''Thru the Mirror'' is a Mickey Mouse

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 ...

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 1 ...

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 ...

in 1936. In this cartoon short, Mickey has a ''

Through the Looking-Glass ''Through the Looking-Glass, and What Alice Found There'' (also known as ''Alice Through the Looking-Glass'' or simply ''Through the Looking-Glass'') is a novel published on 27 December 1871 (though indicated as 1872) by Lewis Carroll and the ...

''-type dream that he travels through his mirror and enters a topsy-turvy world where everything is alive. While there, he engages in a

Fred Astaire Fred Astaire (born Frederick Austerlitz; May 10, 1899 – June 22, 1987) was an American dancer, choreographer, actor, and singer. He is often called the greatest dancer in Hollywood film history. Astaire's career in stage, film, and tele ...

dance number with a pair of gloves and a pack of cards, until the cards chase him out of the bizarre world. It was the 83rd Mickey Mouse short film to be released, the fourth of that year. The title is written as ''Thru the Mirror'' on the title card, but the alternative spelling ''Through the Mirror'' is used on the poster for the film.

Plot

Mickey falls asleep after reading

Lewis Carroll Charles Lutwidge Dodgson (; 27 January 1832 – 14 January 1898), better known by his pen name Lewis Carroll, was an English author, poet and mathematician. His most notable works are ''Alice's Adventures in Wonderland'' (1865) and its sequel ...

's 1871 novel ''

'' and dreams that he passes through a

mirror A mirror or looking glass is an object that Reflection (physics), reflects an image. Light that bounces off a mirror will show an image of whatever is in front of it, when focused through the lens of the eye or a camera. Mirrors reverse the ...

above a

fireplace A fireplace or hearth is a structure made of brick, stone or metal designed to contain a fire. Fireplaces are used for the relaxing ambiance they create and for heating a room. Modern fireplaces vary in heat efficiency, depending on the design. ...

into an alternate reality. Beyond the mirror, his furniture and possessions have come to life and he clumsily tangles with a

rocking chair A rocking chair or rocker is a type of chair with two curved bands (also known as rockers) attached to the bottom of the legs, connecting the legs on each side to each other. The rockers contact the floor at only two points, giving the occupant ...

, a

footrest A footstool (foot stool, footrest, foot rest) is a piece of furniture or a support used to elevate the foot. There are two main types of footstool, which can be loosely categorized into those designed for comfort and those designed for fun ...

and an

umbrella An umbrella or parasol is a folding canopy supported by wooden or metal ribs that is usually mounted on a wooden, metal, or plastic pole. It is designed to protect a person against rain or sunlight. The term ''umbrella'' is traditionally use ...

. Mickey eats a

walnut A walnut is the edible seed of a drupe of any tree of the genus ''Juglans'' (family Juglandaceae), particularly the Persian or English walnut, '' Juglans regia''. Although culinarily considered a "nut" and used as such, it is not a true ...

offered to him by a

nutcracker A nutcracker is a tool designed to open nuts by cracking their shells. There are many designs, including levers, screws, and ratchets. The lever version is also used for cracking lobster and crab shells. A decorative version portrays a person w ...

and it causes his lower body to spin around crazily. It also causes him to crazily grow until his head hits the ceiling, and then suddenly shrink to a tiny size. The

telephone A telephone is a telecommunications device that permits two or more users to conduct a conversation when they are too far apart to be easily heard directly. A telephone converts sound, typically and most efficiently the human voice, into e ...

answers itself and hauls Mickey up to the top of a

desk A desk or bureau is a piece of furniture with a flat table-style work surface used in a school, office, home or the like for academic, professional or domestic activities such as reading, writing, or using equipment such as a computer. Desks of ...

with its cord. After a fruitless conversation, the phone uses its cord to amuse Mickey with a game of jump rope. The skipping turns into a

tap dance Tap dance is a form of dance characterized by using the sounds of tap shoes striking the floor as a form of percussion. Two major variations on tap dance exist: rhythm (jazz) tap and Broadway tap. Broadway tap focuses on dance; it is widely perfo ...

, and the

radio Radio is the technology of signaling and communicating using radio waves. Radio waves are electromagnetic waves of frequency between 30 hertz (Hz) and 300 gigahertz (GHz). They are generated by an electronic device called a transmit ...

turns itself on to play a tune. Grabbing a tiny

top hat A top hat (also called a high hat, a cylinder hat, or, informally, a topper) is a tall, flat-crowned hat for men traditionally associated with formal wear in Western dress codes, meaning white tie, morning dress, or frock coat. Traditionally m ...

and a

matchstick A match is a tool for starting a fire. Typically, matches are made of small wooden sticks or stiff paper. One end is coated with a material that can be ignited by friction generated by striking the match against a suitable surface. Wooden matc ...

for a cane, Mickey performs a tap dance routine, using a regular-size top hat as his platform. He has another dance scene with a pair of

gloves A glove is a garment covering the hand. Gloves usually have separate sheaths or openings for each finger and the thumb. If there is an opening but no (or a short) covering sheath for each finger they are called fingerless gloves. Fingerless glo ...

, in which Mickey's buttocks get kicked three times, and then he becomes the leader of a marching set of

playing cards A playing card is a piece of specially prepared card stock, heavy paper, thin cardboard, plastic-coated paper, cotton-paper blend, or thin plastic that is marked with distinguishing motifs. Often the front (face) and back of each card has a f ...

