December 3, 1948 – The Mickey Mouse Short Film Mickey and the Seal is Released to Theaters
“Look who followed me home, Pluto!”
On December 3, 1948, the Mickey Mouse short film Mickey and the Seal was released to theaters. The short was nominated for an Academy Award, but lost to the Tom & Jerry short film The Little Orphan. The short was directed by Charles Nichols, with story by Nick George and Milt Schaffer.
The short begins in the seal park, where Mickey is feeding fish to the barking seals. He throws one into the seal pen, which is scarfed up by the smallest seal of the bunch, who performs tricks for Mickey in order to get more fish. When Mickey announces he has no more fish for the day, the baby seal decides to hide inside Mickey’s picnic basket, hoping to find more fish in Mickey’s home. Mickey takes the basket home, and is greeted by Pluto. Pluto is rather upset that there’s no food in the basket left for him, and he sulks until the basket starts to bark. The baby seal jumps out of the basket, scaring the poor dog, and Pluto tries to warn Mickey, who has started preparing a bath. Unfortunately, Mickey thinks Pluto is just messing around, and scolds him before ordering him outside.
Mickey notices something is wrong when he is scrubbing something, but it’s not his back
The seal has started exploring Mickey’s home, and when he discovers the bathtub, he decides to jump right on in. Mickey then enters the tub and starts washing, unaware that the seal is in the tub. He soon notices something is up when the seal starts using his scrub brush on his head. Pluto tries to alert Mickey in the bathroom window, but Mickey just pulls down the shade. Mickey soon discovers the seal in his tub, but instead of being angry, he protects the seal from an angry Pluto. Mickey jokes that they’ll keep him for a pet, but instead decides to return him to the seal park. As Mickey and Pluto walk away, the seal explains to his friends all about his adventures in Mickey’s house. When Mickey arrives home, he is surprised to find all of the seals in his bathroom, using the tub. Pluto glares at Mickey, but all Mickey can do is smile sheepishly.
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