''The Haunted House'', also known as ''Haunted House'', is a 1929

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 released by

Celebrity Productions Patrick Anthony Powers (8 October 1870 – 30 July 1948) was an American businessman who was involved in the movie and animation industry of the 1910s, '20s, and '30s as a distributor and producer. His firm, Celebrity Productions, was the f ...

, as part of the ''

'' film series. The cartoon was produced by

Walt Disney Productions The Walt Disney Company, commonly known as Disney (), is an American multinational mass media and entertainment conglomerate headquartered at the Walt Disney Studios complex in Burbank, California. Disney was originally founded on October 1 ...

and distributed by Celebrity Productions. It was the fourteenth Mickey Mouse short to be produced, the eleventh of that year. The film follows

trapped in a

haunted house A haunted house, spook house or ghost house in ghostlore is a house or other building often perceived as being inhabited by disembodied spirits of the deceased who may have been former residents or were otherwise connected with the prope ...

and forced to play music. It was 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 ...

who also provided the voice of Mickey;

Ub Iwerks Ubbe Ert Iwwerks (March 24, 1901 – July 7, 1971), known as Ub Iwerks ( ), was an American animator, cartoonist, character designer, inventor, and special effects technician. Born in Kansas City, Missouri, Iwerks grew up with a contentiou ...

was the primary animator and

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 Wa ...

wrote the original music. ''The Haunted House'' borrows animation from Disney's first ''

Silly Symphony ''Silly Symphony'' is an American animated series of 75 musical short films produced by Walt Disney Productions from 1929 to 1939. As the series name implies, the ''Silly Symphonies'' were originally intended as whimsical accompaniments to pieces ...

'' cartoon, ''

The Skeleton Dance ''The Skeleton Dance'' is a 1929 ''Silly Symphony'' animated short subject produced and directed by Walt Disney and animated by Ub Iwerks. In the film, four human skeletons dance and make music around a spooky graveyard—a modern film example ...

'', which was released earlier in 1929, although most of the sequence is new. ''The Haunted House'' was Mickey's first cartoon with a horror theme and led the way to later films such as ''

The Gorilla Mystery ''The Gorilla Mystery'' is a 1930 Mickey Mouse animated film produced by Walt Disney for Columbia Pictures, as part of the ''Mickey Mouse'' film series. It was the twenty-second Mickey Mouse short to be produced, the seventh of that year. The sh ...

'' (1930) and '' The Mad Doctor'' (1933). Disney had some trouble with the state censors over this cartoon, because of the gags involving a chamber pot and an outhouse.

Plot

On a

dark and stormy night ''Dark and Stormy Night'' is a 2009 independent film spoofing the haunted house and murder mystery films produced by Hollywood in the 1930s and 1940s. Larry Blamire directed and acted in the film and wrote the screenplay. The film also includes ...

, Mickey Mouse takes shelter in a house that he is passing and soon discovers that it is

haunted Haunted or The Haunted may refer to: Books * ''Haunted'' (Armstrong novel), by Kelley Armstrong, 2005 * ''Haunted'' (Cabot novel), by Meg Cabot, 2004 * ''Haunted'' (Palahniuk novel), by Chuck Palahniuk, 2005 * ''Haunted'' (Angel novel), a 200 ...

. When Mickey enters the house, the door locks itself, before Mickey is startled by several

bats Bats are mammals of the order Chiroptera.''cheir'', "hand" and πτερόν''pteron'', "wing". With their forelimbs adapted as wings, they are the only mammals capable of true and sustained flight. Bats are more agile in flight than most bir ...

appearing from cracks in the

wall A wall is a structure and a surface that defines an area; carries a load; provides security, shelter, or soundproofing; or, is decorative. There are many kinds of walls, including: * Walls in buildings that form a fundamental part of the s ...

and a large

spider Spiders (order Araneae) are air-breathing arthropods that have eight legs, chelicerae with fangs generally able to inject venom, and spinnerets that extrude silk. They are the largest order of arachnids and rank seventh in total species ...

descending from the

ceiling A ceiling is an overhead interior surface that covers the upper limits of a room. It is not generally considered a structural element, but a finished surface concealing the underside of the roof structure or the floor of a story above. Ceilings ...

, while hiding in a

chamber pot A chamber pot is a portable toilet, meant for nocturnal use in the bedroom. It was common in many cultures before the advent of indoor plumbing and flushing toilets. Names and etymology "Chamber" is an older term for bedroom. The chamber pot ...

