bob the moo I am very much in support of short films getting into cinemas, even if it mostly occurs either as part of festivals, or as large studio projects which accompany a main feature film; so it is cheering how many people would have seen this short film ahead of the film Frozen – albeit as they would have seen it as a free cartoon rather than having their eyes opened to the world of short film as a form. Anyway, this short opens in the frame size and animation style of the 1930's cartoons, with a simple scene of Mickey and Minnie Mouse heading out on their wagon, only for the "wave of the future" to come up behind them in the form of Peg-Leg Pete in his motor car, and start to make trouble.Watching this short without any knowledge of what it does is quite a lovely experience, because just as you start to accept the rather small square image in the middle of this larger screen, suddenly the 4th wall gets broken and we have action occurring within the theatre itself as well as back inside the 1930's cartoon. It is cleverly done so that the animation transitions between modern CGI style, and black & white drawings, as the characters move between the sides of the screen. I also enjoyed the way the screen itself moved and was affected by the action – I really am not interested in watching films in 3D, but it would have been fun to see what this played like if you were not expecting it.The action itself is a good lot of slapstick and, while I wasn't roaring with laughter throughout, I found it consistently amusing and fun, which is all I was really looking for. Perhaps understandably it won the Best Animated Short and, as much as I prefer that the big players do not dominate these smaller categories, I don't begrudge Get a Horse! because it is cleverly done, and delivered with a lot of energy and cheer.

Robert Reynolds This short was nominated for the Academy Award for Animated Short (and probably should have won). There will be spoilers ahead: This short is a remarkable piece of work and probably the best short Disney has done in the last 30 years. This is a blend of old and new Disney animation styles and themes. An excellent addition to the Mickey Mouse canon. I have to talk about the short itself.The plot is deceptively simple. Mickey and a bunch of the old time characters (like Horace Horsecollar and Clarabelle Cow) are going on a hayride. Mickey has a fascinating dispute with his pants and then climbs on the hay wagon, to be joined by Minnie Mouse.Pegleg Pete comes up on the wagon and behaves like Pete, trying to kidnap Minnie. That's when things get interesting, as Pete uses Mickey and Horace as a bludgeon until he tears a hole in the fourth wall and color is born. Mickey and Horace wind up on the other side of the screen and things start getting nuts. Horace hits the snack bar and "borrows" someone's cellphone. Mickey turns Horace into a plane to try to get back at Pete with predictable results.Then Mickey starts discovering nice little things to do with the screen and to Pete as a consequence, amusing Minnie and everyone else in the process. The short is totally crazy at this point. They don't just break the fourth wall, they obliterate it and fun is had by all (except Pete).Archival audio is used to have the original voices for Mickey, Minnie and Pete appear in the short and it's very effectively handled. This short is an extra on the DVD and Blu-ray releases of Frozen. The short is well worth watching. Most highly recommended.

Hellmant 'GET A HORSE!': Three Stars (Out of Five)A Disney animated short film that debuted in theaters before the blockbuster 'FROZEN'. The movie is 6 minutes long and is both computer animated and hand-drawn. It's also in black-and-white and color and was released in both 3D and regular 2D versions (like the movie it plays with). It was directed by Lauren MacMullan and features archive voice recordings of Walt Disney as Mickey Mouse! It's the first Mickey Mouse cartoon since 1995's 'RUNAWAY BRAIN' and tells the story of Mickey going on a wagon ride with his friends (Minnie, Horace Horsecollar, and Clarabelle Cow) when the antagonist Peg-Leg Pete attacks them. Mickey and Horace are thrown out of the movie world (and into the theater) where they fight Peg-Leg by flipping the theater screen (and rotating gravity inside the movie). The film is amusing and fun and very reminiscent of classic Mickey Mouse cartoons. Should be nostalgic for fans of the iconic Disney character and entertaining for new (younger) viewers as well!Watch our movie review show 'MOVIE TALK' at: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PAefz9rzS5w

Michael_Elliott Get a Horse! (2013) *** (out of 4) This winning short from Disney was originally released and played before the FROZEN feature. The story is quite simple and Mickey and Minnie are trying to battle Peg-Leg Pete who eventually throws Mickey off the "movie" and into the movie crowd. Once in the crowd Mickey has to use some imagination to try and rescue Minnie who is still in the movie. GET A HORSE! was rather remarkable to see on the big screen because it starts off in B&W just like the original Mickey Mouse shorts and I thought this was a great way to show younger kids a bit of the past. Once the characters start falling from the movie, Mickey then turns to color and he even makes the screen wider to fit today's movies. For the most part I thought this 6-minute short contained a lot of wonderful imagination and especially once the characters were off the screen and seeing how they could defeat the villain. There were a lot of great laughs throughout the picture and especially with some of the harmless violence that was in so many of the original cartoons.