Tugboat Mickey (1940)

That was an excellent one.

If you don't like this, we can't be friends.

Don't listen to the Hype. It's awful

Very good movie overall, highly recommended. Most of the negative reviews don't have any merit and are all pollitically based. Give this movie a chance at least, and it might give you a different perspective.

Classic Disney short teaming Mickey Mouse, Donald Duck, and Goofy. Here they are working on their tugboat when they receive an SOS call and rush to help. As you might imagine, things never go smoothly when Goofy and Donald are involved. Repeats some gags from earlier shorts with these three but it's still fun. As was usually the case with Disney from this era, the animation is gorgeous; nicely drawn with exciting action and beautiful colors. Great voice work from Clarence Nash, Pinto Colvig, and Walt Disney. It's a fun cartoon but not one that will likely make the highlight reel for these characters. You can't go wrong with classic Disney, though, so definitely give it a look.

Two years following their prior high seas adventure in "Boat Builders", Mickey, Donald and Goofy team up once again in a similar tale, this time aboard a ship, and roused to action when they hear a distressing S.O.S. from the Steamship Gigantic, about to flounder on a dangerous Rocky Reef. Goofy has to contend with an uncooperative coal furnace door, while Donald Duck has a bit of trouble getting in gear himself. Finally breaking free of the harbor, the trio come to realize that the S.O.S. broadcast they heard could just as well have been intended for themselves, as the intrepid sailors wind up in the drink. Excellent animation and vibrant color highlight this quick seven minute film, and Disney fans should find themselves well pleased.

This is one of the Disney cartoons I first watched and grew up with. I thought it was wildly entertaining and chaotically fun as we see Mickey, Donald and Goofy try to get their tugboat in order so they could go and see an allegedly singing ship. Obviously, nothing goes accordingly to plan as Mickey has troubles with a seagull, Goofy tries to get coal in the steamer and Donald grapples with the engine.The animation is vibrant and has some very excellent sequences, including the scenes where the tugboat is racing across the sea. When I was a kid, I felt a little sorry for the three characters as their boat ***spoiler ahead*** blows up and never makes it to their destination. It wasn't until years later that the supposedly SOS call was just a radio station broadcasting an episode of a fictional show, so, that would be feel better about the story's outcome. ***spoiler ends *** It's great fun seeing the three characters together.Grade A

I noticed one reviewer gave this one a score of 1. Well, while I agree that the story here isn't one of the best of the Disney shorts, it just seemed wrong to give such a beautiful film a 1. In fact, I give the film an 8 just because the quality of the animation and backgrounds is just amazing--and better than most of the art in the full-length cartoons of the day. The intricacy of the art with its fine details and wonderful color palate are terrific and are hard to miss. It is truly the apex of Disney's art.As for the story, it's very simple. Donald, Mickey and Goofy run a tugboat service and hear a distress call concerning a boat about to hit the rocks. So, it's up to the boys to spring into action to save the day. The problem is that they are stupid and have the darnedest time just getting the boat going due to Goofy's and Donald's incompetence. A little of this did go a long way, I admit, but the film is still enjoyable from start to finish and I had a good time watching it. Plus, compared to the insipid cartoons that were made by rival studios, it is clearly a superior product. As for MGM and Looney Tunes, they were still making mostly bland films--with their best stuff (such as the MGM Tex Avery films and Bugs Bunny) not to appear for another 2-3 years.