. Mickey gets shuffled into the pack and he gets his buttocks hit by the cards, which turns into another dance routine. Mickey dances with the Queen of Hearts (Appearance inspired by

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, ...

) until the King of Hearts (Appearance inspired by Charles Laughton 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 ...

) notices and slaps Mickey for his insolence. Mickey and the King have a furious swordfight, with Mickey using a straight pin as a sword after the King pushes him and gets his buttocks stabbed by the pin. He dunks the King into the inkwell, which infuriates him. After a stamp takes the King out and cleans him, he calls the cards, and the radio acts as an alarm in response to this. A swarm of cards emerge from the King's throne, followed by another set from a nearby desk drawer, jump to attention and begin to chase Mickey. Mickey hides in the sewing basket and uses a

fountain pen A fountain pen is a writing instrument which uses a metal nib to apply a water-based ink to paper. It is distinguished from earlier dip pens by using an internal reservoir to hold ink, eliminating the need to repeatedly dip the pen in an inkw ...

to drench the cards in ink as a

machine gun A machine gun is a fully automatic, rifled autoloading firearm designed for sustained direct fire with rifle cartridges. Other automatic firearms such as automatic shotguns and automatic rifles (including assault rifles and battle rifles) a ...

, but there are too many of them. The pen eventually runs out of ink, allowing the cards to pig-pile on Mickey. Mickey escapes in a torn sock but is spotted. Another chase occurs, with the cards throwing their pictures at Mickey, but the mouse uses an electric fan to blow them all away. The telephone starts yelping for the police, and Mickey runs away as the telephone rings and rings. Swinging from a lamp cord (causing the lamp to turn on and off in the process) and then speeding across a

globe A globe is a spherical model of Earth, of some other celestial body, or of the celestial sphere. Globes serve purposes similar to maps, but unlike maps, they do not distort the surface that they portray except to scale it down. A model globe ...

, he trips and falls into the sea, until he's ejected by an angry King Neptune by impaling Mickey's buttocks. He regains his normal size in time to run back through the mirror, returning to the real world and rejoining his sleeping self. The ringing turns out to be Mickey's

alarm clock An alarm clock (or sometimes just an alarm) is a clock that is designed to alert an individual or group of individuals at a specified time. The primary function of these clocks is to awaken people from their night's sleep or short naps; they ar ...

, which a sleepy Mickey throws into a

drawer A drawer is a box-shaped container inside a piece of furniture that can be pulled out horizontally to access its contents. Drawers are built into numerous types of furniture, including cabinets, chests of drawers (bureaus), desks, and the ...

and then goes back to sleep.

Releases

* 1936 – theatrical release * 1956 – ''

Disneyland Disneyland is a amusement park, theme park in Anaheim, California. Opened in 1955, it was the first theme park opened by The Walt Disney Company and the only one designed and constructed under the direct supervision of Walt Disney. Disney in ...

'', episode #3.8: "

The Plausible Impossible "The Plausible Impossible" is an episode of the ''Disneyland'' television program, originally broadcast on October 31, 1956. Walt Disney explains how drawings and animation make things that are impossible seem plausible, as evidenced in ancient hi ...

" (TV) * c. 1972 – ''

The Mouse Factory ''The Mouse Factory'' is an American syndicated television series produced by Walt Disney Productions and created by Ward Kimball, that ran from 1972 to 1973. It showed clips from various Disney cartoons and movies, hosted by celebrity guests (cre ...

'', episode #27: "Mickey Mouse" (TV) * 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 #4 (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 #52 (TV) * 1997 – '' The Ink and Paint Club'', episode #1.50: "Storyteller Mickey" (TV) * 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 ...

'', episode #23 (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) * c. 1988 – '' Mickey's Magical World'', (VHS) * 1998 – " The Spirit of Mickey" (VHS) * 2004/2011 – Bonus on DVD release of '' Alice in Wonderland'' (DVD) * 2009 – Walt Disney Animation Collection: ''

Mickey and the Beanstalk ''Fun and Fancy Free'' is a 1947 American animated musical fantasy package film produced by Walt Disney and released on September 27, 1947 by RKO Radio Pictures. It is the ninth Disney animated feature film and the fourth of the package films t ...

'' (DVD) * 2012 – ''

'': Volume 5 (DVD) * 2018 – ''Celebrating Mickey'' (Blu-ray/DVD/Digital)

Legacy

* This cartoon was featured, and referenced, in the 2002 video game '' Disney's Magical Mirror Starring Mickey Mouse''. * Some elements from the cartoon like the cards and the opening were used in ''

Epic Mickey ''Epic Mickey'' is a 2010 platform game for the Wii developed by Junction Point Studios and published by Disney Interactive Studios, except in Japan, where it was published by Nintendo. The game focuses on Mickey Mouse, who accidentally damag ...

''. * The song during the magic gloves dance scene was used for the '' Walt Disney Mini Classics'' promos during their movie's end. * The melody during Mickey’s marching with the cards in the middle of the film is a jazzed-up version of the music used in another 1932 cartoon classic, '' Santa’s Workshop''. The music theme is based on

Franz Schubert Franz Peter Schubert (; 31 January 179719 November 1828) was an Austrian composer of the late Classical and early Romantic eras. Despite his short lifetime, Schubert left behind a vast ''oeuvre'', including more than 600 secular vocal wor ...

: Military March Op. 51 No. 1, in D Major.

References

External links