DISNEY ALL ABOARD! MICKEY’S RAILWAY

Licensed Disney characters and hidden items galore await discovery on the latest fold-out train in this well received series.

Following the general track of previous entries, readers are invited to join Mickey Mouse on a quest for his hidden kite. Unfolding pages and lifting up large flaps on their way through the train, they are challenged to pick out significant details like green, red, sour, and sweet foods on a laden table in the dining car, zigzags and stripes on a blizzard of hair bows created in the lounge car by fellow passenger Minnie, and dozens of acorns scattered throughout by Chip and Dale, among others. A landscape on the back sides of the cars offers opportunities to count sheep and spot a few more surprises. Poring over each car’s crowded contents offers distractions and discoveries aplenty—but it’s hard not to notice that Kolb devotes more attention to the settings than to the Disney content. He depicts the cartoon cast members looking at each other or off into the distance rather than at viewers and Mickey, cast as the chatty narrator, with his mouth closed most of the time. The figures look posed rather than expressive…not exactly pasted in, but not really participating in the action either. The sense of disconnection extends to the narrative, in which all of the characters appearing here consistently get name checks except Huey, Dewey, and Louie.

The commercial angle may earn sales, but the train may be running out of steam.