| Blue Rhythm | |
|---|---|
 Mickey directing the jazz band in the second half of the film. | |
| Directed by | Burt Gillett |
| Produced by | Walt Disney |
| Starring | Walt Disney Marcellite Garner |
| Music by | W. C. Handy |
| Animation by | Ed Benedict (assistant) Charlie Byrne Johnny Cannon Les Clark Jack Cutting Joe D'Igalo Norm Ferguson Hardie Gramatky Jack King Dick Lundy Tom Palmer Harry Reeves Cecil Surry Frank Tipper Frenchy de Tremaudan Rodolfo "Rudy" Zamora[1] |
| Color process | Black-and-white |
Production company | |
| Distributed by | Columbia Pictures |
Release date |
|
Running time | 7 minutes |
| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
Blue Rhythm is a 1931Mickey Mouse animated short film directed byBurt Gillett, produced byWalt Disney Productions and distributed byColumbia Pictures. It was the 31st short in theMickey Mouse film series, and the seventh of that year.[3] The plot focuses on a multifaceted performance ofW. C. Handy's "St. Louis Blues". The film features the voices ofWalt Disney as Mickey andMarcellite Garner asMinnie Mouse.
The concert opens with Mickey on the piano. His shadow is cast dramatically on the curtain as he plays aclassical interlude. Soon he transitions into aragtime version of "St. Louis Blues". Minnie struts onstage and sings the verse "I hate to see that evening sun go down..." with Mickey accompanying. Soon an unseen band takes over the accompaniment and Mickey joins Minnie; the two mice dance andscat sing two more verses.
As Mickey and Minnie exit stage right, the curtain rises to reveal the band –Pluto on trombone, two goats on violins, a Scottish Terrier onsousaphone, a pig on the cornet,Clarabelle Cow on a double bass and a piccolo, two Dachshunds on saxophones, andHorace Horsecollar on a drum set and xylophone; Mickey reappears through a stage elevator to conduct. After several interruptions, Mickey plays a clarinet and parodies jazz bandleaderTed Lewis;[4] the performance is based in part on the Ted Lewis Band's 1926 recording of "St. Louis Blues".
As the band plays the final notes of the climatic finale, they collectively jump on the bandstand and cause it to collapse. They reemerge from the debris to deliver a final "Yeah!" to the audience.
The Film Daily (October 4, 1931): "Neatly executed and thoroughly entertaining cartoon comedy."[6]
Variety (March 8, 1932): "No story to this, but it needs none to get it over. Opens with Mickey at the piano pounding out a number, with Minnie rather spoiling it with the falsetto singing that is considered necessary for cartoon characters. A short dance and then a break to a stage jazz band for the usual trick stuff, but well done and in excellent synchrony. Cartoon work overlaid on a capital musical program."[7]
The short was released on December 2, 2002 onWalt Disney Treasures: Mickey Mouse in Black and White.[8]
