Disney’s Have A Laugh! series is aimed at introducing classic Disney cartoons to young children. Both recent volumes offer five full-length cartoons that have been restored and remastered in their original version with 2.0 audio and edited versions with 5.1 audio. Not sure what the point of the edited versions are, unless it’s someway to trick a kid into going to bed early.
Volume 3 begins with “Mickey’s Delayed Date” (1947). Mickey awakes from a nap to discover he is late for a date with Minnie for a date. Things don’t run smoothly as he rushes around, but Pluto comes through in the end. Though identified as a Mickey Mouse cartoon, Donald Duck and Goofy standout in “The Whalers (1938), which finds the trio out to sea looking for a whale. “Chef Donald” (1941) follows a radio recipe for waffles with disastrous results. There are a lot of good gags in this one. Goofy plays every character as he teaches “How to Play Baseball” (1942) in his first “How To” cartoon. “Pluto and the Gopher” (1950) battle each other in Minnie’s garden and house.
Volume 4 begins with “Mickey Down Under” (1948) where he deals with an angry ostrich and Pluto fights with a boomerang. The whole gang takes a “Hawaiian Holiday” (1937) and gets some good laughs. Mickey plays Hawaiian guitar, Goofy tries surfing, and Pluto plays with a starfish and a crab. Donald tries to enjoy some peaceful camping in “Trailer Horn” (1950) but then Chip and Dale show up. Goofy demonstrates “How to Swim” (1942) in his second instructional. “Pluto’s Surprise Package” (1949) contains a cute little turtle.
The Have A Laugh! discs also contain extras. “BLAMS!” feature some goofy guy who is supposed to be cool commenting on sequences with bad jokes and puns. He uses slo-mo, freezes, and reverses to highlight impacts that he constantly punctuates by annoyingly shouting “BLAM!” Volume 3 contains “Golf” with Goofy and Donald, from different cartoons, struggling on the links; “Cooking” is from “Chef Donald:” and “Glider” shows Goofy trying to take flight. Volume 4 has “Beach,” which is Goofy trying to surf from “Hawaiian Holiday;” “Fox Hunt” finds Donald in the English countryside; and “Hockey” stars Goofy on the ice. I don’t understand how anyone thought this was a good idea and even at less than two minutes they are hard to suffer through. “Re-MICKS” is a “mash-up music video” that uses old Disney cartoon clips matched with modern artists. Volume 3 features Black Eyed Peas “I Gotta Feeling” and Volume 4 is “Play My Music” from “Camp Rock.”
Although I would recommend the old Walt Disney Treasures DVD collection for people who wanted these cartoons in their collection, if the Have A Laugh! discs are a way to turn kids onto old Disney cartoons, I am all for it.
