The Grocery Boy - February 11, 1932

56th in the Mickey Mouse short film library is the gem The Grocery Boy. This toon stars Mickey as a grocery boy delivering food to sweetheart Minnie. Pluto also tags along and causes quite the disturbance.


The toon opens with Grocery Boy Mickey preparing a basket of food for one of his loyal customers. He and pal Pluto delightfully weigh potatoes.


Suddenly the phone rings. On the line is a very agitated Minnie Mouse wondering where on earth her groceries are.


Mickey assures his love that her food is on the way, and just for good measure he "gives" her a kiss through the telephone. By this time, Mickey's and Minnie's relationship has been firmly established by their films together. It's funny and cute to see Mickey act like a love-sick teenager.


Minnie immediately hangs up the phone, appalled by Mickey's crass behavior. Of course, any girl can't help but smile after being given a kiss by Mickey Mouse.


As Mickey hurries over to Minnie's house (it's literally about 3 houses over), Minnie prepares herself for her boyfriend's arrival by putting on her face. The gag used her is great as Minnie pulls a puff out from her...chest.


Minnie is in love with Mickey, but she still enjoys being the diva every now and again. Once Mickey delivers the food, Minnie decides to give him the cold shoulder.


Believing Minnie really does want him to leave, Mickey reaches for what he thinks is the door handle only to find the ironing closet. As the ironing board crashes down on his head, the iron itself smashes his face flat.


Distraught over Mickey's injury, Minnie rushes to her lover's side. Her kiss upon Mickey's head bump allows it to magically disappear.


With their love banter over, Mickey and Minnie can start making dinner. As Minnie stirs the cake mix, Mickey peels beans while the pots on the stove bubble over-- all to music of course!


As the mice are busy, hungry Pluto spots the turkey just sitting in the oven. Minnie immediately catches the dog eying the meal, and her screams cause Pluto to run for his life with turkey in mouth.


The chase is on as Mickey runs after Pluto to save the turkey from certain destruction.


Pluto manages to get the tablecloth wrapped around his body, and as Mickey hangs on for dear life a bust of Napoleon knocks off its pedestal and onto the Mouse's head.


The Grocery Boy is part of the banned toons "From the Vault" because of this scene where the Napoleon head bust becomes a blackface character after Pluto crashes into the furnace.


Finally Minnie and Mickey manage to corner Pluto under the dining table. But the pup gets the upper hand as he pulls the turkey from Mickey's hands. At the same time, Minnie accidentally causes the table to expand, and the beautiful cake she made splats onto Mickey's head.


In the end, the dinner doesn't matter as long as these two lovebirds are together.


The Grocery Boy is a simple story with a lot of heart. The toon greatly showcases Mickey's and Minnie's personalities, and it's always fun to watch the two fall even more in love with each other.

Mickey's Orphans - December 9, 1931

54th in Mickey's cartoon series is Mickey's Orphans. Just in time for Christmas, this toon takes on a holiday theme. This toon is special due tot he fsct it is the Mouse's very first Christmas-themed film.


The film opens dramatically on a hooded figure out in a chilling blizzard. On her arm she carries a covered basket. She soon comes upon a small, lighted house and peers inside the inviting window.


Inside the home are none other than Mickey, Minnie, and Pluto. As Minnie plays Christmas tunes on the organ, Mickey trims the tree jovially while Pluto sleeps by the warm fireplace.


Satisfied with what she sees, the stranger drops her basket on the doorstep and disappears into the night. The present is soon discovered by Pluto and Mickey; the pair are pleased to find a kitten under the blanket. Let's pause here to take in the irony of a pair of mice taking care of a baby kitten...


But wise Pluto soon discovers that the basket doesn't hide just one kitten but an entire litter! The young cats are out of control as they swarm upon Mickey, Minnie, and their humble abode.


The litter descends upon the house, playing with and breaking everything in sight. But even with all this destruction, they still remain to be so cute!


Two kittens set their sights upon poor Pluto. No wonder the pup is no fan of pesky little felines.


One kitten even causes the pet bird grief. Remember how this bird has made various appearances since 1928's Steamboat Willie?


As pesky as these critters are, there is one cute scene when a kitten asks Minnie for a special something. Based on the animation, it looks as though the kitty needs the bathroom pronto. But...


...he actually just wants to satisfy his sweet tooth. Minnie gives him a delicious candy cane straight from the Christmas tree, and the kitten does a great impression of Charlie Chaplin's Tramp character.


Wanting to entertain and surprise the litter, Minnie whispers something to Mickey. The Mouse leaves hurriedly with a grin and a twinkle in his eye, returning moments later, with a bag of toys and a very special "reindeer".


The bag of toys is just too enticing to the kittens, and they rush Mickey Claus. Strangely, the bag is full of dangerous objects such as hammers and saws.


One kitten is brave enough to venture up to Mickey and ask, "are you Santa Claus?" Mickey shyly nods yes, only to get a face full of spit from the nasty little feline. As if that isn't enough, the brat pulls Mickey's beard and runs away, leaving the Mouse dazed and confused.


The other cats turn their evilness on Pluto the "reindeer" by attacking him with a toy cannon. The tables are hilariously turned however when Pluto gains the upper hand... or rear.


Then again the blame could be given to Mickey for giving the destructive cats toys like cannons and toy guns. Tsk tsk.


