Category Archives: Mickey Shorts

Mickey Shorts

Mickey’s Birthday Party

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Original release date: February 7, 1942

Rating: TV-G. “Contains tobacco depictions. It may contain outdated cultural depictions.”

Length: eight gift-wrapped minutes

Background: The Disney company have become pros at monetizing Mickey’s birthday, whether it is opening a whole Birthday Land at the Magic Kingdom or releasing a cavalcade of merch – from Funko Pops to designer sunglasses – for his recent 90th birthday.

It wasn’t as big of a deal in 1942, but they found a way to make a short out of it. The short wasn’t released on his birthday, however.

Something notable about this short is that it is a remake of “The Birthday Party,” a similar short from 1931.

Review:

We start with a long look into a peephole on a door, with the eye of Minnie peeking out. Characters such as Donald and Clarabelle go into hiding as Mickey comes in, quickly surprised by the gang.

There’s even a present labelled from “the gang,” which turns out to be a organ. Congrats, Mickey. Play us a song.

A dance party ensues, including a weird extreme closeup of the inside of Mickey’s mouth. In the kitchen, Goofy dresses with a mop before checking on the cake he is baking. I feel like it should have already been ready.

Maracas come out and the party is really going now, as we get a preview of Donald’s future look in “The Three Caballeros.” Goofy congas himself in the kitchen, stirring another batch of cake mix. This cake, too, doesn’t work out.

Clara Cluck has joined in the dance party, clucking up a song while Horace Horsecollar and Clarabelle Cow throw down in the dance line. Donald breaks out a cigar, which gives us the reason for our warning.

Goofy tries one more cake, cooking it on “volcano hot.” It does indeed come out like a volcano, destroying the kitchen. Goofy has one final cake idea and it works out… well, until a very fateful trip at the end of the short.

Happy birthday, Mickey.

Extras:

Nothing.

Should you watch it?

Watch it. It’s a very rare combination of characters all together and it’s a fun little short.

Mickey Shorts

Lend a Paw

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Original release date: October 3, 1941

Rating: TV-Y7. “It may contain outdated cultural depictions.”

Length: eight angelic minutes

Background: “Lend a Paw” was one of the few “Mickey” shorts of 1941, though really it might as well be considered a Pluto short.

This short won an Academy Award for Best Animated Short Film in 1942, so it must be good, right?

It has been rereleased over a dozen times and seems to be thrown in as a bonus feature on every home release of “Oliver & Company.”

Review:

Pluto, sniffing through the snow, hears a mewing. It turns out to be a cat strapped in a bag that’s floating on ice, a cat that Pluto immediately rescues because he is a good dog.

Well, until he sees it is a cat. Then he keeps blowing it away. Not so good, Pluto.

The cat continues to follow Pluto, going right into Mickey’s house and following happy. As Mickey reads the paper, he notices Pluto’s “new friend,” laughing and petting it. Mickey goes as far as pouring milk into Pluto’s food dish, something Pluto isn’t happy about.

The classic cartoon troupe of the angel and devil appear, a green devil version of Pluto telling him to get rid of the cat while a white angelic Pluto tells him to be kind.

Devil Pluto gets the early advantage, advising Pluto to knock the kitten into the house’s fishbowl. This doesn’t end well for Pluto, having him kicked out of the house while the kitten plays.

Kitten runs out side and drops its ball into a well, jumping in after it. Pluto, good dog, follows his first instinct and runs over to the well. Angel Pluto begs him to save the kitten while Devil Pluto tells him he’ll be a sap.

The kitten keeps on drowning, so Angel Pluto throws off the halo and socks Devil Pluto right in the nose. This is all the motivation Pluto needs to jump in and save the kitten. Unfortunately, this gets poor Pluto stuck in the well.

Mickey makes a quick save and out comes Pluto as an ice cube. Mickey and the new kitten friend nurse Pluto back to warmth, with the message of “kindness to animals will be rewarded” at the end.

Extras:

Nothing.

Should you watch it?

Absolutely you should watch it. It’s the best Pluto short so far and the Academy Award appears to be well-deserved.

Mickey Shorts

Canine Caddy

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Original release date: May 30, 1941

Rating: TV-G. “It may contain outdated cultural depictions.”

Length: seven golfin’ minutes

Background: Outside of being one of several golf shorts released in the time period, there isn’t much background for “Canine Caddy.”

Remember the buck teeth that Mickey grew in the last short reviewed, The Little Whirlwind? This is the last short with those. Easy come, easy go.

Review:

It should be noted that this is a Pluto short – the short begins with the Pluto title card – and not a Mickey short, despite Mickey appearing in it.

And appear he does. We start with Mickey, golfing in red pants but no shirt – surely against every country club dress code – and his buddy Pluto reduced to a caddy.

