As I grew up, my lone exposure to classical music came from the animation world. That, and "The Lone Ranger." The producers of various cartoons would frequently have actual concerts with animals or other characters actually conducting an orchestra of like characters. In many cases, it was simply used as background music. In this one, Mickey Mouse, who frequently showed his musical prowess, comes out on stage with a violin. Of course, he's not totally in control of his instrument. Nevertheless, other than the music, the episode is a bit lacking in plot development.

There is just a lot of fiddling around in the cartoon, with Mickey Mouse playing a host of classics on his violin. There are a few times in the beginning where I chuckled due, including the part where Mickey attempts to tune his violin, but resulting in screeching sounds. Not much of a story here, but definitely there's music to your ears. Grade C+

This is an early Disney cartoon featuring Mickey Mouse. There will be spoilers ahead:There's an alternate title to this one, Just Mickey. Combining the two titles describes this thoroughly-Just Mickey Fiddling Around. Because that's exactly what the cartoon is about. Mickey plays classical music (three familiar pieces) in roughly seven minutes. Visually, it's a nice short and the violin is played beautifully.But there's little in here of a humorous nature. A string breaks, there's a running gag with a laughing heckler with no payoff at the end and Mickey saws his violin in half. They even showed a shadow by spotlight during Traumerai with absolutely no gags. It's a reasonably entertaining short, particularly if you like classical music, but it's an atypical Mickey Mouse short.This short is available on the Mickey Mouse In Black and White, Volume Two Disney Treasures DVD set and the set is worth looking for. The short is heartily recommended to classical music fans.

Wow, this is the most plot less of any of the cartoons I've seen in the Disney Treasures DVD "Mickey in Black & White, volume 2". The entire film consists of Mickey standing on stage playing the violin! That's it! As a result, it's hard to like this one--even if it is one of the few early Mickey cartoons where you also get to hear him speak. In this case, while the cartoon is only about 7 minutes long, it seems three times longer due to the total lack of anything interesting--unless your idea of thrills is seeing Mickey wildly playing the violin. Decent animation cannot make up for the fact that this one is a big letdown. Dull and unappealing--and this from a man who loves Mickey!