"A Mickey Mouse Cartoon"

Release Date (November 15, 1929)

Running Time 6:47

Synopsis

Mickey plays music with various jungle animals.

Characters

Mickey Mouse

Credits

Director : Walt Disney

Music : Carl Stalling

Milestones

First use of the theme song over main titles.

Television

The Ink and Paint Club : #60 : Mickey's Boogie

DVD

Disney Treasures : Mickey Mouse in Black and White Volume 2

Technical Specifications

Color Type : Black and White

Animation type : Standard

Sound mix : Cinephone; mono

Aspect ration : 1.33 : 1

Negative format : 35mm

Print format : 35mm

Cinematographic process : Spherical

Original language : English

Released by Celebrity Productions, Inc.

Gallery

Click on the thumbnail for the full-sized picture

Comments

The Disney Channel once banned the cartoon in the belief that it contained cannibal caricatures, although none actually appear in it.

The scene with the dancing apes appears to have been reused in the 1931 short, "The Castaway."

From Jerry Edwards : Mickey finds himself surrounded in the jungle by a lion and a bear, but his music soon has all the jungle animals dancing. In spite of the scene change to a jungle, it's still a pretty "typical" singing and dancing Mickey cartoon. Some of the animation in this short is very poor, compared to earlier cartoons. In a couple of scenes the animals are not animated and are just unmovable cardboard cutouts as part of the background, with no life at all. The results make it appear that there were some "cost cutting" done in this short.

From jasonC : I guess I feel very differently from Jerry Edwards about this cartoon. I love the "singing and dancing" stuff. I could watch these cartoons all day long. This cartoon is a particularly good example of what I admire about the spirit of these old animations -- the bounciness and the playfulness. The music and non-linear action gives the animators a framework and the liberty to do what they want, similar to what a great tapdancer does. I think too many critics judge these cartoons by the quality of the "story". What is the point of that? Clearly the story here is very simple. The art and the humor and the beauty of this cartoon lies in the animation -- check out the expressions on the faces of that cute little jungle cat and Mickey when they interact. This cartoon is a universe of tiny, amazing moments, precisely contained and rendered using deceptively simple techniques. I count this as one of my absolute favorite cartoons. But I suppose if the story-arcs and gags aren't sophisticated enough for you, then maybe you should watch Pinocchio instead.

From Ryan : This short was okay, but I wouldn't call it one of my favorites. It was mainly just music and dancing. There were some various fun gags such as when Mickey grabs a branch off a tree and starts playing it like a saxophone. Another would be where a lion puts his mane around his waste and puts a snake around his neck and does the hula.

From Bill : I am in complete agreement with Jason C. Many people judge these early Mickey shorts on the "quality" of the story. Many people lose sight of the fact that these early Mickeys or any of the Mickey shorts were made to entertain and make you laugh. The slap-stick humor and great sight gags are what it is all about. In fact, the basic story and the music and dancing are just what toons today are sorely lacking. Gags like when Mickey pulls the gun out of his shorts or jumps out of his shorts. And what I thought was the best gag; when the "Hear No Evil, See No Evil Monkeys," appear, the last monkey covers his nose to say "It stinks!" Yes, some of the animation is rude in the early shorts, but I think the rubber hose is just classic toon. You can also tell that Ub Iwerks had a hand in this short; his drawing style is unmistakable. Oh, to go back to 1929 again!