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Tag Archives: Short film

March 21

Posted on March 21, 2015 by disneydetail

March 21, 2014 – The Pixar Short Film Party Central Premieres in Theaters

Pixar Party Central

“Beach Ball to Throw Rug, come in! Are you in position?”

On March 22, 2014, the Pixar short film Party Central premiered in theaters before the live-action feature Muppets Most Wanted. The short features the characters from Pixar films Monsters, Inc. and Monsters University, with the characters from the Oozma Kappa fraternity hoping to put on a party, only no one shows up. The short was originally previewed at the 2013 D23 Expo to great fan acclaim. The short itself was intended to be a special short on the home video release of Monsters University, but enough faith was placed in the animators to turn it into a theatrical short. It was directed by Kelsey Mann, and stars Billy Crystal as Mike, John Goodman as Sulley, Peter Sohn as Squishy, Julia Sweeney as Sherri, Charlie Day as Art, Dave Foley as Terry, and Sean Hayes as Terri.

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March 17

Posted on March 17, 2015 by disneydetail

March 17, 1931 – The Mickey Mouse Short Film Traffic Troubles is Released to Theaters

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“He’s gone!”

On March 17, 1931, the Mickey Mouse short film Traffic Troubles was released to theaters. It was directed by Burt Gillett.

Mickey is a taxi driver on a busy street, and doesn’t seem to do well with all the other cars around. When he stops to pick up a fare, he ends up stopping traffic, alerting a police officer, who berates him and won’t let him finish a sentence. Mickey is finally able to shuffle away in his taxi, but runs into trouble again when a small car refuses to let him pass. Mickey finally uses a trick to get past the tiny car, but the tiny car manages to get ahead again, especially after passing through several muddy patches. Mickey’s taxi has a problem on a road full of potholes, and his fare is less than happy, although each pothole causes the charge rate to jump. Mickey loses his fare without realizing it when he is bumped from the car, and Mickey looks horrified when he arrives to find the fare missing. Minnie is running down the street to her accordion lesson, and Mickey offers to give her a ride when she is running late. The Mickey whistles with Minnie playing her music on the way there, but the ride stops being joyful when Mickey’s car gets a flat tire. Mickey has to improvise with a pig when blowing up the tire, but over-inflates the tire and is sent flying while riding the pig. Meanwhile, a traveling huckster arrives with some snake oil and gives it to Mickey’s car, which causes it to go haywire with Minnie trapped inside. The car lands on top of a cow, which runs away out of shock, taking Mickey, Minnie, and the taxi through a barn and crashing into the side of a tower. Luckily, Mickey and Minnie can have a good laugh in the end.

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March 16

Posted on March 16, 2015 by disneydetail

March 16, 1935 – The Mickey Mouse Short Film Mickey’s Service Station Premieres in Theaters

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“You break ‘em, we fix ‘em!”

On March 16, 1935, the Mickey Mouse short film Mickey’s Service Station premiered in theaters. It was directed by Ben Sharpsteen.

Mickey, Donald, and Goofy are hard a work fixing up an old jalopy when Pete shows up at their service station demanding for their service. He calls their attention to a squeaking sound, and warns them that they have only ten minutes to fix the problem, or there will be serious consequences. The boys are frightened enough to begin work, but no matter where they look, the squeaking noise seems to be all over, mocking them. Donald and Goofy tear the car apart, while Mickey has trouble with a tire. Mickey finally locates a cricket within Pete’s tire, but the boys smash the car to bits when trying to smash the cricket with a hammer. Realizing that there’s no time left, and the car is not in good shape, they rush to try and fix the car as best they can, but Mickey still has problems with the one tire. They are finally able to get the car semi-fixed, but when Pete returns and starts it up, the car manages to give Pete a fight before falling apart completely, with the engine chasing Pete away from the service station.

 

 

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March 12

Posted on March 12, 2015 by disneydetail

March 12, 1993 – The Roger Rabbit Short Film Trail Mix-Up is Released to Theaters

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“Have a nice lunch, boys. And remember, only you can prevent forest fires.”

