Plenty to Like, Plenty to Dislike

How sad is this?

This is one of the few movies I've ever seen where the whole audience broke into spontaneous, loud applause a third of the way in.

A terrific literary drama and character piece that shows how the process of creating art can be seen differently by those doing it and those looking at it from the outside.

This is one of those cute and uplifting Disney shorts that I loved the most as a kid and that always popped up in my mind whenever I'd remember them, it was on some VHS mini collection of the shorts and I must have watched that tape a hundred times before bedtime until it was busted! This was probably my favourite one because it's so fun and wacky, and despite the lack of Donald and Goofy, it feels very similar to the much earlier animation "Hawaiian Holiday." Despite the obvious similarities like Pluto matching wits against a tiny sea creature, to me it just has the same kind of free-spirited sunny atmosphere. If not the words, I always remembered the tune of that song, it's such a heartwarming little ditty that reminds one of the simple free pleasures in life such as a carefree day on the beach, as well as providing in a way a subtle bittersweet note of finality for what was to be the last appearance of Mickey in a short for decades, and while it's a shame that it had to come to that, retiring such a beloved character for that long, I think this short was a good way to end things, it's very true to the pure spirit of joy that the earlier cartoons possessed. And Mickey never completely went away anyhow, he was always around in some form or other, so be happy! To me some of the animation is as nicely done as anything from the 30s or 40s, like the rich details put into the crashing surf at the beginning and a lot of the backgrounds, while some of it is noticeably not so impressive, like Mickey's character design which just looks really off and weird! I also remembered a lot of the comedy gags involving the clam with a face, like the yo-yo clam tail, when it mimics Pluto's bark with its clacking shell, and mostly when it begins to sneeze uncontrollably after eating the pepper. I felt really bad for Pluto as he kid when he gets the clam stuck in his mouth and gets unfairly scolded by Mickey when it eats all the food! And no sooner is that little terror banished back to the ocean then a fish-crazed seagull appears on the scene which even starts to pick on Mickey after hogtying and gagging Pluto with his own tail! And at the end, the very very end as it were, it's the hilariously voiced seagull who gets the last laugh and the last word! Nice well meaning short, I don't have any real problems with it at all, it certainly lights up my mood whenever I watch it and it's a very fond farewell for me, keep your sunny sides up!

In this Disney cartoon short, Mickey and Pluto go fishing by the beach (kind of makes you want to relax on a quiet, sunny day). Pluto has a run-in with a clam and Mickey's bait are chased by a hungry seagull.As the Mickey's final cartoon in the Walt Era, the story could have been a lot better. It seemed that both Mickey and Pluto got the bad end of the stick in the plot, with Pluto getting the clam caught in his mouth and Mickey's fishing trip getting spoiled by the stupid, hungry and irritating seagull.I remembered watching this cartoon as a kid and, while I enjoyed seeing Mickey and Pluto on screen, the seagull annoyed the heck out of me. Not one of the better Mickey cartoons.Grade D---

The final Mickey Mouse theatrical short in the classic era. Also the last one made in Walt Disney's lifetime. The story is a very simple one. Mickey and Pluto are going fishing. Pluto gets into trouble with a clam and Mickey fights off a seagull trying to steal his bait. It's an enjoyable short albeit an unexceptional one. The colors are luscious and the animation is beautiful. A few funny moments here and there. Mickey's final line is bittersweet. My favorite part about the whole thing is that title song. I'm not sure who sang it but it's just lovely. This isn't one of the best Mickey or Pluto shorts I've seen but it is nice.

A Walt Disney MICKEY MOUSE Cartoon.Mickey & Pluto enjoy THE SIMPLE THINGS in life, like fishing together at the beach - until a pesky clam and an obnoxious seagull begin to ruin their day.Although only 24 years old, Mickey chose this routine cartoon as his final film before retiring from theatrical animation, preferring to devote his time to television and theme park work. An immense celebrity by this time, but with his greatest cartoons long behind him, Mickey could well afford to rest on his laurels as the iconic Everyman of American animation. His retirement would last for 30 years, when he would return in 1983 for a nominal role in MICKEY'S CHRISTMAS CAROL. His big screen appearances since then have been very sporadic.Walt Disney (1901-1966) was always intrigued by 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 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, Bambi, Peter Pan and Mr. Toad. Walt never forgot that his fortunes were all started by a mouse, or that simplicity of message and lots of hard work always pay off.