The Little Whirlwind

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The Little Whirlwind
Mickey Mouse series
Mickey Mouse and his tornado antagonist in The Little Whirlwind
Directed by	Riley Thomson
Animation by	Ward Kimball Walt Kelly
Voices by	Walt Disney Marcellite Garner
Produced by	John Sutherland Walt Disney (executive)
Studio	Walt Disney Productions
Distributed by	RKO Radio Pictures
Release date	February 14, 1941
Format	Technicolor, 8 min (one reel)
Language	English
Preceded by	Mr. Mouse Takes A Trip (1940)
Followed by	The Nifty Nineties (1941)

Knock Knock is a 1941 animated short subject, part of the Mickey Mouse series, produced by John Sutherland for Walt Disney Productions. Directed by Riley Thomson, the short was released by RKO Radio Pictures on February 14, 1941. The short involves Mickey's attempts to help Minnie with her yard work, despite the pretense of several (anthropomorphic) twisters as foils.

[edit] Synopsis

Walking by Minnie Mouse's house one day, Mickey Mouse is enticed by the aroma of a cake Minnie is baking. Promised a slice if he cleans the yard, Mickey immediately jumps into raking up the fall leaves littering Minnie's lawn. While working in the yard, a small tornado as tall as Mickey comes along and makes his work more complicated. Mickey tries to fight the tornado away, but while chasing it, he encounters a bigger one which in turn chases him.

When the twister finally sucks Mickey in, he is sent for a spin until he ends up falling into Minnie's water fountain. Minnie comes out, and she finds her yard a far worse mess than before. However, Mickey still gets the cae for his hard work - right in his face.

[edit] Animation notes

Much of the animation of the big tornado is taken from the 1935 Mickey Mouse cartoon The Band Concert.

The Little Whirlwind marks the final appearance of Mickey Mouse in his trademark red button-down shorts during his cartoon series' original theatrical run. The shots would not be restored until Runaway Brain in 1995. In addition, The Little Whirlwind was the debut for a newly updated Mickey Mouse design: Mickey was given ears that worked in perspective (veruss his traditional, unchanging circles for ears), in addition to a slimmer body, larger head, hands and feet and the removal of his tail. This cosmetic change was relatively short-lived, and only lasted for the duration of World War II.