Not all of Disney's projects got off the ground. There were quite a few shorts that were proposed, some even got as far as the storyboard stage and test animation. But for some reason they never were completed. Sometimes the artists couldn't make the short work well, at other times, they just lost interest as other more interesting projects came up. For a more complete work on the following unmade shorts, see Charles Solomon's great book, "The Disney That Never Was : The Stories and Art from Five Decades of Unproduced Animation" from which most of the following information was culled.

1934

Hillbilly Mickey an uncompleted storyline featured Mickey as a hillbilly, Pete as a moonshiner who mistakes Mikey for a revenue agent, and Minnie as a hillbilly girl.

1935

The Sea Monster also known as "Mickey's Sea Monster" would have pitted Mickey, Donald and Goofy against a comic sea serpent.

1936

Mickey's Bakery Mickey, Donald and Goofy baking an enormous cake for Mrs. Vandersnoot's reception.

Sunken Treasure Mickey, Donald and Goofy go deep sea hunting.

Davy Jones' Locker Mickey goes undersea treasure hunting.

The Three Bears A proposed Silly Symphony of the well-known children's story. Later, it was proposed that the stock characters (Mickey, Donald, etc.) would take over the roles.

Snowbabies A proposed sequal to "Merbabies" would have had the same basic characters as in that short and "Water Babies" frolicking in the snow. The short was proposed by Walt Kelly, who later went on to create the comic strip "Pogo."

Streubel Peter Also known as "Slovenly Peter", a proposed Silly Symphony would have featured Peter, an unruly boy who delights in tormenting animals. The animals, in the end, would have been able to eventutally take their revenge.

The Emperor's New Clothes Originally planeed as a Silly Symphony, it was later developed into either a sort or a featurette starring Mickey, Donald and Goofy in the Hans Christian Anderson fairy tale.

1937

Jungle Mickey Mickey as a newsreel photographer in darkest Africa, Some later developement also included Donald and Goofy.

Mickey's Follies An amazingly large and ambitious projected short would have featured nearly all of the standard Disney characters as well as some of the more popular "Silly Symphonies" characters in a grand musical revue.

Sargasso Sea Mickey in a short version of "20,000 Leagues Under the Sea."

Minnehaha A proposed sequel to 1937's "Little Hiawatha" featuring that character's counterpart in a little Indian girl.

Japanese Symphony Originally planned as a story featuring a moth rescued from a bat amid a Japanese setting, it later transformed into a romantic story about two Asian children. It was never decided exactly how the story should develop; the Japanese setting was retained but the short was never made.

Santa Claus Symphony A third "Santa Claus" Silly Symphony where a child would be shrunk down to midget size and be deleivered to the North Pole along with his Christmas list.

1938

Mickey's Toothache A dental version of "Mickey's Garden" wherein Mickey takes laughing gas and enters a nightmare world of threatening dental equipment.

Pilgrim Mickey Mickey as a pilgrim who goes out hunting for a Thanksgiving dinner. (This would have been the only Thanksgiving short ever made by Disney.)

Salvagers Mickey and Donald (or possibly Mickey and Pluto) as deep-sea divers.

Tanglefoot Mickey would have been set in a racetrack, along side a horse with hay fever.

Mickey's Nephews A Christmas short in which Mickey plays Santa for the Orphans.

Spring Cleaning also known as "Pluto's Pal, Bobo." An attempt to bring back Bobo the Elephant from "Mickey's Elephant" would have had Bobo helping Mickey and Pluto clean Minnie's house.

Pluto's Robot Twin Mickey builds a robot dog for Pluto which goes out of control. Pluto then has to fight the robot to regain control of the household.

Donald Munchausen Donald invents a series of fantastic adventures for the amusement of his nephews.

1939

Museum Keeper also known as "Old Masters" or "Donald and the Old Masters." Donald as a museum keeper guarding a priceless collection of paintings. Some of the 'paintings' in this unmade short, which featured Donald in various classic artworks, were later used in other print projects.

Mountain Carvers Mickey, Donald and Goofy as artisans attempting to carve out their own version of Mount Rushmore.

Morgan's Ghost Also known as "Pieces of Eight" or "Three Buccaneers." It was originally proposed as a short and was eventually considered for a possible feature length project. A variation on "Treasure Island," Mickey, Donald and Goofy find a treasure map and try to follow it to the end, all the time trying to evade Pete. Although it was never made as a short, the storyboards were reworked by Carl Barks as a vehicle for Donald Duck and his nephews for the comics. It was eventually published under the title, "Donald Duck finds Pirate Gold."

1940's

Madame XX (mid 40's) Donald would have been a government courier entrusted with top secret papers which he must keep away from spies, including the Mata Hari-ish Madame XX.

