''The Whalers'' is a
cartoon
A cartoon is a type of visual art that is typically drawn, frequently animated, in an unrealistic or semi-realistic style. The specific meaning has evolved over time, but the modern usage usually refers to either: an image or series of images ...
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 ...
, released by RKO Radio Pictures on August 19, 1938, and featuring
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 ...
,
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 ...
and
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 short was directed by
David Hand and
Dick Huemer
Richard Huemer (January 2, 1898 – November 30, 1979) was an American animator in the Golden Age of Animation.
Career
While as an artist-illustrator living in the Bronx, New York City, Huemer first began his career in animation at the Raoul ...
. It featured the voices of
Clarence 'Ducky' Nash as Donald Duck and
Pinto Colvig
Vance DeBar Colvig Sr. (September 11, 1892 – October 3, 1967), professionally Pinto Colvig, was an American voice actor, newspaper cartoonist, and circus and vaudeville performer whose schtick was playing the clarinet off-key while mugging. Co ...
as Goofy. Mickey does not speak in this short. It was animated by Ed Love, , Art Babbitt, Frank Oreb, Robert Leffingwell, , Lee Morehouse, Al Eugster, Josh Meador, Eric Larson, Preston Blair and . The music was provided by
Albert Hay Malotte
Albert Hay Malotte (May 19, 1895 – November 16, 1964) was an American pianist, organist, composer and educator, best known for his musical setting of "The Lord's Prayer".
Biography and career
Malotte was the son of Charles and Katherine (Donav ...
, uncredited in the film.
[The Whalers]
. ''www.bcdb.com'', April 12, 2012 It was the 101st short in 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 to be released, and the third for that year.
Plot
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 ...
,
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 ...
and
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 ...
are on a whaling boat in search of whales. Donald tries to eat a sandwich for lunch, but
seagull
Gulls, or colloquially seagulls, are seabirds of the family Laridae in the suborder Lari. They are most closely related to the terns and skimmers and only distantly related to auks, and even more distantly to waders. Until the 21st century, m ...
s bother and harass him to get the sandwich and end up eating most of it. While Donald is preoccupied with fighting off the gulls, a
pelican
Pelicans (genus ''Pelecanus'') are a genus of large water birds that make up the family Pelecanidae. They are characterized by a long beak and a large throat pouch used for catching prey and draining water from the scooped-up contents before s ...
eats the remainder of the sandwich. Meanwhile, Mickey tries to pitch a bucket of water off the ship, but it keeps coming back to him, to his annoyance. Donald and Goofy spot a sleeping whale, but Goofy's efforts to shoot a harpoon keep failing because he doesn't have all the tools needed (at one point, he sets his own bottom on fire). He eventually succeeds in launching the anchor in place of the harpoon, but his foot gets caught in the attached line and when the anchor hits an iceberg he ends up hanging from the line above the whale's head.
Donald rushes to Goofy's rescue, but isn't fast enough and Goofy falls off the line, through the whale's
blowhole, and ends up in the whale's mouth. Lighting a match so he can see better, Goofy inadvertently wakes the whale up and it starts coughing. A wave comes in through the whale's open mouth and washes Goofy around. He gets blown out of the whale's blowhole and falls back down, his head getting stuck in the blowhole. Meanwhile, Donald falls into the water and is chased by the angry whale back to the ship, where, after Donald is nearly eaten, the whale rams and destroys the ship. Mickey, Donald and Goofy fly through the air and land on a small raft made of the ship's debris. Goofy ends up with a fish in his hands, and, believing it is the whale, says, "Gosh, he must have shrunk!"
Reception
''
Motion Picture Herald The ''Motion Picture Herald'' was an American film industry trade paper published from 1931 to December 1972.Anthony Slide, ed. (1985)''International Film, Radio, and Television Journals'' Greenwood Press. p. 242. It was replaced by the ''QP Herald ...
'' printed a letter from an exhibitor in their "What the Picture Did For Me" section, saying, "What a letdown. Disney must have been working on ''
Ferdinand
Ferdinand is a Germanic name composed of the elements "protection", "peace" (PIE "to love, to make peace") or alternatively "journey, travel", Proto-Germanic , abstract noun from root "to fare, travel" (PIE , "to lead, pass over"), and "co ...
'' and made this during dinner hour. Not so hot." Another wrote, "A dandy. Very funny."
Voice cast
* Mickey Mouse:
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 ...
* Donald Duck:
Clarence Nash
Clarence Charles "Ducky" Nash (December 7, 1904 – February 20, 1985) was an American voice actor. He was best known as the original voice of the Disney cartoon character Donald Duck. He was born in the rural community of Watonga, Oklahoma, and ...
* Goofy:
Pinto Colvig
Vance DeBar Colvig Sr. (September 11, 1892 – October 3, 1967), professionally Pinto Colvig, was an American voice actor, newspaper cartoonist, and circus and vaudeville performer whose schtick was playing the clarinet off-key while mugging. Co ...
Releases
* 1938 – theatrical release
* c. 1983 – ''
Good Morning, Mickey!
''Good Morning, Mickey!'' is an American animated television series produced by Walt Disney Television Animation. It was first aired on April 18, 1983 when Disney Channel was launched. It was one of the Disney Channel's first original programs, a ...
'', episode #3 (TV)
* c. 1992 – ''
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 ...
'', episode #70 (TV)
* c. 1992 – ''
Donald's Quack Attack
''Donald's Quack Attack'' is an American animated television series which ran on The Disney Channel and was later rerun on Toon Disney. It premiered on November 2, 1992,''The Disney Channel Magazine'', Vol. 10, no. 5, October/November 1992: p ...
'', episode #21 (TV)
* 1997 – ''
The Ink and Paint Club'', episode #1.10: "Mickey, Donald and Goofy: Friends To the End" (TV)
* 2010 – ''
Have a Laugh!
''Have a Laugh!'' is an American animated comedy series produced by the Walt Disney Company for the Disney Channel. The series is a set of interstitials, presenting edited versions of classic ''Mickey Mouse'' cartoons that lasted from 2009 to 201 ...
'', episode #14 (TV)
Home media
The short was released on December 4, 2001 on ''
Walt Disney Treasures: Mickey Mouse in Living Color''.
Additional releases include:
* 1981 – "
Mickey Mouse and Donald Duck Cartoon Collections
''The Mickey Mouse and Donald Duck Cartoon Collections'' was a series of Disney videos compiling cartoon shorts produced between 1936 and 1954. It was a Disney attempt at releasing its stable of cartoon shorts to video under their own label, aft ...
Volume One" (VHS)
* 2011 – "
Have a Laugh!
''Have a Laugh!'' is an American animated comedy series produced by the Walt Disney Company for the Disney Channel. The series is a set of interstitials, presenting edited versions of classic ''Mickey Mouse'' cartoons that lasted from 2009 to 201 ...
Volume Three" (DVD)
See also
*
Mickey Mouse (film series)
''Mickey Mouse'' (originally known as ''Mickey Mouse Sound Cartoons'') is a series of American animated comedy short films produced by Walt Disney Productions. The series started in 1928 with Steamboat Willie and ended in 1953 with ''The Simple ...
References
External links
*
*
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Whalers, The
1938 films
1930s color films
1938 animated films
1930s Disney animated short films
Films about whaling
Films directed by David Hand
Films directed by Dick Huemer
Films produced by Walt Disney
Mickey Mouse short films
Goofy (Disney) short films
Donald Duck short films
Animated films about birds
Animated films about dogs
RKO Pictures short films
RKO Pictures animated short films
1930s American films