disneydetail

July 25, 1936 – The Mickey Mouse Short Film Alpine Climbers is Released to Theaters

“Edelweiss! Oh boy, oh boy, oh boy, edelweiss!”

On July 25, 1936, the Mickey Mouse short film Alpine Climbers was released to theaters. Although a Mickey Mouse short, the short also features Donald Duck and Pluto. It was directed by Dave Hand.

Mickey and Donald are yodeling as they climb up a steep mountain, dragging Pluto behind them on a rope. After they reach the top, Mickey ties Pluto to a rock as he and Donald go exploring. Donald finds patches of edelweiss, and begins to pick a full bouquet. When he reaches the top of the cliff, a baby goat takes one look at Donald and eats the edelweiss bloom the duck is holding. Donald grabs an icicle and starts to chase after the kid around a rock, not realizing that the kid is sitting on the top of the rock, watching Donald run around in circles.

While exploring, Mickey excitedly finds a nest of eagle eggs

Mickey, in his own exploration, finds a nest full of eagle eggs, and starts stuffing them into his backpack, unaware that the mother eagle is standing behind him, ready to protect her eggs. Mickey sees her, and quickly puts the eggs back, although the mother still attacks him. He throws her eggs at her, and they hatch upon impact. The flock of hatchlings then assist their mother in attacking the mouse. Mickey drops an egg in the confusion, which lands on Pluto’s head and hatches. The hatchling attacks Pluto, and Pluto chases after it, dragging the heavy rock behind him. As the hatchling flies away, Pluto hangs onto the cliff for dear life, only to have the rock send him hurtling to the snowy ground below.

As Pluto lies in the snow, a St. Bernard comes out of his doghouse and drags the dog to safety, reviving him with some brandy. Unfortunately, Pluto becomes drunk from the amount of brandy he drank, and attempts to hit on the St. Bernard, hiccuping loudly. Meanwhile, after carving out a deep ditch around the rock, Donald realizes that the kid has just been watching him the entire time. The chase resumes, leading into a cave, with Donald accidentally pulling out an older goat instead. Donald tries to walk away nonchalantly, but is soon chased by the older goat, who continuously headbutts the duck, although Donald headbutts the older goat in retaliation, sending it flying into a nearby tree, knocked out. Mickey, having problems of his own, cries out for help. He tries to use his rope to latch on to a nearby rock, but ends up roping the eagle mother’s feet, and she flies away, trying to pull Mickey away from the nest. Donald, hyped up with adrenaline from fighting the goat, goes to save Mickey by attempting to beat up the mother. The mother bests Donald, and the two have no choice but to hold on for dear life as she soars up into the sky. The hatchlings then tear up the rope, and the pair are sent hurtling to the ground. As they hit the snow below, they hear a strange drunken yodeling, and see Pluto and the St. Bernard, having consumed all the brandy, hiccuping and carousing.