''Mickey's Surprise Party'' is a 1939 American animated short film directed by
Hamilton Luske
Hamilton Somers Luske (October 16, 1903 – February 19, 1968) was an Americans, American animator and film director.
Career
Luske joined the Walt Disney Animation Studios, Walt Disney Productions animation studio in 1931 and he was soon trusted ...
, produced by
Walt Disney Productions
The Walt Disney Company, commonly referred to as simply Disney, is an American multinational mass media and entertainment conglomerate headquartered at the Walt Disney Studios complex in Burbank, California. Disney was founded on October 16 ...
and distributed by
National Biscuit Company. It was the 105th short in the
''Mickey Mouse'' film series to be released, and the second for that year. ''Mickey's Surprise Party'' is the first cartoon with
Mickey and
Minnie Mouse
Minerva "Minnie" Mouse is an American cartoon character created by the Walt Disney Company. The longtime sweetheart of Mickey Mouse, she is an anthropomorphic mouse with white gloves, a red or pink bow, blue (or pink or red) polka-dotted dress, w ...
in their current designs, created by animator
Fred Moore.
This is notable for being the first Disney product of any kind to be sponsored by a company. Commonly thought to be in the public domain, its copyright was renewed on May 2, 1966. Walt Disney hated the idea of public commercials, and avoided commercial entanglements until then. The cartoon had its premiere at the
Golden Gate International Exposition
The Golden Gate International Exposition (GGIE) was a World's Fair held at Treasure Island in San Francisco, California, U.S. The exposition operated from February 18, 1939, through October 29, 1939, and from May 25, 1940, through September 29, ...
(GGIE) on
Treasure Island
''Treasure Island'' (originally titled ''The Sea Cook: A Story for Boys''Hammond, J. R. 1984. "Treasure Island." In ''A Robert Louis Stevenson Companion'', Palgrave Macmillan Literary Companions. London: Palgrave Macmillan. .) is an adventure a ...
in
San Francisco
San Francisco, officially the City and County of San Francisco, is a commercial, Financial District, San Francisco, financial, and Culture of San Francisco, cultural center of Northern California. With a population of 827,526 residents as of ...
in February 1939. The film was shown in the "Food and Beverages" building in the Nabisco Theater. Walt was present at the fair for the premiere of the short. It was also shown in the Nabisco Theater at the New York World's Fair in 1939, which did not open until April. The two versions were identical except that the
National Biscuit Company products (cookies and crackers) featured at the end were different, reflecting products available on the west and east coasts.
In the short, Pluto's romantic partner is Fifi, a
Pekingese
The Pekingese (also spelled Pekinese) is a dog breed, breed of toy dog, originating in China. The breed was favored by royalty of the Chinese sovereign, Chinese Imperial court as a companion dog, and its name refers to the city of Beijing (Peki ...
who also appears in ''
Puppy Love
Puppy love, also known as a crush, is an informal term for feelings of romantic love, often felt during childhood and early adolescence. It is an infatuation usually developed by one's looks and attractiveness at first sight. It is named for its r ...
'' (1933), ''
Pluto's Quin-puplets'' (1937) and ''
Society Dog Show
''Society Dog Show'' is a ''Mickey Mouse'' cartoon short produced by Walt Disney Productions and released by RKO Radio Pictures on February 3, 1939. The animated short was directed by Bill Roberts and animated by Al Eugster, Shamus Culhane, Fred ...
'' (1939).
Plot
One day, Minnie bakes cookies for Mickey's birthday, but her dog,
Fifi, accidentally knocks popcorn into her batter while chasing a fly. Minnie, none the wiser, puts the batter in the oven. Minnie then prepares for the visit, as does Fifi. Mickey and Pluto then arrive. Minnie accepts Mickey's flowers while playing the grand piano, but Fifi rejects Pluto's bone. Minnie has baked the cookies too long, burning them. Mickey smells the smoke and Minnie, suddenly remembering her cookies, runs into the kitchen. As she takes them out, the popcorn starts popping, but not before Pluto eats one, leading to him having an exploding cookie stuck in his belly while Mickey fights the burnt cookies with a water sprayer (with water filled from Minnie's goldfish bowl).
While Minnie is on the couch crying, Mickey tries to comfort her, saying "My mother used to burn them all the time!"
