"A Mickey Mouse Cartoon"

Release Date February 25, 1938

Running Time 7:20

Synopsis

Mickey, Donald, and Goofy construct the ship "Queen Minnie" from folding component parts. When Minnie launches the ship by hitting it with a champagne bottle, she whacks it so hard that, once out at sea, it separates into its parts again.

Characters

Mickey Mouse (voice : Walt Disney)

Minnie Mouse (voice : Marcellite Garner)

Donald Duck (voice : Clarence Nash)

Goofy (voice : Pinto Colvig)

Credits

Director : Ben Sharpsteen

Animation : Frenchy De Traumadan

Videos

United States

Mickey Mouse and Donald Duck Cartoon Collections Volume 3

Cartoon Classics : Second Series : Volume 11 : Mickey and the Gang

Italy

Sono Io ... Pippo

Cartoons Disney 3

Le Radici di Pippo

France

Les Aventures de Mickey et Minnie

Laserdiscs

United States

Mickey Mouse and Donald Duck Cartoon Collections 3

Mickey and the Gang / Nuts about Chip 'n' Dale

Japan

Donald Duck : A Star is Born

Mountaineering Mickey

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

Television

The Ink and Paint Club : #39 : Minnie Mouse

Mickey's Mouse Tracks : Episode #16

Donald's Quack Attack : Episode #34

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

Production Number : 3564

Released by RKO Radio Pictures

Comments

From Samuel E. Lago : Another great short featuring the comedy team of Mickey, Donald and Goofy. I liked this one far more than "Moose Hunters" since the roles of the characters were more shared (even so, Mickey doesn't appear as often as Donald and Goofy, I guess it's about Mickey's image that Disney was trying so hard to keep clean.) Still, we see some great moments with Mickey, like when he ends up tied to a flag pole many feet up in the air and salutes with a smile on his face, despite the circumstances. Goofy falls in love with a statue of a mermaid that Mickey is carrying on his back and falls into a barrel of nails. Donald tries desperately to paint the ships rudder that is always moving away from him because Mickey is steering the steering wheel. Donald gets tangled on the rudder with rope and as he spins loose, causes the steering wheel to spin, knocking Mickey over. A very well thought-out short.

From Jerry Edwards : This Mickey and the gang short comes across as just too much "typical formula" to me and the gags just don't work for me.

From Ryan : I didn't really care much for this cartoon, but I did like the part where Goofy was opening a crate and a carving of a mermaid was in it. He then said "Gawrsh! A lady!" At the end, however, after the boat had collapsed, Mickey said "So simple a child could do it" and just laughed not showing any sign of frustration (Disney didn't show Mickey with a wide range of emotions did he?) Donald,however, was quite upset as he said "Aw Phooey!"

From Pesch : Disney runs this short on the bus ride from the cruise terminal at Port Canaveral to the Orlando airport. I confess preferring Bugs and Co. to MM, so I'll only observe that I have thought about Mickey's joy to the failure of his plans for some time, and concluded that a) he's reacting just like a child who delights in knocking down a block tower he built; or b) that Mickey deliberately sets himself up for failure, buying a boat kit he knows will collapse on itself, and is delighted that his scheme has worked so well. Which just goes to show where spending too much time in college film courses will get you.

From Peter : I was just watching this short again on my MM: In Living Color DVD and noticed a cameo that I don't think anyone has mentioned before. In the long shot right before Minnie christens the boat, Horace Horsecollar and Clarabelle Cow can be seen on the platform with Minnie (the left side of the screen.)

From Baruch Weiss : I like this short a lot, especially the music.

From Nikita : This one deserves a 9 too, and my two favorite men are in it! Mickey and Donald, a likely lovable pair.

I was so amused by how confident Mickey was to build such a huge boat, even when he got the idea from reading a scappy catalog page that was an excuse for a blueprint. I quote the message at the bottom: "Even a child can do it." Yeah right! After all the sweat, blood and Lord knows what else they put into that boat and then see it fall apart is something to ponder, but what can I say? It's supposed to be comical, right?

Oh, and my favorite part is when Goofy lands in the nail pail and then freaks out after reading the label. That scene still flashes back when I least expect it.

From Rebecca : The cartoon wasn't very action oriented. It was just showing the Terrific Three doing yet another odd job. This cartoon would not have been as endearing without the part where Goofy falls in love with the mermaid statue. It is such a precious scene of the Goof, one of his highlights, one his best ever.

