The Barnyard Battle (1929) *** 1/2 (out of 4) A war is about to break out so Mickey Mouse goes down to enlist. Once he gets approved he finds himself on the front lines going up against a large cat. THE BARNYARD BATTLE is one of the best of the early Mickey shorts as it contains some great animation, a wonderful score and plenty of funny action. The action mostly takes places on the battlefield where the animation really gets the shine because of all the stuff going on from mice running around to cannonballs flying. Another highlight happens towards the end when Mickey must get creative to knock off some of the bad guys (a trick used in an earlier Walt Disney film). If you're a fan of Mickey Mouse or animation from this era then THE BARNYARD BATTLE is certainly a classic and a must-see. The film runs a very quick seven minutes and there's really not a dry moment to be found.

This is an early Disney cartoon featuring Mickey Mouse. There will be spoilers ahead:There's a basic plot here of a battle between mice and cat armies, but it's just there as a framing device for visual gags. This is one of Ub Iwerks' best Mickey Mouse shorts. It's my opinion that Iwerks did a better job directing the Silly Symphonies than he did with Mickey Mouse cartoons, but he had his moments with Mickey as well.The visual moments here are many and Iwerks did some good to great animation here. The "physical" Mickey goes through when he goes through recruiting is priceless. The fact that the battle "flag" of the mouse army is a pair of bloomers is also a nice touch.There are interesting gags involving a cannon, Mickey firing a machine gun and the keys to a piano, but there are two somewhat longer bits which are the best parts of the short. Mickey has a standoff of sorts with Pete involving a pop gun and the slow burn by Pete coupled with Mickey mounting sense of discomfort and fear is beautifully done. Then there's the climax to the battle (to "The Anvil Chorus") is predictable but fun. Excellent cartoon.This short is available on the Mickey Mouse In Black and White, Volume Two Disney Treasures DVD set and is well worth tracking down. Recommended.

As a great fan of Disney, and someone who likes Mickey Mouse a lot(though I prefer Donald and Goofy as characters). The Barnyard Battle is one of the best of the early Mickey shorts. Some may be disconcerted by Mickey's lack of voice, but that doesn't harm The Barnyard Battle in any way(in fact I found it far preferable to the instances where Mickey did have a voice but sounded as though he was still trying to find it). The short is not much new in terms of story, apart from a violent subject being dealt with in a more politically correct but endearing and inevitable way, but it is what is done with the story that makes it so good. The gags are crisply timed and very fun, especially when Mickey manages to escape and claps a mouse trap on Pete's tail and the body distortion gags. But if anything The Barnyard Battle is more intriguing than it is funny, though it is the latter as well. The introduction of the cats is very well-done and to see Mickey for once not taking advantage of those around him by here having those around him taking advantage of him was interesting. But the highlight has always been Mickey in the old house with the machine gun and then Pete comes in and starts menacing him. The animation is what makes it so, while the backgrounds are smooth and all the characters well drawn(with the mice all looking like Mickey), it is Mickey's character animation that is the real revelation here, some of the best there is from any Mickey cartoon in my opinion actually. In this scene Mickey is understandably fearful and nervous, and the body language from the nervous smiling to the shuffling of feet perfectly reflects that. The music is as ever rousing and energetic, and Mickey and Pete are strong characters here. All in all, really good, one of the better early Mickey shorts. 9/10 Bethany Cox

In this short, Mickey Mouse plays a soldier whose farm is being attacked by an army of cats led by Pete (who else?). I believe that this short is supposed to take place during WWI, which ended 11 years before it came out. In fact this cartoon was at one time banned in Germany because the Germans thought that the helmets the cats wore were insulting to German national dignity. One thing that was interesting was that all the soldiers looked like Mickey. This usually happens in the Goofy shorts (where all the characters seem to look like Goofy).