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1936 Index
Thru the Mirror
Released May 30, 1936
Running Time 8:49
Screen Shots
(click on thumbnail for full sized picture)
Thru the Mirror
Thru the Mirror
Thru the Mirror
Thru the Mirror
Thru the Mirror
Thru the Mirror

Movie Poster

Crazy With The Heat Poster

Title Cards

Thru the Mirror
Thru the Mirror
Thru the Mirror
Thru the Mirror

"A Mickey Mouse Cartoon"

Synopsis

Mickey dreams that he steps through the mirror where everything is alive. While there, he dances with a pair of gloves and a pack of playing cards.

Characters

Mickey Mouse
King Neptune
King of Hearts
Queen of Hearts

Credits

Director : Dave Hand
Animation
Dick Lundy
Bob Wickersham
Hardie Gramatky
Johnny Cannon
Ugo D'Orsi
Leonard Sebring
Norm Ferguson
Story
Joe Grant
Bob Kuwahara
Bill Cottrell

Videos

United States
Mickey Mouse and Donald Duck Cartoon Collections Volume 1
The Spirit of Mickey
Germany
Die Popcornschlacht
France
Disney Parade 1
Italy
Sono Io ... Topolino
Cartoons Disney 4
Video Parade 14
Topolino 70 Anni di Avventure

Laserdiscs

United States
The Spirit of Mickey
Mickey Mouse and Donald Duck Cartoon Collection Volume 1
Japan
Mickey Mouse : A Star is Born
Mickey's Family Album
Disney Cartoon Festival 1
Milestones for Mickey
Mickey's Golden Jubilee

DVD

Disney Treasures : Mickey Mouse in Living Color
Region 1 : United States
Region 2 : France
Region 2 : Germany
Region 2 : Italy
Region 2 : Sweden
Region 2 : United Kingdom

Alice in Wonderland
Region 2 : Germany
Region 2 : Italy
Region 2 : Sweden
Region 2 : United Kingdom

Region 1 : United States
Alice in Wonderland
Walt Disney Animation Collection : Classic Short Films : Volume 1 : Mickey and the Beanstalk
Region 2 : United Kingdom
Everybody Loves Mickey
Region 2 : France
Tout le Monde aime Mickey
Region 2 : Germany
Alle Lieben Mickey
Region 2 : Sweden
Alla Alskar Musse

Television

Walt Disney Presents : The Plausible Impossible
The Ink and Paint Club : #50 : Storyteller Mickey
Mickey's Mouse Tracks : Episode 52

Technical Specifications

Color Type : Technicolor
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, Inc.

Comments
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From Tom Wilkins :
"Classic" Mickey is the only way to describe this cartoon filled with more action surrounding a single character than the real Alice In Wonderland story. Chairs, phones, and cards personnify themselves with cute slapstick characteristics which makes this cartoon even more special, even though it was just in Mickey's dream. Once one card gets the "black ink" treatment, war breaks loose as Mickey runs for whatever cover he could find. When the cards persist on throwing their spades, diamonds, etc. at Mickey, he escapes by pretending he is running on top of the world. However, King Neptune shows up for the first time in four years, and by that time, Mickey's alarm clock sounds to wake him up, only to casually crush the clock so he can try to continue his dream. It may not be the top Mickey short of all time, but it is certainly in the top 5.

From Thomas Mulligan :
That's a good short! But, who did Mickey Mouse's tap dancing?

From J. D. Weil :
This is sort of a side note: Carl Barks began his career as an in-betweener on the tap dancing sequence in this short.

From Jerry Edwards :
While technically brilliant, nothing in this short appeals to me emotionally. I am unable to get involved in the story or characters.

From Ryan :
Mickey is reading "Through the Looking Glass" and falls asleep. He dreams that he enters the other side of the mirror. Everything inanimate is animate (so I suppose everything that's animate is inanimate). There's a "dog" footstool and a chair who portrays the owner. Also was a humanized umbrella. There wasn't much excitement in this short. I guess it was mainly meant to be funny rather than exciting.