As Mickey goes for a swing, he notices Pluto sniffing and scratching and gets mad First of all, wash your dog. Second of all, he’s a dog.

Mickey finally smacks the ball, sending it flying. Pluto points it out, dog-style, before lifting the flag for Mickey to putt it in.

Nope. Because this isn’t a three minute short, we aren’t done yet. Mickey just misses. Then he ends up in a sand trap somehow. Honestly, he’s not great at golf. He has the Happy Gilmore game, with a great long shot but absolutely no putting skills.

Eventually, Pluto finds himself going at it with a gopher. This gopher is much more active than the famed Caddyshack gopher, basically antagonizing Pluto and helping him tear up the entire course.

In the end, Mickey laughs it off. Why not. He’s a rich mouse. He can play golf somewhere else.

Extras:

Nothing.

Should you watch it?

Cute and inoffensive but non-essential. Skip it.

Mickey Shorts

The Little Whirlwind

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Original release date: February 14, 1941

Rating: TV-Y7. “It may contain outdated cultural depictions.”

Length: nine windy minutes

Background: While not a hugely historic short, “The Little Whirlwind” does have a little history to it.

Mr. Mouse had a bit of a redesign – again – with this short. It was the debut of him having ears that worked in perspective. He also lost a little weight and grew some buck teeth. If you don’t remember the teeth, you aren’t alone… they didn’t last long.

It hasn’t been confirmed, but some say this short was also the debut of Gale, a character that wouldn’t reappear until “Frozen II.”

Review:

Minnie starts us out baking a delicious cake and singing happily. As the smell wafts from the windowsill, Mickey, his hat and his newfound teeth float right up to the window.

He begs at the window and Minnie says no, because… I guess they were fighting at the time. Mickey offers to clean up the yard in exchange for cake.

Meanwhile, a little whirl of wind appears quietly in the yard. Mickey gets a load of leaves together, only to have the wind move his basket on him. The yellow of the leaves really pop off the screen.

Mickey finds a way to keep the basket in place, but the wind still blows the leaves out before taking off with his hat. The wind marches around the house, as wind does, leading a trail of marching leaves. Why not.

Mickey catches the leaves and wind in a sack – again, as is natural – and kicks it, only for it to come back and smack him. Has Minnie not noticed her love interest fighting with weather outside?

The big cheese finds himself on the losing end of the fight as the wind becomes a gigantic tornado, blowing him and everything in his path around. It sucks up pretty much everything in its path before dropping him in a fountain.

Minnie finally notices, going outside and calling Mickey a dog as she sees how destroyed her yard is. Oops.

Extras:

Nothing.

Should you watch it?

Yes, watch it. It’s cute, the animation and colors look good, and it goes by seemingly in about five minutes.

Mickey Shorts

Mr. Mouse Takes a Trip

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Original release date: November 1, 1940

Rating: TV-G. “It may contain outdated cultural depictions.”

Length: eight sneaky minutes

Background: After a somewhat quiet year for the big cheese, Mickey returned to the screen with “Mr. Mouse Takes a Trip.”

There’s a fascinating footnote to this short that was only recently discovered in the last few decades despite the short nearing its 80th birthday. As he did for Mickey shorts at the time, Walt Disney himself provided the voice of Mickey.

However, film exists of the entire voiceover session for this film. It’s the only known footage of Walt performing as Mickey. It hasn’t been seen often, but was included as a bonus feature for the DVD version of “Fun and Fancy Free.”

Review:

We start in Burbank at the train station, Mickey whistling happily and awaiting his train ride. Pluto is nearby with his suitcase packed as well, ready to take a ride.

As they board, Conductor Pete throws them right back off. “No dogs allowed!”

Mickey crams Pluto into the suitcase, which appears to have been otherwise empty. Travelling light, Mouse. They hop on the train and Pluto, understandably, is not happy in the suitcase. Mickey sneaks him out in a fun visual sequence.

Pete comes through asking for tickets, which I’d think you would do before you took off but I’m no train guy. Pluto is back in the suitcase, which Pete puts up in the overhead compartment.

A chase eventually ensues, with Mickey and Pluto finding a way to hide before being caught. They run again, leaving Pete punching a mattress. Who is actually running this train, anyway?

We eventually hit a point where Mickey is dressed like a Native American, which would fall under that “outdated cultural depictions” category. It doesn’t last long, and Pluto ends up outside of the train. Mickey jumps out after him and, well, Pete wins. Mickey and Pluto win too though, being thrown right at the train station they needed. Everyone is a winner!

Extras:

Nothing.

Should you watch it?

Sure, watch it. It’s a funny short and a good show of the play between Mickey and Pete.

Mickey Shorts

Tugboat Mickey

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Original release date: April 26, 1940

Rating: TV-G. “It may contain outdated cultural depictions.”

