Mickey Mouse shorts: Carried Away

Season 5, Episode 18: “Carried Away” 7/23/19

Starring: Mickey Mouse and Minnie Mouse
Costarring: Goofy
Appearances by: Daisy Duck, Clarabelle Cow, Clara Cluck, the Big Bad Wolf, the Three Little Wolves, the Skeletons, Elmer Elephant, Tillie Tiger, Toby Tortoise, and Max Hair
Setting: Bruges, Belgium; the Amazon River; the Pacific Northwest; China; the Danube River; Romania; Agra, Uttar Pradesh, India; Brooklyn, New York; and Niagara Falls, New York
Plot: While Minnie serenades her beau with a new song, Mickey attempts to keep the pair afloat while they bounce around the globe.

Short Stuff

A few details which led me to believe the short opens and ends in Bruges are the canals, the medieval buildings with red tile roofs, the King’s Bridge in the background, and the Belfry of Belgium off in the distance. The large expanse that the canal empties out into looks to be the North Sea as well.

Minnie is quite the ukulelist; previous shorts we’ve also seen her strumming the chords are “No Service” (S1, E1) and “Ku’u Lei Melody” (S3, E16).

Sure, there’s brief dialogue at the beginning and end but I think this still qualifies as the series’ third musical after “The Adorable Couple” (S1, E18) and “Our Homespun Melody” (S5, E15).

While floating down the Amazon, the piranha attack strikes a similar scene to that which occurs on Disneyland’s Jungle Cruise.

That bearded face on the Danube River is known as the rock sculpture of Decebalus.  Decebalus was the last king of Dacia and fought to preserve the independence of what would become modern day Romania.

There are a bevy of characters from the Classic Shorts who are making their first appearance in the Mickey Mouse series while standing on the observation deck at Niagara falls:

• The Three Little Wolves: sons of the Big Bad Wolf (Three Little Wolves (1936) and The Practical Pig (1939))
• The Skeletons: dancing, undead pranksters who were featured in the very first Silly Symphonies (The Skeleton Dance (1929), The Haunted House (1929), and The Mad Doctor (1933))
• Elmer Elephant: timid, yet brave, little elephant who is prone to being teased and bullied (Elmer the Elephant (1936) and Toby Tortoise Returns (1936))
• Tillie Tiger: Elmer Elephant’s girlfriend (Elmer the Elephant (1936))
• Toby Tortoise: slow and steady moving rival to Max Hare (The Tortoise and the Hare (1935), Toby Tortoise Returns (1936), and The Standard Parade (1939))
• Max Hare: brash and speedy rival to Toby Tortoise (The Tortoise and the Hare (1935), Toby Tortoise Returns (1936), and Mickey’s Polo Team (1936))

In what truly feels like her swan song, this was the last episode released before Russi Taylor, the longtime voice of Minnie Mouse (1986 - 2019!), passed away.  RIP Russi!

Final Grade: B+
Similarly to “Over the Moon” (S5, E13), we get another globetrotting short.  The main difference though is that the sweet musical stylings of Minnie Mouse are faaaaar better than the inane blathering of the Moon. The blistering pace of the short juxtaposed against the smooth melody of Minnie’s voice and ukulele provide for a fun contrast. Even better is the reveal that Minnie wasn’t as blissfully unaware of all the imminent danger as Mickey first thought.