This is a crazy cartoon featuring Mickey Mouse, Donald Duck and his friends who face off against a team of celebrities in a polo match. It's nice seeing the celebrities represented in this cartoon - Laurel and Hardy, Harpo Marx and Charlie Chaplin. There are even familiar-looking faces in the audience stands as well including Shirley Temple, Clark Gable, the Three Little Pigs and the Hare from Tortoise and the Hare.Plenty of slapstick stuff, but the appearance of the many characters seem to be the only fun thing about this cartoon short. Other than that, the story just consists of lots of running and around and chaotic game-play. Not much entertainment here.Grade D+

CALLING ON HIS own personal experiences with the gentlemanly game of Polo, Mr. Disney no doubt had the inspiration for the premise for this Mickey picture. Polo, long the province of the wealthy, was an activity in which both the producers and stars participated-if only to prove that they can! THERE IS NO doubt that the subject matter of also hearkened to the older title MICKEY'S GALA PREMIER (1936); which was a well receiver and box office $ucce$$. It also was a veritable "Who's Who" of cartoon caricature; boasting of over 50 lampooning drawings.IN THE CHOICE of the rosters of actors vs. animation, comedy ruled. Therefore, the "Live Action" people was composed of Stan Laurel & Oliver Hardy, Charlie Chaplin and Harpo. Mickey joined forces with the Big Bad Wolf, the Goof (Goofy) and rising star, Donald Duck.IN AN EFFORT to extend the laughs, each player might have a mount, which both resembled its rider; as well as taking on some of the riders' peculiar idiosyncrasies. For example: Donald Duck rode a donkey, Laurel had a long faced & scruffy haired look-alike, Hardy's was a stout & fully-figured draft-horse and Harpo rode an Ostrich, complete with top hat and blonde fright wig.THE MATCH WAS capably refereed by rugged Western-action star, Jack Holt; being a perfect neutral and authority figure.IN SELECTING THE membership of the Gallery who viewed the proceedings, the bleachers were filled with caricatured versions of stars of the day, interspersed with a selection of 'veteran' characters from previous Disney offerings. For example, little Miss Shirley Temple is seated and cheering along with The Three Little Pigs.THE RESULTING GAGS were executed in perfect timing to coincide with the particular brand of humor that was specialty of that character. Once again, Chaplin & horse skipped and had a bit of business with the goal posts, Laurel & Hardy had a protracted routine in helping Ollie to remount his pony, Harpo & Ostrich both silently mimed their reactions to the moving scrum of mounted players' charging and reversing field.FINALLY, BY THIS time in 1936, Disney was doing his MICKEY shorts (and all others) in Technicolor; as he had been doing his SILLY SYMPHONIES for several years. The color work here is as fine as any and aids in amplifying both the action and the Fun.AND ISN'T THAT the bottom line?

Mickey Mouse and the gang go and play some polo.On Mickey's team there are Donald Duck (on a mule), Goofy and The Big Bad Wolf.They're playing against some well known comedians of that time.That team includes Charles Chaplin, Harpo Marx (on an ostrich), Stan Laurel and Oliver Hardy.The referee is Jack Holt.Also in the audience there are some big names such as Shirley Temple, Clark Gable, W.C. Fields, Eddie Cantor, Greta Garbo and Harold Lloyd.The Disney characters include Pluto, Clarabelle Cow and the Three Little Pigs.It's a lot of fun to watch The Big Bad Wolf huff and puff and blow.There are many other funny parts in this Disney short, like when Hardy is under his overweight horse and Laurel not being too helpful.Or when Donald loses his nerve (again).And it's fun to watch Chaplin with his cane and Harpo with the ostrich.In David Hand's Mickey's Polo Team from 1936 Walt Disney is the voice of Mickey Mouse and Clarence Nash is the voice of Donald Duck.This cartoon is a fine piece of history.

A Walt Disney MICKEY MOUSE Cartoon.MICKEY'S POLO TEAM (Mickey, the Goof, the Big Bad Wolf & Donald Duck) enter the field against some of Hollywood's funniest fellows - Stan Laurel, Oliver Hardy, Harpo Marx & Charlie Chaplin.This very enjoyable little film features excellent animation and lots of laughs. The Disney artists get to display their skill at caricature, with all of the movie stars being perfectly recognizable. Frenzied & flustered, Donald Duck (voiced by Clarence Nash) dominates the proceedings, leaving no doubt as to who was the top toon at the Disney Studio. It's humorous to watch the various Disney characters act with complete equality alongside their Hollywood counterparts - the unspoken, and very true, assertion being that their fame was as big as any flesh & blood inhabitant of Tinsel Town.Notice how all of the riders have a mount (not always a horse) which is a reflection of the player's personality - the Big Bad Wolf and his steed are both dastardly, Donald and his mule are both stubborn, Harpo's ostrich is as zany as his master. Babe Hardy's frustrations with his gigantic horse are very funny.The fun isn't confined to the field - there's plenty going on in the stands. Hollywood's biggest star, Shirley Temple, is there with her buddies the Three Little Pigs. Irritable W. C. Fields is seated with Greta Garbo, Harold Lloyd, Eddie Cantor & Charles Laughton - costumed, naturally, for his title role in THE PRIVATE LIFE OF HENRY VIII (1933). Meanwhile, Edna May Oliver is regretting her decision to sit alongside Max Hare, and, most hilariously of all, Clarabelle Cow is taking advantage of her close proximity to do a little sweet romancing with Clark Gable.Polo was very popular among the Movie Capital's male celebrities, including Walt Disney. It not only provided great exercise & excitement, but also a kind of elitism, as only the wealthy had both the leisure & the funds necessary to devote to the sport. Jack Holt, who serves as referee in the cartoon, was an avid real life polo player.It was originally planned to depict Will Rogers as part of the Hollywood team, but after his tragic death in Alaska on August 15, 1935, the Disney animators replaced him with Harpo.Walt Disney (1901-1966) was always intrigued by 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 will always pay off.