Mickey Mouse (originally known as Mickey Mouse Cartoons) is a series of American animated comedy short films produced by Walt Disney Productions. The series started in 1928 with Steamboat Willie with 2013's Get a Horse! being the most recent short in the series to date, otherwise taking a hiatus from 1953 to 1983. The series is notable for its innovation with sound synchronization and character animation, and also introduced well-known characters such as the titular protagonist Mickey Mouse, Minnie Mouse, Pluto and Goofy.
The name "Mickey Mouse" was first used in the films' title sequences to refer specifically to the character, but was used from 1935 to 1953 to refer to the series itself, as in "Walt Disney presents a Mickey Mouse". In this sense "Mickey Mouse" was a shortened form of "a Mickey Mouse cartoon" which was used in the earliest films. Films from 1929 to 1935 which were re-released during this time also used this naming convention, but it was not used for the three shorts released between 1983 and 1995 (Mickey's Christmas Carol, The Prince and the Pauper, and Runaway Brain). Mickey's name was also used occasionally to market other films which were formally part of other series. Examples of this include several Silly Symphonies and Goofy and Wilbur (1939).
The shorts released before are currently in the public domain.
Production
Disney began secretly producing the first Mickey Mouse films while still contractually required to finish some Oswald the Lucky Rabbit cartoons for producer Charles Mintz. The first two films, Plane Crazy and The Gallopin' Gaucho, were previewed in theaters but failed to pick up a distributor for a broad release. For the third film, Disney added synchronized sound, a technology that was still in its early stages at the time. Steamboat Willie debuted in New York in November 1928 and was an instant success. The revenues from the film provided the studio with much needed resources, and the studio quickly began to produce new cartoons as well as releasing sound versions of the first two.Gable 2007, p. 115 ff.
Production slowed towards the end of the 1930s as the studio began to focus on other characters and feature-length films. The series was informally retired in 1953 with the release of The Simple Things, but was revived in 1983 and 1990 with two featurettes, or three reel short films. 1995's Runaway Brain returned the series to its single reel format, while the latest installment, 2013's Get a Horse!, combines the black-and-white style of the early films with color CGI animation scenes.
The cartoons were directed by 20different people. Those with the most credits include Burt Gillett (34), Wilfred Jackson (18), Walt Disney (16), David Hand (15), and Ben Sharpsteen (14); the director of the most recent installment, Lauren MacMullan, was the first female director. Notable animators who worked on the series include Ub Iwerks, Norm Ferguson, Ollie Johnston, Frank Thomas, and Fred Moore. Mickey's voice is mostly provided by Walt Disney, with some additional work by Carl Stalling and Clarence Nash. By 1948, Jimmy MacDonald had taken over Mickey's voice. Wayne Allwine voiced the mouse in the three films released from 1983 to 1995. In the most recent film, Get a Horse!, Mickey's dialogue was compiled from archival recordings primarily of Walt Disney's voice work.
List of films The following is a list of Mickey Mouse films. The early films released by Celebrity Productions (1928–1929) and Columbia Pictures (1930–1932) were distributed by region and state, so there is no definitive release date. The dates used in the list from 1928 to mid-1932 are shipping dates, reflecting when the Disney studio shipped the completed films to the distributors, per the 2018 Disney Enterprises book Mickey Mouse: The Ultimate History. The shorts released by United Artists (1932–1937) and RKO Radio (1937–1940) have official release dates announced by the distributors.
The list does not include shorts where Mickey Mouse appears outside of the Mickey Mouse series, such as appearances in short films starring other characters in their own film series, segments from feature films (such as The Sorcerer's Apprentice), nor shorts of Mickey Mouse made as part of the episodes of the television series Mickey Mouse Works.
Gray headers indicate black-and-white films, while yellow headers indicate color films.
Years:1928 1929 1930 1931 1932 1933 1934 1935 1936 1937 1938 1939 1940 1941 1942 1943 1946 1947 1948 1951 1952 1953 1983 1990 1995 2013
1928 InstallmentFilmDirectorExcept where noted, source for directors is Disney A to Z.Release dateThe dates used in the list from 1928 to mid-1932 are shipping dates, reflecting when the Disney studio shipped the completed films to the distributors, per the 2018 Disney Enterprises book Mickey Mouse: The Ultimate History. The shorts released by United Artists (1932–1937) and RKO Radio (1937–1940) have official release dates announced by the distributors. Mickey works aboard a river steamboat captained by Pete with the mission of transporting livestock. Along the way, Mickey picks up animals and Minnie, and comes up with creative ways to play "Turkey in the Straw" with a goat after it eats Minnie's music sheet. Pete is unamused and puts Mickey to work skinning potatoes.
Other appearances: Minnie Mouse, Pete, Clarabelle Cow
Notes: Disney's first sound cartoon, selected to the National Film Registry in 1998. The title is a parody of the Buster Keaton film, Steamboat Bill, Jr., which was released May 12, 1928. Mickey is an Argentine gaucho who rides a rhea instead of a horse. He stops at a cantina where he finds Minnie and dances with her. Pete arrives, abducts Minnie, and takes her away on a donkey. Mickey follows after him, but the rhea has become drunk and slows Mickey down. Finally, Mickey confronts Pete in a fencing duel and saves Minnie.
Other appearances: Minnie Mouse, Pete
Notes: Released on August 2, 1928. The cartoon is a parody of the Douglas Fairbanks film, The Gaucho, which was released November 21, 1927. Mickey wears shoes for the first time. At first he and Minnie have the same eyes as in Plane Crazy, but halfway into the cartoon they turn into the dot eyes seen in Steamboat Willie.
