The Simple Things

''The Simple Things'' is an animated short film, part of the ''Mickey Mouse'' series, produced by Walt Disney Productions. Released by RKO Radio Pictures on March 27, 1953, the short is notable as the 126th and final regular entry in the ''Mickey Mouse'' theatrical cartoon series.

Following this short, one-shot Mickey shorts were produced: the featurettes ''Mickey's Christmas Carol'' (1983) and ''The Prince and the Pauper'' (1990), and the shorts '' Runaway Brain'' (1995), and '' Get a Horse!'' (2013).

Plot

At the start of the cartoon, Mickey is seen whistling to the tune of the song "The Simple Things" while walking along a rocky seashore, fishing gear in hand. Pluto, sniffing behind him, spots a mussel as he tries to cover up miniature geysers along the way. The mussel then squirts water at him. Pluto barks at the mussel and the mussel barks back. The mussel gets trapped on Pluto's tail after they fight. He pulls the mussel up and attempts to shove it off his tail but instead, he pulls the mussel up and down like a yo-yo. The mussel accidentally gets stuck in his mouth.

Pluto then rushes to Mickey for assistance. At first, Mickey thinks that Pluto is asking for food and feeds him a hot dog. The mussel then steals Mickey's sandwich and a full pepper shaker which causes the mussel to sneeze thus freeing itself from Pluto's mouth. The mussel bounces around sneezing and wakes up a seagull that decides to eat the mussel. The sneezing mussel escapes the seagull by entering the sea. The hungry seagull steals the hot dog that Mickey is feeding Pluto instead.

The seagull then sets his sights on the fish bait Mickey is using and unsuccessfully attempts to steal the fish while the line is being cast. Dejected but determined, the seagull then sits on top of Mickey's hat and easily steals the fish as he is baiting the hook until Mickey shoos the seagull away. He then floats under the hat to the other bait bucket and again eats the fish until Pluto notices and shoos him away and the seagull by tying up Pluto using his own tail and ears.

Mickey again catches the seagull in his bait and after the bird tries to fly away carrying the bait, Mickey throws a rock in it which weighs it down. To overcome this, the seagull spells out "FREE FRESH FISH" using flag semaphore to get the other seagulls to chase Mickey and Pluto away. The short ends with the seagull floating away with his portable radio and fish in his mouth singing the song "The Simple Things".

Other appearances

The cartoon was featured in the video game ''Disney's Magical Mirror Starring Mickey Mouse''.

Voice cast

* Mickey Mouse: Jimmy MacDonald
* Pluto: Pinto Colvig

Reception

In ''Mickey's Movies: The Theatrical Films of Mickey Mouse'', Gijs Grob writes: "It would have been nice if Mickey went out with a bang, but ''The Simple Things'' is anything but that. It's a quiet, unassuming film, in which we find Mickey at his most relaxed... Both storylines are executed routinely, and the whole comedy feels tired and uninspired."

Home media

The short was released on May 18, 2004, on '' Walt Disney Treasures: Mickey Mouse in Living Color, Volume Two: 1939-Today''.

See also

* Mickey Mouse (film series)

References

External links

*

{{DEFAULTSORT:Simple Things, The
1953 films
Mickey Mouse short films
1950s Disney animated short films
Films about fishing
Films produced by Walt Disney
Films scored by Paul Smith (composer)
Films directed by Charles August Nichols
Films set on beaches
1950s English-language films
English-language short films
1953 animated short films