On March 12, 1993, the Roger Rabbit short film Trail Mix-Up was released to theaters alongside A Far Off Place. It features the animated characters from the Touchstone-Spielberg collaboration Who Framed Roger Rabbit?, and was produced at the Disney-MGM Studios. It was directed by Barry Cook, with story by Cook, Rob Minkoff, Mark Kausler, and Patrick A. Ventura. The short stars Charles Fleischer as Roger Rabbit, Kathleen Turner as Jessica Rabbit, April Winchell as Baby Herman’s mother and young Baby Herman, Lou Hirsch as Adult Baby Herman, Corey Burton as Droopy Dog, and Frank Welker as the Beaver and the Bear.

It’s a beautiful day at Yellowstain National Park, although the park itself is crowded and covered in litter. Roger Rabbit is carrying a giant load of supplies for Baby Herman and his mother, when he trips on a pinecone; luckily, everything lands in its proper place, save for the cookie jar, which breaks and causes Baby Herman to cry. Baby Herman’s mother gives Roger one more chance after his slip-up before deciding to go hunting, and leaves Baby Herman with Roger. Park Ranger Jessica shows up to help Roger, and distracts him while he tries to build a fire. In the end, he ends up blowing himself up. Roger then freaks out after seeing a bug, and destroys the forest with his super-duty bug spray. As Roger tries to find something for the pair to eat, Baby Herman is already climbing up a tree to play with a beehive. The branch he is on breaks, and the beehive lands squarely on Roger’s head. The bees then attack Roger, who lands in a lake he thinks is shark infested.

Baby Herman becomes enamored with a beaver, not noticing the danger he is in while following it

Baby Herman becomes enamored with a beaver, not noticing the danger he is in while following it

As Baby Herman follows after a fast-eating beaver, Roger tries to save him from a falling tree, but ends up getting squashed himself. He continues his chase of Baby Herman, and finds him getting caught in a sawmill. Baby Herman manages to escape getting chopped up, but the same cannot be said for Roger, who is able to put himself together to save the baby, only to end up riding down a dangerous log flume, and are joined by a fishing bear. As the quartet falls over a highly steep waterfall, Roger is able to use his ears to send them back up, only to fall again and land in the Old Predictable Geyser. The geyser erupts, sending the four flying out of the studio where the filming for the short film is taking place, and landing on Mount Rushmore, destroying it. Baby Herman yells at Roger about destroying a national monument, and when Roger places a makeshift flag in the ground, he ends up destroying the world on top of it all.

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March 6

Posted on March 6, 2015 by disneydetail

March 6, 2004 – The Animated Short Film Lorenzo Premieres at the Florida Film Festival

Lorenzo

“The five-minute short possesses a look that’s strikingly original: a moving painting that digitally captures the loose, dry, rough texture of a brushstroke.” – Bill Desowitz, Animation World Network

On March 6, 2004, the animated short film Lorenzo premiered at the Florida Film Festival in Orlando, Florida. The short film would later be released alongside the live-action film Raising Helen, and would be nominated for an Academy Award for Best Animated Short Subject. The story was originally proposed by Disney Legend Joe Grant during the production of Fantasia; it was revived by Mike Gabriel, who was given the short to work on after being removed from the project that would become Home on the Range. A new software called Sable was created by Dan Teece to capture the brushstroke style Gabriel used when drawing the titular cat character. The plot of the short film follows the cat Lorenzo, whose tail is cursed by a black cat named Molly to dance several ballroom styles with its owner.

 

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March 5

Posted on March 5, 2015 by disneydetail

March 5, 1948 – The Donald Duck Short Film Drip Dippy Donald Premieres in Theaters

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“I’m so sleepy…”

On March 5, 1948, the Donald Duck short film Drip Dippy Donald premiered in theaters. It was directed by Jack King, with story by Nick George.

