Mickey's Rival (1936)

It's hard to see any effort in the film. There's no comedy to speak of, no real drama and, worst of all.

Blending excellent reporting and strong storytelling, this is a disturbing film truly stranger than fiction

The movie runs out of plot and jokes well before the end of a two-hour running time, long for a light comedy.

It is an exhilarating, distressing, funny and profound film, with one of the more memorable film scores in years,

Mickey has long been regarded by critics as having a one dimensional personality. This is true for the most part as personality animation didn't come into fruition until the mid-30s, which is when Mickey started to be rivaled by characters with more personality. In this short, he displays a more three-dimensional and flawed personality. As he and Minnie go on a picnic, a former boyfriend of Minnie, Mortimer, joins them, to Mickey's chargin. While Mickey is visibly jealous, Mortimer comes across as a showoff and unlikeable; Even his anthropomorphic car has a haughty personality. One wonders how Mortimer's relationship with Minnie ended the first time around.It has been said that Mortimer was the name Walt initially chose for Mickey, but his wife didn't like it and chose Mickey instead. Considering the murkiness of Mickey's origins, this story might be apocryphal, but who's to say. Assuming the story is true, the plot and circumstances make for an interesting inside joke.This is one of the few shorts, where Mickey come across as more human and thus more relatable.

In this Mickey and Minnie cartoon short, the couple are out in the country for a picnic. However, their quiet time together is interrupted by the cocky and loud-mouthed Mortimer Mouse, who swoons over Minnie and shows off his nice car. Needless to say, Mickey is jealous and an intriguing love triangle ensues.It's a classic love competition between the three mice - even Mickey and Mortimer's cars were also in a little competitive bout. Mortimer proves to be a shallow and inconsiderate bully, making you want to root for Mickey. However, more chaos follows as a bull escapes his fenced-in area and wrecks havoc on the picnic goers. What results is pretty predictable, but the overall cartoon lacks some humor and action.Grade B-

While not quite a classic, this is a very entertaining and fun Mickey Mouse cartoon. The story is simple but effective, and the scripting is rock solid. There are also some entertaining parts, the bull was a good character. But even more successful is for starters the animation, a very fluid and colourful style is used here and it works wonders. The music is wonderful, it is cheerful and it is lively, like music in a cartoon should be. The voice acting for its time is impressive, with Walt Disney applying his squeaky voice again for Mickey and doing a stellar job, and Marcellite Garner also impressive as Minnie. At the end of Mickey's Rival, I asked myself who did I prefer Mickey or Mortimer? I would have to go with Mickey, even with his whimsical charms I could tell how really obnoxious Mortimer was.Overall, entertaining, a classic, not quite, but fun, you got it! 9/10 Bethany Cox

Oh dear! I can't imagine a soul (at that era, at least, when he was a lot meaner) who would dare to intimidate Mickey Mouse! Usually, it's Mickey who causes all the mischief and the other person never wins - our wonderful Mickey Mouse is always the one winning looking superior but here in this short there seems to be a dramatic reversal! Mortimer Mouse is Minnie's old boyfriend and he waltzes in on her picnic with Mickey leaving quite a mess with all the food, he tears off the buttons on Mickey's shorts, he offers a handshake and that electrocutes poor old Mickey! There's more! - He acts charming and gentlemanly towards Minnie to win her affections deliberately making Mickey jealous! And she succumbs! However, don't let this news of Mickey Mouse being victimized put you off because it's a classic - and such great fun! There is plenty of imagination, cheerful music and the VERY old style of Disney animation that has been seen by many, many generations and in this 71 year old short Mickey is seen with those traditional mega-sized eyes!