''The Flying Mouse'' is a ''

Silly Symphonies ''Silly Symphony'' (also known as ''Silly Symphonies'') is an American animation, animated series of 75 musical short films produced by Walt Disney Animation Studios, Walt Disney Productions from 1929 to 1939. As the series name implies, the ''Si ...

animated Animation is a filmmaking technique whereby image, still images are manipulated to create Motion picture, moving images. In traditional animation, images are drawn or painted by hand on cel, transparent celluloid sheets to be photographed and e ...

short film A short film is a film with a low running time. The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS) defines a short film as "an original motion picture that has a running time of not more than 40 minutes including all credits". Other film o ...

produced by

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 ...

, directed by David Hand, and released to theatres by

United Artists United Artists (UA) is an American film production and film distribution, distribution company owned by Amazon MGM Studios. In its original operating period, it was founded in February 1919 by Charlie Chaplin, D. W. Griffith, Mary Pickford an ...

on July 14, 1934. The use of color here was rather innovative as it is set during the course of a single day.

Plot

To the song "I Would Like to Be a Bird", a young mouse fashions wings from a pair of leaves, to the great amusement of his brothers. When his attempts to use them fail, the mouse got blown backwards from the wind and his rear end crashes into a thorn on the tree. The boy mouse falls down into the tub just as his mother finishes putting on a dress for his sister and gets them both drenched. While feeling embarrassed, he shrinks his sister's dress and attempts to run away but gets spanked and angrily released by his mother. The boy mouse cries and walks away, but when a butterfly calls for help, he rescues it from a hungry spider. When the butterfly proves to be a beautiful blue fairy, the mouse wishes for wings and begins flying around. But his bat-like appearance doesn't fit in with either the birds or the other mice, and he finds himself friendless; even the bats make fun of him, making a point that "You're Nothing But a Nothing". Then the beautiful blue fairy reappears and removes the mouse's wings, telling him: "Be yourself and life will smile upon you". The boy mouse runs all the way home where he is happily reunited with his mother and three mouse brothers who dance around him.

Production

The Flying Mouse boy and his mother make an appearance as spectators 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 ...

cartoon '' Mickey's Polo Team'' (1936).

Voice cast

* Bat: Billy Sheets * Male voices: The Three Rhythm Kings * Bird whistles: Marion Darlington * Laughing mice:

Marcellite Garner Edna Marcellite Lincoln ( ; July 3, 1910 – July 26, 1993) was an American artist and voice actress. She is most remembered as the first regular voice of Minnie Mouse during her time working at Walt Disney Productions and has been partially ...

Home media

The short was released on December 4, 2001, on '' Walt Disney Treasures: Silly Symphonies - The Historic Musical Animated Classics''. Prior to that, the featurette also appeared on the ''Walt Disney Cartoon Classics Limited Gold Edition: Silly Symphonies'' VHS in the 1980s. It was also released as a bonus feature, alongside fellow ''Silly Symphony'' short ''

Elmer Elephant ''Elmer Elephant'' is a ''Silly Symphonies'' animated short film produced by Walt Disney, directed by Wilfred Jackson and released on March 28, 1936. Plot Elmer Elephant arrives in the yard below Tillie Tiger's treehouse, where several other ...

'', on DVD and Blu-ray releases of ''

Dumbo ''Dumbo'' is a 1941 American Animated film, animated Musical film, musical Fantasy film, fantasy Comedy drama, comedy-drama film produced by Walt Disney Animation Studios, Walt Disney Productions and released by RKO Radio Pictures. The film i ...

''.

References

External links

*
''The Flying Mouse''
at the Encyclopedia of Disney Animated Shorts 1930s American films 1930s English-language films 1930s Disney animated short films 1934 animated short films American animated short films Animated films about mice Animated films about bats Animated films about fairies English-language short films Films directed by David Hand (animator) Films produced by Walt Disney Films scored by Frank Churchill Silly Symphonies {{Disney-animation-film-stub