Late one evening, Donald is on the bus, snoring away, when he is dropped off at his house. Exhausted, Donald sprints off the bus and goes through his routine before settling into bed. Unfortunately, he is unable to sleep thanks to a lighted advertisement from down the street shinging through his window. He pulls down the blind, but the blind rolls almost instantly back up. He ties the string to the blind down, but moments later, the blind pulls itself back up. When Donald pulls it down for a third time, he pulls it so hard that it comes off the wall. Annoyed, he finally nails it down, and proceeds to drift off to a deep sleep. No sooner has Donald finally settled in that his faucet starts dripping loudly, waking him up once again. The faucet noise starts to taunt him, and he rushes out of bed to turn it off. He then gets back in bed, eyes heavy, but the faucet drips faster than ever, dripping onto his dishes. As he rolls up in his mattress, the drips seem to grow in intensity, sounding like bombs and being strong enough to shake his entire house. Unable to take it anymore, he tries again to turn off the faucet, but ends off breaking off the tap and falling into the sink. He then tries several methods to keep the water from dripping loudly, but none seem to work. In the end, Donald comes up with a rather complicated Rube Goldberg-like contraption to capture each drop of water in a sponge, when his phone rings, letting him know that as he hasn’t paid his water bill, his water has been cut off. Sleep-deprived to the point of madness, Donald hits himself over the head with the phone and his sponge.

 

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March 3

Posted on March 3, 2015 by disneydetail

March 3, 1934 – The Mickey Mouse Short Film Playful Pluto is Released to Theaters

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“Now see what you’ve done, you big clown!”

On March 3, 1934, the Mickey Mouse short film Playful Pluto was released to theaters. It contains a piece of animation by Norm Ferguson that has been hailed within the animation field as being one of the first examples of personality animation, with the cartoon character expressing thoughts and emotions through their actions. The scene inspired the likes of Ollie Johnston to go into animation. The short was directed by Burt Gillett.

The short begins with Mickey raking leaves in his backyard and playing around with Pluto. As Pluto fetches a stick from Mickey, a small whirwind sneaks into the yard and starts scattering all the leaves. As Mickey accidentally knocks himself out with the rake, the whirlwind takes his basket and whirls everything once again neatly into the basket – which is soon knocked over again by an eager Pluto. Mickey is angry with Pluto to begin with, but realizes he can’t stay mad at his best pal. Mickey continues with his chores, with Pluto curiously following along and getting into trouble by pulling out the tap. Mickey rushes into the root cellar to turn off the water main, with Pluto holding the flashlight for him. The water main jumps out and hits Pluto in the teeth, knocking the flashlight inside. As Pluto hiccups, the flashlight briefly turns on, scaring the poor dog. Pluto races around the cellar with Mickey trying to calm him down. Pluto runs through the screen door and hides within Mickey’s chest of drawers before realizing that everything is okay. As Mickey steps inside to find Pluto, he sees that a whole swarm of flies has entered through the hole in the screen door, and lays down some flypaper to catch them. Pluto notices a fly nearby and starts following it, unfortunately getting his nose caught on one of the many strips of flypaper. As Pluto frees his nose he then gets the flypaper caught on his paws and his ears before accidentally sitting on it. As Pluto struggles, he ends up caught in the window shade until Mickey frees him.

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February 24

Posted on February 24, 2015 by disneydetail

February 24, 1950 – The Goofy Short Film How to Ride a Horse is Released to Theaters

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“The outside of a horse is good for the inside of a man.”

On February 24, 1950, the Goofy short film, How to Ride a Horse was released to theaters. It was originally released as a segment within the 1941 film The Reluctant Dragon. Along with the other cartoon segments in the original film, it was directed by Hamilton Luske.

