a partner, unrequited love has been the closest it's ever gotten). Do admire too Daisy's good intentions, though it's obvious quickly how things are going to turn out. Really like Mortimer's role in the episode, and throughout 'House of Mouse'. He is annoying sure, purposefully, but he is also very funny and the conflict with the gang (especially Mickey) is always fun.
It is interesting always in 'House of Mouse' to see how it utilises various Disney characters from previous films and cartoons. Some very familiar to us, others ones not talked about often (like the Steadfast Tin Soldier and the ballerina seen briefly here) or ones neglected for a long time (Clarabelle Cow and Horace Horsecollar). The beginning is very cute.
The featured cartoons generally are very nice to watch and as ever do a great job being true to the spirit of the golden age cartoons. "Goofy's Valentine Date" is also interesting for being the first episode to not have any newly-made "Mouse Works" cartoons. 'Donald's Valentine Dollar' and 'Pluto's Arrow Error' see Donald and Pluto true to personality and amusing and in Pluto's case cute and energetic, and 'Donald's Valentine Dollar' is especially relevant to the Valentine theme.
Will admit to not being the biggest fan of the "Mickey to the Rescue" cartoons, the different settings, gags and what is done to get out the scrape are interesting but the series is repetitive, very formulaic and predictable and the voice actors have little to do (Jim Cummings being restricted to typical villain clichés and maniacal laughter in every cartoon and it got old quickly, not blaming Cummings).
While not surprising in outcome, the story is lively and engaging, kept afloat by the character interaction, characters and the atmosphere. The writing is clever and very funny, even with the deliberately corny moment and pun which made me grin rather than groan.
Furthermore, the animation is very colourful, smooth in movement and with some meticulous detail. The cheap recycling footage for the audience reactions at the end of the featured cartoons does jar and annoy though. The music is suitably groovy and cleverly used, while the theme song is one of the catchiest of any Disney show in the past twenty years.
Voice acting is very good as always, that here of Bill Farmer is pretty heartfelt.
In summary, very worthwhile episode. 8/10 Bethany Cox
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