Boring Mickey (was Re: DCML digest, Vol 1 #441 - 15 msgs)

[Lars Jensen]

Ola Martinsson wrote:

>I'm sorry but I must strongly disagree with you. The Paul Murry three
>part stories with Mickey and Goofy in far off countries and foiling the
>plans of Black Pete, Emil Eagle and others were the best stories in the
>Swedish Kalle Anka & c:o weekly when I was 6 to 12 years old, 1967 to
>1973 roughly.

You're right. Some of those three-part adventures *were* exciting. But when you look back on them, you often see that the only real *humor* comes from Goofy doing silly stuff. Mickey himself, as a personality, tended to be *boring* in those stories, something that would carry into other, shorter Mouse material. Whenever somebody tried to do a one-part non-exotic detective story, it often turned out unmemorable. And whenever somebody tried to do a "gag" story with the Mouse, it would crash and burn! Yes, I'm aware there's a nostalgic feeling in some quarters over these stories from simpler times - but then some people think the '50s - as an era, not just as a source of comic stories - were themselves really great!

As much as I enjoy several of the Paul Murry-drawn Mickey stories, overall they give a hollow, one-dimensional, middle class WASPish 1950s-like view of Mickey *himself* that might have been acceptable thirty years ago - but shouldn't be today! (And I don't blame Murry for this. He has been known to say that he didn't like Mickey's personality at that time, either.) Mickey comes off as boring and bland - a characterization that was carried into other producers' stories. Why do so many people tell me they *always* skip the Mickey stories? Because those stories were *boring* for years! I've heard that writers and editors used to *dread* having to write or edit yet another 5-page story where detective Mickey and his clumsy sidekick Goofy would solve the mystery of who stole some rich woman's pearls.

Fortunately, some years back Egmont decided to infuse Mickey with most of his original personality again. As a result the Mickey Mouse stories Egmont produces these days are some of the best ever made, at least in my mind.

>I must say
>that I think it's a shame that the sequels nowadays are so short and the
>plot is not at all as complicated as in the long old ones.

I agree. But it's a matter of space. There's only so much plot one can get into 16 pages.

Lars Jensen