My only real complaints are few, nitpicky in essence, and pretty subjective besides:
I don't like Goofy and certain other characters looking like they're suffering from jaundice.
The ceaseless face faults can become grating, and pretty insufferable when pushed to Adventure Time-levels of needless grotesquery.
Those damn rounded teeth and puffy cheek expressions. You know the ones; that lazy emotional shorthand that's become a blight on the contemporary western animation scene. It's bound to unnecessarily age the series like all the other ones that use it. It's our answer to lazy '70s age ghetto animation, the '80s glut of cheap, toy-based shows, or the '90s obsession with being "rad" and "hip". A show that's otherwise as classy as this should be above it and it just seems forced and unnecessary. Thankfully, it's the exception rather than the rule.
Did you say it\'s free? On YouTube?
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Sometimes, dreams you never even knew you should have wished for come true.
Can you really blame me for instantly writing off the House of Mouse's early 2010s announcement of a new series of animations based on the classic shorts of the '30s and '40s that not only served as the foundation of their entire entertainment empire, but endure as true classics of cartooning to this day? I suppose I could shoulder some blame for having a negative outlook from the start, but that's more the fruit of Disney's effort, or lack thereof, for a considerable timeframe. After all, at the time of writing you'd have to go back to the '90s to find a Disney original series that felt true to the Disney spirit... let alone one that wasn't a soulless, modern cash-grab.
Moreover, Mickey's 1/3 of the Power Trio of Mickey/Donald/Goofy shorts—at least after the neutering of Mickey's character to an inoffensive corporate mascot— were always the more bland and forgettable of the three, even if mostly by virtue of inevitable comparison. Anyways, after a night of binging on the classic badass Mickey shorts, I felt generous enough to give Disney's new offering a chance. 'Cause I'm a nice guy.
...Holy shit, sometimes it feels really good to be wrong, and, err, have your lack of faith rewarded? Let's go with that.
Yessir, from the word "go", Mickey Mouse achieves everything it sets out to do and more, and makes it look easy. Rather than unceremoniously snapping Mickey back to his badass trickster roots now that his squeaky-clean mascot persona has long since attained indelible iconic status and thus risk creating a feeling of insincerity, the new shorts' third option is to play up Mickey's non-giving-up-mouse-guy traits. Granted, that runs the risk of turning him into every other industrious-but-clumsy cartoon protagonist, but he retains an inimitable level of cheesy Disney optimism that is as true to the character as anything.
The backgrounds are bright and painterly like nothing Disney has done before, perfectly fitting the more frenetic style of comedy. For long-time Disney fans there are in-jokes and easter eggs aplenty, and the show's tone is suffused with a deliciously tongue-in-cheek take on Disney's particular brand of perceiveed "cheesiness", while remaining true to the company's ethos all the same. Truly the best of both worlds, right here.
And Chris Diamantopoulos is probably the best guy to voice Mickey since good ol' Uncle Walt himself. He inundates the character with a hypnotically manic energy and tackles more challenging tasks such as singing and pitch control with the ease of a veteran. Even years on since Allwine's passing, Iwan still sounds stilted and uncomfortable in the role; Disney should just wisen up and full-on replace him with Chris D. already.
The whole freakin' series is free to watch on YouTube at time of writing. Stop pretending like you've got anything better to do; sit your ass down, watch Mickey Mouse right now, and be a part of a classic in the making! Sometimes, the future is indeed now.