Mickey's "perspective" ears

[Vdubdavid]

What exactly was it that made the "perspective" ears Mickey Mouse had in his early 40's shorts like "The Little Whirlwind" or "A Gentleman's Gentleman" a failed experiment? Was it simply the fact that the Mickey series was halted in 1942 and when it was started up again in 1947 the animator reverted back to the design that had been around longer?

[lonesome-lenny]

I really like those "perspective ears" Mickeys. The Riley Thompson-directed MMs, in particular, are lively, distinctive, even eccentric cartoons that stand out from the increasingly drab and dreary Disney shorts of their era.

I don't think it's ever been disclosed exactly why Thompson stepped down from his directorial post. Perhaps it was that revolver Mickey brandishes in "Symphony Hour?" That was a bit out of character for the iconic MM, at that time.

Thompson's handful of cartoons approach the energy of the Warners output. I wish he'd continued making shorts. Those bland, spineless Mickeys that came out in the later '40s and early '50s are barely watchable IMO.

I don't consider the "perspective ears" a failure at all. It was a sensible attempt to make geometric and anatomical sense out of a character who was born in the "rubber hose" era. The more Mickey has gotten away from that original Iwerks vision, the stranger those bowling-ball ears look. They don't make sense, visually.

[Jack G.]

As I've said in other threads, I really liked that design. It my favorite for the years when Mickey got pupils. I don't see it as a failure. Maybe the ears were difficult to do. I also thought maybe the UPA influence ended the persective ears but I'm probably wrong on that.

[speedy fast]

What are Mickey's perspective ears? What cartoons feature them?

I once rented Mickey Mouse in Living Color Vol. 2, and in one of the features, there is a mention of how Mickey's ears are always round and flat regardless of what angle his head is shown (they are round at a side view and a front view).

Here is a smiley of Mickey Mouse. :mickey: Is that what you are talking about?

[Chooch]

Framegrabs from his first short with the "perspective ears," The Little Whirlwind.

[Studio Toledo]

Framegrabs from his first short with the "perspective ears," The Little Whirlwind.
Funny I never noticed that as much when that cartoon came on. (shows how effective they were perhaps) :D

[Mr. Semaj]

My only real guess is that, in 1947, when Disney made one last attempt to make Mickey a workable character again, they decided to use a design that audiences could be more familiar with.


The fact that they did return to the original ears feels like a step backwards on his evolutionary design.

[Studio Toledo]

My only real guess is that, in 1947, when Disney made one last attempt to make Mickey a workable character again, they decided to use a design that audiences could be more familiar with.


The fact that they did return to the original ears feels like a step backwards on his evolutionary design.
True. I sometimes wonder if it was better off going onward with that design than to continue using the same cheat for decades.

[Chooch]

Funny I never noticed that as much when that cartoon came on. (shows how effective they were perhaps) :D

Or perhaps it's because, most of the time, his straw hat obscures the innovation. ;)

[Studio Toledo]

Or perhaps it's because, most of the time, his straw hat obscures the innovation. ;)
perhaps.

[Mac]

Thompson's handful of cartoons approach the energy of the Warners output. I wish he'd continued making shorts. Those bland, spineless Mickeys that came out in the later '40s and early '50s are barely watchable IMO.

I wish he'd continued making those shorts too. To my mind, Symphony Hour is the last real (Walt era) Mickey Mouse cartoon in the series. Besides the Beanstalk featurette, all the Mickey cartoons after Symphony Hour are really about Pluto. It's interesting that you compare these shorts to the Warner cartoons, maybe Walt Disney didn't want his cartoons getting too brash or energetic (a shame). I've read about a short Frank Tashlin developed called Mountain Carvers. This looks to me like it could have been one of the best Mickey, Donald and Goofy cartoons ever, the short got quite far into production and would've had loads of action and energy, but it was never finished.

Getting back to the ears, I think they looked good in perspective too, but I still prefer the classic circles. I always thought that the 'cheat' of them always facing the camera worked really well and they've never looked like spheres to me.