From Maxwell Morton Goudiss : Maxine and I saw this yesterday, along with "Meet the Robinsons" at Cobble Hill Cinemas. It was worth it nowadays.

From Steve : I was quite pleased to see "Boat Builders" included before the screening of "Meet the Robinsons". Nice to expose a whole new generation to such a classic.

From Katelyn : This is probably one of the funniest I've seen yet. The scene that shows Goofy getting all smitten with the mermaid statue made me laugh so hard I hurt my side a little. Of course, when the boat falls apart at the end, it's funny, but I feel a little sorry for 'em at the same time. I have to give this a 9, only because the part when Donald gets the paintbrush in his mouth grossed me out a little.

We open by looking at the boat design that Mickey, Donald, and Goofy are putting together. According to Mickey, "all you do is put it together." Well, the three of them are very eager to put this ship together and get it out to sea, but that is easier said than done.

Mickey pulls the box open, and Donald and Goofy help him pull the rope to get the boat out, however they pull it way too hard. The boat suddenly expands itself and all three of them immediately take cover. However, they somehow get caught in the middle of the boat expansion and end up sitting on the wood pieces that stick out. Luckily, nobody was hurt. At least the three of them, especially Donald, remain in a good mood despite the minor mishap.

Mickey then follows the directions for putting the mast together. Once he is able to get it out, we are quickly reminded of a similar concept which Donald deemed unsuccessful earlier this year (remember Clock Cleaners and the spring incident). Fortunately for Mickey, he has more success because all he did was get caught as "the mast" since the wooden pieces went through his clothes. Besides, Mickey was a temporary cloth--but at least for his sake, the mast did not talk back like the spring did to Donald inside the clock. Goofy performs his carpentry by putting nails in the wood. However, in the usual "Goofy" fashion, he gets clocked on the head a few times, and even lands on a bucket filled with nails. Now that hurts, as Goofy found out when he spelled the word "nails" that was printed on the barrel.

Donald has his own trials and tribulations as well. He tries to paint the bottom rudder of the boat, but every time he tries to brush paint on it, the rudder moves in the other direction, causing Donald to miss. After a few times, Donald becomes frustrated and gets caught in the rope, becoming a temporary tennis ball attached to the rudder (acting as the tennis racket). Once the rope disconnects, Donald is "fit to be tied" against the rudder.

Returning to Goofy, he opens another box which contains a wooden mermaid. After he knocks on it, the side of the box disconnects, the mermaid appears, then falls out of the box. Goofy becomes scared and catches the mermaid just before it hit the deck. At this point, he thinks that the mermaid has fainted. Once Goofy gets it on her feet, it walks on its heels for a moment and ends up accidentally connecting to Goofy's lips. Obviously, he has now fallen in love with a statue. When Mickey sees the mermaid, he takes it to the front of the boat. However, the bottom gets caught on the ship's whistle, causing Goofy to wonder if someone is whistling at him. He sees the mermaid behind the top of the smokestack, seemingly whistling at Goofy, so he approaches. As Goofy is about to hug the mermaid, Mickey is able to disentangle the mermaid with the cord of the whistle. Goofy ends up hugging the smokestack instead, where a loud sound comes out, causing Goofy to shake. He dives off the boat and onto an anchor, and as the anchor is descending to the bottom, it tears off his clothes, and Goofy is found under the dirt.

Finally, the boat has been finished. Here comes the inaugural try for the Queen Minnie to sail into parts unknown. As a crowd gathers for the ceremony, Mickey instructs Minnie (who makes a cameo here) to break the champagne bottle on the back of the boat, which she does. The ship is finally off and running.

However, disaster strikes when the ship is about a thousand feet offshore. Everything begins to collapse--the wood comes off, the floor rolls up...you name it, it happened. The boat folded "IN" as it would in a box, and when all is said and done, Mickey, Donald, and Goofy end up "all wet" in the water. Mickey once again proclaims (with the same soundbyte), "all you do is put it together." This time, Donald takes exception as he floats on the steering wheel as the cartoon closes.

This is just another cartoon with the "what is happening with each character" philosophy behind it. Hawaiian Holiday (also 1937), Moving Day (1936), Boat Builders (1938), and many others explored the same concept. To me, the cartoon did not provide the excitement of the other cartoons, but it did have a pretty good ending as everything fell apart. Now if this had happened to Popeye, would you blame the ship company or Bluto?

--- Tom Wilkins

Gallery

Click on the thumbnail for the full-sized picture

I have seen "Boat Builders" and would like to
submit a comment on this short