How to Be a Commando (mid 40's) A proposed Goofy short wherein Goofy dreams of going up against Hitler and goes through commando training camp to achieve his goal.>P>

Army Story (mid 40's) Goofy in the army romantiocally involved with a pretty WAC.

A House Divided (mid 40's) A proposed short about wartime rationing would have pitted the Big Bad Wolf, as a black marketeer, against the Three Little Pigs, who have to be taught not to waste resources.

The Square World (mid 40's) This short would have satired the conformist society of Nazi Germany. The creators, Dick Huemer and Joe Grant, thought at one time of extending it into a feature length film. If it had been completed, it would have been a major leap for Disney as the sketches prefigured the modernistic style of the UPA shorts, which would transform animation in the 60's.

Democracy (mid 40's) A proposed film comparing American Democracy with the society of Nazi Germany through the trials of an immigrant family; the Jonses.

Ajax the Stool Pigeon (mid 40's) Also known as Roland XIII; features a bird doing duty as a military carrier pigeon, despite having a fear of heights.

Prelude to War (mid 40's) A proposed World War II US Army training / propaganda short.

Rancho in the Sky (mid 40's) A fantasy, probably considered for one of the package features, with lovers riding against a western setting.

Guerilla Duck (mid 40's) A continuation of Donald's wartime exploits has him trying to intercept a Japanese troop carrier.

Melting Pot (mid 40's) An Unmade propaganda short has a Nazi lecturer extolling the virtues of the German way.

Men in Uniform (1940) Mickey would have played a milkman who finds his foil in a small kitten.

Ditch Diggers (1941) Goofy and Donald work contruction for Pete.

Public Enemy No. 1 (1942) an unproduced educational short on how flies spread disease.

Army Psycho-Therapy (1942) an unproduced army training film dealing with stress, the adrenal glands, and the importance of discipline.

The Good Samaritan (1943) Pluto rescues a cute little puppy from the snow, who subsequently begins to tear the house apart.

Gremlins (1943) Considered for production as a short after plans for a feature film failed to materialize; it was based on a story by Roald Dahl which became part of the national wartime consciousness in the early 40's.

La Loca Mariposa (1944) Donald as a butterfly collector visiting the small country of Venenuzela.

Share and Share Alike (1946) Donald and his three nephews fight over an apple.

Sonja Heine Fantasy (1946) A proposed fantasia short would have been either animated or a live action / animation mix featuring the famed ice skater.

San Blas Boy (1946) A boy and his dog go fishing and are blown off course through the Panama Canal.

Old Geronimo (1947) also known as "Cowpoke Donald," it was orignally planned as a Donald Duck short. Goofy replaced him, as he attempts to "capture the ruffest, tuffest steer in the whole state of Texas."

1951

The Talking Dog Pluto gets roped into becoming a ventriloquists dummy in a circus sideshow.

1960

The Emperor's Nightingale developed by T. Hee after the sucess, and in the same style as the 1959 short, "Noah's Ark." This proposed film would have used paper cut-out animation in telling the traditional tale, but with a much finer and delicate Asian style than that earlier short.

Dates unknown

How to Be a Cowboy A projected 'how-to' short featuring Goofy as chief cowboy on a dude ranch.

How to Train a Dog Goofy tries to teach Pluto some new tricks.

Mickey's Treasure Hunt Mickey, Donald and Goofy go treasure hunting on a shipwreck.

Mickey's Sunken Treasure Mickey, Donald and Goofy go treasure hunting and end up on a desert island.

Navy Mickey short proposed in the 30's would have put Mickey in the Navy along with a bulldog admiral.

Yukon Mickey / Donald two sets of storyboards were set up for an Alaskan story for either Mickey or Donald.

The Legionaires Mickey, Donald and Goofy would have joined the French Foreign Legion.

Mickey and Claudius the Bee Mickey would have shrunk down to the size of a bee and be given a tour of the hive by Claudius.

Penelope and the Twelve Months A short film that would have featured a young girl who travels through time with the aid of a magic grandfather clock. It was later reworked as a more or less Russian version of "The Prince and the Pauper" before it was shelved.

Jabberwocky A short based on the Lewis Carroll nonsense poem.

Abdul Abulbul Amir An undeveloped short based on Carl Sandburg's poem.

The Laughing Gauchito A sequel to the "Flying Gauchito" section of "The Three Caballeros" would have found the lead character with the ability to shatter glass with his voice.

Barefoot Boy And adaptation of the John Greenleaf Whittier poem set in Norman Rockwell's "Never Land."

Prarie Rhythm A planned satire on "classic" western movie cliches.

Pretty Red Wing A western short featuring an Indian maid and a white trapper.