Mickey Mouse Short: Turkish Delights

​Season 3, Episode 14: “Turkish Delights” 3/18/16
Starring: Mickey Mouse
Co-starring: Donald Duck and Goofy
Setting: Istanbul, Turkey
 
Plot: Donald and Goofy are jealous merchants who attempt to throw salt in Mickey’s Turkish delight game.

Short Stuff:
 
Although, not structurally similar to your typical “Mickey, Donald and Goofy” short (Mickey clearly has top billing), I will still count it as the eleventh in the series.
 
Coincidentally, this is also the eleventh short to be spoken in another language (Turkish).
 
Turkish delights (or lokum) are cubed confections made of gelatin and sugar.  How “delightful” they may or may not be is up for debate.
 
The short mainly takes place in-and-around Istanbul’s famed Grand Bazaar and its Nuruosmaniye Gate
 
Other well-known Istanbul landmarks spotted include the Bosphorous Bridge, the Sultan Ahmed Mosque aka the Blue Mosque and the Galata Tower/Christea Turris.
 
For the record, I’ve heard of Istanbul (of course) but none of its “famed” landmarks. 
 
With crocodiles, giraffes, kangaroos, lady bugs, etc.,the streets of Istanbul boast as diverse and exotic a group of animals as we’ve seen in any short.  This, in part, illustrates how worldly a clientele the Grand Bazaar attracts – especially considering how very few of the animals we see are indigenous to Turkey.
 
As mustachioed merchants, Donald sells plates while Goofy deals in (and plays!) various stringed instruments including Turkish and yayli tamburs. 
 
Considering Mickey is selling edibles where his competitors clearly aren’t, it’s difficult to understand why Goofy and Donald feel so threatened by the Turkish delights. 
 
Along with their mustaches, Goofy and Donald are wearing traditional Turkish street vendor garb.  Or, maybe the word is “stereotypical.”
 
Along with the Turkish delights’ seemingly limitless magical properties, they also evoke the effect of party drugs or narcotics – right down to Mickey offering his potential customers a “free taste” to hook them before eventually charging them full price.    

Final Grade: B+
 
Despite the inclusion of a mustachioed Donald and Goofy, I couldn’t give this one an A.  It was better than average but it just didn’t do it for me.  It’s probably due to my lack of Turkey *gobble, gobble* knowledge that left me less-than-taken with its locale and culture.  I am a philistine.