That was an excellent one.

an ambitious but ultimately ineffective debut endeavor.

It's the kind of movie you'll want to see a second time with someone who hasn't seen it yet, to remember what it was like to watch it for the first time.

The acting is good, and the firecracker script has some excellent ideas.

Van Beuren cartoons are extremely variable, especially in the number of gags and whether the absurdist humour shines through enough (sometimes it does, other times it doesn't), but are strangely interesting. Although they are often poorly animated with barely existent stories and less than compelling lead characters, they are also often outstandingly scored, there can be some fun support characters and some are well-timed and amusing.'The Goose that Laid the Golden Egg' is most interesting for being a Felix the Cat cartoon that is in colour and has sound. As far as the Van Beuren "Rainbow Parade" cartoons go, all three Felix the Cat cartoons, of which 'The Goose that Laid the Golden Egg' is the first, are among the best of the "Rainbow Parade" series. Not great as such, being fairly bland compared to the earlier silent black and white Felix the Cat cartoons which had more vigour and humour of the surreal/absurdist kind. Also worth the while, despite how all of the above sounded.A lot of strengths in 'The Goose that Laid the Golden Egg'. The best being the pretty great animation, one of the best looking of the "Rainbow Parade" series, having more refinement in the drawing than usually seen, and one of the best looking Felix the Cat cartoons. Compared to the animation in the Cubby the Bear, most of the (human) Tom and Jerry and other cartoons of Van Beuren, their production values came on a long way when switching to colour. The background detail is meticulous and even better are the ravishing colours that pop out at you.Just as good is the music score, it is so beautifully and cleverly orchestrated, is great fun to listen to and full of lively energy, doing so well with enhancing the action. The synchronisation is sharp and neat. Wasn't bored, while not completely excited, watching 'The Goose that Laid the Golden Egg', with the final battle being a lot of fun and Captain Kidd a suitably dastardly antagonist. There is a charm and it never gets overly sugary. The goose character is nice and the Great Depression element was intriguing and not laid on too thick.However, the story is over-familiar, with not an awful lot new brought to the table. The ending can be seen from quite some distance away. Felix is likeable enough but there is a preference too for his original personality, one that was much stronger and one that set him apart from other silent animated characters from that era.In the laughs department, 'The Goose that Laid the Golden Egg' is lacking. Not completely humourless, but there isn't enough and not much that sticks in the mind anyhow. For Felix the Cat, with the surreal/absurdist humour missing, this was pretty tame, how he caught up with the boat was an exception. The cartoon takes a little too long to get going, with the climactic moments being where things most come alive, and comes close to being on the sugary side.On the whole, nice enough and passes the time more than decently but no classic. 6/10 Bethany Cox

"The Goose That Laid the Golden Egg" is a 7-minute cartoon that has its 80th anniversary this year. Felix the Cat is probably mostly known for his black-and-white short films, in which he is a bit of a pioneer before the Golden Years of Animation, but he existed afterward too and this is his attempt at a transition. Not too successful in my opinion. This cartoon delivered almost more from a dramatic than comedic perspective. The locations and items used are interesting, but the comedy is almost non-existent or simply over so quickly that it does not stay in the mind. Maybe this character really works best with black-and-white silent films. I did not enjoy this short film here. Lacks completely the smartness that other films from that era had. Thumbs down.

This short is a definite commentary on the Depression more than anything else. Felix has started his own social welfare program--handing out free gold from his goose to all the people of his town. However, the jerk, Captain Kidd*, wants it all for himself and steals the amazing bird. So, it's up to Felix to rescue his pet and save the day.I am a fan of the early Felix the Cat cartoons. I am talking about the silent ones they made from 1919 to about 1929. The films were, more than anything else, fun--with a strange surrealistic style about them. Felix was a joker--and occasionally a bit of a jerk--and I liked it that way. Well, the series petered out in the talking picture era--mostly because the cartoons lost their zip. The surrealism was gone and the cartoons became dull. A few years after their initial demise, Van Beuren Studios attempted to revive the series. Now considering that they only made three Felix cartoons, you can pretty much guess what the public thought. As far as I am concerned, the public got it right. Although the Van Beuren cartoons looked a lot better (with color and really nice animation), they changed Felix--making him a nice-guy. The public didn't want a nice-guy--they wanted FELIX! And, even though there was a strong welfare component to this film, even Depression era folks didn't take to the films.So what is there to like about this film? Well, the animation is probably the best of the three Van Beuren films. Also, I liked how Felix caught up with the boat--that was something the old Felix would have done. But otherwise, it's just a pretty film with absolutely no humor about it at all...none.*It's interesting how movies often feature Captain Kidd. As a history teacher who taught about pirates, I think it's odd how he is often talked about when he was actually one of the most pathetic and unsuccessful pirates in history. He didn't even willingly become one! He served with the British Navy and was sent to capture pirates. However, his crew mutinied and forced him to piracy. His career as a pirate only lasted about a year or so--then was caught and, much later, executed.

Wow, this is the first cartoon I've seen that addresses The Great Depression in the 1930s. The first scene has Felix The Cat manning a little stand that says "Relief Bureau" and he's handing out a handful of gold coins to every person in line. "Don't thank me," he says; "thank him.""Him" isn't FDR or the government: it's a goose in the back of the booth who is laying golden eggs. After dishing out the coins, Felix goes back and tells "Goldie" that she's doing "good work, so keep it up!" Felix takes her eggs and grinds them into coins so he can dish out the next batch.It doesn't long for the villain, "Captain Kidd," disguised as a woman, to appear at the back window, seeing the goose and figuring out what's happening. So, moments later, he steals the valuable goose. Even though Felix knows who it is, Kidd succeeds and takes the goose aboard his pirate ship and sails away.The cartoon turns into a pirate adventure story when Felix, who figures out a way to get on Kidd's ship via turning himself into a human cannonball (hey, it's a cartoon!) battles it out aboard ship with the peg-legged and sword-wielding Kidd.Overall, more for kids but adults can enjoy this, too, almost like an old-fashioned Errol Flynn pirate movie, except in animated form. The duels between Felix and Kidd are well done.