However, it does little to make her feel better. To help Minnie, Mickey immediately gets an idea and he and Pluto rush to the market, where they hastily return with their surprise package. Minnie no sooner turns around and sees that Mickey and Pluto have brought back with them a range of several
National Biscuit Company products, including
Oreo
Oreo (; stylized in all caps) is an American brand of sandwich cookie consisting of two cocoa biscuits with a sweet fondant filling. Oreos were introduced in 1912 by Nabisco, and the brand has been owned by Mondelez International since its me ...
s,
Lorna Doone
''Lorna Doone: A Romance of Exmoor'' is a novel by R. D. Blackmore, first published in three volumes in London in 1869. It is a romance based on a group of historical characters and set in the late 17th century in Devon and Somerset, particu ...
,
Ritz Crackers
Ritz Crackers is a brand of snack cracker introduced by Nabisco in 1934. The original style crackers are disc-shaped, lightly salted, and approximately in diameter. Each cracker has seven perforations and a finely scalloped edge. Today, the Ri ...
, Barnum's
Animal Crackers
An animal cracker is a particular type of cracker (food), cracker, baked in the shape of an animal, usually an animal either at a zoo or a circus, such as a lion, a tiger, a bear, or an elephant. The most common variety is light-colored and sli ...
, Social Tea Biscuits,
Fig Newton
Newtons are a Nabisco-trademarked version of a cookie filled with sweet fruit paste. Fig Newtons are the most popular variety. They are produced by an extrusion process. Their distinctive shape is a characteristic that has been adopted by compe ...
s (Mickey's and Minnie's favorite), and
Milk Bones (which Fifi accepts and kisses Pluto). Minnie then kisses Mickey all over his face.
Voice cast
*
Walt Disney
Walter Elias Disney ( ; December 5, 1901December 15, 1966) was an American animator, film producer, voice actor, and entrepreneur. A pioneer of the Golden age of American animation, American animation industry, he introduced several develop ...
as Mickey Mouse
* Leone LeDoux as Minnie Mouse
*
Clarence Nash
Clarence Charles "Ducky" Nash (December 7, 1904 – February 20, 1985) was an American voice actor and impressionist. He is best remembered as the original voice of the Disney cartoon character Donald Duck. He was born in the rural community of W ...
as Pluto
*
Pinto Colvig
Vance DeBar Colvig Sr. (September 11, 1892 – October 3, 1967), known professionally as Pinto Colvig, was an American voice actor, cartoonist, and circus and vaudeville performer whose schtick was playing the clarinet off-key while mugging. Co ...
as Fifi the Peke
Home media
The short was released on December 4, 2001, on ''
Walt Disney Treasures: Mickey Mouse in Living Color''.
The short was also included in the US VHS and LaserDisc release ''
The Spirit of Mickey
''The Spirit of Mickey'' is an American animated direct-to-video anthology film, produced and released by Walt Disney Home Video on July 14, 1998. It features clips from ''The Mickey Mouse Club'', ''The Wonderful World of Disney'', ''The 60th A ...
'' and the non-US VHS and LaserDisc release ''Minnie's Greatest Hits'', with all the
National Biscuit Company packaging replaced by generic products, and all of Minnie's lines referencing the names of the products were overdubbed by
Russi Taylor
Russi Taylor (May 4, 1944 – July 26, 2019) was an American voice actress. She was best remembered for voicing the character of Minnie Mouse in English from 1986 to 2019, and was married to voice actor Wayne Allwine, the voice of Mickey Mouse, ...
. However, most DVD versions of the short contain the original uncut version, replete with the National Biscuit Company references.
Milk Bone Dog Biscuits, referenced in the original version of the film were made by the National Biscuit Company at the time of the short's production.
See also
*
Mickey Mouse (film series)
''Mickey Mouse'' (originally known as ''Mickey Mouse Sound Cartoons'') is a series of American animated comedy short films produced by Walt Disney Productions. The series started in 1928 with ''Steamboat Willie'' and ended with 2013’s '' Get ...
References
External links
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{{Pluto (Disney) in animation
1939 films
1930s color films
1930s Disney animated short films
Mickey Mouse short films
Pluto (Disney) short films
Nabisco
Films directed by Hamilton Luske
Films produced by Walt Disney
Films scored by Oliver Wallace
1930s American films
World's fair films
Golden Gate International Exposition
1939 animated short films