"A Mickey Mouse Cartoon"

Release Date April 25, 1930

Running Time 7:00

Synopsis

Mickey rescues Minnie from drowning, then plays music with various beach animals. He scat-sings to "Rocked in the Cradle of the Deep."

Characters

Mickey Mouse

Minnie Mouse

Credits

Director : Bert Gillett

Television

Mickey's Mouse Tracks : Episode 56

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 Columbia Pictures

Gallery

Click on the thumbnail for the full-sized picture

Comments

Some of the animation was reused in the 1931 Mickey short, "The Castaway."

From Jerry Edwards : Mickey and his animal friends (seals, walruses, penguins, pelicans, and other water birds) have a wonderful day at the seaside singing and dancing. Minnie is swept out to sea and Mickey rescuers her. To help Minnie recover from her fright, Mickey and his animal friends resume their singing and dancing. One fun gag is when Mickey grabs an upside-down row boat to rescue Minnie. A romantic couple is revealed, who obviously were using the boat for "privacy." Once again the singing and dancing just goes on and on, too much for my tastes.

From Ryan : This Mickey short was stupid. The only excitement was when Mickey rescued Minnie from the "wild waves." This was probably the last short that features that black title card (except that it didn't appear at the beginning) with Mickey and Minnie. This is probably not a short that I would want to add to my collection.

From Steve K : I've always loved this short because it's just so darn weird! Mildly racy as Minnie changes her clothes, continuing the early shorts' obsession with her undergarments. Granted most of the 'toon is just typical singing, dancing and playing "instruments" but the action as Mickey rescues her, the way our mice heroes looks vary from shot to shot, and odd bits like Mickey's ears leaving his head to register joy/surprise as he finds a "harp" to play always made me smile. Not the best of the early cartoons, but definitely an 8 out of 10 on the weirdness scale.

From Bill : Here the short starts with a nautical tune "Over The Bounding Main" with all Mickey's animal friends swaying in time with Mickey. I always liked the music in the mickey shorts. It just made them a cut above the rest. Remember these early shorts were when Walt and the team were experimenting and refining Mickey. Although this is not a stand-out short it was still enjoyable. The gags as usual were clever; the lifeguard chair dancing and how the ocean finally gets Minnie and drags her out. Also funny was when Mickey's ears come off as he makes a harp out of a fish net. Of course the best action is when Mickey rescues Minnie and all is well at the end. A nice early short.

From Gijs Grob : Mickey is a lifeguard and he saves a nearly drowning Minnie. To comfort her he does some playing and dancing. Some animals (penguins, sea lions and a singing walrus that would be reused in 'Arctic antics', half a year later) join in. This dull sequence contains some nice scatting by Mickey. Minnie cheers up, calls Mickey 'my hero' and kisses him. Iris out. In this short, there's a story at least the first half of the cartoon, making it slightly better than most early entries. One trivial remark: Minnie appears to wear a bra, when she's changing.

Referenced Comments

The Castaway (1931)