Length: seven distressing minutes

Background: “Tugboat Mickey” was the first short of the 1940s to bring the big trio – Mickey, Donald, and Goofy – together.

Mickey is no stranger to boats, having captained a steamboat and being part of a crew to build a boat before this tugboat operation.

1940 was actually kind of an off year for Mr. Mouse, appearing in only three shorts. Donald pretty much took over the operation with ten shorts in 1940.

Review:

Mickey – wearing what some will recognize as basically the outfit he wears on Disney Cruise Line merchandise – starts the short being hoisted up the mast by Donald and Goofy, doing some general cleaning. Then it happens…

A distress call! Mickey panics, getting the crew into prep mode. Prep mode, naturally, is running around with buckets on the head.

Donald and Goofy struggle to get things working in the engine room, fighting with large mechanical pieces and coal. Mickey continues to panic, ready to get the tugboat moving… and they do!

The S.O.S. call continues and the crazed tugboat goes in circles, running crazy before finally just springing into disaster, throwing the crew and the radio off the ship.

Oh yeah, the radio. The distress call was just a program airing on the radio. Mickey, Donald, and Goofy? Not pleased.

I noticed no cultural depictions.

Extras:

Nothing.

Should you watch it?

I try not to automatically say “watch it” for every Mickey, Donald, and Goofy short. This is only seven minutes and it’s decent, but there are better uses of your seven minutes. Skip it. Sorry, Mickey. Please don’t raise ticket prices because of me.

Mickey Shorts

Beach Picnic

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Original release date: June 9, 1939

Rating: TV-G. “It may contain outdated cultural depictions.”

Length: eight sandy minutes

Background: There isn’t much history behind this short, but it is one of the very few times that Donald and Pluto have been paired together. Can a bad duck and a good dog make magic together? Let’s find out!

Review:

Donald prepares a gigantic picnic, pies and sausages and all, before running to jump in the water.

Despite being a duck, this doesn’t go well for Donald. He struggles to get on his large inflatable and it does not go well. This is where I noticed, for the first time, that you can see the film patterns a lot more in this short than usual. Those little fuzzy dots are all over. It doesn’t really take away from it, but they are there.

Meanwhile in cartoon world, Pluto goes on the chase of the inflatable. This, too, does not go well and Donald gets a good laugh at Pluto’s misfortune.

Pluto’s battle with the inflatable goes on for quite some time, perhaps a little too long. Eventually the inflatable inflates Pluto, sending him soaring through the air before crashing to the ground.

Over in picnic area, an ant – in what is definitely stereotypical Native American facepaint and feather – goes marching onto the picnic. The ant calls his fellow ants and they do a Native American call before stealing all of the food. Yep, I found the cultural depictions this time!

Donald catches them in the act, screaming in regular Donald fashion before setting out fly paper for the ants. As an ant sneaks away a giant piece of pie, Pluto – still stuck from his flight – notices and starts sniffing after it. If you were thinking Pluto gets stuck on the fly paper, you win! The prize is dessert. You’ve earned dessert. Eat well.

The ants are likely eating well with the giant piece of cake as Pluto battles the flypaper stuck to his rear-end. Donald also ends up stuck to the same paper and, therefore, the butt of Pluto. An argument ensues and Donald ends up in a lot more flypaper, ending the short under a licking attack from Pluto. Awwwww.

Extras:

Nothing.

Should you watch it?

I went back and forth on my recommendation on this one. I drifted away during the overly long Pluto vs inflatable battle. The Native American ants scene was, well, culturally an issue. While the ending is a lot better than the majority of the short, I’m going to end on skip it. You can do better.

Mickey Shorts

Society Dog Show

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Original release date: February 3, 1939

Rating: TV-G. “It may contain outdated cultural depictions.”

Length: eight ruff minutes

Background: “Society Dog Show” is one of many starring roles for our beloved dog friend Pluto.

While the short itself hasn’t made a huge footprint, it is notable for being the last regular appearance for the older character design of Mickey Mouse.

Review:

Mickey and Pluto arrive at the red carpet for the society’s dog show along with many other fancier dogs. Seeing the other owners groom their dogs, Mickey gives Pluto a little brush-up. There is no difference in the end outside of a shinier nose and the sweet smell of what seems to be far too much perfume.

Mickey gets distracted and wanders off. This gives Pluto the chance to notice a cute (much smaller) dog named Fife the Peke. They flirt, as dogs do apparently.

Judging begins, calling Pluto to the judge’s stand. Mickey reappears, trying to pull Pluto away from his new love. The judge is not impressed by Pluto acting improper, giving the judge doggie kisses instead of holding still.

Finally Pluto gets with it and receives a proper judging, actually going vicious and chasing after the judge. The commotion is heard over the intercom, sounding out all over the show.

