Toon Talk: Walt Disney Treasures: Mickey Mouse in Living Color
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1936:

Thru the Mirror

May 30, 1936. Directed by Hand.

Summary: After falling asleep while reading Lewis Carroll's Alice Through the Looking Glass, Mickey steps through his bedroom mirror into a parallel universe inhabited with anthropomorphic objects.

Behind the Shorts: The barking footstool is reminiscent of a similar character in Beauty and the Beast.

Mickey's dance with the gloves is paid homage in the "Friend Like Me" number in Aladdin.

Mickey's Circus

August 1, 1936. Directed by Sharpsteen.

Summary: Mickey and Donald are the main events at a circus for orphans.

Behind the Shorts: The calliope musical opening would, of course, be later revisited in Dumbo.

Antics with a cute little seal would appear in the 1948 short Mickey and the Seal.

Is it just me, or do those circus band members look a lot like Droopy?

Uncensored: Donald brandishes a rifle against his out-of-control seal act.

Mickey's Elephant

October 10, 1936. Directed by Hand.

Summary: Mickey receives as a gift Bobo the elephant, intended to be a playmate for Pluto. But the pup doesn't take to kindly to the newcomer.

Behind the Shorts: Early attempt at a baby elephant, later seen in Dumbo.

Pluto's "shoulder devil" makes an appearance; later referenced with Kronk in The Emperor's New Groove.

Mickey's Grand Opera

March 7, 1936. Directed by Jackson.

Summary: Mickey is the orchestra leader in an opera starring Clara Cluck and Donald Duck. A nosy Pluto causes chaos.

Behind the Shorts: Members of the orchestra resemble the band from The Band Concert.

Mickey's Polo Team

January 4, 1936. Directed by Hand.

Summary: A Hollywood polo match pitting the "Movie Stars" (Laurel and Hardy, Charlie Chaplin and Harpo Marx) versus the "Mickey Mousers" (Mickey, Donald, Goofy and the Big Bad Wolf).

Behind the Shorts: Inspired by Walt's real-life polo-playing hobby, this short is a real treat for classic movie buffs.

The crowd consists of a host of Disney favorites (Pluto and Dinah, the Three Little Pigs, various Silly Symphony characters) and Tinseltown elite (Shirley Temple, W.C. Fields, Katherine Hepburn, Buster Keaton). Clarabelle Cow even puts the moves on a big-eared Clark Gable.

In a gag later reused with dogs and their owners in 101 Dalmatians, the horses resemble their riders.

Alpine Climbers

July 25, 1936. Directed by Hand.

Summary: Mickey, Donald and Pluto get into trouble when they try their hand at mountain climbing.

Behind the Shorts: Mickey stealing eagle eggs? Surprisingly uncharacteristic of our mouse.

Uncensored: Pluto gets drunk with a Saint Bernard.

Moving Day

June 20, 1936. Directed by Sharpsteen.

Summary: Mickey and Donald enlist Goofy's aid when they are evicted from their house by Sheriff Pete.

Behind the Shorts: Pete's color debut.

Uncensored: Pete lights a match for his cigar off of Donald's beak ... then deposits the spent match in Donald's beak.

Mickey's Rival

June 20, 1936. Directed by Jackson.

Summary: Mickey's romantic picnic with Minnie is interrupted by the appearance of the rascally Mortimer Mouse.

Behind the Shorts: Mortimer was, as everyone knows, Walt's original name for Mickey. The animators patterned Mortimer after Walt himself.

Mickey's car looks and acts like an early model for Who Framed Roger Rabbit's Benny the Cab.

Minnie acts especially wishy-washy in this short, immediately dumping poor Mickey once Mortimer struts onto the scene. When the reunite at the end, they seal the deal with ... a handshake.

Orphan's Picnic

February, 15, 1936. Directed by Sharpsteen.

Summary: Mickey and Donald take a group of orphans out for a picnic.

Behind the Shorts: The bratty orphans who cause all sorts of trouble for Donald here first appeared in the 1934 short Orphan's Benefit.

Again, Mickey barely makes an appearance.

Bonuses:

Parade of the Award Nominees:
This is what bonus features are for:

Never intended to be seen by the general public, Mickey Mouse actually made his first public appearance in color in this short, exclusively made for the 1932 Academy Awards banquet. Wearing green shorts instead of the usual red, Mickey (along with Minnie, Clarabelle and Pluto) lead a parade through a fantasy landscape of the Oscar-nominated acting nominees of that year.

Caricatures of such Hollywood legends as the Wallace Beery, Fredric March (who would tie for Best Actor that year), Alfred Lunt and Lynn Fontaine, Marie Dressler and Best Actress winner Helen Heyes were provided by a former Los Angeles newspaper artist who had just started at the Disney Studios by the name of Joe Grant. Grant would soon become a key storyman and supervising director for Disney and is still working for Disney, seventy years later.

Pencil Tests:
Rare pencil tests of three Mickey Mouses are available here, never before seen by the general public. Unlike the later features, most of the filmed pencil tests for the shorts were not saved. But director Ben Sharpsteen held onto three of these test prints for Mickey's Fire Brigade, Pluto's Judgment Day and On Ice. After his death, they were discovered in his garage and returned to the Disney Studio. The tests are full versions of the shorts in pencil, and you can toggle back and forth with the angle button on your remote between the pencil tests and the final, full-color version.