"A Mickey Mouse Cartoon"

Synopsis

Mickey shows off for Minnie, but must rescue Donald when he's nearly blown over a frozen waterfall. Meanwhile, Goofy tries a new form of ice fishing.

Characters

Mickey Mouse

Minnie Mouse

Donald Duck

Goofy

Pluto

Clarabelle Cow

Horace Horsecollar

Credits

Director : Ben Sharpsteen

Animation

Norm Ferguson

Webb Smith

Art Babbitt

Videos

United States

A Walt Disney Christmas

Germany

Mickey Präsentiert

Weihnachtpass mit Mickey und Donald

Italy

Cartoons Disney 2

Topolino Superstar

Cartoon Festival 2

Laserdiscs

United States

A Walt Disney Christmas

Japan

A Walt Disney Christmas

DVD

Disney Treasures : Mickey Mouse in Living Color

Region 1 : United States

Region 2 : France

Region 2 : Germany

Region 2 : Italy

Region 2 : Sweden

Region 2 : United Kingdom

Region 1 : United States

Disney Treasures : The Complete Pluto Volume 1

Cartoon Classics Favorites : Starring Mickey

Television

The Ink and Paint Club : #14 : Early Donald

Donald's Quack Attack : Episode 7

Technical Specifications

Color Type : Technicolor

Animation type : Standard

Sound mix : Mono

Aspect ration : 1.37 : 1

Negative format : 35mm

Print format : 35mm

Cinematographic process : Spherical

Original language : English

Released by United Artists

Gallery

Mickey tries his skates
Sketch courtesy of Gallery C

Pluto tries his skates
Sketch courtesy of Animation Celection

Mickey gets caught up in his skating
Sketch courtesy of The Gremlin Animation Art Gallery

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Edited and released for the home movie market undet the name "Donald's Ice Capers"

This short features the first use of the fully mature Goofy. Donald also begins to take on his modern form, although his costume is different in just this one cartoon.

This is supposed to be a Mickey Mouse short, but it's more of an ensemble production with everybody trying to get into the act. I would have liked to have seen this short a bit more focused on its central character.

All the standard Disney characters seem to have twins that show up at one time or another. I noticed that when Horace Horsecollar and Clarabelle Cow skated to the center of the screen, when you look in the background, there is an exactly identical couple that skates by.

Enjoyable ensemble short - I like the ice skating setting and the numerous gags. The action of Donald in trouble is nicely well done.

Here we have all the main Disney characters in one short (except for Pete). Each one is doing something different. Mickey is teaching Minnie how to skate, Donald is causing mischief by putting ice skates on Pluto and meowing like a cat to get him to dart out on the ice, and Goofy is ice fishing in a very unusual way. He's not using a fishing pole, but a club so he can clobber the fish. As for the bait, it ain't the usual "worm on the hook." It's good 'ol chewin' tobacco. I loved it when the fish take some tobacco off the hook and chew it. After that, they spit it into a spitoon that Goofy has right next to him. Unfortunately, the fish get the better of him. In my opinion, this was one of the best cartoons that Disney ever made.

It's my favorite Disney short! Wonderful, perfect, beautiful! I live in Russia and we like Disney's cartoons.

The only reason I like this short is because of the music.

This was one of the first early Disney shorts I saw at cinema in Sweden during the latter part of the sixties when I was in my early teens. I remember that I was amazed by the high quality of the animation compared to the newer cartoons mostly showed in Sweden those days. On Ice also reminds me of the feeling of "free skating" on nature ice that was more common then.

I've been looking and looking trying to find the name of this short... one of my all-time favorites. Just classic winter-time fun.

The first of the "ensemble cartoons". Everyone is in it: Mickey, Minnie (in her colour debut), Donald, Goofy, Pluto and even, albeit very briefly, Horace Horsecollar and Clarabella Cow. "On Ice" introduces two story ideas that would be used again much later: Pluto's problems on ice in "Bambi" (1942) and the idea of skating near a waterfall in the "Once Upon a Winter Time" sequence of Melody Time" (1948). Apart from this, "On Ice" has been very important in the development of Goofy. He's been completely restyled, has more body to his looks and a much more distinct personality. All these important improvements on the character are attributed to Art Babbitt, one of the greatest animators of all time. Goofy sings "The World Owes Me a Living" from "The Grasshopper and the Ants" (1934). The song naturally becomes his theme song. No wonder, for the grasshopper and Goofy share the same voice: that of Pinto Colvig.

Very nice short. I believe all the characters were in it, even for a brief time, I did not see Pete. This was just a fun short, no real danger, except when Donald almost gets blown off the waterfall. I liked the use of the rubber hose animation when Mickey straddles the ice break. A nice touch when Minnie falls down, Mickey is there with a soft pillow. I thought the scenes with Donald and Pluto a bit overdone, but very enjoyable.

This is a watchable short with every classic character at the time except Pete. I think it would've been interesting to see a new version of this short with Chip 'n' Dale, Huey, Dewey, Louie, and Daisy. Would've made for an interesting short. Overall it's a fun cartoon.

Referred Comments

Alice's Fishy Story (1924)

The Whoopee Party (1932)