''Mickey's Polo Team'' is a 1936 American animated

short film A short film is any motion picture that is short enough in running time not to be considered a feature film. The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences defines a short film as "an original motion picture that has a running time of 40 minutes ...

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 ...

and released by

United Artists United Artists Corporation (UA), currently doing business as United Artists Digital Studios, is an American digital production company. Founded in 1919 by D. W. Griffith, Charlie Chaplin, Mary Pickford, and Douglas Fairbanks, the studi ...

. The cartoon features a game of

polo Polo is a ball game played on horseback, a traditional field sport and one of the world's oldest known team sports. The game is played by two opposing teams with the objective of scoring using a long-handled wooden mallet to hit a small hard ...

played between four Disney characters, led by

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 ...

, and four cartoon versions of real-life movie stars. It was directed by David Hand and was first released on January 4, 1936. The film was inspired 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 ...

's personal love of polo. It was the 80th Mickey Mouse short film to be released, and the first of that year. The cartoon features cameos of many Disney characters from the ''

'' and the '' Silly Symphonies'' film series, as well as several real-world 1930s entertainment figures.

Plot

is participating in a

game, with a team that includes

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 f ...

, the Big Bad Wolf, and

Donald Duck Donald Fauntleroy Duck is a cartoon character created by The Walt Disney Company. Donald is an anthropomorphic white duck with a yellow-orange bill, legs, and feet. He typically wears a sailor shirt and cap with a bow tie. Donald is known fo ...

, who is having trouble with his

donkey The domestic donkey is a hoofed mammal in the family Equidae, the same family as the horse. It derives from the African wild ass, ''Equus africanus'', and may be classified either as a subspecies thereof, ''Equus africanus asinus'', or as a ...

. They are playing against

Stan Laurel Stan Laurel (born Arthur Stanley Jefferson; 16 June 1890 – 23 February 1965) was an English comic actor, writer, and film director who was one half of the comedy double act, duo Laurel and Hardy. He appeared with his comedy partner Oliver Ha ...

Oliver Hardy Oliver Norvell Hardy (born Norvell Hardy; January 18, 1892 – August 7, 1957) was an American comic actor and one half of Laurel and Hardy, the double act that began in the era of silent films and lasted from 1926 to 1957. He appeared with his c ...

, Harpo Marx, and

Charlie Chaplin Sir Charles Spencer Chaplin Jr. (16 April 188925 December 1977) was an English comic actor, filmmaker, and composer who rose to fame in the era of silent film. He became a worldwide icon through his screen persona, the Tramp, and is consider ...

(for which he is in his Tramp outfit). Actor Jack Holt, who is serving as referee, throws the ball, which begins the game. First out is Oliver, who is knocked off his horse when the two teams fight to get the ball from the other. He is hit on the head with horseshoes while on the ground. The Big Bad Wolf takes the ball and manages to keep it ahead of the others but Charlie Chaplin soon steals the ball and hits it into one of the poles, using his cane to turn himself around to go in the other direction and keep up with the team. Meanwhile, Ollie is struggling to get back on his horse because of his overweight body. As Mickey hits the ball toward his home goal, Harpo Marx and his ostrich are forced to duck under the sand to avoid being hit. Ollie is finally able to get onto his horse but his weight causes the horse's body to sag in the middle. In an attempt to make the horse stay up, Stan Laurel pulls Ollie's horse's tail out and ties it in a knot, which works. However, the horse refuses to get back in the game and no matter how hard Ollie tries to entice it, it stays in place. Stan tries to poke it with a needle to make it get going, but it takes off before he can do so, throwing Ollie off and having him get poked instead. In the game, the Big Bad Wolf takes the lead with the ball again, but loses his mallet in the process and uses his breath to make the ball go forward instead. However,

Shirley Temple Shirley Temple Black (born Shirley Jane Temple;While Temple occasionally used "Jane" as a middle name, her birth certificate reads "Shirley Temple". Her birth certificate was altered to prolong her babyhood shortly after she signed with Fox in ...

and The Three Little Pigs mock him for doing this and blow raspberries at him. He gets angry and pushes back by blowing the fence they are behind away and clouding them with dust, but the distraction causes him to lose his lead in the game. Donald Duck takes the lead and hits the ball, but Harpo Marx hits the ball back at him and the momentum behind the two to get the ball ends with them colliding. Donald yells insults at him for knocking him off, but Harpo responds by punching him with boxers' mitts that he hides in his clothes, burns Donald with a blowtorch and uses a noisemaker to push him away, back to his donkey. The ball lands right next to him and he tries to hit it but the team takes it away. Frustrated, he tries to get his donkey to move but it sits on him, laughing. It then kicks him into the ground where the ball lands on his tail and he is trampled by the other players (including Ollie, who finally manages to get back in the game). Donald throws a tantrum and accidentally swallows the ball, causing the teams to chase after him to get it out. Harpo hits him first, using the head of his ostrich, and the Big Bad Wolf manages to briefly get the ball out by hitting him but it bounces back inside Donald. All of the players from both teams try to hit him which eventually causes him to dig into the sand to escape. Donald tries to hide inside a pole but the teams continue to try to hit him out. Finally, he rips the pole off its base and leads both teams toward referee Jack Holt, which causes everyone to collide and make the horses end up riding their owners and continue the game in that way.

