| Mickey's Amateurs | |
|---|---|
 Screenshot of the short film. | |
| Directed by | Pinto Colvig Erdman Penner Walt Pfeiffer |
| Produced by | Walt Disney |
| Starring | Walt Disney Florence Gill Clarence Nash Pinto Colvig |
| Music by | Oliver Wallace |
| Animation by | Art Babbitt Les Clark Al Eugster Ed Love Stan Quackenbush Ralph J. Sommerville Marvin Woodward Tom Palmer |
| Color process | Technicolor |
Production company | |
| Distributed by | United Artists |
Release date |
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Running time | 8:24 |
| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
Mickey's Amateurs is a 1937 American animatedshort film produced byWalt Disney Productions and released byUnited Artists. Originally entitledMickey's Amateur Concert during production, the cartoon depicts an amateur talent show hosted byMickey Mouse. It was the 94th short film in theMickey Mouse film series, and the fifth for that year.[2] It was co-directed byPinto Colvig, Erdman Penner, and Walt Pfeiffer, and features original and adapted music byOliver Wallace. The voice cast includesWalt Disney as Mickey,Clarence Nash asDonald Duck,Florence Gill asClara Cluck, and Pinto Colvig asPete andGoofy.[3][4]
Mickey Mouse hosts an amateur radio talent show in front of a live audience, in which he terminates unworthy performances by ringing agong.
After endingPete's rendition of "Asleep in the Deep", Mickey introduces Donald Duck, who tries reciting "Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star", but forgets the words. Mickey rings the gong, and Donald is pulled backstage.
Clara Cluck performs the show's next set with a clucking version of theLuigi Arditi waltz "Il Bacio", accompanied byClarabelle Cow on piano. Despite several blunders, the performance is the first to avoid the gong.
Later, Donald returns to the stage with a submachine gun and tries reciting "Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star" while holding Mickey and the audience at gunpoint, but he once again forgets the words. When the audience laughs at him, he opens fire and is pulled backstage.[5]
For the show's final set,Goofy uses a multi-instrumental device on wheels to perform "In the Good Old Summer Time" and "There'll Be a Hot Time in the Old Town Tonight", but the tempo and intensity of the latter song destroy the machine. Donald performs a rapid-fire word-perfect recitation of "Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star" from within Goofy's hat, and the "iris out" effect which ends the cartoon closes on his neck. He struggles to keep it open, but it finally closes.
Mickey's Amateurs pokes fun at "amateur hour" radio shows, popular entertainment in the 1930s and '40s. Perhaps the most famous example is theMajor Bowes Amateur Hour in which the host,Edward Bowes, was known to strike a gong to stop an amateur performance. Mickey Mouse's repeating of the words "Okay, okay" in the film was recognized by audiences at the time as a parody of Bowes.[6]
The film was also inspired by the 1934 Disney filmOrphan's Benefit. This film also featured a stage show with acts interspersed by Donald attempting a poetic recitation.
The short film inspired the model of the game showThe Gong Show, hosted in the '70s byChuck Barris, who used the same method of show-host Mickey use in the short.
TheMotion Picture Herald published a review ofMickey's Amateurs on June 19, 1937: "The subject must be seen to be appreciated and enjoyed. The fun it offers defies description."
The short was released on December 4, 2001, onWalt Disney Treasures: Mickey Mouse in Living Color.[7]
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| Silly Symphony short films |
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| Mickey Mouse short films |
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| Donald Duck and Donald & Goofy short films |
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