Published on Apr 3, 1999
What is the hardest thing about this job? It’s not sludging
through albums that never should have made it off the cutting room
floor, it’s not that I don’t make any money from this.
No, the hardest part is listening to children’s albums and
trying to listen to them from the vantage point of a preschooler –
not easy to do when the reviewer is within sniffing distance of
30.
Case in point:
Mickey’s Comedy For Kids, a tape that is geared directly to
the kids. If only my daughter were older, I’d have her review this
tape… but a month shy of her third birthday, she’s not quite
ready to tackle music reviewing yet. Besides, she was more
interested in this tape just because Mickey Mouse is on the cover
art, not because of what’s on the tape.
The action takes place on stage at Mickey’s Laugh Shack, where a
mixture of music and jokes are the main course of the day. (Parents
will have to do all they can to stifle groans with some of these
jokes, especially if your kids listen to tapes over and over again
like my daughter does.) The jokes are directed at the kids, and
they’re sure to get some chuckles out of these.
What confuses me about
Mickey’s Comedy For Kids is the reliance on music and the
introduction of characters, some of whom are never introduced to
the listener. It’s okay when the musical piece revolves around the
jokes, like “You Quack Me Up” and “A Shaggy Dog Story,” but often,
the songs are entities all their own, such as “Don’t Laugh,”
“Atchoo!” and “‘Snormal”, and they stick out like Bugs Bunny would
in a Disney cartoon.
Even to a kid,
Mickey’s Comedy For Kids doesn’t seem that funny. What could
have helped this tape would have been to turn it more into a real
“live-action” piece, with less reliance on the songs and more on
kids’ favorite Disney characters telling corny jokes that only the
under-ten crowd could appreciate. Even there, some of the sketches
would have needed to be tightened up, like “A Goofy Story” – though
I’m willing to admit that the kids might enjoy this one more than I
think they would. (Incidentally, my test case – namely, my daughter
– was more interested in looking at a Toys ‘R Us ad while this tape
played at home. Oh, well.)
Mickey’s Comedy For Kids could be summed up in four words:
good premise, weak outcome.