February 20, 1937 – The Mickey Mouse short Moose Hunters is Released to Theaters
“Hi, Mr. Moose. Have a bite?”
On February 20, 1937, the Mickey Mouse short Moose Hunters was released to theaters. This was one of the few shorts that used Donald and Goofy along with Mickey, as the writers were finding it difficult to give Mickey solo material. The short was directed by Ben Sharpsteen, with music by Paul J. Smith, and starred Walt Disney as Mickey Mouse, Pinto Colvig as Goofy, and Clarence Nash as Donald Duck.
The "female moose" making her mating call
The short opens with a female moose swimming across a river. When she emerges, however, we see that she has two familiar, yet mismatched, pairs of feet, and sounds her call by using a horn. Following behind this strange moose is a swimming bush, which also sounds out a call by using a horn. As the moose continues to walk and call, it hears something respond, and the front half of the moose stops, causing the back half to run into the front. Goofy emerges from his disguise, excitedly informing the others that there is a moose nearby, and Donald emerges as well, repeating the sentiment. Mickey, now revealed to be the walking bush, answers joyfully, holding a shotgun. “Now do your stuff,” he tells them. “I’ll take care of the rest,” he adds with a wink, patting the shotgun.
Goofy and Donald continue walking in the female moose costume, trying to lure out the real moose. Mickey, meanwhile, travels a bit behind, carefully using his horn to call out the moose, trying to keep hidden within the leaves of his disguise. He stands on top of a bush and uses the horn again; unfortunately, the moose appears beneath him, startling the mouse and causing him to drop his shotgun, which lets out a shot, scaring the moose. Mickey is starting to sweat, as his gun is now in pieces, and he is even more alarmed when the moose spots his disguise, thinking it would be a tasty snack. Mickey tries to keep himself covered and backs away slowly, only to be pursued by the hungry moose, who nearly eats Mickey’s trademark shorts.
Goofy and Donald spy the moose they've been tracking
Goofy and Donald are still trying to track down the moose they’d heard earlier, and when they spy him, they decide to make their disguise prettier, adding lipstick and powder, with Goofy spraying copious amounts of perfume (named Deer Kiss: Parfum Paris) to entice the moose. The perfume wafts its way toward the unsuspecting creature, who willingly follows the teasing scent. The moose takes one look at the “female” and is instantly smitten, especially when Goofy and Donald perform a teasing walk for him.
When Goofy gives the moose a “yoo-hoo,” the moose responds in kind, but with a force so strong that it blows the costume away. Goofy quickly comes up with a plan, grabbing leaves and performing a ballet/fan dance until they can retrieve their disguise, which only causes the moose to become even more smitten with their character. Once clothed again, the two continue their seductive walk, succeeding in getting the moose to follow them; unfortunately, the Donald half of the moose ends up falling off a cliff, and lands on a bee when he jumps back on the land. The bee, very unhappy with Donald’s appearance, flies inside the costume, sending the pair into a dance to the tune of La Cucaracha. The moose, angling for a kiss, ends up kissing Goofy on the face, as Donald tries to hit the bee, only to cause the moose mask to fly off Goofy’s head, but luckily land back just in time so their cover isn’t blown. Again, Goofy and Donald have the moose follow them, bringing him back to Mickey so Mickey can “do the rest.”
The moose has been eating Mickey's disguise, leaving him rather nervous about the inevitability of being caught
Unfortunately for the mouse, the moose that thought his disguise was a tasty snack has been eating the disguise, leaving almost nothing for Mickey to hide behind. When the moose takes the last mouthful and sees Mickey holding onto a branch for dear life, he glares at Mickey and gets ready to charge, until he hears a “yoo-hoo” nearby. Turning around, he sees the disguise of Goofy and Donald, becomes instantly smitten, and begins trotting over to “her.” Donald doesn’t see the moose, and keeps trying to pull them away, although Goofy is stuck as the moose cozies up to the front half. Donald emerges, only to see that the moose they’d gotten the attention of, and the moose that just got there, have spotted each other, and are ready to duel for the lady’s hand.
Donald and Goofy try to sneak away and hide up a tree as the two males growl and size each other up before pacing and getting ready to duel with their antlers. The force of their fighting is strong enough to tear the trees from the ground, which causes Goofy and Donald to fall from their perch and land between the two, their disguise blown. “April fool!” Goofy offers weakly, with Donald chiming in with the same sentiment; this does not appease the two males, who decide to take out their aggression on Goofy and Donald. The trio speeds away crazily while being pursued by the two males.
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