[Vdubdavid]

Where did you read about this uncompleted short, Mac? I'd certainly like to learn about it. Anyway, I made a thread about Riley Thompson a while back, and while he apparently stayed on at the studio after the Mickey Series ended in 1942, no one seemed to know exactly why he stopped directing. I don't think it was Mickey's pistol in "Symphony Hour" that did it (no one apparently said anything when Mickey started madly swinging that rake at "The Little Whirlwind"). My guess is that with all the government work the studio was undertaking by that time, Walt decided he couldn't keep four units (for Mickey, Donald, Goofy, and Pluto) on entertainment theatricals, and thus disbanded one, with Riley's apparent lack of seniority and Mickey's unfortunate decline being the fatal combination. Kind of like what happened to Arthur Davis' unit at Warner's in 1949.

[Mac]

I read about 'Mountain Carvers' in the book 'The Disney that Never Was' by Charles Solomon. It's an interesting read, but I wish it went into more detail about some the projects it touches on. I think you're right about why the Mickey Mouse series kind of stopped in the forties, seeing as it was easier for the staff to think up ideas for Goofy and Donald shorts, although it's kind of sad. I still find it strange that apart from 'Beanstalk' Walt never put any special Mickey projects into production after the war. I think that a short feature could have worked really well during the era of the package features.

[David Gerstein]

At Disney's for a research project, I once saw materials from another unfinished Mickey cartoon, this one seemingly by Thompson and the Whirlwind crew. Titled Mickey's Elopement (c. 1941), it featured the characters in a hillbilly setting. Mickey was trying to help Minnie escape from her stern Uncle Mortimer's house so he could get her to a quickie wedding chapel—no kidding!
The cartoon was basically Mickey's version of Columbia's Tito's Guitar, though it looked considerably funnier!

[JDWeil]

A probable reason for the abandonment of these shorts was America's entry into WWII. The Mickey was put on hold for the duration, not to be revived until 1946 when Squatter's Rights hit the screen. Tye last Mickey short to be released before the shutdown was Pluto and the Armadillo, a cartoon that may have been intended for inclusion in Saludos Amigos but released separately, just as The Pelican and the Snipe was intended to be included in The Three Caballeros but also released by itself.

[Vdubdavid]

Actually, as I understand it, Symphony Hour was the last "official" entry in the Mickey Mouse series before the series was shelved. Pluto And the Armadillo was a Pluto short (released in 1943), and was identified as such on the original lobby poster (which I have access to and reads Walt Disney's PLUTO in...) The same goes for Squatter's Rights, although this time the poster reads Walt Disney's MICKEY and Pluto in...etc. . Both shorts were reissued though, with Mickey Mouse opening titles. The first official post-war Mickey short was Mickey's Delayed Date, released in 1947.

[JDWeil]

Actually, as I understand it, Symphony Hour was the last "official" entry in the Mickey Mouse series before the series was shelved. Pluto And the Armadillo was a Pluto short (released in 1943), and was identified as such on the original lobby poster (which I have access to and reads Walt Disney's PLUTO in...) The same goes for Squatter's Rights, although this time the poster reads Walt Disney's MICKEY and Pluto in...etc. . Both shorts were reissued though, with Mickey Mouse opening titles. The first official post-war Mickey short was Mickey's Delayed Date, released in 1947.


Pluto and the Armadillo may have been initially released as a Pluto short, but MIckey was in it and it came from the Mouse unit. That unit not only produced the Mickey shorts, but it was also responsible for the Pluto, and the Figaro cartoons as well. Squatter's Rights is something of an anomaly though. since it came from Jack Hannah's Duck unit. This was Hannah's first time with the two chipmunks which later became known as Chip n' Dale is why he made the short, even though Mickey and Pluto were in it. So sometimes "offiicial" titles are sometimes inaccurate.

[Mac]

At Disney's for a research project, I once saw materials from another unfinished Mickey cartoon, this one seemingly by Thompson and the Whirlwind crew. Titled Mickey's Elopement (c. 1941), it featured the characters in a hillbilly setting. Mickey was trying to help Minnie escape from her stern Uncle Mortimer's house so he could get her to a quickie wedding chapel—no kidding!
The cartoon was basically Mickey's version of Columbia's Tito's Guitar, though it looked considerably funnier!

