Rating: 
Summary: M-I-C-K-E-Y M-O-U-S-E!
Review: I love this collection. I got this DVD set for Christmas and I enjoyed it. The Bonus Features include very rare material. And I know two rare materials you can get. They are both on disc 1. Insert Disc 1, from the main menu go to the Bonus Materials. Highlight the entry "register your DVD" and then press the "up" arrow key on your remote control. This will highlight Mickey's hat. Press Enter. You will get to see a brief introduction with Lenoard Maltin about the original Mickey Mouse Clubs' being held in theaters. Then you will get a cartoon that was shown during these Mickey Mouse Club events. After that you will get a news reel about Mickey Mouse.
Rating:
Summary: Mickey Mouse, before he turned in a corporate logo
Review: This collection, without a doubt, is aimed to adults, why?1.- The kids is going to find those early cartoons boring (no plot, a lot of music, no computer effects, etc)
2.- Mickey Mouse can be sometimes, naughty. Yeah! this MM is closer to Felix the cat, than the modern Mickey Mouse, specially in the "Steamboat Willie" short (by the way, in this collection, this short is intact, with all the animal abuse); in those early cartoon, you find a surrealistic, sexist, animal abuser Mickey Mouse. If you're a fan of the animation golden era, this is a worth buying. In the specifications of this collection, the video is good (for shorts that are 70 years old), the sound is good also (but don't expect surrond 5.1)... there aren't spanish (or other languages) subtitles, but almost are useless, mostly of these shorts have no dialog (they have a lot of music and effects... but they are almost speechless). In the goodies zone, there are an interesting featurette with two Disney animators from that era, storyboard from many shorts (including Steamboat Willie), pencil tests, and other goodies. Besides, there are some flaws: the abscent PLAY ALL function, the abscence of the short where Donald Duck made his debut (and other B/W shorts), and that Leonard Maltin mistakes when he says that Felix the Cat was created by Pat Sullivan (when is widely known that Pat stolled him from his employee, Otto Messmer). A great collection.... not greater than Complete Goofy, but it worth the price
Rating: 
Summary: What Mickey Mouse outfit removed the "PLAY ALL" feature?
Review: The cartoons are great, the DVD's lack of "PLAY ALL" menu item makes viewing these cartoons annoying. The person that made the decision to leave out this menu option should get the "What were you thinking award!"
Rating: 
Summary: Keep Pushing Buttons!
Review: I couldnt agree more, that this is a significant addition to everyones cartoon library. I dont have the presence of mind to argue the pc of cartoons created before pc existed. I can tell you though, that the play value, ( not the replay value ) is significantly reduced by the lack of an play all option. Why instead of enjoying this collection, am I forced to continualy KEEP PUSHING BUTTONS?! Mickey in Living color, and Silly Symphonies, both have this basic feature. What has changed? Disney Wake Up!!! If I want to push buttons, I'll play video games. The only reason this collection does not get five stars, is the lack of a play all feature. Why take a beautiful collection like this, and make you KEEP PUSHING BUTTONS!
For the end of this review,
Push the Button.
Rating:
Summary: Hidden bonus - If you like finding them, read no further.
Review: I'm not going to elaborate on the 2 disc set. As far as I'm concerned, it's a five star set that apoligizes for not being PC.
On disc one, there is a hidden bonus.
STOP HERE IF YOU WANT TO FIND IT YOURSELF.
The hidden bonus is Malton's explanation of the 1920's - 1930's Mickey Mouse club, the (extremely rare) "Minnie's YooHoo" cartoon that usually began the Mickey Mouse club meetings, And a news reel on a 2 day festival.
The 2 ways that you can obtain the hidden bonus:
1. First go to the bonus material menu. Then right arrow down till you highlight "Register your dvd". Then press the up arrow.
At this point, Mickey's cowboy hat should have turned blue. Press play, and it will start. (Malton intro is chapter 1, Minnie's YooHoo is chapter 2, 2 day festival is chapter 3).
2. After going to the bonus menu, press 6 on your remote.
Incidently, to bypass the nonPC apology from Malton that occurs several times, press the forward to next chapter arrow on your remote (ie: those cartoons that contain the Malton speech are broken up into 2 chapters - the speech (ch. 1), and the cartoon (ch. 2)).
Enjoy.
Rating:
Summary: felix the cat-clon, mickey mouse
Review: I really think a lot about buying this collection, but when i readed that this collection was uncut, like the goofy collection, i gave it a chance, and i love it. Maybe those shorts are less funny than the WB or Goofy cartoons, but is a pleasure look MM doing things, that he would never do when he was turned into a corporate logo; this Mickey Mouse look closer than Felix the Cat from the early years, than the following MM (in color). This collection is a must-be for al those animation fans out there (the only lack is the absence of the Play All function, and the abscence of other languages besides the english) Ah! by the way, the "Leonard Maltin commentary" has a terrible flaw; he says that Felix the Cat was created by Pat Sullivan, and today, everybody knows that Pat stoled it from Otto Messmer and was credited as the author, until recent years that this secret was unveiled.
