| Mickey's Good Deed | |
|---|---|
| Mickey Mouse series | |
Theatrical release poster |
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| Directed by | Burt Gillett |
| Produced by | Joseph Schenck |
| Voices by | Pinto Colvig Walt Disney |
| Animation by | Johnny Cannon, Les Clark, Frenchy Detremaudan, Norm Ferguson, Clyde Geronimi, Hardie Gramatky, Dick Lundy, Tom Palmer, Ben Sharpsteen[1] |
| Studio | Walt Disney Productions |
| Distributed by | United Artists |
| Release date(s) | December 17, 1932 (USA) |
| Color process | Black-and-white |
| Running time | 8 minutes |
| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
| Preceded by | The Wayward Canary |
| Followed by | Building a Building |
Mickey's Good Deed (also called Mickey's Lucky Break and Mickey Plays Santa in certain home video releases)[2] is a 1932 American animated short film produced by Walt Disney Productions and released by United Artists. Set during Christmas time, the cartoon depicts Mickey Mouse and his dog Pluto as poor street performers who try to make it a happy Christmas for an even poorer family. The film was directed by Burt Gillett and features the voices of Walt Disney as Mickey and Pinto Colvig as Pluto.[1]
Mickey's Good Deed was Mickey's second Christmas themed film after Mickey's Orphans (1931) and was the first film to depict an impoverished Mickey.
Contents |
Mickey Mouse and Pluto are street performers. Mickey plays "Adeste Fideles" on a cello while Pluto howls along in accompaniment. Several passers-by appear to throw coins in Mickey's cup and Mickey wishes them a merry Christmas. However, when the two hungry pals go to eat at a restaurant, Mickey discovers his cup is filled only with nails, nuts, and bolts.
Mickey walks away disgusted and happens upon the home of a rich family. Inside, a crying child keeps throwing away toys given to him by his father and a butler. When the boy hears Pluto outside he demands his father to buy the dog. The butler goes outside and offers Mickey money for Pluto, but Mickey earnestly refuses. As he runs away, Mickey slips on some ice and his cello slides into the street where it is trampled by a horse drawn sleigh. The party in the sleigh cheerfully (and perhaps unwittingly) call out "Merry Christmas!"
Later on, Mickey and Pluto come across the house of a poor cat family. A single mother sits at the table crying and Mickey and Pluto can see that she has no food or toys for her children. Moved by the scene, Mickey returns to the rich man's house and reluctantly sells Pluto. With the money, he buys toys and food for the family, delivering the goods dressed as Santa Claus. Mickey is then satisfied that he helped the cat family to have a happy Christmas, but he still misses Pluto.
Meanwhile back at the rich family's house, Pluto is treated badly by his new young owner. The child throws a temper tantrum and harasses Pluto. At last the father kicks the dog out and punishes his son. Pluto finds Mickey sitting next to a fire along with a snow sculpture of his absent dog. Pluto burrows through the snow and pops his head out the top of the sculpture surprising Mickey. The two of them share a roasted chicken which the boy had tied to Pluto's tail.