# Mickey, Donald and Goofy: The Three Musketeers - Blu-ray Review



## Mike Edwards (Mar 10, 2011)

[img]http://www.hometheatershack.com/gallery/file.php?n=24153[/img] 
*Title: Mickey Donald & Goofy: The Three Musketeers* 

*Movie:* :3stars:
*Video:* :4.5stars:
*Audio:* :4stars: 
*Extras:* :2stars: 

*HTS Overall Score:*76




[img]http://www.hometheatershack.com/gallery/file.php?n=24161[/img]*Summary*
Usually when someone says “It’s good for the children” in a review, they’re trying to say that it’s a poor film, and about it’s only worth is a shiny moving picture babysitter for the kids. Here, however, it really is aimed and targeted with the children in mind. Disney has a wonderful tradition at making children’s movies that appeal to a larger audience than you might expect, and allows the adults to have as much fun as the children. Sometimes they DO decide to market and create a story that’s strictly for kids, and “Mickey, Donald and Goofy: The Three Musketeers” fits right into that category. A light and fluffy tale, it aims squarely for the children with lots of singing, dancing, goofy gags, pretty much everything a young child finds entertaining. Sure there’s a couple of winks and nudges aimed for adults, but those are few and far between, only really there for the parents who are watching over their kid’s shoulders. 

We all know the classic tale of the Three Musketeers, penned by Dumas, but Disney has decided to loosely base their version of the story and twist it around in only a way that Mickey, Donald and Goofy could pull off with panache. Our heroes are janitors for the royal Musketeers of France, scrubbing and cleaning the grounds, just wishing and hoping for a shot at being a Musketeer. Mickey is a mouse, Donald is a coward and Goofy is about as goofy as they come, so there seems to be no hope for the wannabe Musketeers, until Captain Pete decides to give them a chance. One might wonder just what’s going through the Captain’s head to give these mess ups a royal uniform. Well, it seems that he DOES have a slightly ulterior motive that comes in the form of kidnapping Princess Minnie and usurping the throne, which requires him to put complete dolts in charge of her safety. 

[img]http://www.hometheatershack.com/gallery/file.php?n=24169[/img]
Mickey, Donald and Goofy soon realize that the job is a bit more than they reckoned it would be. They run up against kidnappers and find out that they still have the same weaknesses that kept them out of the Musketeers this long. Mickey has a hard time fighting solo, Goofy stumbles into one trap after another and Donald can’t face an enemy without trembling in fear. Facing a horrifying defeat and losing Princess Minnie in the process, Mickey, Donald and Goofy have to find a way to overcome their respective weaknesses and keep Pete out of the throne and Minnie out of his clutches.

“The Three Musketeers” is not going to be an instant classic and is really aimed at the younger generation. It has all the old visual gags, such as anvils from the sky, the dastardly Pete trying to get away with another nefarious scheme and our goofy trio being the cute goofballs they have been for decades. The story is light and fluffy, without a lot of substance whatsoever, but it certainly is full of childlike humor that the younger generation will find endearing and really entertaining. As an adult I do miss the films that can cross ages and allow for multiple generation watching, but I do understand that sometimes a kids movie, is just a kids movie. 



*Rating:* 

Rated G for General Audiences 



*Video* :4.5stars:
[img]http://www.hometheatershack.com/gallery/file.php?n=24177[/img]While “Mickey, Donald and Goofy: The Three Musketeers” may not be a wild, fantastic hit out of the ballpark in terms of story, it certainly does look excellent on home video in its native 1.78:1 AVC encoded image. There are some flaws that can only be attributed to the low, direct to video budget, but mainly only in the semi decent animation. The film is a blend of traditional hand drawn animation and CGI, which is remarkably seamless for such a low budget. There’s a few times where you notice the difference, especially with some of the character designs vs. the backdrops. Colors are bright and cheery, giving lots of emphasis on nice primary colors. The royal Musketeers look fantastic with the blues and reds of the uniform popping quite nicely on screen. The black levels are more than adequate and don’t suffer from any crush or overt banding. I THINK I spotted some banding once in the film, but it was so split second I’m not sure if it actually was or just my imagination. Digital artifacting is not present and thankfully Disney hasn’t scrubbed the picture within an inch of its life with DNR, as so many others have fallen prey to. . 








*Audio* :4stars:
[img]http://www.hometheatershack.com/gallery/file.php?n=24185[/img]The 5.1 DTS-HD MA lossless audio track is actually quite sufficient for a direct to video release. It’s not spectacular, and the sound design is a bit limited due to budget, but those with a nice home theater audio system should be more than satisfied with the results. The audio is a bit front heavy, but those front three channels accurately replicate the dialogue cleanly and crisply with a nice bit of front soundstage presence with the ambient noises. The surrounds are used decently, but not fantastically, but they do have some presence there, giving plenty of directionality to the track. LFE is mild, but there when it’s needed, especially during the vocal performances. Overall it’s a very satisfactory track that’s only real downside is being a direct to video presentation, which suffers from budget constraints. 




*Extras* :2stars:
[img]http://www.hometheatershack.com/gallery/file.php?n=24193[/img]
• Get Up and Dance
• Deleted Scenes with Commentary
• Sing-Along Songs
• Get the Scoop
• Cast Commentary
• Disney Song Selection












*Overall:* :4stars:

“The Three Musketeers” is certainly light and fluffy fare, but it’s cute and certainly harmless fun for the children. It shows it’s direct to video roots with a lack of any substance, but the audio and video are very solid, with very little to complain about, so those of you with children should feel comfortably adding it in to the Disney rotation for the youngers. Definitely a recommendation for children (or a rental if you’re a kid at heart ).



*Additional Information:*

Starring: Wayne Allwine, Tony Anselmo, Bill Farmer
Directed by: Donovan Cook
Written by: Evan Spiliotopoulos, David M. Evans
Aspect Ratio: 1.78:1 AVC
Audio: ENGLISH: DTS-HD MA 5.1, Spanish, French, Portuguese DD 5.1
Studio: Disney/Buena Vista
Rated: G
Runtime: 68
Blu-ray Release Date: August 12th, 2014



*Buy Mickey, Donald, Goofy: The Three Musketeers Blu-ray on Amazon*


*Recommendation: For the Kids​*







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