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Before he became a generic icon for the Disney Studios, Mickey Mouse was quite a rascal. “The Barn Dance” wasn’t Mickey’s first appearance but there’s a subtle change in his character that would mark all of the early black and white classics in terms of style and humor. Here, like the Fleischer cartoons, Mickey is a wiry creature that defies gravity and the lacks of physics stretching beyond the laws of any natural world. Within a couple of years realism would begin to creep into the Disney cartoons subtracting from the surreal quality of these many early films. A word of caution, however, regarding these cartoons is in order. These are not politically correct and frequently feature racial stereotypes that are not considered distasteful and clearly racist. That said, the historical value of these classic cartoons (not unlike the World War II Bugs Bunny shorts made for the US troops) is incalculable. ---

We get a handful (if you’re a cartoon character that is—as cartoon characters usually only have four fingers instead of five) of interesting featurettes. “Mickey Mania” looks at all the merchandise created during Mickey Mouse’s most popular period. Many of these items are exceedingly rare and watching this DVD is probably about as close as most folks will get to them. There’s also an interview with John Hench Mickey’s portrait artist hosted by Leonard Maltin. “Pioneer Days” and “The Castaways” are presented in several slightly different versions. The art galleries include images of the original backgrounds for many of these cartoons and animation drawings taken from the Disney archive. There’s also posters from for many of Mickey’s cartoons in this section as well. ---