Shorts review: Mickey Mouse – Down The Hatch

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Spoilers Below

Last night’s all-new Mickey Mouse features a cameo from one of my favorite classic Disney characters, who doesn’t make nearly as many appearances as he should. I’m talking about Doctor Ludwig Von Drake, the scientific duck.

Mickey, Goofy, and Donald head over to the Hall of Science. Von Drake takes them, and some other random background characters, on a tour of the greatest inventions in history. The first thing they come upon is a shrink ray. Mickey and Goofy think it is incredibly interesting, while Donald could not care less. When Donald pours himself a cup of water from a nearby water cooler, he accidentally backs into the start button and shrinks his buddies down to a minuscule size. As the ray takes its effect, Mickey and Goofy get tossed into Donald’s cup of water.

Inevitably, the duck drinks his friends.

Hijinks ensue as Mickey and Goofy travel through Donald’s body. They play with the duck’s vocal chords, tickle his funny bone, bounce around his lungs for a bit, and get stuck in the “cranial cavity” before Donald figures out what is going on. Of course, that is when Donald goes into a fit of rage. Mickey and Goofy end up in Donald’s stomach. Once they escape Donald’s attempt to kill them by eating everything he can, the duo starts to regrow.

Donald lays a huge egg, which cracks open to reveal his friends. Von Drake finds this very interesting and wants to study Donald closer. Donald freaks out, grabs his extra skin (from laying such a huge egg), and runs away.

I loved this episode. Not only does it star the awesome Ludwig Von Drake, it also contains a reference to the 1987 movie Innerspace, which also shares some plot points. Generally, the “shrink down and go into a friend’s body” trope is tired and overused. Here, the writers managed to use that cliché without making it boring.

Since the episodes have been getting better as this season goes on, I have high hopes for the next episode. Unfortunately, it won’t air until July 11. Thanks a lot, Independence Day.