June 20, 1941 – The Mickey Mouse Short Film The Nifty Nineties is Released to Theaters
“A day in the nineties when grandma was a girl, the horseless carriage was quite the show, grandpa cussed when the thing wouldn’t go…”
On June 20, 1941, the Mickey Mouse short film The Nifty Nineties was released to theaters. This is one of the few shorts that features the appearances of all the “Fab Five,” as well as a special cameo of animators Ward Kimball and Fred Moore. The short was directed by Riley Thomson.
A photo album opens to reveal a picture of Mickey next to his car, and the scene is set in the nineties, where he decides to go for a stroll in the park. There, he meets Minnie, and the two fall in love at first sight. He offers Minnie some candy, and the two head off together for a stroll. They head to a vaudeville show, where they are first entertained by a melodrama called “Father, Dear Father.” The melodrama drives Minnie to tears, and Mickey tries to comfort her. Afterwards, they are delighted by the antics of Fred and Ward: Two Clever Boys from Illinois. Afterwards, the two go on a drive, passing by Goofy riding a penny-farthing, along with Donald, Daisy, and the nephews on their tandem bike. Mickey’s car races at 15 miles per hour through the farmland, and barely makes it up a hill, but spooks a cow on the other side. They crash into the cow, but everyone is able to laugh at the situation.
