Tag Archives: 1930s

June 16, 1934 – The Mickey Mouse Short Film Mickey’s Steam Roller is Released to Theaters

“Oh, lookee! There’s Uncle Mickey! Yoo-hoo!”

On June 16, 1934, the Mickey Mouse short film Mickey’s Steam Roller was released to theaters. The short was directed by David Hand, and stars Walt Disney as the voice of Mickey Mouse and Marcellite Garner as the voice of Minnie Mouse.

A construction crew is working on a main street, and all the workers wave at the steam roller as it passes by. As it turns a corner, Mickey is seen driving the steam roller, waving back at the crew as he chugs along. Coming the other direction is Minnie Mouse, pushing a stroller that contains Mickey’s two nephews playing patty cake. The two begin punching each other, but when Minnie chastises them, they kiss each other on the cheek and make up, but attempt to fight again when Minnie’s back is turned. She then spots their Uncle Mickey, and all three give a little wave.

Mickey and Minnie flirt with a game involving the phrases written on candy hearts

Mickey pulls up beside them, and the kids cry out that they want “to ride choo-choo,” so Mickey attaches a hook to their stroller, pulls Minnie into the steam roller cab, and takes the kids for a ride, pretending they’ve become part of a train. After a short ride, he pulls the train to a stop and asks Minnie if she would like some candy. When she says yes, he pulls out a candy heart that has “I love you” written on it. He then pulls out another one that says “Kiss me” and asks her to read it out loud. When she does, he moves in on her, but she escapes his clutches, and their flirting continues, with Mickey chasing her down the street.

The nephews, seeing an opportunity, decide to climb into the steam roller and take it for a joyride. The steam roller runs faster than they thought, however, and they cling to the inside, while Mickey and Minnie run after them. The two nephews begin to have fun with it, with one bouncing on clouds from the stovepipe. Mickey attempts to rescue them by tying a rope to the steam roller, with the other end attached to a lamppost. Unfortunately, the lamppost isn’t strong enough, and Mickey is taken with it while it starts to drag the string of lamps down the street.

Mickey runs for his life as he is suddenly pursued by the steamroller

One of the nephews cuts the rope with a heated rod, and Mickey scrambles to stop them, ending up being chased by the steam roller down a steep hill. He finally takes refuge in a hotel, and the steam roller ends up crashing into it, knocking the building into oblivion. In the end, Mickey is just relieved to see that his nephews are all right, as they begin to see-saw on a plank of wood that landed on Mickey’s head.

June 13, 1931 – The Mickey Mouse Short The Delivery Boy is Released to Theaters

“In the shade of the old apple tree…”

On June 13, 1931, the Mickey Mouse short film The Delivery Boy was released to theaters. The short was directed by Burt Gillett, and starred the vocals of Walt Disney as Mickey Mouse and Marcellite Garner as Minnie Mouse.

Mickey is seen sitting uncomfortably on an express wagon filled with various musical instruments, with Pluto running alongside excitedly. Mickey is sitting on the keys of a piano, playing a song as he bounces down the path. He stops the wagon as he spies Minnie Mouse, who is doing a load of laundry and singing to herself. Mickey jumps into her yard, with Minnie unaware that he’s been watching her. Unfortunately for her, a goat has been eating her clothes as she wrings them out, and she ends up fighting the goat for her girdle.

Mickey breaks the washtub after Minnie catches on to his jape, and the two begin to dance

Mickey comes up with a plan to greet Minnie: he ties one end of her bloomers on the laundry line closed, then leaps in and pushes himself as if he were in a boat. He begins to sing behind her, and hides in the bloomers when she turns around. He then pulls on her tail and plays it like a guitar string, but she catches on this time that he’s in the bloomers. She pulls him over on top of the tub and opens the closed end, making Mickey fall and break the washtub. The two then begin to dance to an upbeat song, and although Mickey ends up crashing into a tree, they continue to dance happily.

Pluto, meanwhile, has wandered into a puddle of tar, immediately getting stuck. He tries to pull himself out, but only seems to make his situation worse. While they dance, Minnie gives Mickey a kiss, and he leaps around giddily, ending up punching a beehive as if it were a punching bag before returning her kiss, then leaping away giddily again. He kicks the beehive in the end, which lands on his donkey’s tail, and the bees sting the beast, making it kick the wagon fill of instruments.

