Lonesome Ghosts
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''Lonesome Ghosts'' is a 1937
Disney The Walt Disney Company, commonly referred to as simply Disney, is an American multinational mass media and entertainment industry, entertainment conglomerate (company), conglomerate headquartered at the Walt Disney Studios (Burbank), Walt Di ...
animated cartoon, released through RKO Radio Pictures on
Christmas Eve Christmas Eve is the evening or entire day before Christmas, the festival commemorating nativity of Jesus, the birth of Jesus in Christianity, Jesus. Christmas Day is observance of Christmas by country, observed around the world, and Christma ...
, three days after ''
Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs "Snow White" is a German fairy tale, first written down in the early 19th century. The Brothers Grimm published it in 1812 in the first edition of their collection ''Grimms' Fairy Tales'', numbered as Tale 53. The original title was ''Sneewittch ...
'' (1937). It was directed by Burt Gillett and animated by Izzy (Isadore) Klein, Ed Love, Milt Kahl, Marvin Woodward, Bob Wickersham, Clyde Geronimi, Dick Huemer, Dick Williams, Art Babbitt, and Rex Cox.Lonesome Ghosts
. ''www.bcdb.com'', April 12, 2012
The short features
Mickey Mouse Mickey Mouse is an American cartoon character co-created in 1928 by Walt Disney and Ub Iwerks. The longtime icon and mascot of the Walt Disney Company, Mickey is an anthropomorphic mouse who typically wears red shorts, large shoes, and white ...
,
Donald Duck Donald Fauntleroy Duck is a cartoon character created by the Walt Disney Company. Donald is an Anthropomorphism, anthropomorphic white duck with a yellow-orange bill, legs, and feet. He typically wears a sailor suit, sailor shirt and cap with ...
&
Goofy Goofy is a cartoon character created by the Walt Disney Company. He is a tall, Anthropomorphism, anthropomorphic dog who typically wears a turtle neck and vest, with pants, shoes, white gloves, and a tall hat originally designed as a rumpled fe ...
as members of The Ajax Ghost Exterminators. It was the 98th short in the ''
Mickey Mouse Mickey Mouse is an American cartoon character co-created in 1928 by Walt Disney and Ub Iwerks. The longtime icon and mascot of the Walt Disney Company, Mickey is an anthropomorphic mouse who typically wears red shorts, large shoes, and white ...
'' film series to be released, and the ninth for that year. This short marked the first use of one of Goofy's catchphrases, "Somethin' wrong here!". The film features a
comedy horror Comedy horror (also called horror comedy) is a literary, television and film genre that combines elements of comedy and horror fiction. Comedy horror has been described as having three types: "black comedy, parody and spoof." Comedy horror can a ...
plot. A
quartet In music, a quartet (, , , , ) is an ensemble of four singers or instrumental performers. Classical String quartet In classical music, one of the most common combinations of four instruments in chamber music is the string quartet. String quar ...
of
trickster In mythology and the study of folklore and religion, a trickster is a character in a story (god, goddess, spirit, human or anthropomorphisation) who exhibits a great degree of intellect or secret knowledge and uses it to play tricks or otherw ...
ghosts have settled into 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 property ...
. They are bored because this house has had no visitors for quite some time, and there is nobody around to fall victim to their
pranks A practical joke or prank is a trick played on people, generally causing the victim to experience embarrassment, perplexity, confusion, or discomfort.Marsh, Moira. 2015. ''Practically Joking''. Logan: Utah State University Press. The perpetrat ...
. They decide to hire a trio of ghost exterminators by telephone, and then amuse themselves by pranking the exterminators.


