Customer Reviews

Mickey's House of Villains

5 star:		(17)
4 star:		(11)
3 star:		(4)
2 star:		(8)
1 star:		(6)

 

 

It's Halloween Night, and the House of Mouse is hoppin', as usual. There do seem to be more villains in the audience than normal, however, but the show goes on as always! Dressed in his vampirey best, Mickey emcees a collection of frightfully funny, Halloween-themed Disney shorts to the dining Disney clientele. Little does he know that the Disney villains, led by the nefarious Jafar, are plotting to take over the "House of Mouse" before the evening is over! Will Mickey be able to dig up enough Disney magic to stop them?

"Mickey's House of Villains" is a Halloween extravaganza in the spirit of Disney's classic holiday short-subject compilations such as the much revered "A Disney Halloween Treat." Featuring a collection of classic and all new Disney short cartoons that make up the bulk of this direct-to-video program inspired by the "House of Mouse" animated television series, "Mickey's House of Villains" is a must have for the Disney and Halloween fanatic. Now, many have complained that the packaging and title are misleading, but not so for those familiar with the "House of Mouse" animated series format. The popular Disney animated series has always been a show that brings all of Disney's beloved characters together under the same roof, that of Mickey's "House of Mouse" nightclub, for fine dining and entertainment in the form of Disney animated shorts. This is the second direct-to-video "feature" based on the series (the first one being "Mickey's Magical Christmas: Snowed In at the House of Mouse"), and one of many Disney direct-to-videos to raise complaints about false advertising as an "all new" feature. So, I say again, this is a compilation of Disney short cartoons with a Halloween theme. Yes, there's all new footage, and yes, that footage has a "Disney Villains vs. Mickey" plot, but it only takes place AROUND the shorts and at the end. There IS a catchy, all new song performed by the villains as they take over the club (about two cartoons away from the big finale), and there is also the Mickey/Villains face off in the end, though it is just a quick, humorous battle. The wraparound animation is nicely done and fun to watch. Offhand, I can't think of anything that was inappropriate in this program, and I'm a hardcore Disney fanatic. I mean, you should know going in that you're buying a Halloween themed DVD. Anyway, this is a fantastic compilation for Halloween and does a good job filling in for the lack of a "Disney Halloween Treat" DVD release. There are no clips from animated features here, but you do get 8 fantastic, high-quality Disney animated shorts, both classic and new! And, yes, though the new shorts were made for the slightly pre-House of Mouse television series, "Mickey MouseWorks," they ARE high quality and very entertaining. In fact, one of the best cartoons in the collection is such a short, Goofy's "How to Haunt a House." Here is a run through of the shorts offered within the "House of Mouse" themed program:

"Trick or Treat" (CLASSIC): In this, one of my favorite classic cartoons, Donald Duck is serving out tricks instead of treats when his nephews come by on Halloween night, and Witch Hazel offers to help everyone get their just desserts. A Halloween MUST WATCH.
"Mickey's Mechanical House" (NEW): In this all new short, narrated storybook style by a rhyming John Cleese, Mickey decides to purchase a new house and goes for a very futuristic model. Things go a little haywire though, once he damages his robot servant.
"How to Haunt a House" (NEW): In one of the most entertaining shorts on the disc, Goofy is immediately dispatched in order to illustrate "How to Haunt a House" in the tradition of some of Goofy's most hilarious classic shorts. He runs into a little trouble by choosing skeptical Donald as his victim though.
"Lonesome Ghosts" (CLASSIC): In this Halloween tradition for the Disney fan, Mickey, Donald, and Goofy prove to be the original ghostbusters, as they take on a gang of bored spirits in a creaky old house in the snow.
"Dance of the Goofys" (NEW): With the dialogue and lyric free style of "Fantasia" and "Fantasia 2000," this is a short set to music in which Goofy portrays a fairy in a line-up of identical fairies that close-up flowers for the night. When their king is captured by an insect tormenting child, it's up to the goofiest of the Goofy fairies to save him!
"Donald Duck and the Gorilla" (CLASSIC): Another one Disney fans should be quite familiar with around the Halloween season, this short features Ajax the gorilla who has escaped and is on the loose. Donald and the nephews hear the radio warning, and the kids are scared to death. Donald takes the opportunity to play some pranks on the boys. Little does he know that the ducks aren't the only ones running wild in the house that night...
"Donald's Halloween Scare" (NEW): This new short is a real treat, as it more specifically features Halloween (like "Trick or Treat" did) and gives us more of Donald's incessant pranking on Huey, Louie, and Dewey! The joke is on him though, when he is mistaken for a slasher-movie style loonatic on the loose!
"Hansel and Gretel" (NEW): Our final short is another "Fantasia" style toon set to music. It's a charming rendition of Hansel and Gretel starring no less than Mickey and Minnie Mouse in the title roles!