The talent portion begins, Pluto skating in on skates just as the photographer’s camera sets the whole stage on fire. That never happens to Instagram models.

He doesn’t necessarily mean to, but Pluto saves Fifi and most everyone else as he clumsily skates through the arena on his skates. His accidental bravery wins him the top prize and the lovey eyes of Fifi.

I noticed no cultural depictions.

Extras:

Nothing.

Should you watch it?

I’m giving this one a skip it. I couldn’t get into it. I could barely even find enough worth writing about it. Sorry, Pluto. You’re still a good dog.

Mickey Shorts

Donald’s Golf Game

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Original release date: November 4, 1938

Rating: TV-G due to the wholesome nature of Donald Duck and “It may contain outdated cultural depictions.”

Length: eight – not fore – minutes

Background: While Mickey was the big star, Donald also had quite a fan base. He had dozens of shorts as well, and this certainly was one of them.

While originally released in 1938, “Donald’s Golf Game” has seen numerous releases on VHS and DVD as well as airing in televised specials.

Review:

With caddies Huey, Dewey, and Louie behind, Donald makes his wake to the next hole on his golf adventure. Huey, Dewey, and Louie haven’t quite settled on their final shirt colors yet, going for red, orange and yellow here.

Donald tees up but is distracted and angered by a happy bird chirping away in a tree, shooing it off. The boys annoy him as well, earning the title of “brats” from Donald. Attempt number three involves the boys sneezing again, causing Donald to break his club.

The boys bring him an official “Goofy Club” out of a box, which is probably not a good sign. It wasn’t, with the club turning into a net mid-swing. A second club becomes an umbrella and Donald is on in the hijinks, telling the laughing boys to scram in his unique Donald Duck way.

Having scrammed, the boys find a grasshopper which they place in a trick ball, throwing it right in Donald’s tracks. Donald sets up the perfect shot with the ball and… yep, you can figure out the punchline.

The chase for the hopping ball goes all the way through a water trap, so Donald tries to play the ball where it lies – underwater. He finally figures out there is a grasshopper in the ball and goes to war with the grasshopper.

It doesn’t work out for him, leaving him tied up in the innertube he went swimming after the ball in. The boys take their turn golfing, one giving Donald the ol’ golf ball to the duck crotch shot.

When he finally breaks free, Donald reacts exactly as you’d expect angry Donald to react. It doesn’t end well for him.

I noticed no cultural depictions.

Extras:

Nothing.

Should you watch it?

Yes, watch it. It is classic Donald Duck hijinks and, as of the day I’m posting this blog, the earliest appearance of Huey, Dewey, and Louie on Disney+. (The appear in two shorts released before this one in the Disney timeline, but they have not been put for streaming thus far on Disney+).

Mickey Shorts

Mickey’s Trailer

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Original release date: May 6, 1938

Rating: TV-PG and “It may contain outdated cultural depictions.”

Length: eight vacationing minutes

Background: One of the less acclaimed Mickey shorts, “Mickey’s Trailer” never really seems to get much love.

It has had a few starring roles. It was a big part of the holiday special “From All of Us to All of You” which aired for many years around Christmas. It also makes a cameo in the movie “The Outsiders.”

Review:

Fresh off his morning alarm, Mickey walks outside, pulls a level, and turns his house into a trailer (yard and all). Out pops Goofy asleep in a car and hooked up to the trailer, ready to roll… and off they go.

As Goofy sings his best version of “She’ll Be Comin’ Round the Mountain,” Mickey starts cooking up some food in the kitchen, chopping fresh corn out of the window as well as milking a cow for milk as they drive by.

Meanwhile, Donald sleeps in, angry at his alarm just as we’d all expect out of Donald. Mickey, sleep police, hits a button that folds Donald’s bed up and gets him ready for a bath. Donald happily taking a bath is one of the more joyous sights in the world.

Another press of a button and the tub goes away, a table pops out and Mickey rings the breakfast bell. Breakfast is potatoes, watermelon, and corn for whatever reasons you’d eat that for breakfast. Goofy has also joined in, leaving the driving portion unattended. This probably won’t end well.

Sight gags are a-plenty as Mickey and Donald eat corn like a typewriter and Goofy again finds a way to electrocute himself (popping corn in the process). It’s all good and well until Mickey notices there is no driver. Goofy hops in the car and thinks the worst is over, but the trailer has come unhitched, sending Mickey and Donald barreling down a mountain and nearly off a cliff.

This being Disney, Mickey and Donald don’t die in a tragic accident. It all ends well. Goofy never notices they were missing.

I noticed no cultural depictions.

Extras:

Nothing.

Should you watch it?

Yes, watch it. This is an underrated short. Lots of good visual humor and the eight minutes feel more like about four.