Wow! That sounds great- wouldn't it be great if the Treasures DVDs 'recreated' unproduced shorts using existing art and story boards set to a sound track (maybe some of these shorts even had some of the score worked out already)?

To me, the mouse series never really picked up again after Symphony Hour. Even Delayed Date centres largely around Pluto and it's the pup who gets to save the day. Pluto and The Armadillo is very much a cartoon about the title characters with Mickey's appearances at the beginning and end being very brief. So, for me, the last real Mickey cartoon in the original series of shorts remains Symphony Hour despite his appearances in later shorts! I don't find things like gags with a stressed Mickey pulling a gun on an uncooperative Donald or story ideas like Mickey's Elopement to be all that surprising or out of character for the Mouse. These are good, fun ideas which show that Mickey could have continued to star in funny and exciting shorts throughout the forties, even if they were not produced in as great a number as other cartoon stars of the period. Still, I think it's better not to make Mickey Mouse cartoons than make rubbish ones - I've just heard about some stories for that Mickey's Club House thing, something about using gum drop rainbows to save Santa from Mistletoe Mountain. Oh dear.

[David Gerstein]

Oh dear is right. Though rest assured— Mickey's Clubhouse is a preschool educational show. What passes for "story" on it is a simple, make believe kind of set-piece entirely different from what Mickey or Donald would encounter in a cartoon or comic aimed at all ages.
IMHO, the only risk Mickey's Clubhouse runs is that its readers, after seeing Mickey in an environment reminiscent of Dora the Explorer and Blue's Clues, will grow up thinking that he belongs there; that anything more sophisticated, clever, or grown-up is inappropriate for him.

[Studio Toledo]

I read about 'Mountain Carvers' in the book 'The Disney that Never Was' by Charles Solomon. It's an interesting read, but I wish it went into more detail about some the projects it touches on. I think you're right about why the Mickey Mouse series kind of stopped in the forties, seeing as it was easier for the staff to think up ideas for Goofy and Donald shorts, although it's kind of sad. I still find it strange that apart from 'Beanstalk' Walt never put any special Mickey projects into production after the war. I think that a short feature could have worked really well during the era of the package features.
I have a copy of that book too, and find it facinating at the stuff they tried developing but eventually canned for many reasons, like the Chanticleer/Raynard feature.

[Studio Toledo]

Wow! That sounds great- wouldn't it be great if the Treasures DVDs 'recreated' unproduced shorts using existing art and story boards set to a sound track (maybe some of these shorts even had some of the score worked out already)?
That would be nice to see if it could be pulled off.

To me, the mouse series never really picked up again after Symphony Hour. Even Delayed Date centres largely around Pluto and it's the pup who gets to save the day. Pluto and The Armadillo is very much a cartoon about the title characters with Mickey's appearances at the beginning and end being very brief. So, for me, the last real Mickey cartoon in the original series of shorts remains Symphony Hour despite his appearances in later shorts! I don't find things like gags with a stressed Mickey pulling a gun on an uncooperative Donald or story ideas like Mickey's Elopement to be all that surprising or out of character for the Mouse. These are good, fun ideas which show that Mickey could have continued to star in funny and exciting shorts throughout the forties, even if they were not produced in as great a number as other cartoon stars of the period.
Too often the Mickey Mouse toons from post-1947 tend to be more Pluto-centric, and Mickey only really serves to be his owner, but that's that, he's more a third wheel to whatever happens with Pluto and some obsticle or animal he confronts.

Still, I think it's better not to make Mickey Mouse cartoons than make rubbish ones - I've just heard about some stories for that Mickey's Club House thing, something about using gum drop rainbows to save Santa from Mistletoe Mountain. Oh dear.
They just have to come up with what's acceptable these days.

[Mac]

IMHO, the only risk Mickey's Clubhouse runs is that its readers, after seeing Mickey in an environment reminiscent of Dora the Explorer and Blue's Clues, will grow up thinking that he belongs there; that anything more sophisticated, clever, or grown-up is inappropriate for him.

Growing up, I was constantly told by people that Mickey and Donald were for babies. Shows like this just will just confirm it for them!