Mickey's Circus

Mickey's Circus is an animated short film produced by Walt Disney Productions and released 1 August 1936. Known crew include director Ben Sharpsteen and animators Milt Kahl, Frank Thomas, Al Eugster & Shamus Culhane.

Although the film is called Mickey's Circus, the film mostly features Donald Duck; however Mickey Mouse does feature in the beginning and end. Also featured are a trio of trained Sea Lions, a young Sea Lion pup, and an audience full of children.

Plot
Mickey Mouse is hosting a circus featuring Donald Duck and a trio of sea lions. Children from all over come to see the circus. After Mickey introduces the performers, the show starts. Donald enters the ring only to be stampeded by the sea lions and a young sea lion pup (Salty the Seal). The first act is juggling, in which the sea lions and Donald juggle balls that land on their noses. When the stunt is finished, the sea lions beg to be fed, throwing their balls at Donald and pointing to their mouths. Before Donald can feed the last sea lion, Salty intervenes and steals the fish. The resulting tug-of-war ends in the sea lions fighting over the fish. The next act is playing the organ pipe, but the sea lion can't do it right. Salty interferes and plays the tune "Yankee Doodle" instead, but the crowd cheers anyway. Salty distracts Donald to the point where Donald looses his temper, attacks Salty, and gets stuck in a drum. Donald regains control by driving away the sea lions with his pistol.

Subsequently, the sea lions refuse to perform unless fed first. When Donald gets out a fish, the sea lion plays the tune rapidly. Again, the sea lions fight over the fish, destroying the organ pipe and ignoring Donald. Salty steals the fish again and Donald chases; there follows a fast chase around the arena, which includes Donald chasing Salty through a cannon and Mickey attempting to intervene. The spectators fire the cannon, shooting Mickey and Donald out and resulting in Mickey landing on a tightrope and Donald hanging from a hook within the fish basket. When a spectator cuts Donald's basket loose, he falls, lands on a circus bike, and rides across the tightrope toward Mickey (who somehow gets out of the way). The spectators oil the rope, causing Donald's bike to run backwards and splatter Mickey, go over Mickey's pole, bounce back from the start, and end up on top of Mickey's pole. When the spectators throw a barrel at Mickey, Donald's bike is bounced off but Donald gets back by driving through thin air and Mickey is loaded on as well. The climax ensues when the spectators turn up the voltage to high, electrocuting Mickey and Donald and splitting the bike (and rope) in half, causing Mickey and Donald to fall. The two land in the seal tank, only to be hit by a fish thrown by Salty, and the film ends with the sea lions beating up Mickey and Donald as they fight over the fish in the tank.

Release
3 May 2004: Released on DVD as part of a two disk collection of early Mickey Mouse shorts - Walt Disney Treasures: Mickey Mouse In Living Color, part of the Walt Disney Treasures line.

Trivia

 * This is Salty the Seal's first appearance.