The DVD extras aren't anything to howl about. There is a villain themed trivia game, a clip video that can be watched with or without music, and some pictures of Disney Villains in the menu that lead to more movie clips. Better than all that is the inclusion of a "Lilo and Stitch" trailer featuring original animation of Ariel the Little Mermaid. However, with all these wonderful shorts and the highly entertaining wraparound material, it's beyond me why anyone wouldn't be thrilled to own this Disney DVD! While I can understand folks being upset when they were expecting an animated feature about Mickey going up against all the Disney Villains, all I can say is, stop blind-buying DVDs if you are prone to being displeased. Always check the facts with direct-to-video! For what it is, the Halloween-themed "Mickey's House of Villains" DVD deserves the full five stars, not to mention annual viewings at the very least!

Buy this, either VHS or DVD, but buy it! The theme is Halloween, and the setting is Mickey's House of Mouse, with excellent new animated shorts, very funny and beautifully rendered, and the old classic shorts, with Huey, Dewey and Louey getting back at "Unca Donald" for tricking them on Halloween, with the help of Witch Hazel and her flying broom. Then "Lonesome Ghosts" with Donald, Goofy and Mickey as the original "Ghost Busters" being called to the "Old McShiver Mansion" to rid the house of ghosts, ... Then there is one with Donald and the nephews in a big house during a thunderstorm when a gorilla breaks into their house...great stuff. In between the old classics are new and very amusing shorts with great colors and details; I so enjoyed this I bought the DVD AND the VHS. Decide for yourself, see it and then you will see what a great tape it is and how perfect for Halloween or anytime when you want a good old-fashioned scare without too much trauma! I absolutely LOVED it, and you will too.

If you have a little one that watches the "House of Mouse" on Disney in the middle of the day, you know exactly what this is about. Despite the title, the focus is Halloween-related cartoon shorts featuring the classic Disney characters. Do not expect a feature film. The cartoons are the kind of Disney cartoons I remember watching as a child. My son laughs for practically the whole hour. The target audience is small children and taken in that context, it's a cute film that keeps their attention.

Well, the review title pretty much sums up my feelings on this DVD. While a couple of the cartoons were pretty funny, the packaging makes this seem like it'll be a movie about the villains taking over the House of Mouse, and as other reviews have mentioned, such is only an afterthought and a cool song. It's not just the packaging either--the overall marketing and the trailers shown on other Disney DVDs make the same claims as the info on the box. Let the buyer beware!

Having said that, if you're familiar with the "House of Mouse" TV series, this should come as no surprise. It's basically an extended episode of the series--in that series, there are several cartoons with a loose plot hanging them together, exactly what you get in this DVD. Still, it would've been a bit more honest of Disney to market it as what it is rather than upping the anty. Rent before you buy, that's my recommendation.

If like me, you can remember back to a time when Halloween meant not just candy and costumes, but spooky, cartoony specials on the Disney Channel, you'll be just as delighted with Disney's House of Villains as I was.

Having just made the move to college, I was disappointed at the prospect of spending my Halloween night alone, with no trick-or-treating, and even worse, none of those Disney Channel specials I was always so crazy about. I had heard about the iminent release of Disney's House of Villains, but did not know just what the DVD would be like.

Once I learned that one of my favorite classic cartoons, "Trick or Treat", was going to be presented on this DVD, I rushed out to purchase it.

I was not disappointed. House of Villains mixes the old classics with a few new cartoons that just may become classics in the years to come. And for lovers of the classics, you can't beat the enhanced color and sound of "Lonesome Ghosts" on this DVD.

