Pioneer Days (1930 film)

Last updated

Pioneer Days
Directed by Burt Gillett
Produced by Walt Disney
Production
company
Distributed by Columbia Pictures
Release date
  • November 20, 1930 (1930-11-20) [1]
Running time
7:13
CountryUnited States
LanguageEnglish

Pioneer Days is a Mickey Mouse short animated film first released on November 20, 1930, as part of the Mickey Mouse film series. [2] It was the twenty-fourth Mickey Mouse short to be produced, the ninth of that year. [3]

Contents

The short features Mickey Mouse and Minnie Mouse; Horace Horsecollar and Clarabelle Cow can also be seen in background scenes.

Plot

Mickey and Minnie lead a caravan of covered wagons heading west through the desert, playing the banjo and singing "Oh! Susanna". Mickey boasts to Minnie that he is not scared of Indians, but his confidence will be tested—a tribe of wolf-like Indians have spotted the settlers, and they plan for war, wearing feathered headdresses and wielding tomahawks as they dance around their campfire. Meanwhile, Mickey and the other settlers have circled their wagons for the evening, where they sing and dance, including an old goat performing a tearful rendition of "Darling Nelly Gray".

The Indian tribe arrives, and Mickey sounds the alarm that the Indians are attacking. The settlers shoot guns at the Indians, and the attackers shoot arrows—hitting Mickey in the rear end at several points, to no lasting harm. Mickey scares away some Indians by shooting them with quills from a porcupine. Minnie is kidnapped and tied up by one Indian, and Mickey runs to her rescue. While Mickey and the Indian are fighting, Minnie settles things by dropping a hot coal down the Indian's pants. The mice return to the wagon train pretending to be a line of reinforcements; the Indians are routed and the settlers celebrate.

Releases

The reissue print released in 1940 cut the last scene from the cartoon, showing Mickey and Minnie scaring the Indians away. The 1940 version irises out on Mickey rescuing Minnie from a single Indian with a hot coal. [1] The 1940 version was subsequently shown on TV and released on laserdisc in the 1990s. The missing scene was restored for the 2002 Walt Disney Treasures DVD set Mickey Mouse in Black and White: The Classic Collection . [4]

On the DVD set, an introduction for this short by Leonard Maltin warns, "It would be foolish to judge [these cartoons] some seventy years later in the context of today's manners and morals", although he doesn't specifically call attention to Pioneer Days' use of common Native American stereotypes.

The short was also seen on The Mickey Mouse Club (season 1, episode 15), [4] and Good Morning, Mickey! episode 20.

Reception

In Mickey's Movies: The Theatrical Films of Mickey Mouse, Gijs Grob writes: "The [cartoon] features spectacular animation, including a dance with long shadows around a bonfire (animated by Norm Ferguson), and two stunning scenes animated by Ben Sharpsteen: a complex attack scene, and an impressive shot taken from one of the horses circling the encampment, showing a moving background of wagons in perfect perspective. Also spectacular is a piece of animation by Wilfred Jackson: the fight between Mickey and a horrible Indian, who has kidnapped Mickey. The fight is shown in close-up, and contains complex movements between the two. It's scenes like these that show Disney maintaining his edge in the animation field." [2]

On the Disney Film Project, Ryan Kilpatrick agrees: "The real action begins... when the Indians invade the wagon camp. From that point forward, it's inspired chaos. The scenes of frantic pioneers scrambling around and trying to evade the arrows are great and add to the sense of motion that moves through the final part of the short." [5]

Voice actors

Home media

The short was released on December 2, 2002, on Walt Disney Treasures: Mickey Mouse in Black and White . [6]

See also

Related Research Articles

<i>The Chain Gang</i> (1930 film) 1930 Mickey Mouse cartoon

The Chain Gang is a 1930 Mickey Mouse animated film produced by Walt Disney Productions for Columbia Pictures, as part of the Mickey Mouse film series. It was the twenty-first Mickey Mouse short to be produced, the sixth of that year. It is one of a group of shorts of strikingly uneven quality produced by Disney immediately after Ub Iwerks left the studio.

<i>The Barn Dance</i> 1929 Mickey Mouse cartoon

The Barn Dance is a Mickey Mouse short animated film first released on March 15, 1929, as part of the Mickey Mouse film series; it was the first of twelve shorts released during that year. It was directed by Walt Disney with Ub Iwerks as the head animator. The title is written as Barn Dance on the poster, while the full title is used on the title screen.

<i>The Karnival Kid</i> 1929 Mickey Mouse cartoon

The Karnival Kid is a 1929 Mickey Mouse short animated film released by Celebrity Productions, as part of the Mickey Mouse film series. It was directed by Walt Disney and animated by Ub Iwerks, with music by Carl W. Stalling. It was the ninth Mickey Mouse short to be produced, the sixth of that year.

Mickey's Choo-Choo is a 1929 Mickey Mouse short animated film released by Celebrity Pictures, as part of the Mickey Mouse film series. Ub Iwerks was the animator. It was the eleventh Mickey Mouse short to be produced, the eighth of that year, and was one of the series of early Disney cartoons that led Mickey Mouse to become a national fad by the end of 1929. Originally produced in black and white, this cartoon was one of 45 Mickey Mouse cartoons colorized by American Film Technologies in 1991.

