It's a Small World of Fun Vol. 1 1944 - 2001 Buena Vista Home Entertainment   Buy It Now

Disney is getting ready to embark on a world tour. Well, not necessarily in the way that you think. Disney is known across the world, not just for their theme parks but their animation, and not just feature-length films either. Any Disney fanatic knows that back in the glory days of cinema, films were often accompanied by an animated short, something that Disney and Pixar has been trying to bring back to theaters. The adventures of Mickey, Donald, Pluto, and all of the other characters have been packaged in a number of different ways, from the Treasures Collection to not quite as limited releases.

So, how exactly is it that Disney is going on a world tour? It’s all done with their latest collection of animated shorts from yesteryear; It’s a Small World of Fun. Despite what the title might seem that it implies, this release has absolutely nothing to do with the ride in the Disney theme parks that some people love and others, like myself, find to be one of the most annoying things on the face of the planet. No, this DVD is a collection of animated shorts starring some rather well-known, and not-so-well-known, personalities from the minds of Disney, and they’ll be visiting all parts of the globe.

The DVD begins with the 1944 short, The Flying Gauchito where a young boy finds a donkey which has wings. He intends on using it to win an upcoming race, but in the end we find the cheating doesn’t necessarily pay off as well as one might think. Originally this short was part of Disney’s release of The Three Caballeros, and despite the popular belief that the film was released in 1945, it technically premiered in Mexico City in December of 1944. In case you were wondering, while the DVD states the setting to be South America, the actual location is Uruguay. The only problem with this short is that the picture is extremely jumpy, and that’s something that even modern technology can’t restore.

The next stop is the Netherlands and Pluto finds himself up to his collar in trouble as he stars in the 1946 short In Dutch. Co-starring with Pluto is Dinah, a dachshund who is one of Pluto’s two love interest throughout the Disney shorts. The dogs have made enemies of the townsfolk after accidentally sounding the dike alarm, but when it seems that it’s really going to break, every dog has his day. This short has also been seen included with the Complete Pluto Vol. 1, part of the Disney Treasures collection, as well as Mickey and Minnie’s Sweetheart Stories.

1960 saw the release of Goliath II featuring an elephant that isn’t quite up to size. As a matter of fact, he’s as small as a mouse but thinks that he’s bigger than life. Here we find Disney making a trip to India and the overall look and feel of this short isn’t unlike Jungle Book, and if you’re a fan of the 100 Acre Woods, you may hear a very familiar voice doing the narration. Of the shorts included on this release, this really is probably one the best ones, and if you missed out on the Disney Rarities: Celebrated Shorts, 1920s – 1960s, you now have the chance to see this charming short.

This wouldn’t be a Disney release without the familiar ears of Mickey Mouse, and he’s doing a bit of traveling as well to the land down under where women glow and men plunder. Originally seen on DVD as part of the Disney Treasures Mickey Mouse in Living Color Vol. 2, this short, Mickey Down Under, finds Mickey and his best pal Pluto first dealing with an out of control boomerang before having the deal with an irate emu.

Where you’ll find Mickey, Goofy isn’t too far behind, and back in 1945, it was still acceptable to go on safari and hunt big game. African Diary finds Goofy out hunting for a rhinoceros, but true to his name, the hunt doesn’t go quite as well as planned. I’m not necessarily a Goofy fan, but this is a really great short and showcases Disney animation at it best. Any Goofy fan already knows that this was part of The Complete Goofy, but since the Treasures are limited, if you missed it the first time around, now you have another chance to see Goofy as a big game hunter.

Back in the 1950’s, boy still had dreams of being a cowboy, and Walt Disney himself really had a love to the American West, so it’s not a surprise to see a short of the same nature. A Cowboy Needs a Horse follows the dreams of one young boy while he rides along, fights Indians, and does general cowpoke things. It’s not a bad short, though the songs gets a little annoying (sorry, I know there are people who absolutely love it.) This short was also seen along with Goliath II in the Celebrated Shorts Collection.

Not everything in this collection has been released on another DVD or two already however, and the final short, Grievance of a Starmaker was the winner of the 2001 Imagination Day (and I honestly have no idea what that is, and I did try and find information on it.) The short is set in Japan and looks quite a bit different from what you might be accustomed to seeing from Disney. It’s not necessarily bad, but it feels a little out of place here.

The DVD doesn’t contain any additional features, but I wasn’t expecting to find any. What I was a bit surprised with however is that there weren’t any Easter Eggs included where something in the menu would do something quirky for no apparent reason.

It’s a Small World of Fun isn’t a bad collection, though a bit on the short side, only coming in at a little under an hour. Long time fans of Disney are going to want to grab this as soon as they can (it is only out for a limited time) and besides . . . it’s much cheaper than buying an airline ticket to visit all these places and you won’t have to deal with customs either.

-mike-