Brave Little Tailor (1938)

recommended

Plot so thin, it passes unnoticed.

A lot of perfectly good film show their cards early, establish a unique premise and let the audience explore a topic at a leisurely pace, without much in terms of surprise. this film is not one of those films.

The film's masterful storytelling did its job. The message was clear. No need to overdo.

"Brave Little Tailor" was nominated for the Oscar for Best Animated Short but lost to "Ferdinand the Bull". Any other year, this cartoon probably would have won but "Ferdinand" was simply magnificent and charming. Regardless, I strongly recommend you see both films.This short begins with Mickey killing seven flies at the same time. People THINK he meant giants and he's appointed by the king to be the Royal Giant-Killer! Mickey wants no part of this until he learns he'll also receive the hand of Princess Minnie--so he agrees to take out the giant. Can our brave little mouse possibly defeat an enormous and not particularly nice giant?! The biggest thing that stood out for me about this film was the outstanding animation. It might just be the best looking MIckey cartoon ever--with exquisite backgrounds and animations. It is an artistic masterpiece. Fortunately, it's not all great artwork--with a lovely story and lots of clever touches to make the entire package worth seeing. Plus, it was nice that the Disney folks came up for a way for Mickey to defeat the giant that wouldn't compromise Mickey's character, as he's supposed to be a genuinely nice individual--not some killer. Overall, I very strongly recommend you see this one--it's a classic.

Not my favourite, but up there. The animation is mostly excellent with beautiful colours and fluid backgrounds. The character designs aren't quite up there, but they are acceptable. The music has always been one of my favourite assets about these Silly Symphonies, and because it is so jaunty and energetic here Brave Little Tailor is no exception. The writing is funny with the parts with the giant amusing and I loved it when Minnie kisses Mickey and the story is charming. Mickey is a very cute and likable hero, and all the support characters make an impression while never bland. All in all, a great cartoon. 9/10 Bethany Cox

This time Mickey is starring all on his own, with no back-up. And for a change he's actually got a good story instead of the usual 'disaster' plots. In this cartoon, he plays a tailor who, through a series of misunderstandings, is sent on a mission by the king to take out a giant who is about to pound on their village. Princess Minnie is his reward so obviously he's going to oblige no matter how impossible that mission may be.Shock horror, there are actually some laughs and Mickey manages to hold our attention instead of making us drift away. The gimmicks and imagination are very good and the ending in which the villagers use the sleeping giant as a power source is very clever.Definitely one of the best Mickey shorts.

A Walt Disney MICKEY MOUSE Cartoon.A BRAVE LITTLE TAILOR, mistakenly acclaimed as a great champion, is sent to stop the depredations of a fearsome giant who is terrifying a tiny kingdom.This is one of the truly classic color Mouse films, featuring excellent animation, sly humor & some genuine thrills. This vivid, fast-moving reinterpretation of the Brothers Grimm tale gave Mickey one of his grandest adventures and he obviously relishes his return, albeit briefly, to the top of the Disney heap. Without Donald, Goofy or Pluto to steal the limelight, Mickey proves to be a most dashing hero. Miss Minnie's involvement in the cartoon is mainly to add encouragement to Mickey's resolve and provide a reward for his heroics. Walt Disney supplies Mickey's squeaky voice.Walt Disney (1901-1966) was always intrigued by pictures & drawings. As a lad in Marceline, Missouri, he sketched farm animals on scraps of paper; later, as an ambulance driver in France during the First World War, he drew comic figures on the sides of his vehicle. Back in Kansas City, along with artist Ub Iwerks, Walt developed a primitive animation studio that provided animated commercials and tiny cartoons for the local movie theaters. Always the innovator, his ALICE IN CARTOONLAND series broke ground in placing a live figure in a cartoon universe. Business reversals sent Disney & Iwerks to Hollywood in 1923, where Walt's older brother Roy became his lifelong business manager & counselor. When a mildly successful series with Oswald The Lucky Rabbit was snatched away by the distributor, the character of Mickey Mouse sprung into Walt's imagination, ensuring Disney's immortality. The happy arrival of sound technology made Mickey's screen debut, STEAMBOAT WILLIE (1928), a tremendous audience success with its use of synchronized music. The SILLY SYMPHONIES soon appeared, and Walt's growing crew of marvelously talented animators were quickly conquering new territory with full color, illusions of depth and radical advancements in personality development, an arena in which Walt's genius was unbeatable. Mickey's feisty, naughty behavior had captured millions of fans, but he was soon to be joined by other animated companions: temperamental Donald Duck, intellectually-challenged Goofy and energetic Pluto. All this was in preparation for Walt's grandest dream - feature length animated films. Against a blizzard of doomsayers, Walt persevered and over the next decades delighted children of all ages with the adventures of Snow White, Pinocchio, Dumbo, Bambi & Peter Pan. Walt never forgot that his fortunes were all started by a mouse, or that childlike simplicity of message and lots of hard work will always pay off.