''The Gorilla Mystery'' is a 1930

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 ...

animated film Animation is a method by which image, still figures are manipulated to appear as Motion picture, moving images. In traditional animation, images are drawn or painted by hand on transparent cel, celluloid sheets to be photographed and exhibited ...

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 ...

for Columbia Pictures, as part of the ''

'' film series. It was the twenty-second Mickey Mouse short to be produced, the seventh of that year. The short is a spoof of the 1925 play '' The Gorilla'' by Ralph Spence, which had been made into a 1927 silent film and a sound remake.

Plot

reads in the newspaper that a gorilla has escaped from the zoo, and he calls Minnie to warn her. She is not afraid, and sings a song to Mickey over the phone. Then the gorilla breaks into her house and kidnaps her, and Mickey—hearing her screams over the telephone—rushes to save the

damsel in distress The damsel in distress is a recurring narrative device in which one or more men must rescue a woman who has either been kidnapped or placed in general peril. Kinship, love, or lust (or a combination of those) gives the male protagonist the motiv ...

. The gorilla takes Minnie upstairs to the attic and ties her up, then plays cat and mouse with Mickey. At the end, the gorilla trips over the rope, knocking him senseless. Mickey and Minnie dance to celebrate their narrow escape.

Production

While the gorilla in the short isn't named, it was retroactively identified as the same gorilla seen in the 1933 shorts ''Mickey's Mechanical Man'' and ''The Pet Store'', named Beppo. The 1944 short ''

Donald Duck and the Gorilla ''Donald Duck and the Gorilla'' is a Donald Duck short adventure horror monster film which was originally released in 1944. It stars Donald Duck along with his three nephews; Huey, Dewey and Louie and Ajax, the killer gorilla. The 1930 Micke ...

'' has a similar plot to this film, with a killer gorilla named

Ajax Ajax may refer to: Greek mythology and tragedy * Ajax the Great, a Greek mythological hero, son of King Telamon and Periboea * Ajax the Lesser, a Greek mythological hero, son of Oileus, the king of Locris * ''Ajax'' (play), by the ancient Greek ...

escaping from the local zoo.

Reception

In ''Mickey's Movies: The Theatrical Films of Mickey Mouse'', Gijs Grob observes, "''The Gorilla Mystery'' is noteworthy for the extensive dialogue in the beginning. By now the Disney animators had mastered lip-sync, and neither Mickey nor Minnie show any awkward faces while talking. Even more interesting is the cartoon's elaborately drawn gorilla, which in several scenes is staged to show its huge size. The gorilla and the clever use of light and shadow make ''The Gorilla Mystery'' look more sophisticated than earlier Mickey Mouse cartoons. Even '' The Fire Fighters'' of only three months earlier starts to look primitive." ''

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 ...

'' (December 6, 1930): "This is not up to the standard of other Mickey Mouse cartoons, but it is a good comedy, nevertheless. The telephone sequence is especially good."

Voice cast

* 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 ...

* Beppo the Gorilla:

Purv Pullen Almy Purves "Purv" Pullen (February 2, 1909 – October 18, 1992), later known by the stage name Dr. Horatio Q. Birdbath (or simply Dr. Birdbath), was an American voice actor. He was known for mimicking the sounds of animals and birds. Early lif ...

*Duck/Hens/Rooster:

Larry Steers Lawrence Wells Steers (February 14, 1888 – February 15, 1951) was an American film actor. He appeared in more than 550 films between 1917 and 1951. He was born in Indiana, and died in Woodland Hills, Los Angeles. Partial filmography * ' ...

*Parrot/Cucko:

George Magrill George Magrill (January 5, 1900 – May 31, 1952) was an American film actor who appeared in more than 320 films between 1923 and 1952. Magrill performed on stage before he began to work in films. Besides his acting, Magrill worked as a s ...

Home media

The short was released on December 2, 2002, on '' Walt Disney Treasures: Mickey Mouse in Black and White''.

References

External links

''The Gorilla Mystery''
at

Internet Movie Database IMDb (an abbreviation of Internet Movie Database) is an online database of information related to films, television series, home videos, video games, and streaming content online – including cast, production crew and personal biographies, ...

''The Gorilla Mystery''
at the Big Cartoon DataBase {{DEFAULTSORT:Gorilla Mystery 1930s Disney animated short films Mickey Mouse short films 1930 short films 1930 animated films 1930 films Films directed by Burt Gillett Films produced by Walt Disney American black-and-white films Animated films about gorillas Columbia Pictures short films Columbia Pictures animated short films 1930 comedy films 1930s English-language films 1930s American films