Rating:
Summary: Could have been better
Review: This is a wonderful collection of delightful cartoons. Only some of them have been available on VHS (or VCD) in recent years, sometimes in "colorized" versions. It's an eye-opener to see the original black-and-white animation, which is technically more primitive, but not inferior in energy or artistry, to the color animation that soon displaced it. I have three reservations. First, the collection is not complete. Given that this is a canon that will not be expanded and is not often reissued, it could and should have included all the MM b&w cartoons from 1928 to 1935. Second, like the player queen in Hamlet, Leonard Maltin "doth protest too much," that is, apologizes too much (at some half-dozen points on the disks)for aspects of the cartoons that would not make it past the censor today. Are we so Puritanical in 2002 that we need a sociological explanation of Mickey pulling a cat's tail, or smoking a cigarette? These are cartoons, for Pete's sake. Even the arguably more offensive matters, such as (mild) racial stereotypes, are over-explained by Maltin. Perhaps this was necessary to get the cartoons past today's guardians of political correctness, but I hope not. Finally, and most important, the cartoons show the destructive effect of time on negatives and prints, with little evidence of clean-up. One hoped for more effort at digital restoration, a la the Snow White DVD. But these are tough times at Disney, and perhaps budgets are restricted.
Rating:
Summary: What I always wanted, but the menu is goofed
Review: I have waited and hoped for years that these old B&W cartoons would be released on DVD. My friends all call me crazy because teh first thing I played on my state of the art DVD player and HD TV projection home theater system was "Skeleton Dance".
I love these cartoons, and enjoy Maltin's setting up of the context of these gems.
But one of my favorite ways to play the other colleciotns Mickey Mouse and the Silly Simphonies) is to let them play continuously in hte background at parties. This DVD does not allow that. It REALLY irks me! I'm hoping that it is just an oversight and will be corrected in a revision. I'd be happy to buy it over again to get that feature.
Rating:
Summary: The "other" Mickey
Review: Having grown up with the impression that Micky Mouse was no more than a wholesome, no nonsense gentlemouse (who, honestly, bored most of the kids of my generation), I was truly shocked when I first put in these DVDs. Mickey once burgeoned with personality and naughtiness. "Steamboat Willie" has Mickey turning animals into musical instruments by beating on them, squishing them, stepping on them, throwing them by their tails, etc. If that wasn't enough "Plane Crazy" has Mickey torturing poor Minnie in a small airplane: when she refuses to kiss him, he rolls the plane, dives and barnstorms. When the plane is again level, Minnie is trembling with fear. Mickey just smiles and asks once again for a kiss. This clearly isn't the Mickey Mouse I know, and I was beginning to suspect why these black and white cartoons were so hard to find. Years ago, there was an edition put out on laser disc (remember those?!?!) but that's the only other definitive collection I've ever seen until now. Perhaps Disney didn't want to soil Mickey's reputation, as Leonard Maltin says in one of the DVDs commentaries. If you can swallow a little cruelty and early twentieth century sterotypes (there are numerous "Mammy" references as well, and Native Americans are treated rather badly in one toon where they're depicted as scalping, hooting bloodthirsty wolves) these cartoons are a blast. I didn't expect to laugh so much, particularly at the early toons by Ub Iwerks(one of the greatest names of all time). They have a style and personality that the late Mickey lacks to this day. The DVD set also shows Mickey becoming more and more "proper" as the years go on. By disk two the hilarity starts to calm, and I found myself laughing less and less until disk two's finale: "Mickey's Service Station" which has Mickey, Donald and Goofy in their familar roles. It's a good way to end the disk. The supplementary material is also helpful, but Leonard Maltin's commentary could have been compacted into one presentation rather than spread throughout the DVDs. I became annoyed with seeing Maltin every third or fourth time I pressed "Play" when I expected to see a cartoon. His commentary and interviews do give good background information, but I would rather not have them shoved in my face. In short, a great collection that explains Mickey Mouse's popularity for those of us unfamiliar with his early wild days, and a host of culturally significant debuts: Mickey, Minnie, Goofy, Donald, Pluto. Buy it and get to know all sides of the mouse that once roared very loudly and naughtily.
Rating: 
Summary: No continuous Play?
Review: I can't take exception to the reviews of these shorts form the standpoint historical significance, although I'm not sure how 90 out of 91 people agreed with a review posted over 2 months before the DVD was released...What DOES irk me though is the inability to play the discs non-stop. Someone at Disney decided we would be better served to return to the menu after each cartoon. Can't speak for others, and I hope this is important information to some of you, but I consider this to significantly lower the "replay factor".
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