"A Mickey Mouse Cartoon"

Synopsis

Mickey, Minnie, Horace, and Clarabelle are picked on by a mosquito while camping. When Horace swats the 'skeeter, the little bug flies back to the swamp and rallies his relatives for a full-bore attack on our friends.

Characters

Mickey Mouse

Minnie Mouse

Clarabelle Cow

Horace Horsecollar

Credits

Director : Dave Hand

Animation

Les Clark

Ed Love

Paul Allen

Frenchy de Tremaudan

Laserdiscs

United States

Mickey Mouse : The Black and White Years

Japan

Fisherman Mickey

Mickey Mouse : the Black and White Years : Volume 1

DVD

Disney Treasures : Mickey Mouse in Black and White

Television

The Ink and Paint Club : #59 : Clarabelle and Horace

Donald's Quack Attack : Episode #22

Technical Specifications

Color Type : Technicolor

Animation type : Standard

Sound mix : Mono

Aspect ratio : 1.33 : 1

Negative format : 35mm

Print format : 35mm

Cinematograhic process : Spherical

Original language : English

Released by United Artists Pictures

Gallery

Sketch courtesy of
Wonderful World Art Gallery

Sketch courtesy of Gallery C

Mickey and Minnie battle the mosquitos.
Courtesy of Van Eaton Galleries

Click here to submit a comment of your own.

A version was released in 8mm form entitled "Keep 'Em Flying." Another version was also released under the title "Mickey's Exciting Picnic."

Enjoyable cartoon with plenty of action and gags. I especially enjoyed the scene where a "kid" mosquito, after being swatted, returns to the swamp and cries, "Pop, I was just having fun and some big guy hit me." The entire swamp of mosquitos then go on attack. The colorized version adds to the short for me.

I'm sure we've all had problems with bugs while camping. I remember there were mayflies surrounding my camper on one of my camping trips. Well, here we've got Mickey, Minne, Horace, and Clarabelle just relaxing and having a good time minding their own business. Suddenly, a little mosquito goes and bugs them. He's swat and runs back to his father crying. Well, before you know it, there's hundreds of the pesky little critters swarming around the happy (soon to be not-so-happy)campers. One fun scene was when they tied Clarabelle's bloomers to a pot-bellied stove (at least I think that's what they did) and the mosquitos flew in and ended up in the bloomers. The bloomers are then seen darting off into the distance.

Horace Horsecollar is the real star in this very nice short. I like this character and it's a pity that he had to slowly disappear after Mickey teamed up with Donald and Goofy.

I rate this highly funny short with 10 points, because of the music. I find it's the best music of all the shorts - and that say a lot!

This was a little different Mickey. This time instead of just battling Pete or some other villian who kidnapped Minnie, Mickey has equal help from Minnie, Horace and Clarabell. And the fight is with some pesky mosquitoes bent on ruining their picnic. The short starts out with some snappy music which is why Walt's cartoons are heads above all others. The music is always a nice touch in all the shorts. This was a lighthearted battle, full of gags, fast and furious. It was nice to see Mickey with a little help this time! Also, this short shows that Horace Horsecollar and Clarabell are great supporting characters. I feel they always made a huge contribution to any toon they were in. This also shows that all the characters can be given equal amount of gags and situations where no one overshadows another. This is again a tribute to the storywriters in the beginning. Just a fun short.

"Camping Out" is one of the few cartoons in which Mickey, Minnie, Horace Hosercollar and Clarabella Cow are portrayed as four close friends. This friendship was quite commonly portrayed in the Mickey Mouse comics of the time, but on screen it was shown only twice (the other instance is "The Beach Party" of 1931). This time they are camping out, but soon they're troubled by an enormous army of mosquitos. This is a pure gag cartoon, and the gags are ingenious and come plenty, making "Camping Out" one of the most enjoyable cartoons of the era. Some of the mosquito gags were copied in the Betty Boop cartoon "There's Something About a Soldier", released six months later.