This is the perfect treat (and trick) for any family collection.

The box description would have you believe that the plot of this "movie" is a tour de force where Mickey and the gang square off against a horde of classic Disney villains. Don't be fooled. This is merely a shorts collection with a weak framing sequence. There are three classic Disney shorts, but they aren't enough to save the show, and they will surely be available on some of the Walt Disney Treasures collections if they aren't already. The rest of the shorts are from Walt Disney Television Animation and since I recognzed one of them I would suspect that none of them were created specifically for the movie.
As for the villains, their appearance is little more than an overblown cameo. They do indeed take over the House of Mouse as promised, but they wait until around the last twenty minutes of the movie to actually do anything and it seems their intent was just to keep on showing shorts that star Mickey and the gang. Not quite what you'd expect from a gang of some of the most evil figures in cartoons.
So if you're buying this because you've been a fan of Disney villains all of your life, you're going to be disappointed. If you're buying it to distract the toddlers for seventy minutes, I'm sure it will do the trick. I just used to expect more from any animation that bore the name of Disney.

My kids both love the Disney show House of Mouse, so when this came out, they had to have it! They really enjoy all the stories and shorts. Though the adults will remember many of the cartoons, they only remind us of what a master Walt Disney was...and how his legecy is being carried on! Everyone will enjoy this DVD!

"Mickey's House of Villains" is a Halloween special weaving together a number of stories in a fun plot about what would happen if the Disney villains tried to take over the House of Mouse.

Though this is a fairly recent special, many of the stories seem to be in the classic Disney tradition. The fun starts out with "Trick Or Treat," in which Donald's nephews Huey, Duey and Louie meet up with a witch (and her broom named Beezlebub) who delights in helping them to play a trick on Donald Duck. Donald is being stingy with his candy and only seems to want to play tricks on the nephews. So the witch, Hazel (get it --- witch hazel!) casts spells on him, but he doesn't go down quite as easy as she'd hoped.

Other shorts include "Mickey's Mechanical House" (a Seuss inspired Mickey Mouse tale), "How To Haunt a House" (wonderful comedy), "Lonesome Ghosts," "Dance of the Goofys," "Donald Duck and the Gorilla," "Donald's Halloween Scare" and "Hansel & Gretel." Some of these are all-comedy, some are only part comedy and some are only music and no words. It's a nice throwback to the old-style music-only Disney productions. In-between the segments, the villains get together to put their master plan into action, which eventually culminates in the show-stopping number "It's Our House Now!" Mickey and the others are kicked out --- how will they retake the house?

"Mickey's House of Villains" comes with bonus features as well. The "Reel of Misfortune Game" tests your knowledge of Disney villains. Most of the questions are fairly easy, due to the obvious incorrect answer choices, but there is an occasional stumper. Also included is "Fright Delight," featuring scenes from various Disney movies and their spooky sounds. DVD-ROM weblinks are there as well. Finally, you get trailers for other Disney films that were releasing around the time that this was put out, such as "Lilo & Stitch," "Beauty and the Beast: Special Edition DVD" and "Monsters Inc."

I expected a little more out of Disney, but with their track record lately, I don't know why I was surprised at their lack of creativity. I thought this would be more centered around the villians trying to take over the "House of Mouse", but instead it was mostly old Disney cartoons with small clips of the villians plotting a take over in between. Definately NOT a DVD worth buying. My son begged me to purchase it, but I rented instead. My daughter, who was 7 year old at the time, was terribly bored throughout the movie. The only reason I rated it with 2 stars instead of just 1 was because my 6 year old son enjoyed it, however he has expressed absolutely NO interest at all in seeing it again. If you really want to see it, go for it, but I advise you to rent it first before buying.

Read this review before purchasing this product. When I saw the trailer for it I was very excited. The trailer had all the villains but they were shots from the original movies. I personily love the villains, lets face it there the best! I thought if it was as good as the original movies I would love it, but sad to say it does not compare to any classic disney movie. Most of the time it was just old and new cartoons that were pretty boring. My favorite villain Maleficent had only one, I repeat ONE line in the whole movie! You may like this film, or you may not. I would advise that you rent it before atcually buy it.