Mickey Mouse Short: O Futebol Classico

Season 2, Episode 4: “O Futebol Classico”
Starring: Mickey Mouse
Co-Starring: Jose Carioca
Setting: Rio de Janeiro, Brazil

Plot: Mickey arrives at sold-out Maracana Stadium in Rio de Janiero, Brazil, excited to root for hometown Brazil against England in the World Cup Final.

After finding his seat, a morbidly obese pig wearing a multi-coloured wig sits down right in front of Mickey, obstructing his otherwise perfect view.  Mickey politely asks him to remove his wig and the pig acquiesces. However, what Mickey didn’t know was that under the wig, was an even bigger mass of hair – a humongous brown afro!  Using his vuvuzela as a periscope, Mickey finds an empty seat on the other side of the stadium.  Mickey burrows through the crowd en route to his new seat but his success is short lived as a spirited rendition of the wave throws Mickey out of his seat and onto England’s bench.  The team doesn’t take too kindly to having an intruder on their bench and they immediately jump Mickey.  In Mickey’s haste to escape, he finds himself on the pitch and right in the middle of the action.  After dribbling the ball down the field, he and the soccer ball are kicked right into the teeth of England’s defense.  The goalie catches Mickey and throws him out of the stadium.  Alone and dejected, Mickey is left to only listen as the stadium rocks with excitement.  Having all but given up, Mickey stumbles across a few balloons and has an idea!  He ties them to a chair and makes a flying seat which he uses to float above the stadium to watch the remainder of the match… or so he thinks.  A flock of red birds appear and immediately pop Mickey’s balloons leaving him in a freefall, hurtling towards imminent death.     

It’s here that Mickey’s luck finally changes as he softly lands in the very same afro he tried so hard to avoid.  Now having the best seat in the house, he is able to witness the game winning goal as Brazil wins the Cup.    

Short Stuff:
The episode is spoken entirely in Portugese, making it the fifth in the series to feature a foreign language (“Croissant de Triomphe” – French, “Tokyo Go” – Japanese, “Panda-monium” – Mandarin Chinese and “’O Sole Minnie” – Italian).

This short was released six days before the start of the 2014 World Cup.

Of course, as we now know, England was knocked out in the Group Stage while Brazil made it to the semifinals only to be blown out by eventual Champion, Germany, 7-1.  Brazil would then go on to lose the third place playoff to the Netherlands 3-0.

Team Brazil is represented by lions and England by rhinoceroses – neither of which are indigenous to their respective countries.

That’s Jose Carioca in the role of the soccer commentator.  He’s best known for costarring with Donald Duck in Disney’s South American travel films Saludos Amigos (1943) and The Three Caballeros (1945).  He also appeared in the Melody Time short “Blame it on the Samba” (1948).

The formation of balloons carrying Mickey over the stadium creates another Hidden Mickey. 

Final Grade: B+
We’ve had seasonal shorts in the past like “Ghoul Friend” and “Third Wheel” but this is our first topical episode and it did a nice job of capitalizing on World Cup fever while also taking us to another exotic locale in Brazil.  Also, the inclusion of Jose Carioca as the commentator is pitch perfect.