The pair has a very flirtatious conversation as Minnie coaxes him to play the piano

Most of the instruments land in a nearby farm, on the animals’ heads, and the piano lands near Mickey and Minnie. Minnie responds with glee, and asks Mickey if he can play. He responds modestly, and she eggs him on to play something. The two continue flirting, with Mickey saying he has to be coaxed to play the piano. Minnie responds with a smile that she’s coaxing him. He begins to play “Stars and Stripes Forever,” with Minnie joining him, and the two make it a jazzy duet where there share a kiss at the end.

All the farm animals join in on their rendition with the instruments that landed in their barnyard, and Mickey begins to join the barnyard animals in their playing while Minnie carries on with the piano. Pluto, on the other hand, has gotten himself out of the tar, and passes signs that say “Danger! Blasting!” “Achtung! Dynamite!” “Peligro! T.N.T!” and various other languages. But Pluto pays them no mind, and stumbles upon two men lighting a stick of dynamite and throwing it away. Thinking they want to play fetch, Pluto runs after the stick and brings it back. The men dive into a barrel of tar as they try to avoid the blast.

Mickey is oblivious to the surprise his dog has brought him as he continues to play and sing with Minnie and his donkey

As everyone continues dancing merrily, Pluto brings the stick of dynamite to Mickey, who doesn’t notice what Pluto’s brought him. Pluto begins to chew on the stick, but gets distracted by a pack of fleas that have fled from the scene. Suddenly, the dynamite goes off, sending Mickey, Minnie, and the donkey flying sky high. Fortunately, they all land safely and continue dancing.

May 12, 1932 – The Mickey Mouse Short Film Mickey’s Revue is Released to Theaters

On May 12, 1932, the Mickey Mouse short Mickey’s Revue was released to theaters. It was directed by Wilfred Jackson. This short is best known as the first appearance of the character of Dippy Dawg, who would evolve into Goofy; he is recognizable in this short by his peculiar laugh, which was provided by Pinto Colvig.

The first appearance of Dippy Dawg, later known as Goofy, annoying the audience members around him

The short opens in a theater, where the orchestra is in the middle of a song, with Mickey at the helm as the conductor. As the piece reaches a dramatic part, an audience member (Dippy Dawg) loudly cracks open peanuts and eats with his mouth open, to the annoyance of the other members of the audience surrounding him.

The curtain opens, revealing three actors dressed as flowers, and Minnie tied to a rope, floating as she plays the part of a fairy, while Horace Horsecollar holds her from a fishing rod in the rafters. Minnie taps an actor, who stands up, revealing herself to be Clarabelle Cow. On the other side of the stage, Pluto sneaks on, sniffing the dancer. When the dancer pushes him away, he begins to bark until a hook yanks him off the stage. Dippy Dawg begins to laugh loudly from the audience, again annoying all those around him.

Horace demonstrating how he makes his stage snow

Mickey continues to conduct as the cow dancers begin their ballet. A loud crashing noise sounds, as the band members and stage hand Horace create a storm for the piece. The cow ballerinas look around at the “snow,” then begin to ice skate around the stage (although it is revealed to the audience that the “snow” is just soda crackers Horace chews up and spits out across the stage). As the dancers skate offstage, Pluto is seen crawling on stage, hot on their trail, but is quickly retrieved and pulled off stage.

The curtain falls and the audience applauds wildly before the next act begins. Two dogs begin a rather comical tap dance. As it ends, Pluto is once again seen trailing something, only this time he’s on the trail of a bug, until a lasso appears and pulls him away. Dippy Dawg begins to laugh his peculiar laugh again, but this time, the fed-up audience members hit him over the head with a hammer, knocking him out cold. The two main conspirators begin to laugh in the same manner that Dippy Dawg did, much to the surprise of the rest of the peanut gallery.

Mickey and Minnie in their grand performance

The curtain opens again to reveal Mickey in a “one-man-band” kind of show, with Minnie accompanying him on the piano. As they play, a family of kittens that has been living under the stage pops out through holes in the floor and begins to play with the instruments, making it livelier than before. Horace has Pluto tied up in the back while he reads a magazine, and Pluto begins to whine, wishing to explore the stage. Seeing the kittens, he leaps forward, throwing Horace from his chair, and dives onto the stage. Pluto’s chase destroys the set and instruments, but the audience still applauds loudly thinking it was a great show.