A seemingly harmless toy construction digger turns into a tool of evil in the hands of a kitten. As one kitten plays up the cuteness factor in order to distract Mickey, his cohort dumps hot coals into the Mouse's shorts. The result is not pretty.


Finally, it comes time to reveal the biggest surprise of all: the tree! Minnie dutifully announces the unveiling by bugle, and Mickey draws back the curtains to reveal a beautifully decorated Christmas tree.


All at once the kittens rush the tree and pluck every last ornament from its branches, including the pine needles!


As the litter runs away screaming and laughing, Mickey and Minnie are left gazing at their bare Christmas tree. Perhaps the two ponder how it's possible for hours of decorating to be destroyed in mere seconds. Or perhaps the pair wonder what sort of mother taught her children to act so violently.


One thing's for sure: the kittens must go!



Mickey's Orphans is today certainly an entertaining film, and critics back in 1932 also agreed. The short was nominated for an Academy Award at the 5th Annual Academy Awards Ceremony. The film lost to another Disney short: Flowers and Trees.

Mickey Cuts Up - November 30, 1931

53rd in Mickey's cartoon series is Mickey Cuts Up, a film featuring Mickey and his lovely Minnie in the garden. Of course Mickey's pooch pal Pluto is present too, making Mickey's chores just a bit harder to complete.


The film begins with the Mouse doing some yard work with his faithful rover. I love how Mickey recruits Pluto to pull the mower thus allowing him to pretty much do no work at all.


It's hard to show here, but there's a fantastic moving shot of Mickey dancing and Pluto mowing. As Pluto moves across the screen, the camera pans along with him. The resulting film shot is simple yet effective.


Minnie is also frolicking in her garden making sure all her lovely flowers receive water. I've always loved Minnie's animation; her style is like a cute and dainty school girl.


The cartoon is very much a typical song-and-dance toon Mickey and Minnie usually star in. For a while Mickey pretends to be a bird and whistles to his sweet love.


Unfortunately for the Mouse, his plan to woo Minnie backfires when a hungry cat spots what he believes to be a tasty white bird.


Things get a bit messy when the cat decides to attack the "bird", giving Mickey the surprise of his life.


Eventually the birdhouse lands in a nearby garden pond. A gag I really enjoy is Mickey coming out of the pond, trapped inside the birdhouse and looking like a turtle.


While all this goes on, Pluto sits quietly off to the side taking in the sights. Notice the large amount of birds surrounding him...


...It's these birds that attract the cat, who pounces over the hedge; this of course only angers Pluto, who finds something new to occupy his time.


The only problem of course is the fact that wherever Pluto goes, so does the lawn mower. Another gag I like is when Pluto manages to not only shave half a tree, but an unsuspecting owl as well.


The chase manages to find itself on a nearby hill where the mower manages to get ahead of Pluto and mow right over the frightened feline.



The chase finally ends in Minnie's kitchen where Pluto and the cat manage to ruin an entire case of dishes. But even with all this trouble, Mickey is still able to love his best friend Pluto.

The Beach Party - November 5, 1931

The Beach Party is Mickey's 34th cartoon film. The toon features Mickey and the Gang spending a relaxing and fun day at the beach.


The toon begins with Mickey, Minnie, Clarabelle, Horace, and Pluto on their way to the sunny and playful beach. The animation of the Gang just frolicking in the sun is simple, yet so very well done.


This toon has some interesting gags. One I like is when Mickey uses Pluto as a pump to fill his inner tube. Another good one is Horace's failed attempt at diving into the ocean. This gag in particular is very similar to later stunts performed by the yet to be created Goofy.


Another clever gag occurs when Clarabelle accidentally loses her swim trunks. The hilarity goes even further of course when Mickey accidentally finds them.


Clarabelle, still trunkless, finds her bottoms washed up on the shore; however, when she grabs for them she is shocked to discover they move! After thwacking the trunks with a nearby plank, Clarabelle is amazed to see it was Mickey in her bloomers. The look on her face in the last panel is priceless as she leaves Mickey dazed and confused.


One gag I enjoy again and again is the use of Clarabelle's cow bell as a dinner bell. The gag originated in 1930's The Shindig in which Horace uses Clarabelle's tail as a doorbell.


A picnic on the beach is the perfect way to spend the day. Horace tackles the corn and is especially fond of the watermelon.


It seems Clarabelle has a soft spot for olives. It's hilarious the way she pops the olive jar in order to pop an olive into her mouth. The scene turns even funnier when she accidentally pops the entire jar into her throat, and Horace is forced to kick the jar out. Perfect slapstick comedy.


Pluto has his fun too when Mickey plays fetch with his pooch. Unfortunately, the sausages Pluto thinks he fetches turn out to be the tentacle of an angry octopus.


As the octopus goes on a rampage, the Gang fights back with whatever they can find. Remember Horace's fondness for watermelon? He puts his seed-spitting skills to use against the octopus.


Clarabelle too puts her skills to use as she pops olive after olive at the angry sea creature. In another example of hilarity, the Gang uses the cow as a makeshift olive jar shooter.


It isn't until Mickey manages to throw a nearby anchor at the octopus that the problem is solved and the day returned to peace.



The toon ends with the octopus being sent back to the depths from which it came and the Gang laughing and waving goodbye on the beach.