Horst in Translation (filmreviews@web.de)
I have to say that even if this 6-minute animated movie from 2 years ago was fun to watch, it feels a bit like style over substance. I remember there was huge buzz about a new Mickey Mouse cartoon being made and it was shown in theaters before "Frozen" I believe, but all in all I would not say that the hype was justified. It starts off like these very very old Mickey Mouse cartoons that I was never the greatest fan of. My favorites where the ones that already had color and preferably also had Goofy or Donald in them. But obviously, they wanted to bring in the contrast between new and old, so they had to go the black-and-white path. I don't really blame them. The way in which both world collide repeatedly because of a hole in the screen was done very nicely. And the ending is pretty good as well when everything turns into color. However, most of the action in this short film was not as memorable as the scenes I just mentioned. I think I am fine with this getting an Academy Award nomination and not winning. Seems pretty much on-spot although I remember that it was the front runner. After all, it won the Annie, still in the absence of "Mr. Hublot". I have not seen the actual winner yet, but I will soon and then lets see if I deem that one superior. In any case, I am not too big on the title here either. Seems a bit random to me and I think they could have done better in that area. With "they", I mean mostly director and writer Lauren MacMullan. I am fairly certain she will direct a full feature animated movie at some point and let's be fair: She did a pretty decent job here and I suggest you to get a copy of "Get a Horse!"
bob the moo
I am very much in support of short films getting into cinemas, even if it mostly occurs either as part of festivals, or as large studio projects which accompany a main feature film; so it is cheering how many people would have seen this short film ahead of the film Frozen – albeit as they would have seen it as a free cartoon rather than having their eyes opened to the world of short film as a form. Anyway, this short opens in the frame size and animation style of the 1930's cartoons, with a simple scene of Mickey and Minnie Mouse heading out on their wagon, only for the "wave of the future" to come up behind them in the form of Peg-Leg Pete in his motor car, and start to make trouble.Watching this short without any knowledge of what it does is quite a lovely experience, because just as you start to accept the rather small square image in the middle of this larger screen, suddenly the 4th wall gets broken and we have action occurring within the theatre itself as well as back inside the 1930's cartoon. It is cleverly done so that the animation transitions between modern CGI style, and black & white drawings, as the characters move between the sides of the screen. I also enjoyed the way the screen itself moved and was affected by the action – I really am not interested in watching films in 3D, but it would have been fun to see what this played like if you were not expecting it.The action itself is a good lot of slapstick and, while I wasn't roaring with laughter throughout, I found it consistently amusing and fun, which is all I was really looking for. Perhaps understandably it won the Best Animated Short and, as much as I prefer that the big players do not dominate these smaller categories, I don't begrudge Get a Horse! because it is cleverly done, and delivered with a lot of energy and cheer.
tavm
When me and my movie theatre-working friend went to watch Frozen at the place he works at, this cartoon short was attached to it. Begun in the old school black-and-white drawn phase with the original screen dimensions, when Mickey is thrown off the screen, he becomes a 3-D computer-generated color character filling the rest of the current outlines of the frame. And with that, the real fun begins as many tricks suddenly become possible with various ways of turning the screen-or frames-whichever way one wants it to go! I also was surprised that Walt Disney himself was credited with the voice of his famous mouse before finding out here that the studio not only used vintage tracks of his from previous cartoons but also those of Marcellite Garner for Minnie and Billy Bletcher for Peg-Leg Pete. I found most of the thing quite creatively funny so on that note, I highly recommend Get a Horse!
Tad Pole
. . . currently coupled with FROZEN, "GET A HORSE" is a winner in its own right. With its ever-quicker transitions from black & white old-style Stick Figurish type 'Toons to a full-color cartoon environment of more full-figured characters, this 5-minute, 56-second exercise in sophisticated animation not only keeps the viewer entranced, but also guessing what might happen next. Though the bullies in attendance may find Minnie's torture of Peg-Leg Pete beyond the pale, people of this ilk are the single American subgroup that currently is lucky to have even ONE leg left to stand on. Now that Disney has purchased the Marvel Comics movie money-making machine, it is no surprise to find an instance of cross-marketing here, as one of these retro characters is wearing a CAPTAIN AMER!CA T-shirt. However, product placement aside, this short tops messages to turn off your cell phone and ads to buy $40 worth of pop, candy, and popcorn at the concession stand any day of the week.
AD
