The Best and Worst Disney Cartoon or Cartoons

[Pietro]

What do you think is the best and worst Disney cartoon?

I think the best is either,
"Der Fuehrer's Face" or "Steamboat Willie"

I think the worst is,
"El Terrible Toreador"

-Pietro

[Sogturtle]

I don't know if you can ask those questions here;). In truth it's been so many years since I was able to bear watching a Disney short, they turn paler-than-pale next to the Warner or MGM cartoons. Though for the best I'd choose to nominate the "Un-Disney" "Merbabies" (written at Walt's place, directed and animated at Hugh & Rudy's joint. For the WORST I'd go with Dick Huemer's incredibly mawkish "Goofy And Wilbur" which I got to see in a real-live vintage 1940 theater. I had to brush my teeth for over twenty minutes to get rid of all the sugar and rot (not to mention the bad taste!!!)

[Matt Yorston]

Not sure about the worst per se but here are some of my favorites:

"Hockey Homicide" (1945) - What can I say? One of the best Disney cartoons ever. The gags come fast and furious and the pacing is absolutely breathtaking. I especially like the quick cuts and sequences used at the end ("How to Play Football", Monstro the Whale from "Pinocchio", etc.) as well as the manic narration of Doodles Weaver.

"No Hunting" (1955) - One of Disney's best 50's shorts. Donald's "hunting spirit" takes him on a hunting vacation which is mostly spent avoiding the bullets of the other hunters. When hunting season begins in the morning, the shots and bullets fly so fast and furious, the morning sun is shot full of holes! The "grandpappy duck" character in the cartoon is a treat ("Don't shoot 'till ya see the whites of their eyes, Sonny!").

"Casey Bats Again" (1954) - A very good and worthwhile sequel to the "Casey at the Bat" sequence of "Make Mine Music"... interesting since Walt detested sequels. It may be viewed as being a little sexist today (Casey needs a little persuasion until he is convinced his girls would make a good baseball team) but good fun nonetheless.

"Puss Cafe" (1950) - One of the most Warners-esque of the Disney cartoons not because of the pacing but because of the vivid gags themselves. My brother *loves* this cartoon because of the ludicrousness of the gags (examples: the cats enter the yard via a dislodged brick in the wall, one cat using a milk bottle/hose as a diving helmet in the fish pond, and the cats using Pluto's hammock to slingshot him into the next county).

"Father's Day Off" (1953) - I love this cartoon. It is one of the best of the "George Geef" films of the 1950's. Goofy (or George Geef) is left in charge of the house while his wife is away for the day. Can he take care of all his chores without messing things up? Are you kidding?

Other Disney films I enjoy:

Almost anything from the Humphrey Bear series but especially "Rugged Bear", "Grin and Bear It", and "Beezy Bear".

"The Sleepwalker" (1942) because of good storytelling and a worthwhile ending.

"Donald's Crime" (1945): a little suspense built up here as one can really feel for Donald's guilt-ridden conscience.

[Bobby B]

"Father's Day Off" (1953) - I love this cartoon. It is one of the best of the "George Geef" films of the 1950's. Goofy (or George Geef) is left in charge of the house while his wife is away for the day. Can he take care of all his chores without messing things up? Are you kidding?


One thing of interest is the hinting that Goofy's wife is cheating on him with all those deliverymen, kind of unusual for a Disney cartoon.

[Eraserhead]

CLOCK CLEANERS is one that I never get tired of. Matter of fact, Everytime I go to Disneyland, I always make sure to watch that Toon inside of Mickey's house at ToonTown.

[Nelson]

Here is my list of Disney cartoons....

THE BEST:
Der Fuehrer's Face (1943)
Hells Bells (1929)
Touchdown Mickey (1932)
Hockey Homicide (1945)
Great Guns (1927)
The Mad Doctor (1933)
Two Chips And A Miss (1952)
Alice The Whaler (1927)
Aquamania (1961)
Donald's Nephews (1938)
The Skeleton Dance (1929)

THE WORST:
Goofy's Pal Wilbur (1939)
The Simple Things (1953)
Mickey's Elephant (1936)
Merbabies (1938)
Donald In Mathmagic Land (1959)
Bone Bandit (1948)
Hold That Pose (1950)
Mickey Steps Out (1931)
Chicken Little (1943)
Californy Or Bust (1945)
El Terrible Toreador (1929) SIMPLY THE WORST DISNEY CARTOON EVER MADE.....

