“Taba and Vina”

[Scrooge MacDuck]

I have randomly come across this strangely-animated thing on YouTube (there are several more like it, though with descriptions written in Arabic (?); all have comments disabled). What… what is this? My Googling skills brought me nothing. Did some foreign branch of Disney authorize this, in the middle of a fever dream, or is this some sort of weird bootleg?

(Note, around the 4:30 mark, Baby Donald, to add to Human-proportioned Mickey and Human-proportioned Minnie.)

[Pan Maciej]

Looks like something very, very, VERY illegal  

[muggyruglugg]

Definetly a bootleg if that's what you call it. There are tons of these videos all over YouTube, that often contain very inappropriate content, yet are still targeted towards children.

[Scrooge MacDuck]

But… who the hell makes them? And more importantly, why?! Can't be for profit, since they post them on YouTube for free. And I doubt it's for personal fan enjoyment, or they wouldn't disable the comments…

[dismaldowns]

I saw my five years old niece watching this stuff another day. I thought it was super ugly and random so I tried to gently persuade her to watch a classic well animated Mickey Mouse short. But she wouldn't budge. I didn't notice anything inappropriate so I was just concerned because it seemed really stupid and cheap, not something I would show any kid.

[drleevezan]

Well. That... is weird. I have no idea what that could be. Doesn't seem official, though.

[Baar Baar Jinx]

Jul 14, 2018 22:28:08 GMT dismaldowns said:

I saw my five years old niece watching this stuff another day. I thought it was super ugly and random so I tried to gently persuade her to watch a classic well animated Mickey Mouse short. But she wouldn't budge. I didn't notice anything inappropriate so I was just concerned because it seemed really stupid and cheap, not something I would show any kid.

My three-year-old niece finds videos like these on YouTube while searching for Mickey Mouse Clubhouse episodes via voice remote (of which there are no official ones, resulting in squashed/stretched/audio-altered partial clips of that show), and prefers these bootlegs as well. They are ugly and cheap, and there are a few that have contained highly questionable and possibly child-inappropriate material, although I have not investigated deep enough to see if they all come from the same source. Given that most kids and even some well-meaning but unwary parents might mistake these for official Disney products, I kind of wish Disney would focus a little attention on investigating them for possible copyright violation (instead of going after accounts that post decades-old classic material that the company does not intend to profit from and that's not otherwise available).

To make matters worse, some of them actually label themselves as "Mickey Mouse and Minnie Mouse cartoons". Come on, that has to be actionable.

[Scrooge MacDuck]

Er… Baar Baar Jinx, @dismadowns: no personal judgements on your niece-rearing siblings' parenting skills… but it's quite beyond me that anyone would give toddlers free access to the Internet. I mean, that's just begging for trouble.

[dismaldowns]

Jul 15, 2018 14:04:16 GMT Scrooge MacDuck said:

Er… Baar Baar Jinx , @dismadowns: no personal judgements on your niece-rearing siblings' parenting skills… but it's quite beyond me that anyone would give toddlers free access to the Internet. I mean, that's just begging for trouble.

I actually agree with you. In general their parents keep a watchful eye on their daughters but like most kids that were born this decade they find a way to access stuff they are not supposed to. As far as I know nothing problematic happened yet. Anyway I was just taking care of her while their parents were away. I didn't introduce them to YouTube not other platform but I will not take their tablets and phones away from their hands. If I see something REALLY inappropriate then yes I will and also reach their parents and if they are not around their grandparents. But that seemed merely dumb and cheap. Technically speaking she and her sister are my second cousins but our families are so close that is practically like they were my nieces. Nevertheless I play no part in their upbringing and my contact with them extends to monthly family reunions. I can not speak for Baar Baar Jinx but I would wager it is a similar situation.

[dismaldowns]

Jul 15, 2018 12:20:27 GMT Baar Baar Jinx said:

Jul 14, 2018 22:28:08 GMT dismaldowns said:

I saw my five years old niece watching this stuff another day. I thought it was super ugly and random so I tried to gently persuade her to watch a classic well animated Mickey Mouse short. But she wouldn't budge. I didn't notice anything inappropriate so I was just concerned because it seemed really stupid and cheap, not something I would show any kid.

My three-year-old niece finds videos like these on YouTube while searching for Mickey Mouse Clubhouse episodes via voice remote (of which there are no official ones, resulting in squashed/stretched/audio-altered partial clips of that show), and prefers these bootlegs as well. They are ugly and cheap, and there are a few that have contained highly questionable and possibly child-inappropriate material, although I have not investigated deep enough to see if they all come from the same source. Given that most kids and even some well-meaning but unwary parents might mistake these for official Disney products, I kind of wish Disney would focus a little attention on investigating them for possible copyright violation (instead of going after accounts that post decades-old classic material that the company does not intend to profit from and that's not otherwise available).

To make matters worse, some of them actually label themselves as "Mickey Mouse and Minnie Mouse cartoons". Come on, that has to be actionable.

Right!? I totally agree!