Lonesome Ghosts (1937)

Wonderful Disney short starring Mickey Mouse, Goofy, and Donald Duck as ghost hunters (decades before the idea became so commonplace in popular culture). The trio are hired to rid a haunted house of its spirits. The funny thing is the spirits are the ones doing the hiring, because they're bored and want some people to scare. Terrific voice work from Clarence Nash, Pinto Colvig, Billy Bletcher, and Walt Disney himself. The animation is gorgeous with rich colors and well-drawn characters and backgrounds. The music is whimsical and quirky. It's a really fun cartoon from start to finish. Even if you aren't a big fan of these characters and their usual exploits, this one should please you. One of the all-time great Halloween cartoons. A real classic. Goofy's line "I ain't scared of no ghosts!" predates the famous similar line from Ray Parker's Ghostbusters song by almost half a century.

"Lonesome Ghosts" is an almost 80-year-old Walt Disney cartoon. It does not happen too often that Mickey, Donald and Goofy appear in the same film, but here they do and it's nice to see them together. Sadly, after the first scene at the office (and apart from the ending), they sort-of get their own very short film each of them within these 8 minutes. The three are called to a spooky place where a bunch of ghosts are truly board because they have nobody to fear. How luck for them that our Disney trio works as ghost hunters right now and here they come. They get owned by the ghosts pretty harshly, but wait for who has the last laugh. This film has Walt Disney, Clarence Nash, Pinto Colvig and Billy Bletcher as voice actors, some of the finest and most talented people back in the day which certainly elevates the material. It was smartly written and it's a very fast and creative short film. Unfortunately, however, I have to say that I found the action here just not as entertaining as most of their other movies (and why does Goofy not know how he looks like in the mirror scene???). That's why I don't recommend giving this a watch. It certainly could have been a lot funnier.

Alrighty, now this here is just one of those timelessly magical and special Disney shorts that generally everybody always loves, and with very good reason, it is brilliant! The gorgeously rich animation of it - just look at the incredible detail that's been poured into that snow-covered haunted house, it's beautiful! The tremendously fun chemistry between the three Disney legends is especially strong and helps to make this great and one of my favourites, second only to "Mickey and the Beanstalk." And last, but absolutely not the least is the bumbling quartet of adorable ghosts who really make this short, and who between them create a manic atmosphere that's spooky, but fun spooky as all they wanna do is have a good time! Their red Rudolph-like noses are so festive and cheerful! They can create a little tidal wave in my house any day! I love the impressive transparent effect of the phantom's animation as well as their strange echoing voices which I didn't have any problems understanding. They're certainly a lot more cuddly than the rattling ghouls from "The Skeleton Dance", which has got to be the ultimate Gothic cartoon. And although I thought Skeleton Dance was a great animation I also found it to be a little too grim and Somewhat disturbing. In my opinion it was too dark for its own good and didn't have any sense of fun and lightness to it, and I don't think some people liked that, but it was how I felt about it, and you've always got to be honest when you do these things, so... Sorry, went a bit off topic there! Anyway this beauty's a whole other story. This short manages to create some very interesting and distinctive sight gags in regard to the ghost's abilities to appear and disappear, and go straight through walls and such, I especially like the gag where they all march and play the tune of the Revolutionary War! The ghosts are not the brightest bunch, and the ending is pretty illogical considering what they are, but it sure makes for one hilarious and highly memorable scene! Such a fun classic little masterpiece, marvelous, absolutely marvelous.

A Walt Disney MICKEY MOUSE Cartoon.The Ajax Ghost Exterminators - Mickey, Donald & Goofy - arrive at an old haunted mansion to match their wits against a quartet of wily LONESOME GHOSTS.Here is one of the classic cartoons of its era - excellent animation, hilarious story & full of tremendous, frightful fun. Our trio of heroes work together beautifully as a team, yet each is given ample opportunity to shine solo. It is little films such as this which helped to solidify the Disney Studio's reputation. Walt Disney & Clarence Nash supply the voices for Mickey & Donald respectively.Walt Disney (1901-1966) was always intrigued by pictures & drawings. As a lad in Marceline, Missouri, he sketched farm animals on scraps of paper; later, as an ambulance driver in France during the First World War, he drew comic figures on the sides of his vehicle. Back in Kansas City, along with artist Ub Iwerks, Walt developed a primitive animation studio that provided animated commercials and tiny cartoons for the local movie theaters. Always the innovator, his ALICE IN CARTOONLAND series broke ground in placing a live figure in a cartoon universe. Business reversals sent Disney & Iwerks to Hollywood in 1923, where Walt's older brother Roy became his lifelong business manager & counselor. When a mildly successful series with Oswald The Lucky Rabbit was snatched away by the distributor, the character of Mickey Mouse sprung into Walt's imagination, ensuring Disney's immortality. The happy arrival of sound technology made Mickey's screen debut, STEAMBOAT WILLIE (1928), a tremendous audience success with its use of synchronized music. The SILLY SYMPHONIES soon appeared, and Walt's growing crew of marvelously talented animators were quickly conquering new territory with full color, illusions of depth and radical advancements in personality development, an arena in which Walt's genius was unbeatable. Mickey's feisty, naughty behavior had captured millions of fans, but he was soon to be joined by other animated companions: temperamental Donald Duck, intellectually-challenged Goofy and energetic Pluto. All this was in preparation for Walt's grandest dream - feature length animated films. Against a blizzard of doomsayers, Walt persevered and over the next decades delighted children of all ages with the adventures of Snow White, Pinocchio, Dumbo, Bambi & Peter Pan. Walt never forgot that his fortunes were all started by a mouse, or that childlike simplicity of message and lots of hard work always pay off.