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''Plane Crazy'' is a 1928 American
animated Animation is a method by which still figures are manipulated to appear as moving images. In traditional animation, images are drawn or painted by hand on transparent celluloid sheets to be photographed and exhibited on film. Today, most ani ...
short film A short film is any motion picture that is short enough in running time not to be considered a feature film. The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences defines a short film as "an original motion picture that has a running time of 40 minutes ...
directed by
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 ...
and Ub Iwerks. The cartoon, released by the Walt Disney Studios, was the first
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 ...
film produced, and was originally a silent film. It was given a test screening to a theater audience on May 15, 1928, and an executive from
Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Studios Inc., also known as Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Pictures and abbreviated as MGM, is an American film, television production, distribution and media company owned by amazon (company), Amazon through MGM Holdings, founded o ...
saw the film, but failed to pick up a
distributor A distributor is an enclosed rotating switch used in spark-ignition internal combustion engines that have mechanically timed ignition. The distributor's main function is to route high voltage current from the ignition coil to the spark plug ...
. Later that year, Disney released Mickey's first sound cartoon, '' Steamboat Willie'', which was an enormous success. Apart from that, ''Plane Crazy'' was released again as a sound cartoon on March 17, 1929. It was the fourth Mickey film to be publicly released after ''Steamboat Willie'', ''
The Gallopin' Gaucho ''The Gallopin' Gaucho'' is the second short film featuring Mickey Mouse to be produced, following '' Plane Crazy'' and preceding ''Steamboat Willie''. The Disney studios completed the silent version in August 1928, but did not release it in or ...
'', and '' The Barn Dance'' (1929).


Plot

Mickey is trying to fly an airplane to imitate
Charles Lindbergh Charles Augustus Lindbergh (February 4, 1902 – August 26, 1974) was an American aviator, military officer, author, inventor, and activist. On May 20–21, 1927, Lindbergh made the first nonstop flight from New York City to Paris, a distance o ...
. After building his own airplane, he does a flight simulation to ensure that the plane is safe for flight but the flight fails, destroying the plane. Using a roadster and remains of his plane to create another plane, he asks a young mouse girl, Minnie, to join him for its first flight after she presents him with a horseshoe for good luck. They take an out-of-control flight with exaggerated, impossible situations. Clarabelle Cow briefly "rides" the aircraft. Mickey uses a turkey's tail as a tail for his plane. Once he regains control of the plane, he repeatedly tries to kiss Minnie. When she refuses, he uses force: he breaks her concentration and terrifies her by throwing her out of the airplane, catching her with the airplane, and he uses this to kiss her. Minnie responds by slapping Mickey and
parachute A parachute is a device used to slow the motion of an object through an atmosphere by creating drag or, in a ram-air parachute, aerodynamic lift. A major application is to support people, for recreation or as a safety device for aviators, w ...
s out of the plane using her bloomers. While distracted by her, Mickey loses control of the plane and eventually crashes into a tree. Minnie then lands, and Mickey laughs at her exposed bloomers. Minnie then storms off, rebuffing him. Mickey then angrily throws the good luck horseshoe given to him by Minnie and it boomerangs around a tree, hitting him, ringing around his neck, and knocking him out; this causes stars to fly out toward the screen, with one of the stars filling the screen up, ending the film.


Production

The short was co-directed by Walt Disney and Ub Iwerks. Iwerks was also the sole
animator An animator is an artist who creates multiple images, known as frames, which give an illusion of movement called animation when displayed in rapid sequence. Animators can work in a variety of fields including film, television, and video games ...
for this short and spent just two weeks working on it in a back room, at a rate of over 700 drawings a day. It is also speculated
Hugh Harman Hugh Harman (August 31, 1903 – November 25, 1982) was an American animator. He was known for creating the Warner Bros. Cartoons and MGM Cartoons and his collaboration with Rudolf Ising during the golden age of American animation. Career He b ...
and Rudolf Ising might have done work for the short as well. The sound version contained a soundtrack by Carl W. Stalling, who recorded it on October 26, 1928 when he was hired, and a month before ''Steamboat Willie'' was released. This was the first animated film to use a camera move. The point of view shot from the plane made it appear as if the camera was tracking into the ground. In fact, when they shot this scene, they piled books under the spinning background to move the artwork closer to the camera.


