Release Date August 13, 1932

Running time 7:24

Synopsis

Pluto licks a sleeping Mickey, causing him to dream that Minnie's kissing him - and proposing marriage. The imagined union turns to catastrophe as tons of little mice demolish the house.

Characters

Mickey Mouse

Minnie Mouse

Pluto

Credits

Director : Bert Gillett

Cut Scenes

A scene of the kids throwing knives at Mickey and pinning him to the wall; kids give a statue a blackface by throwing paint at it.

Laserdiscs

United States

Mickey Mouse : the Black and White Years : Volume 1

Japan

Minnie's Greatest Hits / Pluto's Greatest Hits

Mickey Mouse : the Black and White Years : Volume 1

DVD

Disney Treasures : Mickey Mouse in Black and White

Television

The Ink and Paint Club : #23 : The "Other" Mice

The Ink and Paint Club : #46 : Disney Dreams

Mickey's Mouse Tracks : Episode #42

Donald's Quack Attack : Episode #39

Technical Specifications

Color Type : Black and White

Animation type : Standard

Sound mix : Mono

Aspect ration : 1.33 : 1

Negative format : 35mm

Print format : 35mm

Cinematographic process : Spherical

Original language : English

Released by United Artists Pictures

Comments

A remake of the 1928 Oswald short, "Poor Papa."

Released in 16mm form under the title "Mickey's Wild Dream."

From Jerry Edwards : One fun gag is Mickey and Pluto shaking hands when a stork deelivers Mickey's first baby. After an army of storks delivers a crowd of babies, Pluto offers to shake hands and Mickey slaps Pluto's offered paw away in disgust. I quickly tire of the "kids tearing up the house" bit - used in previous shorts.

From Jeremy M. Palmer : This cartoon was very enjoyable for my brother, sister, and myself in the '40's. A fine statement on over population, though unintended, I am sure. We had one other cartoon with Donald Duck and Goofy trying to be firemen... again very much fun for us kids. I remember Clarabell the Cow, rescued while taking a bath... spitting out a long stream of water while protesting continously as Donald and Goofy try to save her... strange how that scene comes back to me... all this in 8 mm silent b+w, every bit as much fun for us then as the multi media things today's kid watch... in fact our 3 minute cartoons were more of a treat... this was before tv and setting up the projector was a big family affair... and the home movies were ok, but the cartoons were tops!

From Ryan : Mickey is praying as the short starts out. He says "God bless Minnie, God bless Pluto, God bless everyone (even bad people like Hitler?)!" Mickey soon starts dreaming. Mickey and Minnie's new house is somewhat heart-shaped kind of like something out of Care Bears merchandising except that this is not sickingly,nauseatingly cute. We've got about three or four storks (I'm not sure how many, I haven't counted them) dropping bundles of babies down the chimney. Disney may have produced this short in order to send a message that our world is overpopulated. The babies appear to be those obnoxious "orphans" from so many other shorts (notably "Orphans' Benefit"). In fact, this is the very first appearance of them. This short is somewhat similar to "Mickey's Orphans" where the children terrorize innocent animals and start breaking household objects. Well, this short is definitely going to make me only have one (if any) child.

From Mike G : Few of the Disney shorts get as surreal or disturbing as, say, Max Fleischer shorts like Bimbo's Initiation, but this one comes closest-- the scenes of the hordes of brats wreaking havoc surely represent some sort of personal nightmare for the creators of this short. For my money, one of the very best of the early black and white Mickeys.

From Gijs Grob : Mainly about kids ruining the house, this short contains some excellent repetitious and simultaneous animation of lots and lots of kids. The short is not spooky, but more of a bachelor's nightmare.

From Candy : It's interesting that this cartoon depicts marriage from Mickey's point of view and not Minnie's. In other words, we see the man's perspective and not the woman's. The storks delivering babies are used to symbolize that they are having kids. We don't see anything like Mickey and Minnie actually having kids the normal way. But it's interesting that the stork comes only after they are married, not before. This was Disney's comment on the morals and values of the time. First you got married; then you had kids.

It's almost like Mickey blames Minnie for all these kids that the storks are delivering. It's not his fault that all these kids arrive; it's Minnie's fault. The idea that somehow Minnie is to blame is suggested by the scene where Mickey comes into the house and sees Minnie sitting at a huge table with all those kids. It's like Mickey has had nothing to do with it. I know that this cartoon wasn't meant as serious social commentary; it's just something I picked up on when I saw it for the first time.

I always liked the prayer Mickey says before going to sleep. This kind of bedtime prayer was depicted in other Disney films, including Snow White and The Rescuers. It might have been the custom of the time for kids to pray before going to bed. It suggests that people were more religious back then. Mickey doesn't use his normal high-pitched voice when he prays but whispers it in a regular tone of voice. This was the voice of Walt himself. It kind of shows how Walt was not against depicting religious things in his cartoons, even to the extent of saying this prayer himself. It's a very small thing, but I wanted to comment on it.

From Chris Purdue : I give this short a seven. But I give poor Mickey a ten. He deserves it. It's funny that there are so many Mickey shorts where he has to deal with, or even dreams he has to deal with such nasty little brats. I can't even deal with one nasty little brat.

From Bill : I am going to use this short as an example to all the naysayers and critics who say Mickey Mouse can't hold up a short by himself. (Disney, are you listening?) I think this is one of the best storylines and collection of gags hat Disney has written. This is Mickey at his best and funniest! As Mickey goes to bed, he kisses Minnie's picture, because we know he loves her, and goes to sleep. Pluto begins to lick his face and the dream begins. A great dream story because Mickey finally marries Minnie! There were gags galore, but the two classic ones were when Pluto started to shake Mickey's hand after the last stork dropped off the large bucket of baby "Mickeys", Mickey slapped it away as to say; "Now what am I going to do?" The next great gag was when Mickey was dodging all the knives and utensiles thrown by the baby Mickeys, the look on his face as the meat cleaver missed him was hilarious. I know that some fans get tired of the "babies" wrecking the house, but my wife thought they were the cutest things around, and they did provide for all the gags. The point is that Mickey does not need Donald, Pluto, Goofy or anyone else to carry off a top-notch short! Go ahead to 1995 to "Runaway Brain," another great short, and with the right storyline and gags, Mickey is still the funniest guy around. When I hear writers say they can't find material to keep Mickey's films fresh, they aren't trying very hard. If you can find stories for Goofy and Donald, then you can do it for Mickey! I can think of a hundred different stories for Mickey in modern times for a great series of shorts, and I'm not a pro, and I'll bet thousands of other fans can too! There is unlimited material for the mouse that "started it all."

So, what I am trying to say in this long comment is that I hope Disney does not forget how it started, and I'm sure Walt would not want Mickey to stay just a "corporate symbol." After all, he is his son!

Referenced Comments

Mickey Steps Out (1931)

Mickey's Orphans (1931)

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