The Gallopin' Gaucho (1928)

Mickey is a gaucho--an Argentinian cowboy. He rides an ostrich for some reason. He goes to a cantina where Minnie is a dancer. They hook up, but it isn't long before she is kidnapped by Pete, the giant cat. There are all sorts of interesting implausibles, mostly involving mouse tails. Anyway, it's a decent little film. Mickey starts to gain a little personality.

Boy finds girl, boy loses girl to big early-era Pete, boy runs after Pete who has girl on his back, boy has to fight Pete in a house using a sword and (mostly) his wits. Here we have such an early Mickey Mouse cartoon - actually the second one, made just before Steamboat Willie (sound was added in later on, and like Plane Crazy it's hard to think how it ever worked without it, though in theory it can) - that we see Mickey smoking in his entrance to Minnie Mouse. Smoking! Such things probably would get censored in current-era Disney, but in 1928, it was all about getting a gag or a goof.Here we have the kind of early cartoons that have characters dancing and their necks bend together and twist around in a tango, and when a character rides an ostrich it has the bounciness and buoyancy of just... I don't know what! The gags here are tremendous and the pace is relentless for its 6 minutes; even when the day is saved (hey, is this a spoiler, c'mon), you don't know if something else could happen between Mickey and Minnie. The joy in seeing these characters make their tails into coiled springs so they can reach up to one another and kiss at the end is why Disney made a name for himself. While today the studio would be a little too wholesome, arguably, with this character, back then Mickey was a tough cookie.

After watching Mickey Mouse make his debut,I was very pleased to stumble upon Mickey's second movie,which led to me getting ready to see the Gaucho gallop.The plot:Visiting Mexico,Mickey decides to stop for a drink at a Cantina. Entering the Cantina,Mickey catches a glimpse of Minnie.Both being taken by the others appearance,Mickey and Minnie start to dance and party in the Cantina.Just as they start to get into the groove of things,Minnie suddenly gets kidnapped.View on the film:Cutting down on the visual comedy,director/animator Ub Iwerks focusing on the changing emotions running across the faces,which leads to a tango between Mickey & Minnie being rather stylish.Whilst he does tone down on the slap-stick,Iwerks strikes Mickey with a surprisingly tough bite,as Mickey drinks and smokes his way around the Cantina.

The Gallopin' Gaucho (1928) *** (out of 4)Mickey Mouse is visiting Mexico and walks into a Cantina where he sees Minnie Mouse dancing up a storm. Naturally he jumps in and two begin to have a swell time but then a large cat jumps in and steals her. THE GALLOPIN' GAUCHO was the second of three Mickey cartoons that were made in 1928 and there's no question that, drawing wise, Mickey went through some changes since the first one. With that said, out of the three films this here is clearly the weakest but it's certainly still worth watching and especially if you're not too familiar with these early films. There's certainly good animation throughout but there's really no giant laughs to be had.