. After climbing out of the chamber pot, Mickey then hears the sound of

ghosts A ghost is the soul or spirit of a dead person or animal that is believed to be able to appear to the living. In ghostlore, descriptions of ghosts vary widely from an invisible presence to translucent or barely visible wispy shapes, to re ...

and flees into a

hallway A hallway or corridor is an interior space in a building that is used to connect other rooms. Hallways are generally long and narrow. Hallways must be sufficiently wide to ensure buildings can be evacuated during a fire, and to allow people i ...

before the lights of a

chandelier A chandelier (; also known as girandole, candelabra lamp, or least commonly suspended lights) is a branched ornamental light fixture designed to be mounted on ceilings or walls. Chandeliers are often ornate, and normally use incandescent ...

above go out. He lights a

match A match is a tool for starting a fire. Typically, matches are made of small wooden sticks or stiff paper. One end is coated with a material that can be ignited by friction generated by striking the match against a suitable surface. Wooden mat ...

, looks around, and finds a shadow of a cloaked figure appearing in his shadow. Mickey panics and flees in fright. The cloaked figure and several

skeletons A skeleton is the structural frame that supports the body of an animal. There are several types of skeletons, including the exoskeleton, which is the stable outer shell of an organism, the endoskeleton, which forms the support structure insid ...

corner Mickey in a room, and compel him to play the

organ Organ may refer to: Biology * Organ (biology), a part of an organism Musical instruments * Organ (music), a family of keyboard musical instruments characterized by sustained tone ** Electronic organ, an electronic keyboard instrument ** Hammond ...

while skeletons dance along to the music, one of them using a

thermostat A thermostat is a regulating device component which senses the temperature of a physical system and performs actions so that the system's temperature is maintained near a desired setpoint (control system), setpoint. Thermostats are used i ...

as an

accordion Accordions (from 19th-century German ''Akkordeon'', from ''Akkord''—"musical chord, concord of sounds") are a family of box-shaped musical instruments of the bellows-driven free-reed aerophone type (producing sound as air flows past a ree ...

. When the music stops, Mickey tries to escape, but runs into dead ends. He tries to open a

door A door is a hinged or otherwise movable barrier that allows ingress (entry) into and egress (exit) from an enclosure. The created opening in the wall is a ''doorway'' or ''portal''. A door's essential and primary purpose is to provide security b ...

, but the

door handle A door handle or doorknob is a handle used to open or close a door. Door handles can be found on all types of doors including exterior doors of residential and commercial buildings, internal doors, cupboard doors and vehicle doors. There are man ...

is actually a skeleton hand who shakes Mickey frantically. He runs up a staircase and bumps into two more skeletons in a

bed A bed is an item of furniture that is used as a place to sleep, rest, and relax. Most modern beds consist of a soft, cushioned mattress on a bed frame. The mattress rests either on a solid base, often wood slats, or a sprung base. Many beds ...

. He finally falls out of a

window A window is an opening in a wall, door, roof, or vehicle that allows the exchange of light and may also allow the passage of sound and sometimes air. Modern windows are usually glazed or covered in some other transparent or translucent mat ...

and into a

barrel A barrel or cask is a hollow cylindrical container with a bulging center, longer than it is wide. They are traditionally made of wooden staves and bound by wooden or metal hoops. The word vat is often used for large containers for liquids, ...

full of skeletons, a skeleton that pops out from the door of an

outhouse An outhouse is a small structure, separate from a main building, which covers a toilet. This is typically either a pit latrine or a bucket toilet, but other forms of dry (non-flushing) toilets may be encountered. The term may also be use ...

and Mickey runs away terrified.

Reception

On the 2004

Walt Disney Treasures Walt Disney Treasures is a series of two-disc DVD collections of Disney cartoons, television episodes and other material. They cover material from the studio's earliest days to its more recent work. There were nine waves, each containing two ...

DVD set '' Mickey Mouse in Black and White: Volume Two'', ''The Haunted House'' is in the bonus-features "From the Vault" section, which begins with an introduction by film historian

Leonard Maltin Leonard Michael Maltin (born December 18, 1950) is an American film critic and film historian, as well as an author of several mainstream books on cinema, focusing on nostalgic, celebratory narratives. He is perhaps best known for his book of fi ...

explaining the origins of racial stereotypes seen in Disney cartoons of the 30s and 40s. ''The Haunted House'' is included in that group because of Mickey's "Mammy!" impression, which refers to Al Jolson's famous

blackface Blackface is a form of theatrical makeup used predominantly by non-Black people to portray a caricature of a Black person. In the United States, the practice became common during the 19th century and contributed to the spread of racial stereo ...

performance, "

My Mammy "My Mammy" is an American popular song with music by Walter Donaldson and lyrics by Joe Young and Sam M. Lewis. Though associated with Al Jolson, who performed the song very successfully, "My Mammy" was performed first in 1918 by William Fra ...

