Don Quixote (1934) User Reviews

Beautifully animated but a bit insensitive.

[planktonrules · 7/10 · 1 October 2013]

This gorgeously animated cartoon begins at the 'bughouse' (a crude reference to a mental institution) and soon you see Don Quixote in his padded cell--and such is the humor of this short. The bottom line is that there are lots of insanity jokes here. They are funny but also a bit insensitive, to say the least.

Quixote reads about all sorts of exploits of knights while he's locked up and he begins to imagine he's really a knight. So, he escapes and goes off on adventures--some of which are from the old Cervantes novel (such as him fighting a windmill). However, when he goes to rescue a damsel in distress, he doesn't find the fair Dulcinea but an ugly lady who won't take no for an answer. When the Don's keeper shows up, he, too, must fend off the lady's advances.

As I said, it is kind of funny but the best thing about this Celebrity cartoon is the animation and the gorgeous full color. It looks great...even if its sensitivities aren't exactly politically correct!

Unique Don Quixote

[TheLittleSongbird · 7/10 · 11 June 2018]

While not one of my favourites, Ub Iwerks was responsible for a lot of interesting work. Especially when working with Walt Disney, his oldest friend and one of his best, and co-creating one of animation's most famous characters in Mickey Mouse. His career since opening his own studio had interest value but the quality was variable, often being successful in the animation and music but wanting in the story and variable in gags, lead characters and tone.

1933 to 1936 saw twenty five cartoons, mostly based on famous fairytales and familiar stories, as part of Iwerks's "ComiColor" series. The "ComiColor" series is very much worth watching and interesting, as is the case with many series some cartoons are better than others but there are no real animation nadirs. 1934's 'Don Quixote' is a pretty good pleasant watch, with a few issues but a lot of big strengths.

'Don Quixote' is slight and is at times a little silly. The insanity jokes do go overboard slightly, regardless of them being funny which they are, and the ending is going to go either way.

However, 'Don Quixote' has enough freshness to stop it from being stale. It avoids the over sentimental factor and is never dull.

There are amusing gags, that aren't too corny and never repetitive, it's very charming, endearingly wild at times and there is a genuine likeability and cuteness. The characters drive 'Don Quixote' well, with a very interesting and fun titular character whose antics can be surprisingly inventive.

Furthermore, the animation is great. Meticulously detailed, fluid in drawing, vibrant in colour and often rich in imagination and visual wit. The music is cleverly and lushly orchestrated, is infectiously catchy and adds a lot to the cartoon.

Overall, pretty good. 7/10 Bethany Cox

This Is 'Don Quixote' As You've Never Seen Him!

[ccthemovieman-1 · 8/10 · 12 May 2008]

"Don Quixote" is one of those Celebrity Productions Comicolor cartoons, which must have been a big deal back in the 1930s (seeing bold colors on screen). seen! They liked to take a famous novel and make a wild-and-crazy cartoon out of it. Usually, the results were entertaining....even today these sight gags hold up to be pretty inventive.

I mean, where else but a cartoon - even one 75 years old - are going to see a windmill come to life and give a man a spanking? That kind of outrageous scene fills this eight-plus minutes of mayhem and silly humor. A lot of crazy sights are objects turning into something else here: a dragon becoming a huge earth-moving tractor, is another example.

This story has NO resemblance to famous Don Quixote story. You kind of know that when Quixote swings on vines and gives out Tarzan yells after escaping from a mental institution. It's pure lunacy.....but that makes it fun.

The ending to this story is very original, and sexist in a way. Both the hero and villain meet up at the same time to rescue the "girl" but she turns out to be some ugly older woman. The two guys then high-tail it out of the castle and run back to "Ye Olde Bughouse" and lock themselves back in the padded room!

Great Animation Saves Movie

[Michael_Elliott · 27 June 2016]

Don Quixote (1934)

** 1/2 (out of 4)

Don Quixote (looking like John Carradine) is locked up in a padded cell when he begins to read a book about battling knights. His imagination then gets away from him and he pretends to be a knight and goes for some adventures. This Ub Iwerks short is a fairly entertaining one, which once again benefits from some wonderful and creative animation. The animation is certainly the highlight as there are some really great moments done with it including the various "action" in the book that he's reading. The story itself isn't all that special but the lead character is at least interesting. This certainly isn't a masterpiece but it's entertaining.