Horst in Translation ([email protected]) "Mickey's Kangaroo" is at 9 minutes an unusually long short film from Mickey's (not very) early days. It is still black-and-white and features the duo as they run into a kangaroo. And of course, also back then 80 years ago, they still had small kangaroos in their belly bag. And boxing kangaroos was also a thing back then already. So Mickey keeps playfully going against the big one, but obviously has no shot at all at winning. Meanwhile, Pluto tries to keep the little one away from his food. No success here either. I must say I did not find this one here as good as some other Mickey cartoons from that era. It was mostly slapstick, but not really smart or funny and maybe it is even true that these films only work for 7 minutes. Not recommended.

Robert Reynolds This is a Mickey Mouse cartoon produced by the Disney studio. There will be spoilers ahead:There are some very nice animated sequences and some good gags, but really falls flat because of what looks like an experiment which misfires. Pluto is given a speaking voice of sorts, with a voice over which allows the viewer to know Pluto's thoughts. It really doesn't work that well. Pluto is one of the most visually expressive, most fully realized characters Disney created. The voice distracts from that, which is unfortunate, because the short has potential.Mickey gets a boxing kangaroo in the mail (or rather two of them, as a baby kangaroo is in the pouch, which sets up one of the best gags late in the short). The kangaroo sets about taking Pluto's place, which understandably annoys Pluto no end. There's some interaction between Pluto and mama kangaroo, then baby makes an appearance while Mickey and mama box.Mama basically beats Mickey like a drum for the most part, while Pluto has his hands full with baby. Pluto winds up crashing through a greenhouse and leads to a very cute, sweet moment and the ending of the short is very nice, although Mickey is lucky he's a cartoon or he wouldn't have survived.This short is available on the Disney Treasures Mickey Mouse In Black and White, Volume Two and the set is worth getting.

TheLittleSongbird Mickey's Kangaroo is not a bad cartoon, but compared to other Disney cartoons(though it is far from the worst) I didn't care as much as I wanted to for it. The animation is smooth and fluid, and the music is full of character and energy. I also liked how they showed the love Mickey and Pluto share for one another at the beginning, the boxing match between Mickey and the cute kangaroo and the gag when Mickey gets caught in the hay bailing machine. Pluto is great to watch mostly, buy Mickey aside from the boxing is sidelined and is not very interesting as a character here. Other than a couple of gags like the hay bailing machine gag I personally didn't find much funny or of note in Mickey's Kangaroo, and the story is rather routine and not as crisply paced as it has been. Pluto's inner thoughts talking was unnecessary with the menacing tone rather odd, we know from what was already on screen what Pluto was feeling so having the voice as well seemed overly-obvious overkill to me. All in all, moderately enjoyable but at the same time nothing outstanding. 6/10 Bethany Cox

Julia Arsenault (ja_kitty_71) This short is on a DVD box set "Walt Disney Treasures : Mickey Mouse in Black & White #2" and I bought it when was on vacation with my family. This short became one of my favorites out of the collection; I thought it was "bouncy-touncy" fun.It started when Mickey got a package-crate from a Leo Buring from Australia. And to his (and Pluto's) surprise, the crate started jumping around and then...SMASH! Out comes a boxing kangaroo and her joey. I knew it's girl because boy kangaroos don't have pouches. Anyway, Pluto did not like the idea of that "grasshopper" and her kid invading his premises. You know, we get to hear his thoughts voiced by Pinto Colvig, who also does his barks and pants. I noticed the kangaroo and joey are drawn the same way as Mickey, and also the joey almost sounds like Roadrunner from Warner Bros.I love it when Pluto chases the little hopper, he gets wet thanks to the joey hopping on the giant water pump. Then Pluto goes for a rough ride of a wheelbarrow, and land in a garbage dump. With his back paws stuck on springs, Pluto bounces up and down to the little kangaroo's delight. They hop for a little bit before Pluto hops a little too high and smashes head-first into the roof of a greenhouse. Pluto doesn't realize the little kangaroo now became attached to him by resting in a corset "pouch" he had previously bounced straight into from a clothes line before the greenhouse. A bit of risqué business huh? Overall this a great cartoon and now I have gone "Kanga-Crazy!"