''When Magoo Flew'' is a 1954 animated short produced by UPA for

Columbia Pictures Columbia Pictures Industries, Inc. is an American film production studio that is a member of the Sony Pictures Motion Picture Group, a division of Sony Pictures Entertainment, which is one of the Big Five studios and a subsidiary of the mu ...

. Directed by Pete Burness and produced by

Stephen Bosustow Stephen Reginald Bosustow (November 6, 1911 in Victoria, British Columbia – July 4, 1981) was a Canadian-born American film producer from 1943 until his retirement in 1979. He was one of the founders of United Productions of America (UPA) and pr ...

, ''When Magoo Flew'' won the 1955 Oscar for Short Subjects (Cartoons). In addition, it was the first UPA short to be made for the

CinemaScope CinemaScope is an anamorphic lens series used, from 1953 to 1967, and less often later, for shooting widescreen films that, crucially, could be screened in theatres using existing equipment, albeit with a lens adapter. Its creation in 1953 by ...

widescreen format. ''When Magoo Flew'' is also the title of a 2012 book by Adam Abraham on the history of the UPA studio.

Plot summary

Near-sighted Mr. Magoo goes to see a movie but instead mistakes the airport across the street for the theater and takes a seat on a departing airplane. This cartoon makes reference to the 3-D movies that briefly became popular around the time of the release of this short as Magoo comments on the apparent realism of his movie experience ("it's like I can actually feel the plane taking off!") The man in the seat next to Magoo turns out to be a bank robber who flees without his briefcase (full of stolen money) when he sees a policeman talking with the stewardess. Magoo politely tries to find the robber so he can return his briefcase, stepping out into what he believes is the theater lobby (actually the wing of the plane). After startling many of the other passengers due to his apparent lack of concern of the danger to his life as he wanders on the outside of the plane, the pilot opens up the cargo bay door so Magoo can get back inside. Promptly finding the robber, Magoo returns his briefcase and keys the policeman onto the identity of the robber. After the plane lands, Magoo comments to the stewardess that he thoroughly enjoyed watching his first 3-D movie. The only thing that bothered Magoo was that there was no cartoon before the movie. The closing gag is a particularly sly one as Magoo describes himself when describing his favorite cartoon character (the narcissist).1955 When. Magoo. Flew-Internet Archive
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References

External links

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''When Magoo Flew''
1954 films 1954 animated films 1950s American animated films 1950s animated short films American aviation films Best Animated Short Academy Award winners Mr. Magoo Columbia Pictures short films UPA films Columbia Pictures animated short films Films scored by Hoyt Curtin 1950s English-language films {{1950s-short-animation-film-stub