suchenwi This is the first time I comment on a film I haven't seen.Not that I didn't want to. I bought the Disney Treasures/Mickey in Color 2 DVD set, official edition (not some bootleg) here in Germany. I watched Leonard Maltin announce it in his intro, including a second of snippet.. I watched all 5 hours of the DVDs, bonuses and all.. tried all the menus for hidden Easter eggs.. no luck.As I've met possible censorship on another Treasures DVD just some days ago (Der Fuehrer's Face was missing from Chronological Donald 2 - possibly because displaying swastikas is illegal in today's Germany), I suspect a somewhat similar reason here.. not law, but viewer clearance. The whole Disney cartoons are cleared for age 0 and up. Now if a DVD contains just one item with a higher limit (6/12/16/18), it must display that clearance for the whole bundle.. I suspect that marketing considerations led the German distributor to self-censor and remove Runaway Brain, even though announced by Maltin. I'm really frustrated.Update, July 11, 2011: Now I've watched the film, on YouTube. A nice combination of modern-day dynamics in cartoons with many 1930s themes: the ancient looks of Mickey and Minnie, the King-Kong, mad scientist, brain transplantation themes and so on... very likable! I was surprised that it was produced in France, but hey, that's globalisation...So I'm softening my above point on censorship, too. It certainly exists, but given the Net, there just as certainly are ways around it. By the way: some weeks ago, I also located The Fuehrer's Face on archive.org.

mystresszoycite For all intents and purposes, the brilliant Mickey Mouse cartoons of the 20's and 30's are a tough act to follow. The filmmakers of the 40's and 50's couldn't do it, and even though "Mickey's Christmas Carol" and the "Prince and the Pauper" met with some success, they didn't entirely recapture the magic of those earliest shorts. So, in 1995, they decided to try again.Did they succeed? Not entirely. Times have changed, and they don't make cartoons quite like they used to. Perhaps the creators realized this and decided to go the darker route that most kids cartoons were taking at the time. The result was a rather twisted spin on the Mickey Mouse mythos in which their beloved star ended up as a monster. Not one of their wiser moves (Disney all but neglected the short afterward), but certainly one of their most entertaining--at least in this humble viewer's opinion.It stands to say that the pace does seem to go alarmingly fast upon first viewing the short, a factor that can be exceptionally jarring and is easily "Runaway Brain"'s biggest flaw. A repeat viewing is essential to getting acquainted with the pace. But after that hurdle is bypassed, a delightful romp through horror movie conventions follows as poor protagonist Mickey Mouse almost loses his girl, gets his brain switched with a monster, then has to fight the real one once the switch is reversed. The Mouse is in fine form here, spouting plenty of humorous lines, showing quite a range of hilarious facial expressions, and, ultimately, using both his care for Minnie and his cunning to win out in the end. The coloring perfectly sets a dark atmosphere and the animation was flawless as far as I could see. With the exception of the death of Dr. Frankenollie and the design of Mickey Mouse possessed by Julius, the cartoon was far more comedic than morbid, and can be enjoyed by almost all save for really small children. The short ends perfectly happily, which should satisfy more discerning critics (not to say it does, though).All in all, a fantastic short ruined by comparisons to older shorts (that are too different to be compared anyway), jumpy pacing, and those who are so narrow-minded as to believe that Mickey should never be portrayed as anything other than sweetness and light.

dominoz56 I agree with the above review that it is not only in poor taste for Disney. But I too was frightened by the harsh imagery and evil mickey, Disney can do much, much better. I understand why it was pulled from circulation for a number of years.I agree with the above review that it is not only in poor taste for Disney. But I too was frightened by the harsh imagery and evil mickey, Disney can do much, much better. I understand why it was pulled from circulation for a number of years.But I too was frightened by the harsh imagery and evil mickey, Disney can do much, much better. I understand why it was pulled from circulation for a number of years.

San Franciscan When I actually had the chance to see this bizarre cartoon, I had one immediate reaction:WHOA.It's difficult to describe my reaction to this one apart from that one word. It's usually easy to comment on things I've seen, especially since I have a rep for stating my most precise, honest feelings on any subject you'd care to hand me and making myself perfectly clear. But this is one of the rare things I've ever seen which has put me at a complete loss for words.The cartoon is easily the weirdest Mickey Mouse cartoon ever made, and it made me feel strange for the longest time after seeing it with my reaction of, "What on earth was THAT?!!"There's one thing about it which I *can* state, however; my peers in the animation industry and I have loved making jokes about this short featuring the "real" Walt Disney Mickey Mouse being turned into the Michael Eisner Mickey Mouse!