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 butterfly fairy who appears here may have inspired the Blue Fairy of Pinocchio six years later. 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
StarringBea Benaderet
Clarence Nash
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, 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.”

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 video

The short was released on the 2001 Walt Disney Treasures DVD box set Silly Symphonies.[1] Since 2001, it has also been included 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.


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