Tag Archives: 1930s

August 16

Posted on August 16, 2014 by disneydetail

August 16, 1930 – The Silly Symphony Midnight in a Toy Shop is Released to Theaters

“Tick tock, tick tock, tick tock.”

On August 16, 1930, the Silly Symphony Midnight in a Toy Shop was released to theaters. It was directed by Wilfred Jackson.

It’s a windy, snowy day outside Ye Toy Shoppe, and a spider is nearly blown away from his web. He decides to sneak inside the toy shop to keep warm, and when he hears the clock chime midnight, he hides in a box, as he’s startled by the cuckoo. He starts to explore, and is startled several times after running into the toys. Running into the dark, he lights a candle, unaware that he has set it down next to some Chinese firecrackers before he starts playing with a toy piano. Two dolls start dancing around to his melody, and are soon joined by other toys within the shop. The spider continues to play with the toys, much to his own amusement. When he slides from a spinning record, he lands on the candle, and pulls it with him into the box of firecrackers, creating a large explosion within the store. The spider jumps away, and escapes through the keyhole to head back out into the snow.

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Posted in Uncategorized and tagged 1930s, Black and white, Short film, Silly Symphony. Bookmark the permalink.

August 11

Posted on August 11, 2014 by disneydetail

August 11, 1934 – The Mickey Mouse Short Film Orphan’s Benefit is Released to Theaters

“Introducing Donald Duck reciting ‘Mary Had a Little Lamb.’”

On August 11, 1934, the Mickey Mouse short film Orphan’s Benefit was released to theaters. This short was the first time that Donald and Goofy were featured together and with Mickey Mouse. It was later remade in 1941 in color and with updated animation. The original version was directed by Burt Gillett.

The short begins with the orphans arriving in droves to a free showing of Mickey’s Big Show. Inside, the orphans are causing all sorts of mischief, which is quelled only when Mickey enters onstage, followed closely by Donald Duck. Mickey introduces Donald, who will recite the poem “Mary Had a Little Lamb.” While Donald is a hit, when he starts to recite “Little Boy Blue,” one of the orphans mocks him by blowing his nose. Donald tries again, but when he is mocked again, he throws a tantrum, and is swiftly pulled off stage by a giant hook. Next to perform is Clarabelle Cow with a ballet act, alongside Goofy and Horace Horsecollar. The show begins with Goofy nearly falling, but he is able to catch himself without dropping Clarabelle. Horace at one point picks her up and spins her wildly. He throws her to Goofy, who ends up spinning out of control and falls to the ground. He then picks her up once again and attempts some acrobatics, but fails once she falls on his head. The spinning and throwing of Clarabelle continues between the two, until Goofy manages to pull off her leotard instead of catching her.

Donald throws his famous tantrum after being mocked by the orphans, who have another surprise waiting for him

Donald returns to the stage, eager to get even, but instead has an ice cream thrown in his face, and is then treated like a punching bag before being pulled off again. After Donald, Clara Cluck comes onstage to perform a song, with Mickey accompanying her on the piano. Clara hits the high note with the “help” of an orphan and his slingshot, but she and Mickey accept this gracefully and take a bow. After they take several bows, Donald is onstage yet again, and recites his poem, waiting for a reaction. Hearing none, he discards his brick, and recites his poem. Unfortunately, the orphans mock him at the right moment, inciting a tantrum, and the orphans use balloons to propel bricks and other items to the stage, popping them with a slingshot right over his head.

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Posted in Uncategorized and tagged 1930s, Black and white, Donald Duck, Goofy, Mickey Mouse, Short film. Bookmark the permalink.

August 3

Posted on August 3, 2014 by disneydetail

August 3, 1935 – The Mickey Mouse Short Film Mickey’s Fire Brigade is Released to Theaters

“I’ll get you, you little devil!”

On August 3, 1935, the Mickey Mouse short film Mickey’s Fire Brigade was released to theaters. It was directed by Ben Sharpsteen. Although a Mickey Mouse short, the cartoon features Goofy and Donald as leading characters. The short also features a small segment of the popular song “Who’s Afraid of the Big Bad Wolf” from the popular 1933 Silly Symphony The Three Little Pigs.

A fire has broken out at a boarding house, and the residents are struggling to get out. The sound of the fire brigade is heard, with Mickey, Donald, and Goofy heading to the rescue. Poor Goofy has difficulty staying with the fire wagon, and when the three arrive, they don’t exactly act like the most coordinated fire brigade. Donald tries to enter the house through the root cellar, and is chased through a window by flames, while Goofy is sucker punched by the smoke. Mickey finally gets the hose going, but the flames shut the window, leaving Mickey to flail in the air while holding on to the hose for dear life. As he tumbles to the ground, he accidentally activates the ladder, which sends him crashing through a window and then through the roof, where he sits precariously in a chest of drawers.

