''The Barnyard Battle'' is a

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 ...

short animated film first released on June 1, 1929, as part of the ''

'' film series. It was the seventh Mickey Mouse short to be produced, the fourth of that year. As the title implies, it features a battle between an invading army of cats and an army of mice trying to defend their homes and farms.

Plot

Peg-Leg Pete Pete (also named Peg Leg Pete, Bad Pete and Black Pete, among other names) is a cartoon character created by Walt Disney and Ub Iwerks of The Walt Disney Company. Pete is traditionally depicted as the villainous Archenemy, arch-nemesis of Mickey ...

is depicted as a leading soldier of the former army, and Mickey as a conscript of the latter one. Before joining the army, Mickey has to pass a physical examination. This scene depicts Mickey becoming the subject of physical and emotional abuse. After passing the examination, he is given a machine gun and is sent to battle. Mickey's combat efforts are comical in depiction but prove effective enough in forcing the enemy to retreat. In the end, Mickey smacks a line of advancing soldiers on the head with a mallet, and is hailed as a hero by his fellow soldiers.

Production

This short is notable as the first to depict Mickey as a soldier and the first to place him in combat. The physical examination scene has since often been edited out, as being somewhat disturbing, but modern viewers have often pointed to this scene as being the most memorable of the short. There was a precedent in Disney's cartoons for sending the main character to war:

Julius the Cat Julius the Cat is a fictional anthropomorphic cat created in 1922 by Walt Disney. He first appeared in Disney's '' Laugh-O-Gram'' comedies, making him the predecessor of Oswald the Lucky Rabbit and Mickey Mouse. Julius is an anthropomorphic cat, ...

calls an army together in the 1926

Alice Comedies The ''Alice Comedies'' are a series of Live-action animated film, live-action animated shorts created by Walt Disney in the 1920s, in which a live action little girl named Alice (originally played by Virginia Davis) and an animated cat named Ju ...

short ''Alice's Little Parade'', and

Oswald the Lucky Rabbit Oswald the Lucky Rabbit (also known as Oswald the Rabbit, Oswald Rabbit, and Ozzie) is an animated series, animated cartoon character created in 1927 by Walt Disney and Ub Iwerks for Universal Pictures. He starred in several animated short film ...

goes to war in the 1927 cartoon '' Great Guns!'' The mouse officer shouting "Company, forward march!" is the first mammal character in the ''Mickey Mouse'' cartoons to speak a full sentence. Before this, characters have only communicated in single-syllable sounds and laughs, or in the case of

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 ...

, the greeting, "Yoo-Hoo!" The parrot in ''

Steamboat Willie ''Steamboat Willie'' is a 1928 American animated short film directed by Walt Disney and Ub Iwerks. It was produced in black-and-white by Walt Disney Animation Studios and was released by Pat Powers (producer), Pat Powers, under the name of Cele ...

'' also spoke two full sentences, making him the actual first character in the series to speak this way. This is the last Mickey Mouse cartoon in which Mickey is shown as mouse-sized among a crowd of other mice; after this, Mickey and Minnie became the only mice living in a world of other anthropomorphized animals. The short did not clearly identify the war it depicted, but it has been noted that the cats are depicted as wearing military helmets similar to those used by the

German Empire The German Empire (),; ; World Book, Inc. ''The World Book dictionary, Volume 1''. World Book, Inc., 2003. p. 572. States that Deutsches Reich translates as "German Realm" and was a former official name of Germany. also referred to as Imperia ...

during

World War I World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

. On the other hand, the mice are marching in battle to the tune of "

Dixie Dixie, also known as Dixieland or Dixie's Land, is a nickname for all or part of the Southern United States. While there is no official definition of this region (and the included areas have shifted over the years), or the extent of the area i ...

", a song written in 1859. The song was popular among the forces of the

Confederate States of America The Confederate States of America (CSA), also known as the Confederate States (C.S.), the Confederacy, or Dixieland, was an List of historical unrecognized states and dependencies, unrecognized breakaway republic in the Southern United State ...

during the

American Civil War The American Civil War (April 12, 1861May 26, 1865; also known by Names of the American Civil War, other names) was a civil war in the United States between the Union (American Civil War), Union ("the North") and the Confederate States of A ...

. The victory of the mice is celebrated in the tune of "

Battle Cry of Freedom The "Battle Cry of Freedom", also known as "Rally 'Round the Flag", is a song written in 1862 by American composer George Frederick Root (1820–1895) during the American Civil War. A patriotic song advocating the causes of Union (American Civ ...

", known to have been popular among the forces of the United States during the same conflict. In any case, both wars were still within living memory of the audiences at the time of release and so it is possible that the details mentioned were intended as recognizable references to both of them. Because the cats wear helmets that resemble German

pickelhaube The (; , ; from , and , , a general word for "headgear"), also , is a spiked leather or metal helmet that was worn in the 19th and 20th centuries by Prussian and German soldiers of all ranks, as well as firefighters and police. Although it ...

, the cartoon was banned in

Germany Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It lies between the Baltic Sea and the North Sea to the north and the Alps to the south. Its sixteen States of Germany, constituent states have a total popu ...

in 1930 on the grounds of being "offensive to national dignity".

Legacy and influence

LCD A liquid-crystal display (LCD) is a flat-panel display or other electronically modulated optical device that uses the light-modulating properties of liquid crystals combined with polarizers to display information. Liquid crystals do not em ...

Game & Watch is a series of handheld electronic games developed by Nintendo. Designed by Gunpei Yokoi, the first game, ''Ball'' was released in 1980 and the original production run of the devices continued until 1991. The name Game & Watch reflects thei ...

-styled mini-game based on the short appears in the 2019 video game ''

Kingdom Hearts III is a 2019 action role-playing game developed and published by Square Enix for the PlayStation 4, Xbox One, Windows, and Nintendo Switch. It is the third main installment in the '' Kingdom Hearts'' series and the twelfth game overall, and ser ...

''.

Home media

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

References

External links