Plot

The Ajax Ghost Exterminators —
Mickey Mouse Mickey Mouse is an American cartoon character co-created in 1928 by Walt Disney and Ub Iwerks. The longtime icon and mascot of the Walt Disney Company, Mickey is an anthropomorphic mouse who typically wears red shorts, large shoes, and white ...
,
Donald Duck Donald Fauntleroy Duck is a cartoon character created by the Walt Disney Company. Donald is an Anthropomorphism, anthropomorphic white duck with a yellow-orange bill, legs, and feet. He typically wears a sailor suit, sailor shirt and cap with ...
and
Goofy Goofy is a cartoon character created by the Walt Disney Company. He is a tall, Anthropomorphism, anthropomorphic dog who typically wears a turtle neck and vest, with pants, shoes, white gloves, and a tall hat originally designed as a rumpled fe ...
— get a telephone call about driving out four
ghost In folklore, a ghost is the soul or Spirit (supernatural entity), spirit of a dead Human, person or non-human animal that is believed by some people to be able to appear to the living. In ghostlore, descriptions of ghosts vary widely, from a ...
s from 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 property ...
that has long been abandoned. Unbeknownst to them, however, they were called by the ghosts themselves, who were impersonating a woman. They are bored because nobody has visited the house for a long time (either because none of the locals were scared or they had scared them all away, as one ghost puts it: "Guess we're too good!"). They wish to play tricks on the living and do so through a series of inventive, annoying pranks. The exterminators arrive and Mickey knocks on the front door. When no one answers, he knocks on it again in frustration, causing it to fall down. When they announce themselves, there is nobody to receive them, but they get to work anyway. When entering, the door lifts up and throws them inside before putting itself back in place, making a mousetrap fall shut on Goofy's nose. After hearing the ghosts' laughter, Mickey decides that the three should split up to hunt the ghosts individually. The exterminators are toyed with at every turn; a ghost knocks Mickey on the head and puts its fingers in both barrels of his shotgun when he tries to shoot it, causing it to explode. Mickey angrily chases the ghost upstairs and tries to open a door that it disappears into, which falls down and the ghosts (forming a marching band) come out of the fallen door and go into another. Mickey opens the door, which causes water to pour out of it while the ghosts surf across it on surfboards. The last one comes out on a motorboat that goes in a circle around Mickey until it and the water disappear altogether. Donald, meanwhile, is scared away by the sounds of banging dishes and chains and is whacked in the rear with a wooden board twice. He punches the ghost who was doing all those things, but it resurfaces and blows water in his face. Donald tries to follow the ghost, but it disappears into the floor and gets soaked with water as he puts his hat back on. Meanwhile, Goofy gets scared by the sound of a ghost banging a wooden spoon on a pan and playing a trombone, running into a bedroom. As the ghost kicks him in the rear and he chases it into a dresser, he sees it in a mirror instead of his reflection. After a long mirror gag and realizing the ghost, it punches him in the face. Soon he becomes tangled in the dresser, stabs his rear with a pin, (mistaking his blue pants for a ghost) and is shoved down into the basement. In the end, the three exterminators crash into some molasses, flour and syrup, making them look like ghosts and consequently, they scare the actual ghosts out of the house in a panic, knocking off and smashing objects. The ghost hunters stand victorious, having driven the spirits out of the house, although not exactly certain how. Donald smugly assumes the ghosts fled in capitulation to their superior tactics, calling them sissies and laughing.


Voice cast

* Mickey Mouse:
Walt Disney Walter Elias Disney ( ; December 5, 1901December 15, 1966) was an American animator, film producer, voice actor, and entrepreneur. A pioneer of the Golden age of American animation, American animation industry, he introduced several develop ...
* Donald Duck:
Clarence Nash Clarence Charles "Ducky" Nash (December 7, 1904 – February 20, 1985) was an American voice actor and impressionist. He is best remembered as the original voice of the Disney cartoon character Donald Duck. He was born in the rural community of W ...
* Goofy: Pinto Colvig * Short ghost: Billy Bletcher * Other ghosts: Don Brodie, Jack Bergman, Harry Stanton


Releases

* 1937 – theatrical release * 1954 – ''
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'', episode #1.1: " The Disneyland Story" (TV) * 1963 – theatrical re-release with '' The Sword in The Stone'' * 1968 – ''
Walt Disney's Wonderful World of Color The Walt Disney Company has produced an anthology series, anthology television series since 1954 under several titles and formats. The program's current title, ''The Wonderful World of Disney'', was used from 1969 to 1979 and again from 1991 onwa ...
'', episode #15.11: "The Mickey Mouse Anniversary Show" (TV) * c. 1972 – '' The Mouse Factory'', episode #5: "Spooks and Magic" (TV) * c. 1977 – '' The Wonderful World of Disney'' episode #5: " Halloween Hall o' Fame" (TV) * c. 1983 – '' Good Morning, Mickey!'', episode #79 (TV) * 1983 – ''A Disney Halloween'' (TV) * c. 1997 – '' The Ink and Paint Club'', episode #22: "Classic Mickey" (TV) * c. 1998 – ''The Ink and Paint Club'', episode #55: "Oooh! Scary!" (TV) * 2009 – ''
Have a Laugh! ''Have a Laugh!'' is an American animated comedy series produced by the Walt Disney Company for the Disney Channel. The series is a set of interstitials, presenting edited versions of classic ''Mickey Mouse'' cartoons that lasted from 2009 to 201 ...
'', episode #1 (TV) * 2010 – '' 13 Nights of Halloween''