The short begins with the narrator introducing the basics of riding, including the benefits of the exercise. Goofy then introduces the proper riding attire, complete with conservative hat, comfortable boots, and a nice riding coat costing $4.98. The horse is then presented, and listens to the narrator’s praise with glee – that is, until the narrator calls him a dumb animal. Goofy then approaches the horse for his ride, but the horse quickly takes the lead of the situation, tripping Goofy and sending him flying into the dirt. Goofy tries to bribe the horse with carrots, and nearly gets his arm bitten off. The horse manages to steal all of Goofy’s carrots, and his long underwear to boot. Next, Goofy tries to mount the horse, but the horse would rather trip and trick Goofy than agree to be mounted. When the narrator tries to explain mounting the horse via the stirrups, both Goofy and the horse are bored to sleep. In the long run, Goofy is able to mount his horse. The narrator then moves to the mechanics of riding, starting with the trot, brought down to slow motion to show the “majesty” of the movement. Afterwards, when it comes to jumping, the horse refuses to go. When Goofy tries to use his spurs, the horse jumps away, leaving Goofy to use the spurs accidentally on himself. The horse then gallops around happily, jumping on top of Goofy. In the end, Goofy and horse are one riding around the countryside, although they are forced to try again when the jump fails. At the end of the day, the two drag themselves back from their ride, but the horse heads in excitedly when he finds out that they’re heading straight for the stable, and crashes Goofy into the door.

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February 18

Posted on February 18, 2015 by disneydetail

February 18, 1939 – The Commercial Short Film Mickey’s Surprise Party is Delivered to Nabisco

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“My mother used to burn them all the time!”

On February 18, 1939, the short film Mickey’s Surprise Party was delivered to Nabisco. It was created as a commercial for the biscuit company to be shown at the 1939 New York World’s Fair. It stars Minnie Mouse and her dog Fifi, with Mickey making an appearance near the end.

Minnie is busy in the kitchen making cookies for Mickey, but when she puts down the bowl to grab an ingredient, a fly buzzes around the bowl. As Fifi tries to drive the fly away, she accidentally knocks over a box of popcorn, sending the contents into the mixing bowl. She hides as Minnie returns to finish making the cookies. Mickey arrives soon after, and Minnie quickly primps to receive her beau. Mickey gives her a bouquet of flowers, while Pluto gives Fifi a bone. When Mickey asks for his surprise, smoke starts to pour out of the oven; when Mickey notes that something is burning, Minnie races towards the kitchen, alarmed. She quickly pulls out the burnt cookies, which then promptly explode one by one, thanks to the popcorn in the batter. Minnie then sobs over her failed attempt to make cookies like Mickey’s mother made, but Mickey reassures her that his mother used to burn cookies all the time. He decides to solve the situation by running to the store and bringing back a slew of Nabisco products, including Ritz Crackers and Oreos, and Mickey’s favorite, Fig Newtons. Minnie is so thrilled with Mickey, she kisses him.

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February 15

Posted on February 15, 2015 by disneydetail

February 15, 1926 – The Alice Comedy Alice’s Mysterious Mystery is Released to Theaters

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“A couple of Sherlocks on the trail of the missing link…”

On February 15, 1926, the Alice Comedy Alice’s Mysterious Mystery was released to theaters. It was the 31st Alice Comedy released by Disney, and stars Margie Gay as Alice. The short can be seen as controversial, as the villains are dressed as Klansmen (fortunately, the villains are defeated in the end).

In the cartoon world, a bear smoking a cigar is making his way is his chauffeured car when he comes across the school for puppies. He plots with his chauffer to pretend to be a dog catcher and trucks them all inside before taking the school and placing them inside his dog catcher truck. No sooner has the event occurred that Alice and Julius are on the case, tracking the footprints, which only leads to a dead end of a duck wearing shoes. They hear a cry for help from a dog that is soon captured, and Alice and Julius begin the pursuit. The bear manages to carefully get across a tightrope to the other side of the cliff, but as Alice and Julius make their way across, the bear uses his cigar to burn up the tightrope, leaving the detectives stranded. Having made a clean getaway, the bear uses a new tactic to capture dogs: luring them to an inconspicuous trap door with a pretty female dog standing at her balcony as bait. It is soon revealed that the dogs are being placed in the sausage factory in separate crates, with workers turning the dogs into sausages. Alice and Julius finally make it to the factory, with Julius tricking the bear into falling through the trap door. Julius manages to let the dogs go free, and they all chase the bear and other workers out of town.

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