September 5, 1930 – The Mickey Mouse Short Film The Chain Gang is Released to Theaters
“Shut up, you!”
On September 5, 1930, the Mickey Mouse short film The Chain Gang was released to theaters. This short is notable for being the first appearance of the character that would become Pluto, although he wouldn’t have a name until the 1930 short The Picnic, where he would be called “Rover;” the character wouldn’t be called Pluto until the 1931 short The Moose Hunt. The short was directed by Burt Gillett.
A chain gang is being lead through the prison by Warden Pete, with Mickey bringing up the end of the line, singing along to the morose tune. The warden then tells Mickey to shut up, and Mickey does so, shaking in fear. The chain gang then has to break rocks with mallets, and do so in a musical fashion. When the warden falls asleep, Mickey pulls out a harmonica and begins to play. The other inmates join in as best they can with makeshift instruments and singing, and soon everyone is dancing about. One rather ill-tempered prisoner accidentally wakes the warden, who screams out in a panic that there’s a prison riot, and inevitably starts said riot.
Mickey grabs his ball and chain and tries to escape amongst the confusion of the riot
As gunshots are flying about the prison, Mickey tries to escape, and is able to leap over the prison wall. A guard spots him, and two bloodhounds are sent out to find him. Mickey ends up tripping and falling into a river, but the dogs are soon right on his tail. Mickey then tries to take a nearby cart, but is only able to take the horses once they are freed from the cart. As he is thrown from the horses off a cliff, he falls through a building, and finds he is once again behind bars.
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