Good concept, poorly executed.

A Disappointing Continuation

Although I seem to have had higher expectations than I thought, the movie is super entertaining.

Actress is magnificent and exudes a hypnotic screen presence in this affecting drama.

As I grew up, my lone exposure to classical music came from the animation world. That, and "The Lone Ranger." The producers of various cartoons would frequently have actual concerts with animals or other characters actually conducting an orchestra of like characters. In many cases, it was simply used as background music. In this one, Mickey Mouse, who frequently showed his musical prowess, comes out on stage with a violin. Of course, he's not totally in control of his instrument. Nevertheless, other than the music, the episode is a bit lacking in plot development.

There is just a lot of fiddling around in the cartoon, with Mickey Mouse playing a host of classics on his violin. There are a few times in the beginning where I chuckled due, including the part where Mickey attempts to tune his violin, but resulting in screeching sounds. Not much of a story here, but definitely there's music to your ears. Grade C+

This is an early Disney cartoon featuring Mickey Mouse. There will be spoilers ahead:There's an alternate title to this one, Just Mickey. Combining the two titles describes this thoroughly-Just Mickey Fiddling Around. Because that's exactly what the cartoon is about. Mickey plays classical music (three familiar pieces) in roughly seven minutes. Visually, it's a nice short and the violin is played beautifully.But there's little in here of a humorous nature. A string breaks, there's a running gag with a laughing heckler with no payoff at the end and Mickey saws his violin in half. They even showed a shadow by spotlight during Traumerai with absolutely no gags. It's a reasonably entertaining short, particularly if you like classical music, but it's an atypical Mickey Mouse short.This short is available on the Mickey Mouse In Black and White, Volume Two Disney Treasures DVD set and the set is worth looking for. The short is heartily recommended to classical music fans.

I have to say as a Disney, Mickey and classical music enthusiast, I thoroughly enjoyed Fiddlin' Around(or Just Mickey). The story is very thin and it is disconcerting to see him have long hair in some scenes and then no hair in others. The animation seemed uneven to me too, the personality animation is actually superb but the backgrounds for me were rather sparse and Mickey at the start was somewhat awkward-looking. But there are many things that make it interesting. The beginning with a curtain opening to reveal another and so forth is a neat gag. There are some other nice gags, like the string breaking when Mickey is tuning up and his reaction to his heckler. The music is simply delightful, Morning, Noon, and Night in Vienna by Suppe is a perfect piece to introduce Mickey to the unseen audience, and the Hungarian Dance by Brahms and William Tell by Rossini are really rousing, the latter is probably where Mickey is at his funniest as he grovels with his long hair, loses his balance and is pretty much crawling on the floor. Sandwiched in the middle is the more thoughtful and poignant Schumann Traumerai, how Mickey reacts to it in his facial expressions makes the scene work and the music is just beautiful, though in all honesty I would have preferred for the playing itself to have had more legato. Mickey is exceptional in what is essentially a one-man's show, and his facial expressions from passion, devout sadness and anger are priceless and beautifully expressed, it really is some outstanding personality animation. The changes in perspective are also interesting, right from wide shots, close-ups and side-shots from left/right-centre. All in all, an interesting and worthwhile cartoon, just not one of Mickey's very finest or among my favourites. 7/10 Bethany Cox