In association with

Mickey's House Of Villains [2002]
from Walt Disney Home Video
starring Wayne Allwine, Russi Taylor, Tony Anselmo, Bill Farmer, Tress MacNeille
directed by Jamie Mitchell, Rick Schneider

Features:

• Animated
• PAL

Editorial Review:

Mickey's House of Mouse Villains seeks to do for Halloween what Mickey's Magical Christmas: Snowed In at the House of Mouse (2001) did for Yuletide. It's an anthology set on Halloween in the titular house, a nightclub where characters--including Donald Duck, Goofy, Jafar, Cruella de Vil, and Captain Hook--gather to watch Disney cartoons.

There's a perfunctory framing plot with the villains taking over the House, but the 65 minutes is almost entirely filled by eight short cartoons. Five are very recent, with clinically clean computer animation, and three are vintage gems glowing with the warm detailed look of Golden Age Disney. These are Trick or Treat (1952), Donald Duck and the Gorilla (1944), and Lonesome Ghosts (1937), in which Mickey, Donald and Goofy star in what was surely the inspiration for Ghostbusters. The best of the new adventures is Mickey's Mechanical House, in which the mouse moves into a futuristic house which goes disastrously wrong. It's made all the more entertaining by a poetic rhyming narration delivered by John Cleese. Young children will love it all, while older fans may prefer a compilation of vintage Disney shorts.

On the DVD: Mickey's House of Mouse Villains DVD contains a well-designed animated quiz game, "Wheel of Misfortune", that should entertain young fans for a while. Otherwise, the extras consist of three trailers and a "Fright Reel": a three-minute compilation of Disney clips with two Dolby Digital 5.1 soundtracks. The choice amounts to the same sound effects with or without music. The sound is good, except for the three vintage animations, which are in mono. The picture is 4:3 and is generally very sharp, though varies a little with the source material. --Gary S Dalkin

Customer Reviews:

• Avg. Customer Rating: 4.0 / 5.0

• The plot is thin but we're here for the cartoons
  As other reviwers have said the plot is thin on the ground but I brought this for the cartoons which really is the point. How do they shape up? Trick or Treat is delightful. The John Cleese narrated epic is sesatinal and many of the peices animated just to music such as Dance of the Goofies look and sound fantastic.
  But some of the shorts - especially Lonesome Ghosts - were, in our minds, a little disturbing. This was more down to the animation style and high violance than the storyline but this... more info

• The Kids love this
  The title says it all - my boys 9 and 4 watched this through twice then asked for the next day - I am going to buy it now

• The House of Villains
  The premise? Disney's baddest teaming up. It's a great idea. Many fans of the felons should have loved it. The problem? Too many shorts, not enough story (Oh, and the shoddy animation and poor music). It's called the 'House of Villains', but even the shorts concentrate entirely on Mickey, Minnie, Goofy, Donald and his boys.

  Where Disney did succeed was in giving almost every villain in their files a chance to shine - from Cruella deVille flirting with Captain Hook, to Shenzi, Banzai and Ed drinking... more info

• Hard to decide?
  The best meets the baddest when Mickey comes face-to-face with all of Disney's greatest villains. Packed with non-stop mischief and mayhem, and featuring an array of classic animated gems, Mickey's House Of Villains will have the whole family in stitches. I truly didn't think that this would be good but I rented it and after was proved wrong.

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