The Flying Mouse

The Flying Mouse is a 1934 Silly Symphonies cartoon produced by Walt Disney, directed by David Hand, and released to theatres by United Artists on July 14, 1934.[1] The use of color here was rather innovative as it is set during the course of a single day.

The Flying Mouse
Directed byDavid Hand
Produced byWalt Disney
StarringMarcellite Garner
Marion Darlington
Billy Sheets
The Three Rhythm Kings
Music byFrank Churchill
Bert Lewis
Animation byHamilton Luske
Bob Kuwahara
Harry Bailey
Bob Wickersham
Backgrounds byCarlos Manríquez
Color processTechnicolor
Production
company
Distributed byUnited Artists Pictures
Release date
July 14, 1934
Running time
9 min
CountryUnited States
LanguageEnglish

Plot

To the tune "I Would Like to Be a Bird," a young mouse fashions wings from a pair of leaves, to the great amusement of his brothers. When his attempts to use them fail, the mouse got blown backwards and his rear end crashes into a thorn, he falls into the tub and shrinks his sister's dress and gets spanked by his mother. When a butterfly calls for help, he rescues it from a spider. When the butterfly proves to be a fairy, the mouse wishes for wings. But his bat-like appearance doesn't fit in with either the birds or the other mice, and he finds himself friendless; even the bats make fun of him, making a point that he is "Nothin' But A Nothin'". The butterfly fairy reappears and removes the mouse's wings, telling him: “Be yourself and life will smile on you.” Then the boy mouse runs all the way home where he is reunited with his mother and 3 mouse brothers.

Production

The Flying Mouse boy and his mother make an appearance as spectators in the 1936 Mickey Mouse cartoon Mickey's Polo Team.

Voice cast
  • Bat: Billy Sheets
  • Male voices: The Three Rhythm Kings
  • Bird whistles: Marion Darlington
  • Laughing mice: Marcellite Garner[1]

Home media

The short was released on December 4, 2001, on Walt Disney Treasures: Silly Symphonies - The Historic Musical Animated Classics.[2][1] Prior to that, the featurette also appeared on the Walt Disney Cartoon Classics Limited Gold Edition: Silly Symphonies VHS in the 1980s.

It was also released as a bonus feature, alongside fellow Silly Symphony short Elmer Elephant, on DVD/Blu-Ray releases of Dumbo.

References
  1. Merritt, Russell; Kaufman, J. B. (2016). Walt Disney's Silly Symphonies: A Companion to the Classic Cartoon Series (2nd ed.). Glendale, CA: Disney Editions. pp. 146–147. ISBN 978-1-4847-5132-9.
  2. "Silly Symphonies: The Historic Musical Animated Classics DVD Review". DVD Dizzy. Retrieved 20 February 2021.
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