''The Mad Doctor'' is a

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 ...

cartoon released in 1933. It is known as the first appearance of the title character "The Mad Doctor", or "Dr. XXX". It was the 52nd Mickey Mouse short film, and the second of that year.

Plot

The plot centers on the title character, a

mad scientist The mad scientist (also mad doctor or mad professor) is a stock character of a scientist who is perceived as " mad, bad and dangerous to know" or "insane" owing to a combination of unusual or unsettling personality traits and the unabashedly am ...

who has kidnapped Mickey's dog,

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 ...

. Mickey tries to rescue him before the doctor can perform his experiment: putting Pluto's head to the body of a chicken in order to see if a puppy will hatch from an egg (that is if the end result will "bark or crow or cackle"). Mickey battles his way through booby traps and animated skeletons before eventually getting caught and strapped onto a table to get cut open by a buzzsaw, forcing Mickey to suck in his belly, trembling. The scene then fades to Mickey asleep in bed and suddenly woken up by a fly, whose buzzing resembles the whirring of the saw. Not yet realizing the events were only a nightmare, Mickey shouts for Pluto, who eagerly jumps onto Mickey's bed with his doghouse and chain still attached to his collar.

Allusions

The short uses several gags that appeared in The Haunted House, such as the door locking itself after Mickey enters the Mad Doctor's lair.

Reception

The short's horror genre overtones made it unusual for a Mickey Mouse cartoon. Some theaters refused to show it, believing it to be too scary for kids. At one time, for this reason, it was banned entirely in the United Kingdom, as well as

Nazi Germany Nazi Germany (lit. "National Socialist State"), ' (lit. "Nazi State") for short; also ' (lit. "National Socialist Germany") (officially known as the German Reich from 1933 until 1943, and the Greater German Reich from 1943 to 1945) was ...

. On February 10, 1933, ''

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 ...

'' said: "One of the liveliest animated cartoons to come along, and plenty comical."

Legacy

The short's title character had a cameo in the

Roger Rabbit Roger Rabbit is an animated anthropomorphic rabbit. The character first appeared in author Gary K. Wolf's 1981 novel, ''Who Censored Roger Rabbit?'' In the book, Roger is second banana in a popular comic strip, "Baby Herman". Roger hires pri ...

short, "Tummy Trouble", in which he was seen on a picture. ''The Mad Doctor'' was also the basis for, and title of, the second level in the video game, '' Mickey Mania: The Timeless Adventures of Mickey Mouse'' released for the

Super NES The Super Nintendo Entertainment System (SNES), commonly shortened to Super NES or Super Nintendo, is a 16-bit home video game console developed by Nintendo that was released in 1990 in Japan and South Korea, 1991 in North America, 1992 in ...

Genesis Genesis may refer to: Bible * Book of Genesis, the first book of the biblical scriptures of both Judaism and Christianity, describing the creation of the Earth and of mankind * Genesis creation narrative, the first several chapters of the Book of ...

Sega CD The Sega CD, released as the in most regions outside North America and Brazil, is a CD-ROM accessory for the Sega Genesis produced by Sega as part of the fourth generation of video game consoles. It was released on December 12, 1991, in Japan ...

and

PlayStation is a video gaming brand that consists of five home video game consoles, two handhelds, a media center, and a smartphone, as well as an online service and multiple magazines. The brand is produced by Sony Interactive Entertainment, a di ...

(as ''Mickey's Wild Adventure''); a depiction of the Mad Doctor level is used as the cover art for the game. He also appears as a major character 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 ...

'' and its sequel. The video game ''

Kingdom Hearts III is a 2019 action role-playing game developed and published by Square Enix for the PlayStation 4, Xbox One, Microsoft Windows and Nintendo Switch. It is the twelfth installment in the ''Kingdom Hearts'' series, and serves as a conclusion of the ...

'' includes a mini game based on the short, with the Mad Doctor appearing as an enemy.

Home media

The short was released on December 2, 2002 on '' Walt Disney Treasures: Mickey Mouse in Black and White''. In addition, this cartoon is one of a few Disney shorts that lapsed into the

public domain The public domain (PD) consists of all the creative work to which no exclusive intellectual property rights apply. Those rights may have expired, been forfeited, expressly waived, or may be inapplicable. Because those rights have expired ...

, and can be found on many low budget VHS tapes and DVDs, usually paired with "Minnie's Yoo Hoo" and " The Spirit of '43".

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 ...

* Pluto: Pinto Colvig * The Mad Doctor: Allan Watson

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Mad Doctor, The 1933 films 1933 animated films 1930s science fiction films 1933 horror films Censorship in Germany 1930s Disney animated short films Disney controversies Films directed by David Hand Films produced by Walt Disney Mad scientist films Mickey Mouse short films Films about nightmares Film controversies Film censorship in the United Kingdom Film controversies in the United Kingdom American black-and-white films Animated films about animals American science fiction films American horror films 1930s American films