''Mickey's Birthday Party'' is an American animated short film directed by

Riley Thomson Riley A. Thomson Jr. (October 5, 1912 – January 26, 1960) was an American animator and comics artist who spent most of his career working with Walt Disney films and characters. He directed six Disney short films including '' The Nifty Nineties' ...

, produced by

Walt Disney Productions The Walt Disney Company, commonly referred to as simply Disney, is an American multinational mass media and entertainment conglomerate headquartered at the Walt Disney Studios complex in Burbank, California. Disney was founded on October 16 ...

and distributed by

RKO Radio Pictures RKO Radio Pictures Inc., commonly known as RKO Pictures or simply RKO, is an American film production and distribution company, historically one of the "Big Five" film studios of Hollywood's Golden Age. The business was formed after the Kei ...

. The 114th short to feature

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 ...

, it was released on February 7, 1942. The animated film was directed by Riley Thomson and animated by Les Clark, James Moore, Ken Muse, Armin Shaffair, Riley Thompson, Bernie Wolf, and Marvin Woodward. It was the 116th short in the ''

'' film series to be released, and the first for that year.

Plot

Minnie Mouse Minerva "Minnie" Mouse is an American cartoon character created by the Walt Disney Company. The longtime sweetheart of Mickey Mouse, she is an anthropomorphic mouse with white gloves, a red or pink bow, blue (or pink or red) polka-dotted dress, w ...

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 ...

Clarabelle Cow Clarabelle Cow is a cartoon character created by The Walt Disney Company. As an anthropomorphic Cattle, cow, Clarabelle is one of Minnie Mouse's best friends. She was once depicted as the girlfriend of Horace Horsecollar, although now she is oft ...

Horace Horsecollar Horace Horsecollar is a cartoon character created in 1929 at Walt Disney Animation Studios. Horace is a tall anthropomorphic black horse and is one of Mickey Mouse's best friends. Characterized as a boastful show-off, Horace served as Mickey’s s ...

, and

Clara Cluck The Mickey Mouse universe is a fictional shared universe which is the setting for stories involving Disney cartoon characters, including Mickey and Minnie Mouse, Donald and Daisy Duck, Goofy and Pluto as the primary members (colloquially known ...

throw a big birthday party for Mickey. He is given an electric organ as a gift, and he dances a wild rhumba while Minnie plays. Meanwhile, Goofy tries baking a cake, but keeps messing it up. When Minnie comes in to check on his progress, Goofy covers his tracks and tells her that the bake is going fine. Meanwhile, Donald, dressed in a sombrero and a scarf, dances with Clara, whose wild, exuberant dancing exhaust Donald. Eventually, Goofy buys a cake from the bakery. Clara in her exuberance, shakes the tired Donald so much, she inadvertently flings him out of his shirt onto the chandelier. Goofy accidentally throws the cake on Mickey as everyone sings "Happy Birthday to You", but Mickey smiles regardless.

Voice cast

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 ...

* Thelma Boardman as

Pinto Colvig Vance DeBar Colvig Sr. (September 11, 1892 – October 3, 1967), known professionally as Pinto Colvig, was an American voice actor, cartoonist, and circus and vaudeville performer whose schtick was playing the clarinet off-key while mugging. Co ...

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 ...

Florence Gill Florence Gill (27 July 1877 – 19 February 1965) was a British actress. In Walt Disney's animated films, Gill made a specialty for 20 years of playing hens, including Clara Cluck, The Wise Little Hen and other assorted fowl. Gill was a mem ...

Elvia Allman Elvia Beatrice Allman (September 19, 1904 – March 6, 1992) was an American actress in Hollywood films and television programs for over 50 years. She is best remembered for her semi-regular roles on ''The Beverly Hillbillies'' and ''Petticoat J ...

Production

This short is an update of the 1931 black and white short '' The Birthday Party''. The 1931 version only had Mickey Mouse, Minnie Mouse, Clarabelle Cow and Horace Horsecollar, since none of the other characters existed at the time. It also has some marks of 1932's ''

The Whoopee Party ''The Whoopee Party'' is a Mickey Mouse short animated film first released on September 17, 1932. It was the 46th Mickey Mouse short, and the tenth of that year. Plot Mickey Mouse and friends have a party in which Minnie Mouse is playing the ...

''. Some of the animation of Mickey's wild dance was actually originally done by

Ward Kimball Ward Walrath Kimball (March 4, 1914 – July 8, 2002) was an American animator employed by Walt Disney Animation Studios. He was part of Walt Disney's main team of animators, known collectively as Disney's Nine Old Men. His films have been honor ...

for '' The Reluctant Dragon'', not only used in the film.

Home media

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

Legacy

Goofy wears the same clothes from this short in the '' How to Stay at Home'' short, "Learning to Cook" (2021). Mickey's outfit and birthday cake are on display as props from the short in the queue of the

Mickey & Minnie's Runaway Railway Mickey & Minnie's Runaway Railway is a trackless dark ride located in the Walt Disney World Resort in Bay Lake, Florida, and in Disneyland Resort in Anaheim, California. The attraction, the first Mickey Mouse-themed ride-through attraction at ...

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, ...

. The characters present in the story wear the same clothes from the short in the 2023 short film ''

Once Upon a Studio ''Once Upon a Studio'' is a 2023 American live-action/animated crossover fantasy comedy short film produced by Walt Disney Animation Studios in celebration of the Walt Disney Company's centennial. Written and directed by Dan Abraham and Trent C ...

''.

References

External links

* * 1942 films 1940s Disney animated short films Mickey Mouse short films Donald Duck short films Animated films about birthdays Films directed by Riley Thomson Films produced by Walt Disney Disney film remakes Short film remakes Films scored by Charles Wolcott 1942 animated short films {{Disney-animation-film-stub