''Mickey's Follies'' is a

Mickey Mouse Mickey Mouse is an animated cartoon Character (arts), character co-created in 1928 by Walt Disney and Ub Iwerks. The longtime mascot of The Walt Disney Company, Mickey is an Anthropomorphism, anthropomorphic mouse who typically wears red sho ...

short animated film first released on August 28, 1929, as part of the ''

'' film series. It was directed by Ub Iwerks and Wilfred Jackson, with music by

Carl Stalling Carl William Stalling (November 10, 1891 – November 29, 1972) was an American composer, voice actor and arranger for music in animated films. He is most closely associated with the ''Looney Tunes'' and ''Merrie Melodies'' shorts produced by War ...

. It was produced in black and white by The Walt Disney Studio and released to theaters by Celebrity Productions. It was the tenth Mickey Mouse short to be produced, the seventh of that year. This cartoon is the first in which Mickey sings, and the song -- "

Minnie's Yoo-Hoo "Minnie's Yoo Hoo" is a song introduced in the 1929 '' Mickey Mouse'' cartoon '' Mickey's Follies''. The song was composed by Walt Disney and Carl Stalling. It was the first Disney song to be released on sheet music. The song, sung by Mickey M ...

"—was used as the opening theme for all of the ''Mickey Mouse'' cartoons from ''

The Jazz Fool ''The Jazz Fool'' is a Mickey Mouse short animated film first released on December 21, 1929, as part of the '' Mickey Mouse'' film series. It was the twelfth Mickey Mouse short to be produced, the ninth of that year. The cartoon's title combine ...

'' (1929) to ''

Mickey's Steam Roller ''Mickey's Steam Roller'' is a 1934 animated short film produced by Walt Disney Productions and released by United Artists. In the cartoon, Mickey Mouse is the driver of a steamroller which is hijacked by his two nephews. It was directed by Da ...

'' (1934). Mickey's singing voice is provided by an anonymous studio employee; in these early days,

Walt Disney Walter Elias Disney (; December 5, 1901December 15, 1966) was an American animator, film producer and entrepreneur. A pioneer of the American animation industry, he introduced several developments in the production of cartoons. As a film p ...

was not yet the exclusive voice for Mickey.

Plot

The animals in the barnyard are watching a series of short song and dance numbers performed by other barnyard animals, similar to the Ziegfeld Follies of the day. It opens with Mickey playing the piano with other animals. A series of other short song and dance numbers presume. The cartoon ends with Mickey giving a solo performance of his theme song. Along with Mickey,

Minnie Mouse Minnie Mouse is a cartoon character created by The Walt Disney Company. As the longtime sweetheart of Mickey Mouse, she is an anthropomorphic mouse with white gloves, a bow, polka-dotted dress, white bloomers, and low-heeled shoes occasionally w ...

is shown in the audience cheering for Mickey. There is also a cast of other barnyard animals, including a group of dancing ducks, a chicken-rooster duo who beat each other up in sync to the music, an operatic singing pig who is poorly received, and various other barnyard animals in the audience.

Voice cast

Marcellite Garner Edna Marcellite Garner ( ; July 3, 1910 – July 26, 1993) was an American artist and voice actress. She is most remembered as the first regular voice of Minnie Mouse during her time working at Walt Disney Productions and has been partially c ...

Patricia Pigg The Mickey Mouse universe is a fictional universe, fictional shared universe which is the setting for stories involving The Walt Disney Company, Disney cartoon characters Mickey Mouse, Mickey and Minnie Mouse, Pluto (Disney), Pluto, Goofy, and ...

: Eleanor Fouts

Reception

In ''Mickey's Movies: The Theatrical Films of Mickey Mouse'', Gijs Grob writes: "''Mickey's Follies'' is Disney's second serious attempt at lip synch, after '' The Karnival Kid''. Mickey sings much more than in the former cartoon, and the all-too-literal mouth movements give him many awkward facial expressions. Later, the animators would learn to tone down the mouth movements, keeping Mickey's face more consistent without losing the illusion of speech." '' Motion Picture News'' (September 14, 1929): "Walt Disney's creation, the popular Mickey Mouse, sings and dances in a typical barnyard frolic, which is the tenth of the series of Mickey films. Strictly speaking, it is not as good as some of its predecessors, but it certainly contains plenty of laughs, nevertheless. One of the weak spots in the film is the injection of a theme song sung by Mickey Mouse; it seems rather flat. Another thing to notice was the cartoon work, which was not executed with the nicety that some of the other cartoons have. However, the laugh material far outburdens the few shortcomings. The animals have a grand time and the fun is shared by the audience. Some of the barnyard folk are sitting on an outhouse, and in their ecstacy over Mickey's performance they crash in the roof. Immediately the door opens and a pig runs out with his pants down. Can you imagine? Movie audiences relish this sort of screen fun, and ''Mickey's Follies'' is supplied with enough laughs to make them gurge heartily and long."

Home media

The short was released on December 2, 2002 on '' Walt Disney Treasures: Mickey Mouse in Black and White''.

References

External links