Fiddlin’ Around is a 1930 animated short film produced by Walt Disney Productions and released by Columbia Pictures as part of the Mickey Mouse film series. It was the sixteenth Mickey Mouse short to be produced, the first of that year.

Mickey's Follies is a Mickey Mouse animated short film first released on August 28, 1929, as part of the Mickey Mouse film series. It was directed by Ub Iwerks and Wilfred Jackson, with music by Carl Stalling. It was produced in black and white by The Walt Disney Studio and released to theaters by Celebrity Productions. It was the tenth Mickey Mouse short to be produced, the seventh of that year.

<i>The Haunted House</i> (1929 film) 1929 Mickey Mouse cartoon

The Haunted House, also known as Haunted House, is a 1929 Mickey Mouse short animated film released by Celebrity Productions, as part of the Mickey Mouse film series. The cartoon was produced by Walt Disney Productions and distributed by Celebrity Productions. It was the fourteenth Mickey Mouse short to be produced, the eleventh of that year.

<i>Jungle Rhythm</i> 1929 Mickey Mouse cartoon

Jungle Rhythm is a Mickey Mouse short animated film first released on November 15, 1929, as part of the Mickey Mouse film series. It was the thirteenth Mickey Mouse short to be produced, the tenth of that year.

<i>The Castaway</i> (film) 1931 Mickey Mouse cartoon

The Castaway is a Mickey Mouse animated short feature released on March 27, 1931, as part of the Mickey Mouse film series. It was the twenty-seventh Mickey Mouse short to be produced, the third of that year.

The Gorilla Mystery is a 1930 Mickey Mouse animated film produced by Walt Disney for Columbia Pictures, as part of the Mickey Mouse film series. It was the twenty-second Mickey Mouse short to be produced, the seventh of that year.

<i>The Cactus Kid</i> (1930 film) 1930 Mickey Mouse cartoon

The Cactus Kid is a Mickey Mouse short animated film first released on May 10, 1930, as part of the Mickey Mouse film series. It was the eighteenth Mickey Mouse short to be produced, the third of that year.

The Jazz Fool is a Mickey Mouse short animated film first released on December 21, 1929, as part of the Mickey Mouse film series. It was the twelfth Mickey Mouse short to be produced, the ninth of that year.

Traffic Troubles is a Mickey Mouse short animated film first released on March 7, 1931, as part of the Mickey Mouse film series. It was the twenty-sixth Mickey Mouse short to be produced, and the second of that year.

The Moose Hunt is a Mickey Mouse short animated film first released on April 30, 1931, as part of the Mickey Mouse film series. It was the twenty-eighth Mickey Mouse short to be produced and the fourth of that year.

The Picnic is a 1930 American animated short film directed by Burt Gillett and produced by Walt Disney. It was first released on October 9, 1930, as part of the Mickey Mouse film series. It was the twenty-third Mickey Mouse short to be produced, the eighth of that year.

Mickey Steps Out is a 1931 Mickey Mouse animated short film directed by Burt Gillett, produced by Walt Disney Productions and distributed by Columbia Pictures. It was the thirtieth short in the Mickey Mouse film series, and the sixth of that year.

The Birthday Party is a Mickey Mouse short animated film first released on January 2, 1931, as part of the Mickey Mouse film series. It was the twenty-fifth Mickey Mouse short to be produced, the first of that year.

The Delivery Boy is a 1931 Mickey Mouse animated short film directed by Burt Gillett, produced by Walt Disney Productions and distributed by Columbia Pictures. It was the twenty-ninth short in the Mickey Mouse film series, and the fifth of that year.

The Fire Fighters is a Mickey Mouse short animated film first released on June 20, 1930, as part of the Mickey Mouse film series. It was the nineteenth Mickey Mouse short to be produced, the fourth of that year.

The Shindig is a Mickey Mouse short animated film first released on July 11, 1930, as part of the Mickey Mouse film series. It was the twentieth Mickey Mouse short to be produced, the fifth of that year.

References

  1. 1 2 Kaufman, J.B.; Gerstein, David (2018). Walt Disney's Mickey Mouse: The Ultimate History. Cologne: Taschen. p. 63. ISBN   978-3-8365-5284-4.
  2. 1 2 Grob, Gijs (2018). "Pioneer Days". Mickey's Movies: The Theatrical Films of Mickey Mouse. Theme Park Press. ISBN   978-1683901235.
  3. ↑ Lenburg, Jeff (1999). The Encyclopedia of Animated Cartoons. Checkmark Books. pp. 108–109. ISBN   0-8160-3831-7 . Retrieved June 6, 2020.
  4. 1 2 "Pioneer Days". Internet Animation Database. Archived from the original on May 17, 2021. Retrieved February 8, 2020.
  5. ↑ Kilpatrick, Ryan. "Pioneer Days". Disney Film Project. Retrieved February 8, 2020.
  6. ↑ "Mickey Mouse in Black and White DVD Review". DVD Dizzy. Retrieved February 19, 2021.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.