Home media

The short was released on December 4, 2001, on '' Walt Disney Treasures: Mickey Mouse in Living Color''. Additional releases include: * 1982 – bonus on '' The Legend of Sleepy Hollow'' (VHS) * 1989 – ''Cartoon Classics: Halloween Haunts'' (VHS) * 2000 – bonus on ''
The Adventures of Ichabod and Mr. Toad ''The Adventures of Ichabod and Mr. Toad'' is a 1949 American animated anthology film produced by Walt Disney Productions and released by RKO Radio Pictures. It consists of two segments: the first based on Kenneth Grahame's 1908 children's novel ...
'' (DVD) * 2002 – ''
Mickey's House of Villains ''Mickey's House of Villains'' is a 2002 American direct-to-video animated comedy-horror film produced by Walt Disney Television Animation. It is based on the animated television series '' House of Mouse'', and serves as a stand-alone sequel t ...
'' (VHS and DVD; included within the film's plot) * 2010 – ''
Have a Laugh! ''Have a Laugh!'' is an American animated comedy series produced by the Walt Disney Company for the Disney Channel. The series is a set of interstitials, presenting edited versions of classic ''Mickey Mouse'' cartoons that lasted from 2009 to 201 ...
'' Volume One" (DVD) * 2019 –
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release


In other media

* An edited (and silent) version of the cartoon was released as a cartridge for the
Fisher-Price Fisher-Price, Inc. is an American company that produces educational toys for infants, toddlers and preschoolers, headquartered in East Aurora, New York, East Aurora, New York (state), New York. It was founded in 1930 during the Great Depression ...
Movie Viewer, a small crank-operated toy. * In 1957, the scream sound effect heard at the beginning of this short was used in the fourth episode of ''
Zorro Zorro ( or , Spanish for "fox") is a fictional character created in 1919 by American Pulp magazine, pulp writer Johnston McCulley, appearing in works set in the Pueblo de Los Ángeles in Alta California. He is typically portrayed as a dashin ...
'', "The Ghost of the Mission", which appropriately aired on
Halloween Halloween, or Hallowe'en (less commonly known as Allhalloween, All Hallows' Eve, or All Saints' Eve), is a celebration geography of Halloween, observed in many countries on 31 October, the eve of the Western Christianity, Western Christian f ...
. * In 1977, singer/songwriter
Rod McKuen Rodney Marvin McKuen ( ; ; April 29, 1933 – January 29, 2015) was an American poet, singer-songwriter, and composer. He was one of the best-selling poets in the United States during the late 1960s. Throughout his career, McKuen produced a wide ...
used the scream sound effect as well as the ghosts' laughter in his instrumental song "Full Moon over the Ansonia Hotel" on his album "Slide... Easy In". * A snippet was used telling about New Year's superstitions near the end of Disney's "Wonderful World of Winter" 1983 educational short. * Many people believe this cartoon was the inspiration for ''
Ghostbusters ''Ghostbusters'' is a 1984 American supernatural comedy film directed by Ivan Reitman and written by Dan Aykroyd and Harold Ramis. It stars Bill Murray, Aykroyd, and Ramis as Peter Venkman, Ray Stantz, and Egon Spengler, three eccentric ...
''. Also, the phrase "I ain't scared of no ghost" occurs in this cartoon, which may have inspired the Ghostbusters theme song written by
Ray Parker Jr Ray Erskine Parker Jr. (born May 1, 1954) is an American guitarist, songwriter, and record producer. As a solo performer, he wrote and performed Ghostbusters (song), the theme song for the 1984 film ''Ghostbusters'' and also sounds from the anim ...
. Disney made a D-TV of the song to footage from the cartoon for their Halloween special DTV Monster Hits. * The Lonesome Ghosts appear as helpers in the video game ''Disney's Magical Quest 2 Starring Mickey & Minnie''. * ''Lonesome Ghosts'' was the basis for, and title of the fourth level in the video game '' Mickey Mania: The Timeless Adventures of Mickey Mouse'', and its
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version, ''Mickey's Wild Adventure''. * A scene from ''Lonesome Ghosts'' with new music appears in ''
Disney's Magical Mirror Starring Mickey Mouse ''Disney's Magical Mirror Starring Mickey Mouse'' is a point-and-click adventure video game developed by Capcom and published by Nintendo under license from Disney Interactive for the GameCube. It follows the titular character Mickey Mouse as he ...