Donald chases a flame around the boarding house, hoping to destroy it with his axe

Donald chases after a flame with his axe and ends up doing more damage to the house than the flames. Goofy chucks as much furniture as he can out the window, unaware that he is throwing it straight into the fire wagon’s boiler. One table with collapsible sides flies out the window and flies right back in, knocking Goofy against the wall. Meanwhile, Donald gets the idea to trap the flames with flypaper, which works, but then the flames band together to attack Donald with the water bucket. Mickey ends up falling down the chimney, crashing into the fireplace Goofy and Donald are holding. They hear Clarabelle Cow singing upstairs, unware of any fire, and decide to go rescue her. When she sees them, she throws her scrubbing brush at them, thinking that they’re just being fresh. They manage to cart her out, although she accuses them of being kidnappers and keeps screaming for the police. She manages to slide her way down the ground, while the boys land in the bathtub, and are continuously beaten by Clarabelle and her scrub brush.

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Posted in Uncategorized and tagged 1930s, Color, Donald Duck, Goofy, Mickey Mouse, Short film. Bookmark the permalink.

August 1

Posted on August 1, 2014 by disneydetail

August 1, 1936 – The Mickey Mouse Short Film Mickey’s Circus is Released to Theaters

“Introducing Captain Donald Duck and his performing sea lions!”

On August 1, 1936, the Mickey Mouse short film Mickey’s Circus was released to theaters. Although a Mickey Mouse short, it mostly features Donald Duck as the star. The short was directed by Ben Sharpsteen.

It’s chaos at Mickey’s Circus, as the orphans are allowed to attend for free, with a large gathering of them running around wildly. The circus finally begins, with Donald as the first act, with three sea lions and one pup performing tricks for fish. One sea lion walks around like Charlie Chaplin, much to the amusement of the orphans. Donald begins his act with juggling, and ends with the sea lions throwing their beach balls at his head. The pup continues to steal the fish from Donald’s basket. At one point, the sea lions grapple over the fish, knocking Donald into the sand of the ring. He then leads one sea lion into playing a song using horns, although the performance doesn’t go well until the pup steps in and starts playing a one man band version of the song. The orphans start mocking Donald, and his temper nearly gets the best of him. The sea lions refuse to continue until they get fish, and end up breaking the instruments in their fight for the fish.

Mickey finds himself in a precarious situation after being shot out of a cannon

Donald chases after the seals, and ends up in the cannon. Mickey warns him to get out, and the orphans push Mickey inside. The orphans fire the cannon, sending Mickey and Donald up on the high wire. Mickey struggles to maintain his balance on the wire, while Donald is sent out on a bike. The orphans pour oil over the wire, and send Donald flying back and forth. The wire is then electrocuted, and Mickey and Donald are sent flying to the ground into the seal tank. The pup throws a fish into the tub, and the other sea lions fight over it, fighting Donald in the process.

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Posted in Uncategorized and tagged 1930s, Color, Donald Duck, Mickey Mouse, Short film. Bookmark the permalink.

July 29

Posted on July 29, 2014 by disneydetail

July 29, 1933 – The Silly Symphony Old King Cole is Released to Theaters

“Once upon a time in Storybook Land, Old King Cole sent out a royal command calling his subjects to the castle hall: everyone’s invited to the royal ball!”

On July 29, 1933, the Silly Symphony Old King Cole was released to theaters. It was directed by Dave Hand.

The short begins with Old King Cole announcing that he’s having a ball, and all of his subjects are invited. The trumpets sound, announcing the start, and the Pied Piper comes out of his storybook, bringing the rats with him to the castle. He’s followed by Little Boy Blue, who sounds his horn, followed by the Crooked Man and his crooked cat and crooked mouse. Mother Hubbard attends as well, with her dog, as they pop out of their cupboards from their storybook. The kids of the old woman that lived in a shoe start cheering a skipping to the party, along with other famous storybook characters. Old King Cole welcomes them to the party, but warns them that they must go home when the clock strikes midnight. The first act begins, as a dance done by Mary Mary Quite Contrary and her flowers. More storybook acts follow, popping out of Pandora’s Box in rapid succession, ending with Ten Little Indians, who dance around Old King Cole. The dancing continues around the castle in a merry fashion. Suddenly, Hickory, Dickory, and Dock announce that it’s midnight, and everyone rushes back to their storybooks as fast as they can. Old King Cole wishes them goodnight, and leaves a bottle of milk out for the next morning before his storybook closes.

