2023 marks 100 years for the Walt Disney Company and to celebrate Disney+ is restoring several classic shorts made by the Walt Disney Animation Studios and adding them to the service. In July, six shorts originally released between 1929 and 1961 were added to the service. These shorts include a focus on Mickey Mouse, Goofy, Minnie Mouse, Figaro and the Silly Symphonies. It’s a way to honor the history and collective work of Disney which has brought joy to several generations.

THE SKELETON DANCE – 1929

The oldest short added to the service is “The Skeleton Dance.” This is a pretty simple short set in a graveyard. After hearing some cats frolicking, the skeletons come out of their graves and dance the night away. When they hear the rooster crow for morning, they go running back to their graves. It’s the right mixture of cute and spooky to be fun for kids around Halloween. They probably should’ve saved this one for October, but it was still fun. My son laughed almost uncontrollably the entire time the short was on our TV.

BUILDING A BUILDING – 1933

Surprisingly, the only one of these shorts to feature Mickey Mouse was my least favorite. Don’t get me wrong, I still enjoyed it, I just liked the others better. This still has the early Disney version of Mickey and Minnie and featured some gags that would never make it to air today. Alas, it was a different time in 1933. The gags were still genuinely funny, especially when Mickey is sawing boards while sitting on them. You know what’s coming, but I still couldn’t help but laugh. If this is the worst, then I like what they are giving us.

BATH DAY – 1946

The third short on the service shifts from Mickey to Minnie and her relationship with Figaro. Minnie gives Figaro a bath, but when he goes outside, the alley cats make fun of him. He gets into a fight, and it looks like one of the cats is going to hurt him. That is until his shaking causes a bunch of garbage cans to crash down on the alley cat. The other cats think Figaro won the fight and leave him alone. It’s cute, especially when Figaro ends up smelling bad and needing another bath.

FIGARO AND FRANKIE – 1947

This one was a bit odd for me. The relationship between Figaro and Frankie closely resembles the relationship between Sylvester and Tweety from Looney Tunes. I don’t know which came first, but Sylvester and Tweety did it better. Still, it was a good, fun short, that I enjoyed more than “Building a Building.”

GOOFY GYMNASTICS – 1949

Now to may two favorite shorts dropped in this batch. I love Goofy. While I’m not too fond of the way he’s animated in the modern shorts, I still love Goofy’s actions. This one stood out hilariously as Goofy is trying to get in the same shape as this muscle-bound cut out and is following along with an exercise routine on a record. I thought this was going to be my favorite of the bunch, but one more beat it.

AQUAMANIA – 1961

The most recent short of the batch added in July was my favorite. It follows Goofy as Mr. X, an aquamaniac, meaning he’s someone who loves being on the water. I come from a family of aquamaniacs, from fishing to kayaking to swimming, my family loves the water, so I can relate to this short. Plus, I loved seeing Goofy accidentally enter a water-skiing competition and blowing the competition away without realizing it.

Those were six really fun shorts that I’m glad to see added to the service. Disney+ has also added a Disney 100 collection so feel free to check it out. What was your favorite of these classic Disney shorts?

Jeremy Brown

Jeremy has been a big Disney fan since he was a kid growing up during the Disney Renaissance. One day he hopes to go to every Disney Park in the world.

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