Reception

''
The Film Daily ''The Film Daily'' was a daily publication that existed from 1918 to 1970 in the United States. It was the first daily newspaper published solely for the film industry. It covered the latest trade news, film reviews, financial updates, informatio ...
'' (March 24, 1929): "Clever. Mickey Mouse does his animal antics in the latest mode via areoplane. icThe cartoonist has employed his usual ingenuity to extract a volume of laughs that are by no means confined to the juveniles. The sound effects are particularly appropriate on this type of film, and certainly add greatly to the comedy angle with the absurd squeaks, yawps and goofy noises." ''
Variety Variety may refer to: Arts and entertainment Entertainment formats * Variety (radio) * Variety show, in theater and television Films * ''Variety'' (1925 film), a German silent film directed by Ewald Andre Dupont * ''Variety'' (1935 film), ...
'' (April 3, 1929): "Walt Disney sound cartoon, produced by Powers Cinephone, one of the Mickey Mouse series of animated cartoons. It's a snappy six minutes, with plenty of nonsensical action and a fitting musical accompaniment. Constitutes an amusingly silly interlude for any wired house. Disney has derived some breezy situations, one or two of them a bit saucy but, considering the animal characters, permissible."


Home media

The short was released on December 2, 2002 on '' Walt Disney Treasures: Mickey Mouse in Black and White'' and on December 11, 2007 on '' Walt Disney Treasures: The Adventures of Oswald the Lucky Rabbit''.


Copyright and preservation status

The silent version was copyrighted on May 26, 1928, eleven days after it was test screened. The copyright for the silent version was renewed on March 14, 1956. To this day, the silent version that premiered at the test screening has not been found by Disney. The sound version, however, is available. It was copyrighted on August 9, 1930 and was renewed on December 16, 1957, however, the copyright of the film says 1929 (MCMXXIX). The film will go in the public domain in 2025 in the United States according to current U.S. copyright law.


Legacy

* In 1930, the story of ''Plane Crazy'' was adapted and used for the first story in the ''Mickey Mouse'' comic strip. This adaptation, entitled "Lost on a Desert Island," was written by Walt Disney with art by Ub Iwerks and Win Smith. * In the Mickey Mouse short '' The Nifty Nineties'' (1941), Mickey and Minnie's car runs out of control and runs into a cow. The scene was taken almost directly from ''Plane Crazy''. * The cartoon ''Mickey's Airplane Kit'' (1999) from the series ''
Mickey Mouse Works ''Mickey Mouse Works'' (also known as ''Disney's Mickey Mouse Works'' or simply ''Mouse Works'') is an American animated television series produced by Walt Disney Television Animation featuring Mickey Mouse and his friends in a series of animate ...
'' and ''
House of Mouse ''Disney's House of Mouse'' (or simply ''House of Mouse'') is an American animated television series produced by Walt Disney Television Animation that originally aired for three seasons on ABC and Toon Disney from January 13, 2001, to its final ...
'' featured a similar premise in which Mickey built his own airplane to impress Minnie. * In the feature film ''
Walt Before Mickey ''Walt Before Mickey'' is a 2015 American biographical drama film about the early years of Walt Disney based on the book ''Walt Before Mickey: Disney's Early Years, 1919–1928'' by Timothy S. Susanin, with a foreword written by Diane Disney. Th ...
'', ''Plane Crazy'' was featured. * ''Plane Crazy'' plays in a continuous loop in the Main Street Cinema at
Disneyland Disneyland is a theme park in Anaheim, California. Opened in 1955, it was the first theme park opened by The Walt Disney Company and the only one designed and constructed under the direct supervision of Walt Disney. Disney initially envisio ...
, albeit silently, next to '' Steamboat Willie''.Main Street Cinema, Rides & Attractions, Disneyland Park, Disneyland Resort
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See also

* ''Mickey Mouse'' film series


References


External links

* (official posted by
Walt Disney Animation Studios Walt Disney Animation Studios (WDAS), sometimes shortened to Disney Animation, is an American animation studio that creates animated features and short films for The Walt Disney Company. The studio's current production logo features a scene fr ...
) * * * *
Plane Crazy
' a
The Encyclopedia of Disney Animated Shorts
{{Authority control 1929 animated films 1928 comedy films 1928 films American aviation films American black-and-white films American silent short films Animated films about aviation Animated films without speech 1920s Disney animated short films Films directed by Ub Iwerks Films directed by Walt Disney Films produced by Walt Disney Films scored by Carl Stalling Films set on airplanes Mickey Mouse short films 1929 comedy films 1929 films 1920s American films