''Symphony Hour'' is a 1942 American animated short film produced by Walt Disney Productions and released by RKO Radio Pictures. The cartoon depicts

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 ...

conducting a symphony orchestra sponsored by

Pete Pete or Petes or ''variation'', may refer to: People * Pete (given name) * Pete (nickname) * Pete (surname) Fictional characters * Pete (Disney), a cartoon character in the ''Mickey Mouse'' universe * Pete the Pup (a.k.a. 'Petey'), a character ...

. The film was directed by

Riley Thomson Riley A. Thomson Jr. (October 5, 1912 – January 26, 1960) was an American animator and comics artist who spent most of his career working with Walt Disney films and characters. He directed six Disney short films including ''The Nifty Nineties'' ...

and features music adapted from the "

Light Cavalry Overture ''Light Cavalry Overture'' is the overture to Franz von Suppé’s operetta '' Light Cavalry'' (German: ''Leichte Kavallerie''), premiered in Vienna in 1866. Although the operetta is rarely performed or recorded, the overture is one of Suppé's ...

" by Franz von Suppé. The voice cast includes Walt Disney as Mickey, Billy Bletcher as Pete, and John McLeish as a radio announcer. It was the 117th short in the ''

'' film series to be released, and the second for that year. The film marked the last theatrical appearance of Horace Horsecollar, Clarabelle Cow, and

Clara Cluck The Mickey Mouse universe is a fictional universe, fictional shared universe which is the setting for stories involving The Walt Disney Company, Disney cartoon characters Mickey Mouse, Mickey and Minnie Mouse, Pluto (Disney), Pluto, Goofy, and ...

for over 40 years, finally reappearing in '' Mickey's Christmas Carol'' (1983). ''Symphony Hour'' is also the last time that Mickey appeared with either Donald Duck or Goofy in a theatrical film for the same length of time. ''Symphony Hour'' bears similarities with the 1935 film '' The Band Concert''. Leonard Maltin called this short a " Spike Jones version of ''The Band Concert''". The soundtrack for the "ruined" version of the ''

'' was used in the October 22, 1956 episode of '' The Mickey Mouse Club''.

Plot

Mickey conducts a radio orchestra who performs the Franz von Suppé's ''

''. The sponsor (

, under the name Sylvester Macaroni) loves the rehearsal and agrees to have it shown in concert. On the night of the performance, everyone is soon ready, except, of course, for

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 ...

, who accidentally drops all the instruments under an elevator, severely damaging them and thus rendering them unable to make proper musical sounds. Mickey is left unaware of the unfortunate mishap until the time to go on the air and the musicians start to "play" the damaged instruments. Throughout the outrageous concert, Mickey struggles with anxiety while Macaroni throws a tantrum inside his private viewing room. Macaroni is reduced to tears when the concert ends, believing his reputation to be ruined, but lightens up when he hears the thunderous applause from the audience. He immediately runs to the orchestra room and carries Mickey Mouse in extreme approval, with the latter not knowing anything that happened. Besides Goofy, other members of the orchestra include

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 ...

, Clarabelle Cow and Horace Horsecollar. At one point, Donald is so fed up with the chaos caused by the damaged instruments that he packs his things and leaves. However, Mickey, who is determined to carry on come what may, points a gun at Donald's head to prevent him from leaving. The shot of the gun would be cut in some television prints.

Cast

*Mickey Mouse: Walt Disney *Sylvester Macaroni (Pete): Billy Bletcher *Goofy: Pinto Colvig *Radio Announcer: John McLeish Donald Duck, Horace Horsecollar, Clarabelle Cow, and Clara Cluck have no dialogue in the film.

Production team

;Principal animation *Jack Campbell * Les Clark *George De Beeson *John Elliotte *

Ed Love Edward H. Love (May 24, 1910 – May 6, 1996) was an American animator who worked at various studios during the Golden age of American animation. He is well known for animating Walt Disney Animations' shorts ''Mickey's Trailer'' and ''Fantas ...

*Jim Moore *

Kenneth Muse Kenneth Muse (July 26, 1910 – July 26, 1987) was an American animator best known for his work on the ''Tom and Jerry'' series at MGM. Biography Muse worked briefly at Walt Disney Productions, where he was Preston Blair's assistant on '' Fa ...

* Bernard Wolf ;Effects animation *Joseph Gayek *Jack Manning *

Ed Parks Edward Harry "Mickey" Parks (February 26, 1917 – June 1987) was an American football player. He was one of nine children and his parents were James Hiram and Laura Belle Robbins Parks. He graduated from Shawnee (Oklahoma) High School in 1933 ...

Home media

The short was released on May 18, 2004 on '' Walt Disney Treasures: Mickey Mouse in Living Color, Volume Two: 1939-Today''.

References

External links