Reception

The 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 ...

'' called the short "a knockout", saying, "For fast and furious animated entertainment, this just about tops anything turned out to date by the Walt Disney shops... It was a grand idea and the Disney boys put a lot of ingenuity and effort into it, resulting in a cartoon comedy that is one big riot from start to finish."

List of celebrities spoofed

In detail the characters are: *Referee: Jack Holt ''The "Mickey Mousers" team:'' *

as "The Goof" * Big Bad Wolf *

, riding

Jenny Jenny may refer to: * Jenny (given name), a popular feminine name and list of real and fictional people * Jenny (surname), a family name Animals * Jenny (donkey), a female donkey * Jenny (gorilla), the oldest gorilla in captivity at the time of ...

the

''The "Movie Stars" team:'' *

* Harpo Marx, riding an

ostrich Ostriches are large flightless birds of the genus ''Struthio'' in the order Struthioniformes, part of the infra-class Palaeognathae, a diverse group of flightless birds also known as ratites that includes the emus, rheas, and kiwis. There are ...

''Spectators:'' *

, seated with the

Three Little Pigs "The Three Little Pigs" is a fable about three pigs who build three houses of different materials. A Big Bad Wolf blows down the first two pigs' houses which made of straw and sticks respectively, but is unable to destroy the third pig's house t ...

Charles Laughton Charles Laughton (1 July 1899 – 15 December 1962) was a British actor. He was trained in London at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art and first appeared professionally on the stage in 1926. In 1927, he was cast in a play with his future w ...

, dressed as ''

Henry VIII Henry VIII (28 June 149128 January 1547) was King of England from 22 April 1509 until his death in 1547. Henry is best known for his six marriages, and for his efforts to have his first marriage (to Catherine of Aragon) annulled. His disa ...

'' *

Eddie Cantor Eddie Cantor (born Isidore Itzkowitz; January 31, 1892 – October 10, 1964) was an American comedian, actor, dancer, singer, songwriter, film producer, screenwriter and author. Familiar to Broadway, radio, movie, and early television audiences, ...

W. C. Fields William Claude Dukenfield (January 29, 1880 – December 25, 1946), better known as W. C. Fields, was an American comedian, actor, juggler, and writer. Fields's comic persona was a misanthropic and hard-drinking egotist who remained a sympathe ...

* Harold Lloyd *

Greta Garbo Greta Garbo (born Greta Lovisa Gustafsson; 18 September 1905 – 15 April 1990) was a Swedish-American actress. Regarded as one of the greatest screen actresses, she was known for her melancholic, somber persona, her film portrayals of tragedy, ...

, waving a Pom-pon * Edna May Oliver, seated next to Max Hare, from '' The Tortoise and the Hare'' *

Clark Gable William Clark Gable (February 1, 1901November 16, 1960) was an American film actor, often referred to as "The King of Hollywood". He had roles in more than 60 motion pictures in multiple genres during a career that lasted 37 years, three decades ...

, seated with a star-struck Clarabelle Cow *

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 ...

Fifi the Peke The Mickey Mouse universe is a fictional shared universe which is the setting for stories involving Disney cartoon characters Mickey and Minnie Mouse, Pluto, Goofy, and many other characters. The universe originated from the '' Mickey Mouse'' ...

*Two Easter Bunnies, from ''Funny Little Bunnies'' * The Wise Little Hen, from '' The Wise Little Hen'' *The Flying Mouse and his mother, from ''The Flying Mouse'' *Peter and Polly Penguin, from ''Peculiar Penguins'' *King Midas and Goldie the Elf, from ''The Golden Touch'' *Ambrose Puss the Cat and Dirty Bill the Dog Robber, from ''The Robber Kitten'' *Cock Robin and Jenny Wren, from '' Who Killed Cock Robin?''

Voice actors

* Mickey Mouse:

* Donald Duck: Clarence Nash * Goofy: Pinto Colvig * Big Bad Wolf:

Billy Bletcher William Bletcher (September 24, 1894 – January 5, 1979) was an American actor. He was known for voice roles for various classic animated characters, most notably Pete in Walt Disney's Mickey Mouse short films and the Big Bad Wolf in Disney' ...

* Clarabelle Cow: unknown * Movie stars: unknown

Home media

The short was released on December 4, 2001 on '' Walt Disney Treasures: Mickey Mouse in Living Color'' and on the "Walt Disney's Classic Cartoon Favorites Extreme Sports Fun" Volume 5.

References

External links

* * *
Mickey's Polo Team
a
The Encyclopedia of Disney Animated Shorts
{{authority control 1936 films 1930s color films 1936 animated films 1930s sports films 1930s Disney animated short films Mickey Mouse short films Donald Duck short films Films directed by David Hand Films produced by Walt Disney Films about actors Hollywood, Los Angeles in fiction Animation based on real people Cultural depictions of Charlie Chaplin Cultural depictions of Laurel & Hardy Cultural depictions of the Marx Brothers Cultural depictions of W. C. Fields Cultural depictions of Shirley Temple Cultural depictions of Greta Garbo Cultural depictions of Clark Gable 1930s American films