Release Date October 28, 1933

Running time 7:21

Synopsis

Tony Dinero enlists Mickey to watch the shop while he's away at lunch. Unfortunately Beppo the Gorilla escapes from his cage and uses Minnie as Fay Wray in a King Kong imitation.

Characters

Mickey Mouse

Minnie Mouse

Tony Dinero

Beppo the Gorilla

Credits

Director : Wilfred Jackson

Animation : Art Babbitt

Laserdiscs

United States

Mickey Mouse : The Black and White Years : Volume 1

Japan

Mickey Mouse : The Black and White Years : Volume 1

DVD

Disney Treasures : Mickey Mouse in Black and White

Television

The Ink and Paint Club : #39 : Minnie Mouse

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

From Jerry Edwards : I most enjoy the fun gag of the gorilla mimicking stars from a movie magazine, which leads to trouble when it mimics King Kong. Enjoy the colorized colors.

From Ryan : After Mickey gets a job at a pet store, the owner leaves him in charge while he goes away. Minnie comes in and sees him. One thing I noticed was that there was an ostrich there. What kind of pet store sells ostriches? What kind of pet store sells gorillas? True, I have seen a monkey at a pet store, but never a gorilla. Wasn't that ostrich in an unspeakably small cage? Oh God, that would be terribly uncomfortable. Seeing the gorilla do impersonations of various movie stars was pretty funny as well as the "King Kong" parody. In fact, "King Kong" was released in 1933 as well. What a coincidence!

From Pete : I first saw this short when I was 14 years old and I couldn't help but notice that it is very similar to the 1938 Mickey Mouse short The Brave Little Tailor. In both cartoons Mickey must unexpectedely fight and kill a giant. One scene in this short tells you that The Brave Little Tailor was a remake of this short. The scene in which Mickey hides in a loaf of cheese and then the giant makes that cheese into a sandwich and eats Mickey is very similar to the scene in Brave Little Tailor in which Mickey hides in a batch of pumpkins that the giant eats. I think that Mickey getting swallowed once was good enough, I mean give the mouse a break! In conclusion this was a very good Mickey Mouse cartoon, and I hope to watch it again very soon.

From Bill : One of the best "gag" filled and "slapstick" of the Mickey shorts. The imagination of the writers of the 30's to this day can't be topped! Subtle gags of Mickey dusting the goldfish off and picking up boxes with the bird are just starters. Mickey was at his bravest, even as Beppo picks him up by the shorts, he still tries to punch him and save Minnie. The gag of Beppo imitating King Kong, complete with the "birds" flying around him like the bi-planes. Clever! (Poor Faye Raye, I mean Minnie!) I wonder if any fans picked up on the two best gags in this short. If anyone watches The 3 Stooges, they should know the Stooges copied these two gags. When Mickey is dodging the boxes thrown by the chimps, every time he tries to throw the cage at Beppo, he gets clobbered. He finally ducks, smiles like he's in the clear, goes to throw the cage, and gets nailed in the head with the cash register drawer. I could not stop laughing; Donald Duck was never this funny. And the last gag, when Mickey and Minnie are running out Of the store, they run into each other (ala The Three Stooges), fall down and take off again into the sunset. This was just one funny short and should be in every fans collection.

From Gijs Grob : Mickey applies for a job in an Italian pet store. Then Minnie drops by and they perform their usual sing-and-dance-routine. This was Mickey's last cartoon to feature half a song-and-dance routine and half a story (a structure that had become old-fashioned by now). This time Minnie's quite tiresome lalala's are interrupted by 'Beppo, the movie monk', an ape who has read about King Kong (released that same year) and who wants to imitate him. This leads to a nice spoof of King Kong, in which the ape climbs a pile of boxes with Minnie under his arm while being attacked by birds, mimicking the planes in the original feature. In the end Mickey and Minnie are fleeing the pet shop, just before the owner returns, leaving it in complete ruin. Part of the fun in this cartoon is provided by pseudo-Italian labels (like "birda seed" and "biga da sale"), a type of pun that was later borrowed extensively by Chuck Jones in his Pepe le Pew-cartoons.

Referenced Comments

Mickey's Mechanical Man (1933)

I have seen "The Pet Store" and I would like to
submit a comment on this short.