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July 13

Posted on July 13, 2014 by disneydetail

July 13, 1935 – The Mickey Mouse Short Film Mickey’s Garden Premieres in Theaters

“Hey, Pluto! Cut it out! Hey, it tickles!”

On July 13, 1935, the Mickey Mouse short film Mickey’s Garden was released to theaters. It was directed by Wilfred Jackson.

Pluto and Mickey are stalking through Mickey’s garden, and Mickey quickly uses insecticide on the multitude of bugs that have been eating his crops. He quickly runs out and rushes to get some more; once he does, the bugs run back to his crops and resume eating. Mickey quickly runs back to his task of killing the pests; while he tries to fix his sprayer, Pluto hunts after another bug, and lands head first into a pumpkin while doing so. Pluto runs about blindly, unable to shake the pumpkin off, and lands on the end of the sprayer, spraying Mickey with the insecticide. Mickey falls down is in a daze from the poison. When he comes to, he discovers that his house has been overtaken by the garden, which has grown to an enormous size. The bugs, also enormous, have been drinking the bug poison, which makes them drunk. The bugs discover Mickey and Pluto, and hunt after them, ready to spray them with insecticide. Mickey and Pluto scramble up a lily for safety, only to find an angry bee there to fight them. Pluto is attacked by a caterpillar, who throws him into the mouth of a drunk firefly. Mickey lands in a tomato and has to battle with a worm that lived there. As Mickey strangles to worm, he comes out of his daze to find that this has all been a nightmare caused by the poison. Pluto manages to finally free himself from the pumpkin, which crashes into Mickey. The short ends with Pluto licking Mickey while Mickey is trapped in the pumpkin.

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Posted in Uncategorized and tagged 1930s, Color, Mickey Mouse, Pluto, Short film. Bookmark the permalink.

July 9

Posted on July 9, 2014 by disneydetail

July 9, 1932 – The Mickey Mouse Short Film Musical Farmer is Released to Theaters

“Look look look look look look look look look look look what I did!”

On July 9, 1932, the Mickey Mouse short film Musical Farmer was released to theaters. It was directed by Wilfred Jackson.

Mickey and Pluto are walking across the farm, planting seeds, which are soon devoured by crows. Mickey and Pluto spot the crows and chase them off, but as Pluto jumps after them, he lands in the nearby scarecrow’s clothes. Mickey helps him out, but is soon distracted by a singing Minnie who is milking a cow. Mickey decides to play a prank on her, so he and Pluto dress in the scarecrow’s outfit and make their way over, scaring her half to death. The “scarecrow” soon begins to dance, but continues to shout “boo!” and scare her. When she notices that it’s Pluto and Mickey, she trips them up can has Mickey fall into the washtub. He steps out wearing tartan socks and a kilt, takes three nearby geese, and pretends to play the bagpipes with them.

Mickey starts playing a tune for the barnyard musical extravaganza

As Mickey pretends to be Scottish, the music he plays is infectious and carries all over the farm. Soon, Mickey plays an old rake like a mouth harp and sings with all the animals while Minnie dances on top of a washtub. All the hens lay their eggs in time to the music, save for one – Fanny. Fanny sadly looks around at all the other hens laying and gossiping about her, when suddenly she lays a giant egg. The entire farm rushes to the hen house to see what Fanny has done, and when Mickey sees the egg, he gives her a pat on the head and rushes to get his camera. After a series of mishaps, he sets off to take a photo of the giant egg. Unfortunately, he uses too much flash powder, and destroys not only his camera, but takes off all the feathers from every bird in the hen house.

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Posted in Uncategorized and tagged 1930s, Black and white, Mickey Mouse, Minnie Mouse, Pluto, Short film. Bookmark the permalink.

July 1

Posted on July 1, 2014 by disneydetail

July 1, 1933 – The Mickey Mouse Short Film Mickey’s Gala Premiere is Released to Theaters

“Tonight’s the night of Mickey Mouse’s premiere, and every star in Hollywood will be here.”

On July 1, 1933, the Mickey Mouse short film Mickey’s Gala Premiere was released to theaters. Although Disney has officially called the short Mickey’s Gala Premiere, the original title card has it called Mickey’s Gala Premier; this could be seen as a play on words. The short features caricatures of several well-known stars of the day. It was directed by Burt Gillett.

