Orphans' Picnic (1936)

User Rating:

6.5/10   

Director:

Ben Sharpsteen

Release Date:

15 February 1936 (USA)

Genre:

Family | Comedy | Animation | Short

Plot:

Mickey and Donald take a truckload of mouse boys on a picnic. The boys delight in tormenting Donald...

Plot Keywords:

Bee | Picnic | Donald Duck | Slingshot | Mickey Mouse

Cast

Walt Disney	...	Mickey Mouse (voice)
Clarence Nash	...	Donald Duck (voice)

Runtime:

8 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono

Certification:

USA:Approved (PCA #1675) | Argentina:Atp

Company:

Walt Disney Productions

Movie Connections:

Edited into The Spirit of Mickey (1998) (V)

Too Many Mice

A Walt Disney Mickey Mouse Cartoon.

The ORPHANS' PICNIC hosted by Mickey & Donald quickly becomes a complete shambles - thanks to the multitude of naughty little rodents.

The Duck dominates this funny little film, with Mickey relegated to supporting player. The animators liked to use the Orphans' rare appearances almost like a force of nature - relentless, uncontrollable & completely undisciplined. Walt Disney provides the voice for the Mouse; Clarence Nash does the same for Donald.

Walt Disney (1901-1966) was always intrigued by pictures & drawings. As a lad in Marceline, Missouri, he sketched farm animals on scraps of paper; later, as an ambulance driver in France during the First World War, he drew comic figures on the sides of his vehicle. Back in Kansas City, along with artist Ub Iwerks, Walt developed a primitive animation studio that provided animated commercials and tiny cartoons for the local movie theaters. Always the innovator, his ALICE IN CARTOONLAND series broke ground in placing a live figure in a cartoon universe. Business reversals sent Disney & Iwerks to Hollywood in 1923, where Walt's older brother Roy became his lifelong business manager & counselor. When a mildly successful series with Oswald The Lucky Rabbit was snatched away by the distributor, the character of Mickey Mouse sprung into Walt's imagination, ensuring Disney's immortality. The happy arrival of sound technology made Mickey's screen debut, STEAMBOAT WILLIE (1928), a tremendous audience success with its use of synchronized music. The SILLY SYMPHONIES soon appeared, and Walt's growing crew of marvelously talented animators were quickly conquering new territory with full color, illusions of depth and radical advancements in personality development, an arena in which Walt's genius was unbeatable. Mickey's feisty, naughty behavior had captured millions of fans, but he was soon to be joined by other animated companions: temperamental Donald Duck, intellectually-challenged Goofy and energetic Pluto. All this was in preparation for Walt's grandest dream - feature length animated films. Against a blizzard of doomsayers, Walt persevered and over the next decades delighted children of all ages with the adventures of Snow White, Pinocchio, Dumbo, Bambi & Peter Pan. Walt never forgot that his fortunes were all started by a mouse, or that childlike simplicity of message and lots of hard work will always pay off.