''. * The Lonesome Ghosts and The Ajax Ghost Exterminators were incorporated into a painting by artist Randy Souders. Entitled "A Haunting We Will Go", it was created for the 1997 Disneyana Convention at
Walt Disney World The Walt Disney World Resort is an destination resort, entertainment resort complex located about southwest of Orlando, Florida, United States. Opened on October 1, 1971, the resort is operated by Disney Experiences, a division of the Wa ...
. * ''Lonesome Ghosts'' also appeared in an episode of '' Sing Me a Story with Belle''. * The ghosts make a cameo in the episode "When the Spirit Moves You" of the TV series '' Bonkers''. * In the " House Ghosts" episode of ''
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 on American Broadcasting Company, ABC and Toon Disney from January 13, 2001 ...
'', The Lonesome Ghosts make a cameo scaring Pete during the musical number " Grim Grinning Ghosts". The Lonesome Ghosts also appear in the direct-to-video film ''
Mickey's House of Villains ''Mickey's House of Villains'' is a 2002 American direct-to-video animated comedy-horror film produced by Walt Disney Television Animation. It is based on the animated television series '' House of Mouse'', and serves as a stand-alone sequel t ...
'', as part of the villains from the film, with the ''Lonesome Ghosts'' short being also seen by the characters during the film's plot. * In the "Houseghosts" episode of ''
The Wonderful World of Mickey Mouse ''The Wonderful World of Mickey Mouse'' is an American animated television series produced by Disney Television Animation for Disney+. The series is a continuation and revival of the Emmy Award-winning 2013 ''Mickey Mouse'' shorts, uses the same ...
'', The Lonesome Ghosts appear to take advantage of Mickey's kindness and moved into his house after their house was torn down and become homeless for scaring the entire neighborhood. * A shortened version aired on the
Disney Channel Disney Channel is an American pay television television channel, channel that serves as the flagship (broadcasting), flagship property of Disney Branded Television, a unit of the Disney Entertainment business segment of the Walt Disney Company ...
in October 2009, as part of a show called ''
Have a Laugh! ''Have a Laugh!'' is an American animated comedy series produced by the Walt Disney Company for the Disney Channel. The series is a set of interstitials, presenting edited versions of classic ''Mickey Mouse'' cartoons that lasted from 2009 to 201 ...
'', which featured remastered and redubbed versions of old cartoons. * There is a travel map in the video game ''
Epic Mickey ''Epic Mickey'' is a 2010 platform game developed by Junction Point Studios and published by Disney Interactive Studios for the Wii. It was released in November 2010 in North America and PAL territories. The game focuses on Mickey Mouse, who a ...
'' based on this cartoon. The Lonesome Ghosts appear as Wasteland denizens and are named Gilbert, Ian, Gabriel, and Screechin' Sam. * A newspaper clipping of the advertisement for The Ajax Ghost Exterminators is inside of the ticket booth of the El CapiTOON Theater, which houses the Mickey & Minnie's Runaway Railway attraction at
Disneyland Disneyland is a amusement park, theme park at the Disneyland Resort in Anaheim, California. 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, ...
. In addition, Mickey, Donald and Goofy's telephone and the ghosts' dresser are on display inside the attraction's queue as props from the short, with the ghosts occasionally appearing in the dresser's mirror.


See also

*
List of ghost films Ghost movies and shows can fall into a wide range of genres, including romance, comedy, horror, juvenile interest, and drama. History With the advent of motion pictures and television, screen depictions of ghosts became common and spanned a vari ...
* ''Mickey Mouse'' (film series)


References


External links


''Lonesome Ghosts''
a
The Internet Animation Database
* * {{Burt Gillett 1937 films 1937 comedy horror films 1930s Disney animated short films 1930s color films 1930s ghost films Mickey Mouse short films Donald Duck short films Goofy (Disney) short films American haunted house films Films directed by Burt Gillett Films produced by Walt Disney American comedy horror films 1930s American films 1930s English-language films Films about pranks English-language comedy horror films English-language comedy-drama short films 1937 animated short films