September 23, 1938 – The Mickey Mouse Short The Brave Little Tailor is Released to Theaters
“I’ll be seeing you…I hope.”
On September 23, 1938, the Mickey Mouse short film The Brave Little Tailor was released to theaters. It was based on the fairy tale The Valiant Little Tailor told by the Brothers Grimm, with Mickey taking on the role of the tailor. It was nominated for an Academy Award at the 11th Academy Awards in 1939, but lost to another Disney short, Ferdinand the Bull. It was directed by Bill Roberts, and stars Walt Disney as Mickey Mouse and Eddie Holden as the king.
The short begins with the sound of nervous chatter between the villagers, scared that the giant that has been tormenting them is on the loose. The camera then pans over to the tailor shop, where Mickey is patching up a piece of clothing while being bothered by a swarm of flies. He finally takes two flyswatters and manages to swat all seven flies with one hit. Outside his window, one villager asks two others if they’ve ever killed a giant. Mickey then bursts open his window and proclaims he’s killed “seven with one blow” leaving the villagers to assume that he’s killed seven giants. The rumor spreads like wildfire, making its way up to the king.
Mickey pleads with the king after being asked to be the Royal High Killer of the Giant
Mickey is soon presented to the king, who asks to hear his story. Mickey acts out the story of killing the flies in a dramatic fashion – still not explicitly stating that they were flies, not giants – amazing the entire court. The king then appoints Mickey as the Royal High Killer of the Giant, greatly surprising Mickey. The king promises to present Mickey with a great sum of money, but Mickey stutters that he can’t kill the giant; he only accepts when offered the hand of Princess Minnie.
Mickey is soon off to face the giant, with the entire kingdom cheering him on. Although he puts on a brave front, he admits quietly that he doesn’t know how to catch a giant. As he sits and mopes, the giant soon approaches, stealing a farmer’s crops, destroying a farmer’s well to drink the water, and stealing a farmer’s stove to light a cigarette made from the farmer’s hay. Mickey, who had been hiding in the hay, is found by the giant, and soon springs into action, using his skills as a tailor to tie up the giant and cause him to trip.
Mickey vanquishes the giant, and looks on proudly at his work
In the end, Mickey has vanquished the giant, and the kingdom holds a festival, with the sleeping giant powering the amusements with his snoring as he is kept under heavy chains. Mickey and Minnie kiss while riding the merry-go-round, and the king lets out an excited whoop as his kingdom is once again safe.
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