[Patrick McCart]

Favorites:

Duck Pimples
The Skelaton Dance
Haunted House (Mickey says "Mammy!")
The cartoon with Goofy moving a piano
Cartoon where Goofy finds a magic trunk
Toot Whistle Plunk and Boom (widescreen at its best)
The Band Concert

Least favorites:

Donald and the wheel (This was a stretch.)
Donald in Mathmagic land

[Jack]

Best:
Der Fuhrer's Face
Toot Whistle Plunk and Boom (we watched this in my third grade music class, as part of out history of music segment)
Clock Cleaners
The Chip and Dale/Donald cartoons
Those great Goofy sports cartoons
The Sceleton Dance (I saw this all the time when I was little, it sort of freaked me out)
The one with the trailer
Two Chips and A Miss
Pluto's Judgement Day
The Band Concert
Most Donald Duck shorts....

Worst
Most later Mickey shorts, the one that sticks out in my head would be "Mickey's Birthday Party"



Jack
must have been the only kid to like Donald In Mathmagicland...

[barnyarddawg]

Tim,

Aw, come on, your heart didn't melt when Goofy thought Wilbur died?:p :p :p :p

[Joe Tully]

Bumble Boogie was always my favorite Disney cartoon. I haven't seen that one in years. It was part of Melody Time, though, so I don't know if you'd want to count it as a seperate cartoon. Also, I like Toot Whistle Plunk and Boom, The Skeleton Dance, Lonesome Ghosts, and if you wanted to remove it from Fantasia, definitely Night on Bald Mountain. Bald Mountain is probably a close second behind Bumble Boogie.
None really stand out as being too terrible, but that's probably because the really bad ones were so bad I've forgotten them. I don't tolerate Disney too well and haven't watched it much in the last 8 years or so.

[Eraserhead]

"Mickey through the looking glass" and "Mickey's polo game" are a few other favorites of mine.

I also agree with many of your guys' choices as well. Including the horror-themed toons like "Lonesome ghosts","Skeleton Dance","Night/Bald mountain"..Hey, does "Legend of Sleepy Hollow" count as well?

[David Gerstein]

Favorites:
THE KARNIVAL KID
THE SHINDIG
TRAFFIC TROUBLES
MICKEY IN ARABIA
MICKEY'S CIRCUS
LONESOME GHOSTS
THE FOX HUNT
FIRE CHIEF
THE LITTLE WHIRLWIND
HOW TO HAUNT A HOUSE

Flops:
MICKEY CUTS UP
MICKEY'S PARROT
THE PELICAN AND THE SNIPE
MICKEY AND THE SEAL
THE LITTLE HOUSE
R'COON DAWG
SUZIE, THE LITTLE BLUE COUPE
THE SIMPLE THINGS
NOAH'S ARK
AQUAMANIA

In general, I like crazy action cartoons with Mickey or Donald and a lot of funny chaos busting loose. I'm bored by stories of cute little animals or humanized objects, typically paired with Pluto but also starring on their own. Snore.
I hate cartoons where Mickey is the star, but is treated as completely boring... mainly because I know he can be incredibly funny when anyone stops and thinks about making him that way!
I like musical cartoons when the humor is insane (THE SHINDIG) but when the characters just sing and dance for hours, it gets boring (MICKEY CUTS UP saves all its energy for the final minute of action).
What's not on the list? Well, the infamous TERRIBLE TOREADOR is IMHO pretty funny. Why do people hate it? The only reason it isn't among my favorites is that the introductory confict between Don Jose and Escamillo in the bar is never returned to or resolved in the end.

David :D

[Thad Komorowski]

Originally posted by Patrick McCart
Cartoon where Goofy finds a magic trunk

I belive you are thinking of "Baggage Buster," the one with Goofy trying to get a magic trunk on a train.

My favorites are (in no order):

"Der Fuehrer's Face"
"The Band Concert"
"Steamboat Willie"
"Figaro and Cleo" (so I like this one, :D)
"Donald's Snow Fight"
"Duck Pimples" (pretty artsy for a cartoon from 1945)
"Mickey's Birthday Party"
"Mickey's Delayed Date"
"Clock Cleaners"
"Donald's Dilemma"
All of the Donald Duck/Chip n' Dale Cartoons
The Great Sports Goofy Cartoons

-Thad:D