Release Date April 13, 1935

Running Time 8:55

Synopsis

A friend in Australia has sent Mickey the kangaroo Hoppy, who with her pesky son drives Pluto completely to distraction. Mickey wants to train the kangaroos to be fighters, but they end up throwing him in his own hay-baling machine. "C'mon - mix it up!"

Characters

Mickey Mouse

Pluto

Credits

Director : Dave Hand

Milestones

This was the final Disney cartoon made in black and white.

Television

The Ink and Paint Club : #16 : Escapees from the Ark

Donald's Quack Attack : Episode #44

DVD

Disney Treasures : Mickey Mouse in Black and White Volume 2

Technical Specifications

Color Type : Black and white

Animation type : Standard

Sound mix : Mono

Aspect ration : 1.37 : 1

Negative format : 35mm

Print format : 35mm

Cinematographic process : Spherical

Original language : English

Released by United Artists Pictures

Comments

From Jerry Edwards : I dislike boxing and films and shorts with boxing as a subject - so I don't care for this short. One oddity is that Pluto's thoughts are "spoken out loud" in this cartoon - which has occurred in a few shorts, but it just doesn't work for me. The colorized version does add some to the short for me.

From Bill I. : This was not one of my favorite shorts, but the best part was the beginning when Mickey is building Pluto's doghouse and the interaction between the two shows the immense love Mickey and Pluto have. He receives a box from Australia from a "Leo Buring" who was a pioneer in the Australian wine industry (wonder how Mickey knew him?) It turns out to be a boxing kangaroo and Mickey runs right to his gym to get a pair of gloves to "mix it up" with the kangaroo. After Pluto sees the kangaroo in his new doghouse, he of course gets mad and that's when Mickey sees the kangaroo has a baby kangaroo in his pouch. So Mickey tries to box the adult in his gym and, after a few good punches, the kangaroo mops up the floor with poor Mickey. Pluto does not do much better with the baby. After a time Pluto realizes the baby really loves him and puts his head on his shoulder, and Pluto is charmed! The best sight gag was Mickey getting caught in the hay bailing machine and coming out still thinking he was fighting the kangaroo. One thing I noticed was the faces of the kangaroos were very Mickey-like; with a shorter nose and more rounded ears they would have been dead ringers. I give this a 7.

Animation sketch of Mickey from "Mickey's Kangaroo"
Courtesy of Wonderful World of Animation.

     This story has the 80's group Men At Work wondering if the storyline came from a land down under! There is not much excitement in this film, but the cutsie-pie story goes like this:

     We begin by seeing Mickey putting the finishing touches to Pluto's doghouse, which Pluto absolutely adores. He runs around the house and embraces Mickey in the process. Meanwhile, a huge package arrives from Australia faster than Fedex promising that it would be "on time!" Then again, I should take that back because this poor mailman was carrying it on his back! No wonder he went so slow!

     Anyway, before Mickey can hammer the box open, it hops away and catches Pluto by the nose, then the tail. A fist comes out and nails Pluto in the face, causing him to run with the contents of the box still chasing him. The box breaks as it hits the steps and what do you know, sport...it's a kangaroo!

     Mickey greets the kangaroo and then decides to get something from the house. In the meantime, Pluto barks back, but hides when the engrossening noise of the kangaroo responds to him. The kangaroo makes himself at home, but in Pluto's new doghouse! It could not fit--no wonder this was a violation of fire codes for the residence. Unfortunately, once the kangaroo got comfortable, the back and top of the doghouse are already splintered to pieces.

     Pluto's conscience is telling him that he is basically letting the kangaroo get away with murder on his property! After the kangaroo licks Pluto's name off the doghouse, that was it! As Pluto attacks, it takes one punch to knock him backwards into a bunch of wooder clothespins. But as he attacks again, it becomes a handicap match...there is a little kangaroo in the pouch that Pluto did not see! Mickey comes out with a boxing glove so he could play with the kangaroo, but notices the little one from the pouch, so he calls Pluto over from the chicken coop he was hiding in. Mickey decides he would play with the larger kangaroo and let Pluto play with the other one.

     As Mickey walks with the kangaroo to the gym, the kangaroo hops and drags Mickey along very quickly. At this point, Pluto's conscience is daring him to be very evil to the younger kangaroo. He sneaks up on the kangaroo and catches him drinking out of Pluto's bowl! The plan foils temporarily as the kangaroo hiccupped, scaring Pluto off.

     Back at the gym, Mickey decides to box with the dad kangaroo and gets the early hand by teaching it some blows, but gets clocked later with a Mike Tyson-like right hook, tying Mickey in the ropes. Mickey then gets caught with several punching combinations by the kangaroo...even with his tail! Don King would not like the outcome of that fight if he was not managing the kangaroo.

     Returning to the home front, Pluto and the little hopper continue to battle over the bowl of food Pluto was supposed to eat, but the little kangaroo uses his tail to send the bowl airborne and it breaks over Pluto's head! The chase is on, but Pluto gets wet thanks to the kangaroo hopping on the giant water pump. Pluto then gets a rough ride of a wheelbarrow (the wrong way) and lands in a garbage dump. Little does he realize that he got two paws stuck on a spring, and Pluto bounces up and down to the little kangaroo's delight. They hop for a little bit before Pluto hops a little too high and smashes head-first into the roof of a greenhouse. Pluto does not even realize the little kangaroo loved him for what he did and stayed attached like Pluto was the father by resting in a clothing pouch Pluto previously bounced straight into!

     Later, the two of them watch the commotion coming from Mickey's gym as all the animals evacuate the premises for the rough play the dad kangaroo was doing. Mickey was getting extremely busy bouncing back and forth on the punching bag that it eventually broke--and the momentum carried Mickey into a hay-bailer. Scared, the kangaroos and Pluto run for higher ground. The machine overworks once it spits out the bail of hay (with Mickey in it) and breaks down. Mickey comes out of the bail, thinking that he is still fighting the kangaroo...but he is not. The kangaroo is rocking on his tail reading the sports section. As the film closes, the younger kangaroo, then Pluto, emerge from the pouch and all three embrace.

     Told you there was not much excitement to it...now can Outback Steakhouse liven the Australian Rules Football events?

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