''The Picnic'' is a 1930 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 ...

directed by

Burt Gillett Burton F. Gillett (October 15, 1891 – December 28, 1971) was a Film director, director of animation, animated films. He is noted for his Silly Symphonies work for Walt Disney Pictures, Disney, particularly the 1932 short film ''Flowers and Tree ...

and produced 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 ...

. It was first released on October 9, 1930, as part of the ''

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 ...

'' film series. It was the twenty-third Mickey Mouse short to be produced, the eighth of that year. The cartoon is notable as the first appearance of a pet dog called "Rover", an early version of a character that was renamed

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 ...

six months later, in the April 1931 cartoon ''

The Moose Hunt ''The Moose Hunt'' is a Mickey Mouse short animated film first released on April 30, 1931, as part of the '' Mickey Mouse'' film series. It was the twenty-eighth Mickey Mouse short to be produced and the fourth of 1931. This is the first cartoo ...

''.

Plot

Mickey arrives at Minnie's house to take her out for a picnic. Minnie asks if she can bring her "little Rover", although Rover turns out to be a huge bloodhound the size of Mickey. The mice tie Rover to the back of the car and drive to the picnic spot, but along the way, Rover spies a pair of rabbits and gives chase, dragging the car behind him. Rover chases one rabbit through a series of rabbit holes, but the rabbit pulls the final hole away, and the dog bangs his head on the ground, dazing Rover. Mickey and Minnie set up for the picnic, and Mickey cranks up the portable gramophone. The mice dance to "

In the Good Old Summertime ''In the Good Old Summertime'' is a 1949 American Technicolor musical film directed by Robert Z. Leonard. It stars Judy Garland, Van Johnson, S.Z. Sakall, Spring Byington, Clinton Sundberg, and Buster Keaton in his first featured film role at M ...

", but the birds and squirrels are active too, swiping the picnic food while Mickey and Minnie are dancing. Rover follows his nose until he finds Mickey, just as a stormcloud bursts and begins to pour. Mickey gathers up the food and the gramophone—both overrun with animals and bugs—and the three friends jump into the car. Rover's tail acts as a windshield wiper as Mickey and Minnie drive home through the rain.

Production

The dog, called "Rover" in this cartoon, is an important step towards the creation of

as a major character in the series. Animator Norm Ferguson first drew a pair of bloodhounds in the August 1930 Mickey Mouse short '' The Chain Gang'', and Rover is clearly a continuation of that idea, even featuring a recycled gag from that picture in which one of the dogs sniffs into the camera. (The same gag would be reused in 1931's ''

'' and 1939's ''

The Pointer ''The Pointer'' is a 1939 American animated short film produced by Walt Disney Productions and released by RKO Radio Pictures on July 21, 1939. The short was directed by Clyde Geronimi and animated by Fred Moore, Frank Thomas, Lynn Karp, Seamus ...

''.) Gijs Grob says in ''Mickey's Movies: The Theatrical Films of Mickey Mouse'': The dog returned as Pluto six months later in ''The Moose Hunt'', and became so popular that he got his own series in 1937, starting with ''Pluto's Quintuplets''. In January 1931,

Floyd Gottfredson Arthur Floyd Gottfredson (May 5, 1905July 22, 1986) was an American cartoonist best known for his defining work on the ''Mickey Mouse'' comic strip, which he worked on from 1930 until his retirement in 1975. His contribution to Mickey Mouse comi ...

drew a week-long adaptation of ''The Picnic'' in the ''

'' comic strip. In the strip, the dog's name was "Tiny", and didn't bear as much resemblance to the final Pluto design as "Rover" did. Pluto appeared in the strip six months later, on July 8.

Voice actors

* Mickey Mouse:

* Minnie Mouse:

Marcellite Garner Edna Marcellite Garner ( ; 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 c ...

* Rover: Lee Millar

Reception

Motion Picture News The ''Motion Picture News'' was an American film industry trade paper published from 1913 to 1930. History The publication was created through the 1913 merger of the ''Moving Picture News'' founded in 1908 and ''The Exhibitors' Times'', founded ...

'' (November 29, 1930): "Diverting. Mickey Mouse gets himself nicely messed up in a picnic. What the birds ants and whatnot do to the food is just too bad for Mickey, but perfectly swell insofar as the audience and its inclination to laugh is concerned. Produced in his usual, inimitable style by Walt Disney." ''

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 ...

'' (December 7, 1930): "Pip Cartoon. There seems to be no end to the original antics and laugh-producing stunts emanating from the Walt Disney workshops and performed by the sprightly Mickey Mouse and his chief co-worker, Minnie Mouse. This latest number is in the pip class and not only stirs up loud merriment but even elicits a healthy round of applause, which is some tribute considering that the public has been regaled with a considerable quantity of cartoon comedies in the past year or so. In the present subject Mickey takes his Minnie for a picnic in the woods, where they disport themselves while the animals of the forest raid their lunch, until a rainstorm chases all of them to cover."

Home media

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

Television

The short appeared on the following TV anthologies: * ''

The Mickey Mouse Club ''The Mickey Mouse Club'' is an American variety television show that aired intermittently from 1955 to 1996 and returned to social media in 2017. Created by Walt Disney and produced by Walt Disney Productions, the program was first televised fo ...

'' (Season 1, Episode 99) * ''The Mickey Mouse Club'' (Season 2, Episode 66) * ''

Mickey's Mouse Tracks ''Mickey's Mouse Tracks'' is an American animated television series on The Disney Channel which ran from 1992 to 1995, and featured Disney cartoons and animated short films, dating from before the advent of The Disney Channel. A similar show was ...

'' (Season 1, Episode 55)

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Picnic 1930 Film Mickey Mouse short films 1930s Disney animated short films 1930 short films American black-and-white films 1930s English-language films 1930 animated films 1930 films Films produced by Walt Disney American comedy short films Columbia Pictures short films Columbia Pictures animated short films Films directed by Burt Gillett Picnic films 1930s American films