". The 1931 short ''

The Moose Hunt ''The Moose Hunt'' is a Mickey Mouse short animated film first released on April 30, 1931, as part of the '' Mickey Mouse'' film series. It was the twenty-eighth Mickey Mouse short to be produced and the fourth of 1931. This is the first cartoo ...

'' is also included in that section because of a similar gag featuring

Pluto Pluto (minor-planet designation: 134340 Pluto) is a dwarf planet in the Kuiper belt, a ring of trans-Neptunian object, bodies beyond the orbit of Neptune. It is the ninth-largest and tenth-most-massive known object to directly orbit the S ...

. On the ''Disney Film Project'', Ryan Kirkpatrick praises this short as a step forward in the series' sophistication: "''The Haunted House'' breaks the formula of putting Mickey into a setting and having the music start immediately. Instead, it starts off with an establishing shot of the titular house, which looks like a menacing face on the horizon. Then we see Mickey struggling through a storm trying to reach the house. The music, the rain animation and the blowing wind that moves the objects in the foreground all help to give a sense of foreboding." In his book ''Mickey's Movies: The Theatrical Films of Mickey Mouse'', Gijs Grob disagrees: "Mickey's role in this short is limited, and his only function is as the carrier of the audience's fear. Indeed, he looks repeatedly into the camera for sympathy, dragging us into the haunted house with him. The early scenes of this cartoon manage to evoke a genuine feel of horror, but in the end the short resembles the boring song-and-dance routines of both the early ''Mickey Mouse'' and ''Silly Symphony'' series too much to be a standout." ''

Motion Picture News The ''Motion Picture News'' was an American film industry trade paper published from 1913 to 1930. History The publication was created through the 1913 merger of the ''Moving Picture News'' founded in 1908 and ''The Exhibitors' Times'', founded ...

'' (January 4, 1930) said: "As the title indicates, a haunted house furnishes the background for this subject of the popular Mickey Mouse series. It has plenty of weird stuff capped by a burlesque of Al Jolson's Mammy line, that is a darb, and should bring down any house." ''

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 ...

'' (January 5, 1930) wrote: "The 'creeper' idea, as the title implies, injected into a Mickey Mouse comic, with the usual storm, lightning ghosts, dancing skeletons, etc. Also a flash simulation of Al Jolson, produced by a black-and-white character silhouette, with a simultaneous cry of 'Mammy,' that is a knockout." ''

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), ...

'' (February 12, 1930) said: "Another comedy wow. Joins

' highly imaginative comedy conceptions with sound effects. Mickey Mouse in a haunted villa is fast with laughs throughout. Culminates in Mickey being compelled to play an eerie organ while a ballet of skeletons dance weird capers. Delightfully mad, this short can be added to any bill and improve it thereby."

Releases

*1929 – Theatrical release *c. 1992 – ''

Mickey's Mouse Tracks ''Mickey's Mouse Tracks'' is an American animated television series on The Disney Channel which ran from 1992 to 1995, and featured Disney cartoons and animated short films, dating from before the advent of The Disney Channel. A similar show was ...

'': Episode 25 *1998 – ''The Ink & Paint Club'': "Oooh! Scary!"

Home media

The short was released on December 7, 2004 on '' Walt Disney Treasures: Mickey Mouse in Black and White, Volume Two: 1929-1935''. Additional releases include: *1983 –

Walt Disney Cartoon Classics Walt Disney Cartoon Classics is a video series of Disney cartoon compilations that ran from 1983 to 1996. It was the successor to Mickey Mouse and Donald Duck Cartoon Collections. Cartoon Classics: Wave One The first 14 volumes, from 1983 to 19 ...

: "

Scary Tales "Scary Tales" refers to several different versions of a Halloween-themed compilation of Walt Disney shorts, as well as an alternate and condensed version of "Disney's Halloween Treat" (1982) by the same name or derivation debuting in different ye ...

" (VHS)The Encyclopedia of Disney Animated Shorts
/ref>

References

External links