1929 InstallmentFilmDirector(s)Release date Mickey wants to take Minnie to a dance, but Pete's flashy car beats Mickey's horse-drawn wagon as her transportation of choice. At the dance, Mickey uses a balloon to make himself light on his feet — the perfect dancing partner — but this does not keep Minnie at his side for long either.
Other appearances: Minnie Mouse, Pete
Notes: A colorized version was made in the late 1980s. Mickey tries to emulate his hero, Charles Lindbergh, and woo Minnie by building and flying his own airplane.
Other appearances: Minnie Mouse, Clarabelle Cow
Notes: This is the first to be animated in the series, marking the debut of Mickey and Minnie. The cartoon was screen tested on May 15, 1928; the sound version followed on March 17, 1929. Mickey owns and performs at his own theatre, going in drag as a harem girl, in a derby as a Hasidic Jew, and finally in a wig as a fancy pianist.
Other appearances: Minnie Mouse, Kat Nipp
Notes: First time Mickey wears gloves outside of title cards and posters. After Tom Cat (not to be confused with the character from Tom and Jerry) has a drink and goes out for the day with his rifle, Mickey, Minnie, and an army of mice break into the feline's home to play music with whatever they can get their little paws on.
Other appearances: Minnie Mouse, "Tom Cat" (different sources referring to him as Pete or Kat Nipp)
Notes: Remake of Alice Comedies film Alice Rattled by Rats, depicts Mickey and Minnie as regular mice. Mickey joins an army of mice to battle an army of cats. Commander Pete leads the cats in a raid on Mickey's farm. Mickey mounts a spirited defense of the farmhouse.
Other appearances: Pete Mickey flirts with Minnie on the farm, but she spurns him, making him look bad in the eyes of his helper, Horace Horsecollar.
Other appearances: Minnie Mouse, Horace Horsecollar, Clarabelle Cow
Notes: First time Minnie wears gloves.Mickey sells animated hot dogs at a carnival and heckles rival barker Kat Nipp. Also at the fair is Minnie who performs as a shimmy dancer. Mickey gives her a free hot dog, and later under the pale moonlight with the help of two alley cats, serenades Minnie outside her trailer with the 1904 hit song Sweet Adeline.
Other appearances: Minnie Mouse, Clarabelle Cow, Kat Nipp
Notes: First time Mickey speaks actual words, and the first time Mickey has pie eyes and eyebrows. Mickey and his barnyard pals put on a show that includes dancing ducks, opera singing by Patricia Pig, and Mickey's own rendition of his theme song, "Minnie's Yoo Hoo".
Other appearances: Minnie Mouse, Clarabelle Cow, Patricia Pig
Notes: Introduction of "Minnie's Yoo Hoo", Mickey's theme song. Mickey is running a small-town railroad. He takes Minnie for a wild ride on a humanized train which eventually rumbles out of control.
Other appearances: Minnie Mouse, Clarabelle Cow
Notes: A colorized version was made in 1991.PAu001629050 / 1991-10-31 As part of "Mickey's Big Road Show", Mickey plays a calliope pulled by Horace. They later play the xylophone and piano, Mickey mercilessly beating up on the latter.
Other appearances: Horace Horsecollar Mickey goes on a hunting expedition to the jungle, but when his rifle malfunctions, Mickey is left facing several angry and vicious animals. To appease them, Mickey starts playing music, and soon has all of the animals joining him.Mickey weathers a ferocious storm inside an old haunted house where he is compelled to play the organ for a ghost and a group of skeletons.
Other appearances: Skeletons, Ghost
Notes: Title shortened to Haunted House in rerelease title sequence. Mickey works as a beach lifeguard who saves Minnie from being drowned by a wave. After Minnie is rescued, she fusses, Mickey tries to cheer her up by dancing, playing music and scat sings to "Rocked in the Cradle of the Deep". Also present are a wide variety of sea birds and marine mammals who accompany Mickey.
Other appearances: Minnie Mouse
Notes: Last film released by Celebrity Productions. Also the last film in the series that was animated by Ub Iwerks.
1930 InstallmentFilmDirectorRelease date At a concert hall, Mickey performs solo on a violin. His repertoire includes "Traumerei" and the finale of the William Tell overture.
Notes: First film released by Columbia Pictures. Copyrighted as Fiddlin' Around,Smith 1996, p. 270 "Just Mickey" billed as Fiddling Around.Just Mickey at EDAS First short made without Ub Iwerks. This short is also known as "Just Mickey". At the farm, Mickey directs an orchestra rehearsal of Poet and Peasant by Franz von Suppè. The session is filled with distractions and Mickey ends up with a bucket of water thrown on his head.
Other appearances: Horace Horsecollar, Clarabelle Cow Set in the desert of Mexico or the southwestern United States; Mickey enters "El Adobe Cafe" where Minnie works as a bar tender. Pete arrives and abducts Minnie after a brief gun fight with Mickey. Mickey rides after Pete on Horace and eventually saves Minnie.
Other appearances: Minnie Mouse, Horace Horsecollar (without his yoke), Pete
Notes: First time Marcellite Garner voices Minnie, and the first time the animators worked to a prerecorded soundtrack. Mickey is the fire chief of a fire department which receives an alarm in the middle of the night. The group of fire fighters race to the blaze which engulfs a seven-storey building, but on the way the engine loses its water tank. Mickey saves Minnie, trapped on the top floor, by way of a clothes line connected with another building.
Other appearances: Minnie Mouse, Horace Horsecollar