Plot: What’s it about?
Even as a youngster, Mickey dreamed of being a hero, a dashing swordsman who was always there to rescue the maiden. That was a given however, since he grew up when a brave band of soldiers known as the musketeers were loved by the public. One of the musketeers even gave Mickey an official musketeer hat, which he treasured. Now he is grown up and he still has that hat, but his life isn’t one of grand adventure. Instead, he works as a janitor, though he does get to interact often with the new wave of musketeers, led by Pete. Mickey also gets to work with his best friends, Donald and Goofy, both of whom also share his dream of being musketeers. Out of nowhere, the chance to do just that arise, when Pete offers an audition of sorts to the trio, to prove they have the mettle for the squad. But as it turns out, Pete’s plan is not one of good intentions, instead he wants to use the trio to further a nefarious plot of his own. Princess Minnie is poised to take over the throne, but Pete wants to stake his own claim. Unknown them, the well meaning trio helps Pete roll his plan into motion, but all is not lost. A window remains open to stop Pete and his men, but someone has to step up to the challenge. Is Pete destined to take the throne, or can Mickey, Donald, and Goofy manage to foil his plans?
This movie marks Mickey Mouse’s return to feature length cinema, so you’d expect the arrival of The Three Musketeers to be triumphant. Instead, Disney unloaded the movie direct to video, though its obvious a theatrical release was never in the works. The animation is not up to snuff, on the same level as most animated shows on television. This alone shows Disney’s lack of faith in the project, as you’d expect such a movie to be animated by the studios top talents, whereas this feature looks like it was handed over to the lowest bidder. I’ve been pleased with some of Disney’s previous direct to video animation work, but this is below the usual standards. As with almost of Disney’s animated projects, this one features numerous musical numbers, which prove to be another detriment to the entertainment value. In this case, famous classical music cues are given lame lyrics, which comes off as quite lame. The songs sound more like a corny answering machine message, instead of a product from an empire like Disney. Not all is lost, as it is fun to see Mickey, Donald, and Goofy back together, but this is a real missed chance. This film could have resparked interest in the core characters, or at least introduced them to new viewers. I know a lot of folks will purchase this on the Disney label alone, but I think a rental is the best option.
Video: How does it look?
The Three Musketeers is presented in 1.78:1 anamorphic widescreen. This is a great visual treatment, with no real room for complaints. I voiced my disappointment over the animation already, so no need to refocus on that here. The image looks as good as we could want, with a clean print and a sharp overall presence. The detail level is excellent, but due to the simplistic animation used, depth is never allowed to be that impressive. I found colors to be bright and pleasant, while contrast is smooth and consistent as well. Not much else we could demand here, so a great looking visual effort from Disney on this one.
Audio: How does it sound?
The sound design on this film is rather limited, outside of the musical numbers, but Disney has spared no expense in this presentation. We have 5.1 soundtracks in both Dolby Digital and DTS, a decision sure to delight audio minded fans. As I said before, the movie lacks the kind of sound design to take full advantage of the lavish audio treatment, but for what we do have here, it couldn’t sound much better. The musical numbers have a rich, full presence and from the vocals to the instruments, all the elements sound terrific. The audio is calmer in most other scenes, aside from some sparks of life in the more action driven sequences. This disc also includes French and Spanish language options, as well as English subtitles.
Supplements: What are the extras?
I love the audio commentary track found here, as stars Mickey, Donald, Goofy, and Pete talk about the production. Its rare to have such tracks, in which in character participants are involved, but I hope we see more of this soon. The track is quite humorous, as we’re told all kinds of stories from the shoot, quite a cute idea indeed. Sadly, this only runs for a few minutes at the film’s start, so this is not a full length session. This disc also includes some deleted scenes, a behind the scenes featurette, two interactive games for the kiddies, direct access to the film’s musical numbers, and a music video for Three is a Magic Number.