From David Willis :
I have wanted to see this short for ages and I found by accident one day and it is on the british Alice in Wonderland DVD ( I am not sure whether or not it appears on the American one). This short was absolutely fantastic, and I didn't mind the "it was all a dream " routine because the story was so fantastic. A perfect 10.

From Jeremy Fassler :
Stupid. Just plain stupid. Clever gags, but otherwise, stupid. I'm not a huge fan of Mickey, as he isn't as funny as Goofy or Donald Duck, who had the all time best Disney cartoon ever, being "Der Fuehrer's Face."

The best moment comes when Mickey dances with the queen of hearts, drawn to look like Garbo. Coming to her defense is the king, Charles Laughton, who played Henry the VIII and won an Oscar.

Avoid it.

From Baruch Weiss :
The reason I like this short is because of the music. I wonder who did it because in the early Disney cartoons there were no opening credits.

From Ben Blight :
This is the best Mickey cartoon, in my opinion. It is not so much a story as it is a collection of creative gags: a combination take-off of "Alice In Wonderland" and spoof of movies of the time period. For example, Mickey dances with cards on a poker table, which make kaleidoscope designs that we see from a bird's eye view, like in Busby Berlekey's musicals. Then Mickey dances with the queen of hearts--they tap and swing like Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers across a dance floor. The superb music is classic swing, typical of the time period. The action at the end, when Mickey is chased my cards, is brilliant: much more immaginative than the "card" scene in Disney's later "Alice In Wonderland" Movie.

From Bill :
This Mickey short is one of my favorites. I am a big fan of Mickey and he just outdoes himself in this one. The story of Mickey dreaming going through the mirror is clever, and the way all the inanimate objects come to life make it surreal. Just a great short. Top 10 in my collection!

From Violet :
I saw this short when I was a little girl. I loved it! It might not have been my favorite but it is the one that I remember most. It was so cute and I loved it when Mickey danced with the gloves. Although, I did get a little scared when the cards started attacking Mickey.

From Michelle I. :
This short is included on the "Alice in Wonderland" special edition DVD set. Its strongest points are Mickey's dance with the gloves and the attack of the playing cards.

From Severin :
A cartoon that is labeled "A Walt Disney Mickey Mouse" and for once it actually is a Mickey Mouse cartoon, and I think that's what makes this cartoon very special, and one my favorites, Whoever said Mickey can't really carry an entertaining short by himself needs to get their head examined.

From Mick Mouse :
One of my favorite shorts. I absolutly LOVE the music! Today's music stinks! And I wish someone would dance with me the way Mickey dances with the Queen of Hearts. *sigh*

From Mike :
This is my favorite Mickey cartoon. It's a true classic. I always enjoyed the dancing scenes. Just brilliant.

From Bryan Hensley :
It's jazzy music, like the kind in this short, that make me want to boogie my bottom off. One critic says "today's music stinks!", but when it comes to Kyle Massey's music, I couldn't agree more. His version of "You've Got A Friend In Me" is downright shameful compared to the original version from Toy Story! But I digress. Mickey can certainly "skip it" with the objects in his bedroom! There's something familiar in one scene I remember hearing. An ad for Disney's Mini-Classics VHS collection featured the music from when Mickey was dancing with the gloves, right down to his tuchus getting kicked into a deck of cards! (The Favorite Stories VHS version of "Wind In The Willows" has it for some weird reason, when the tape ends that is.) This whole short was in the first volume of Disney's Animation Collection! Thru The Mirror was also out 15 years before Alice In Wonderland ever came to theatres! Amazing, isn't it? The radio was making a joke about the phrases "Calling all cars" and "Calling all guards" all in one. (Hence "Calling all cards".) Who'd have thunk a nut would make you huge then shrink smaller than your normal size in a moment flat?

Referenced Comments

Mickey's Good Deed (1932)
The Mad Doctor (1934)