It’s a big night in Hollywood, with celebrations taking place at Grauman’s Chinese Theater, and the stars arrive quickly. First to arrive are the stars of the film Rasputin and the Empress, in their costumes: Wallace Beery, Marie Dressler, Lionel, John, and Ethel Barrymore. Laurel and Hardy trail after them, with the Marx Brothers popping out of the window of the car for a cameo. Next, Maurice Chevalier stops at the microphone and sings about Mickey’s new film, joined by Eddie Cantor and Jimmy Durante. Jean Harlow, Joan Crawford, and Constance Bennett sing in an “Andrews Sisters” style; soon after, Clark Gable, Harold Lloyd, Edward G. Robinson, and Adolphe Menjou close out the song as if a barbershop quartet. The celebrities flock to the theater, with Mae West causing Sid Grauman to nearly melt in embarrassment.

Mickey, Minnie, and Pluto arrive at their premiere, dressed to the nines

Soon, the star and his girl Minnie arrive in style, along with Pluto, Horace Horsecollar, and Clarabelle Cow. They enter the theater, and everyone is ready to see the new Mickey short, Galloping Romance. The short has Mickey playing a xylophone, and the audience sways along with the music. In the short, Pete kidnaps Minnie, and the audience laughs as Pete pins Mickey comically to the wall. They soon cheer when Mickey chases after Pete, but laugh again once Mickey’s chase grows increasingly comical, with many patrons rolling in the aisles. In the end, Mickey is able to save Minnie, while Pete meets a rather unfortunate end. Mickey is roped out onto the stage to shake hands with all the celebrities, with Greta Garbo coming up to give him a kiss. As she kisses him, Mickey wakes up to find that it’s not Greta Garbo, but Pluto, that’s been kissing him. Annoyed, Mickey pushes Pluto off the bed and tries to resume his happy dream.

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Posted in Uncategorized and tagged 1930s, Black and white, Mickey Mouse, Short film. Bookmark the permalink.

June 27

Posted on June 27, 2014 by disneydetail

June 27, 1930 – The Silly Symphony Arctic Antics is Released to Theaters

On June 27, 1930, the Silly Symphony Arctic Antics was released to theaters. It was directed by Ub Iwerks.

A polar bear cub is dancing about between the back of a polar bear and sheets of ice, followed by a parade of other polar bears and seals. One polar bear cub uses its tail to drive him forward on a sheet of ice like a speedboat. A walrus is seen chasing a fish, who jumps about, teasing it. A group of seals clap as they watch a female do a balancing act and dance with a fish, while another seal uses a walrus to create music before being chased off by the walrus, who wishes to sing instead. The seals applaud the walrus’ efforts before a troop of penguins marches on the scene, waddling in unison. One small penguin falls through the ice, but manages to quickly rejoin the group before they whistle their marching tune behind a large iceberg.

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June 17

Posted on June 17, 2014 by disneydetail

June 17, 1933 – The Mickey Mouse Short Film Mickey’s Mechanical Man is Released to Theaters

“One, two, come on there, step in! Three, four, with a spot on his chin! Five, six, lead with your right, seven, eight, get in there and fight!”

On June 17, 1933, the Mickey Mouse short film Mickey’s Mechanical Man was released to theaters. It was directed by Wilfred Jackson. The gorilla in the short was a character from the 1930 Mickey Mouse short film, The Gorilla Mystery.

A poster is seen on the side of a barn, advertising the “Battle of the Century” between the Kongo Killer and Mickey’s Mechanical Man. Mickey is inside his own training center, having the robot named Sam punch a safe with the gorilla’s face on it while Mickey plays the piano and sings his commands. Minnie drives up to the training grounds and watches from the window. She honks her car horn, which gives Sam a strange reaction to violently punch any picture of the gorilla he sees. At one point, Sam punches a lamppost so hard that it falls on him and knocks him out. Mickey goes to check on Sam, when he hears Minnie laughing and mocking him. Mickey asks her to never honk the horn again, as it makes his robot go wild and crazy. However, she honks it again, and Sam gets up and runs wildly down the street with Mickey following him.

The town gathers for the fight of the century, although most are banking on Kongo winning

The crowds gather for the fight, but run inside when Sam makes his way to the arena, and proceeds to punch a poster of Kongo the Killer on a brick wall, knocking himself out in the process. Mickey drags Sam inside, with Minnie following him as the crowd laughs. Finally, the fight begins, although the crowd isn’t so sure Sam can win. In the beginning, Sam has a strong lead, but Kongo soon gets his punches in, sending Sam’s parts flying all over the place. Sam is soon knocked out, with mechanical birdies flying above his head, and Mickey begs Sam to get up. Minnie soon gets the idea to grab her horn and make it sound. When she does, Sam springs into action, fighting Kongo with all he’s got. Sam wins the fight, sending Kongo flying into the rafters, and Sam blows apart from the excitement.

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