Clarabelle Cow
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| Clarabelle Cow | |
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| First appearance | Plane Crazy, 1928 |
| Created by | Walt Disney and Ub Iwerks |
| Voiced by | Elvia Allman, April Winchell |
| Background Information | |
| Aliases | Carolyn Cow |
| Relatives | Bertie the Jinx (Cousin), Itsy-Betsy (Niece), Miss Bovina (Aunt) |
| Friends | Horace Horsecollar, Minnie Mouse, Daisy Duck, Goofy, Clara Cluck, Mickey Mouse |
Clarabelle Cow is a fictional character created by Ub Iwerks in 1928 for Walt Disney.
She is the girlfriend of Horace Horsecollar and one of Minnie Mouse's best friends. She appears in Minnie n Me. Clarabelle was never anything more than a supporting character in the USA but she was quite popular in Italy. The character is famous in the United States, ironically for her comparative non-existence in the cartoon world for many decades.
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[edit] Clarabelle in Animation
Like many of the older Disney stars, Clarabelle Cow started out as a supporting character: a non-humanized farm animal in Mickey Mouse's first-produced cartoon, Plane Crazy (1928). Literature on the cartoon gave her name as Carolyn, but the name was only used this one time. The name Clarabelle Cow did not occur until the fifth cartoon, The Shindig (1930), also her first role as a humanized figure. Clarabelle went on to appear in several dozen further cartoons until Symphony Hour (1942), after which she was not seen in cartoons until Mickey's Christmas Carol (1983).
Both Clarabelle and her boyfriend Horace Horsecollar appeared in more Mickey Mouse cartoons than is often presumed. In fact, both were major stars until the mid-1930s, with the cow slightly edging out her paramour in popularity. The two were, however, ultimately supplanted by Goofy; not because they were not interesting, but because Disney's staff in both cartoons and comics simply found Goofy more so.
Early on in their careers both Clarabelle and Horace had an uncanny ability to change from somewhat normal farmyard animals into anthropomorphized beings as necessary. Apparently Clarabelle was given a skirt originally to give a modicum of modesty to the rubbery bovine, serving to hide her enormous appendage. Clarabelle and Horace have been engaged since 1931.
On modern television, Clarabelle has appeared in a few segments of Mickey Mouse Works, and in Disney's House of Mouse she regularly appeared as a gossip columnist. In Disney's House of Mouse her tagline is "Gossip is Always True". Recently, she has made appearances in Mickey Mouse Clubhouse.
Clarabelle appeared in the direct-to-video movie, Mickey, Donald, Goofy: The Three Musketeers as Pete's lieutenant and Goofy's love interest.
She makes a cameo in Kingdom Hearts II in the Timeless River world as one of its citizens.
There are no information available yet on who did the voice in the original cartoons. In Prince and the Pauper it was Elvia Allman and from 1999 until the present day it has been April Winchell.
Recently Clarabelle Cow and Horace Horsecollar have been appearing in the Main Street Family Fun Day at the Magic Kingdom and also at character greetings throughout the Walt Disney World Resort.
[edit] Classic Cartoon Appearances
- 1928 - Plane Crazy
- 1929 - The Plow Boy
- 1929 - Mickey's Choo-Choo
- 1929 - The Karnival Kid
- 1930 - The Baryard Concert
- 1930 - The Shindig
- 1930 - The Chain Gang
- 1930 - Pioneer Days
- 1931 - The Birthday Party
- 1931 - Mother Goose Melodies
- 1931 - Blue Rhythm
- 1931 - The Baryard Broadcast
- 1931 - The Beach Party
- 1932 - The Mad Dog
- 1932 - Barnyard Olympics
- 1932 - Mickey's Revue
- 1932 - Mickey's Nightmare
- 1932 - The Whoopee Party
- 1932 - Touchdown Mickey
- 1932 - Parade of the Award Nominees
- 1933 - Mickey's Mellerdrammer
- 1933 - Ye Olden Days
- 1933 - Mickey's Gala Premiere
- 1934 - Camping Out
- 1934 - The Orphan's Benefit
- 1935 - The Band Concert
- 1935 - On Ice
- 1935 - Mickey's Fire Brigade
- 1936 - Mickey's Grand Opera
- 1936 - Mickey's Polo Team
- 1937 - Mickey's Amateurs
- 1938 - Boat Builders
- 1938 - The Fox Hunt
- 1941 - The Orphan's Benefit (remake)
- 1942 - All Together
- 1942 - Mickey's Birthday Party
- 1942 - Symphony Hour
- 1983 - Mickey's Christmas Carol
- 1988 - Who Framed Roger Rabbit
- 1990 - The Prince and the Pauper
[edit] Clarabelle in Comics
When the Disney characters were transferred to comics, Clarabelle Cow was one of the first to be transferred. Her first appearance was in the Mickey Mouse dailies April 1, 1930. Along with Horace Horsecollar, Clara Cluck, Goofy, Minnie and Mickey she appeared in comics on a regular basis in the fifties, sixties and seventies.
For a brief time, during the late 1960s, Clarabelle began dating Goofy, perhaps in an attempt to give Goofy a girlfriend. During this time Horace's whereabouts are unknown. Clarabelle's status with Goofy was challenged by another gal named Glory-Bee, and Clarabelle seems to have returned to her former paramour, Horace. At one point Glory-Bee and Clarabelle Cow were even vying for Goofy's attention, but both failed to achieve their objective. Clarabelle also has a young cousin, Bertie the Jinx, a niece, Itsy-Betsy, and a socialite aunt named Miss Bovina, who have appeared in several issues of Walt Disney's Comics and Stories.
From the eighties forward only a few stories with Clarabelle Cow were made in USA. In Europe on the other hand, especially in Italy, the production of stories continued and is still going strong today.
[edit] In Disney's Toontown Online
Though Clarabelle is now very rarely seen in animation anymore, she is a character in Disney's Toontown Online. She plays the role of giving the player furniture to decorate their estates, with the catalog players must order from is a "Cattlelog". Her appearance is also somewhat changed. Clarabelle as well as Horace can now be seen at WDW Magic Kingdom, usually at the entrance to the Magic Kingdom.
