Parade of the Award Nominees

A Special Cartoon

Release Date : November 18, 1932

Running Time : 2:32

Synopsis

A short short made especially for the 1932 Academy Awards show; it features a small parade of the nominees for best actor and actress. In order they were Wallace Beery for "The Champ" (with Jackie Cooper trailing along behind), Alfred Lunt and Lynn Fontanne for "The Guardsman", Helen Hayes for "The Sins of Madelon Claudet", Fredric March for "Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde", and Marie Dressler for "Emma."

Characters

Mickey Mouse

Minnie Mouse

Clarabelle Cow

Pluto

Credits

Milestones

Although "The Band Concert" was Mickey's first complete short in color, this was actually his first color appearance, as short as it might have been.

Laserdiscs

United States

Mickey Mouse in Black and White: Volume 1

Japan

Mickey Mouse : The Black and White Years

DVD

Technical Specification

Color Type: Technicolor

Animation Type: Standard animation

Sound Mix: Mono

Aspect Ratio: 1.37 : 1

Negative Format: 35mm

Print Format: 35mm

Cinematographic Process: Spherical

Original Language: English

Comments

From Ryan Kilpatrick at The Disney Film Project : A shorter review today, because today’s subject is all about the visuals. It’s an unreleased short, called The Parade of the Award Nominees, that was produced for the Oscars in 1932. Normally, this would not be a very significant short in the history of the company, but this one is. Why? Because it gives us our first glimpse of Mickey and the gang in Technicolor!

Yes, that’s our friend Mickey Mouse, leading a parade of the Oscar nominees across the screen. The animation is simple and there’s not a lot of characters other than Mickey and the gang, but seeing them in color is very interesting.

Note Mickey’s pants first of all. They’re green! I’m not a toy/merchandise collector, so I don’t know if that’s the case in the toys of this time, but seeing Mickey with green pants is quite a shock to those of us who have seen the familiar red, black and yellow color scheme for so long. Also note Mickey’s outfit, similar to what he would wear in The Band Concert, one of his most famous color shorts.

Next, we’ve got Minnie, carrying a banner announcing the presence of the nominees, but her color scheme is also interesting. We’re used to the pink and white polka dots now, but here we see a Minnie in a teal/light blue number. Very interesting.

It’s also interesting to see Clarabelle used in this short. As we’ve seen, Goofy has been making more and more appearances in the shorts, but he’s not present here. Clarabelle makes her appearance as part of the parade, throwing flowers and the like.

Pluto is the last of the Disney characters, bringing up the rear after the award nominees, with “The End” affixed to his tail. Cute gag. His coloring scheme is a little off as well, more of a muted brown/gray than the orange color we know today.

As far as the nominees themselves, I’m sure they would be good if I knew who they were. As someone who loves some old movies (watch Turner Classic Movies everyone!), I should know these, but I don’t. I believe this is Frederic March, from his role in Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, but other than that, I don’t know the others.

As I said, the fun in this one is watching our favorite Disney guys and gal in color for the first time. It’s interesting to see how these simple designs would later become etched in stone not only from the design but also their color scheme.

From David Gerstein at Ramapith : The green shorts and yellow gloves on Mickey were sort of the "alternate color scheme" of the time. As early as 1930, merchandise typically gave Mickey his red shorts and white gloves, but this alternate look was almost as common.

The Sunday comics went with red shorts and yellow gloves into the 1950s, indirectly leading to Mickey's retaining the yellow gloves in modern Italian comics.

From Jerry Edwards : I especially enjoyed the section of Fredric March changing from Dr. Jekyll to Mr. Hyde. One item you don't have in your info on this is that the background and several of the characters is recycled animation from the 1931 Silly Symphony Mother Goose Melodies.

From Ryan : This short was never viewed by the public. It was simply made for the Academy Awards. Here we see Mickey leading the parade and Pluto is walking in the back of the line with a banner that reads: THE END. In fact, Pluto is gray in this short rather than yellow.

From Jan Rola Rozycki : After Mickey's Good Deed, this is my favorite Disney short, being, in the words of Leonard Maltin, 'A real treat for Disney fans and old movie aficionados alike'. The strong points are the music and fairytale background, as well as the buzz you are likely to get seeing Mickey, Minnie, Clarabelle and Pluto in glowing Technicolor for the first time. Short and sweet, and the boxer had me in stitches.

From Bryan Hensley : This marks Mickey's first appearance in Technicolor, as well as Minnie, Clarabelle Cow and Pluto. (who's unusually gray in it!) Mickey's first whole short in color was The Band Concert in 1935! The music played in this shortie was re-used in a 1939 shortie called The Standard Parade for the Standard Oil company (That one had the 7 dwarves and other newer characters in it, as well as Mickey and Minnie's new look!) In case you're wondering how classic shorts like Gallopin' Gaucho or Mickey's Good Deed or Mickey's Orphans ended up in color on TV (or home video); they've been restored and colorized with the current technology of the 80's or 90's! But I digress, Parade of the Award Nominees is entirely done in 3-strip Technicolor, despite being only 2 1/2 minutes long. For all you movie buffs out there who recognize the stars in the parade, or anyone who wants to see a previously-unseen part of Mickey's history, I hope you enjoy this shortie which doesn't involve any real words being spoken! By the way, Mickey looks better in red shorts and Pluto looks better in yellow!

Parade of the Award Nominees

A Special Cartoon

Synopsis

Characters

Credits

Milestones

Laserdiscs

United States

Japan

DVD

United States

Germany

France

Italy

Sweden

United Kingdom

Technical Specification

Comments

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