Tuesday, October 08, 2013

Disney Navigates An Urban Jungle

The Disney Crowd Evidently Had This Thing About Cow Udders --- Can Someone Explain?

Mickey Still Raw and Ready In Traffic Troubles (1931)



In a Chaney-Like Show Of Versatility, Peg-Leg Pete
 Also Plays a Character With Both Limbs Intact
I call these early ones "ramshackle Mickeys," because he's still the go-getting rodent of crude beginnings not yet re-routed to adventure formula that would better sustain seven minutes in Disney-sanctioned "story" terms. Walt was forever after narrative strength in addition to character for his moving sketches, post-'32 or so shorts paying a price in terms of lost spontaneity, or better put, endearing shagginess, that kept Traffic Troubles in rougher company of rival cartooning keyed to low comedy and little enterprise beyond. Mickey the urban hack driver is relief from barnyards he usually occupied (although TT finishes, as usual, down on the farm), and overworked Peg Leg Pete looks to be playing dual roles here. Traffic Troubles was Disney as distributed by Columbia, so cash advance permitted less seeking after perfection that would characterize later subjects, maybe a good thing for ones who enjoy 30's cartooning in spit-and-glue terms.

The Pig Merely Happened By --- and Look What Mickey's Done To Him ...

... But Mickey Admonishes His Taxi For Biting
Another That Is Parked Too Close.
Among primitive acts on view: Mickey going hard on a passing pig he uses to inflate a blown tire --- yes, there was cruelty within Disney's animal kingdom. Walt was for music, but liked less paying for it, so staff used P.D. themes or composed originals. Best of latter could boost otherwise vanilla shorts --- did cleffing  Frank Churchill get all the Disney credit he had coming? (not on main titles ... only Walt's name appeared there) Traffic Troubles has a sprightly theme that Mickey whistles in concert with accordionist Minnie. When I watched again to do notes, it was this I enjoyed best. Animator David Hand, not long with Disney when he drew on Traffic Troubles, said in a years-later interview with Michael Barrier that Walt made him do over and over a scene of Mickey struggling with his taxi, until finally it was "wild" enough to please the boss. Was early Disney after a stops-out style later tamed by art and its genteel rewards?
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6 comments:

  1. Reg Hartt1:48 PM

    These "ramshackle" Mickeys represent the mouse at his peak of popularity.

    When we read books like THE DISNEY ART OF ANIMATION it is important to remember that many of the films spoken of most highly in its pages are ones audiences did not care that much about.

    In improving the technical aspects of their craft the Disney artists lost something much more important;the pulse of the public.

    By the way RUNAWAY TRAIN et al (AMERICAN TREASURES FROM NEW ZEALAND) just arrived. Lives up to my expectations. Great fun. Thanks.tomy expectations

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  2. John McElwee4:09 PM

    Donald Benson considers the corporate progress of Mickey Mouse:


    Another factor, frequented noted, is that Mickey's popularity with kids brought parental pressure. So to reassure grownups -- and to protect a fast-growing merchandise empire -- Mickey had to be a consistently positive role model.


    Responsible Mickey set the stage for the rise of Donald Duck. Mickey became a straight mouse, usually Pluto's master once the Duck and Goofy got their own cartoons. Then came the 50s, when he went from being an imaginary character to an imaginary celebrity. He'd talk directly to kids on TV, and at Disneyland he'd sign autographs and pose for pictures. Other characters did as much, but it became Mickey's full-time gig.



    The comic strip version of Mickey, now in a series of handsome books, followed a slightly different path. Like Donald Duck in comic books, Mickey Mouse in the daily funnies found himself having longer, more elaborate adventures totally removed from his animated activities. Somewhere after WWII the strip reverted to basic gagging, locking Mickey in as a suit-wearing suburbanite to match his corporate spokesman persona.

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  3. KING OF JAZZ9:28 AM

    Mickey could not have been more colorless circa 1957! Boring!

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  4. Kevin K.11:03 AM

    My 17 year-old daughter has been a Mickey fan her whole life, especially his early incarnations. But everything in that still featuring the pig scares her.

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  5. John McElwee1:08 PM

    Chris U. sends along a link to a really clever video parody based on "Taxi Driver" and Mickey Mouse. Thanks, Chris!


    Hi John,

    The references in your recent post regarding udders and animal cruelty in early Disney shorts reminded me of this wonderful Bryan Boyce "homage":

    http://vimeo.com/37154658

    If any of your readers have not seen it before, I'm sure they will enjoy it (of course, like everything else, it's most fun when viewed with an audience!).

    Keep up the great work with your blog. I read it every day.

    Best,

    Chris U.

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  6. Reg Hartt4:22 AM

    Columnist Terry Ramsaye reported in the MOTION PICTURE HERALD of February 28, 1931: “Mickey Mouse, the artistic offspring of Walt Disney, has fallen afoul of the censors in a big way, largely because of his amazing success. Papas and Mamas, especially Mamas, have spoken vigorously to censor boards and elsewhere about what a devilish, naughty little mouse Mickey turned out to be. Now we find that Mickey is not to drink, smoke, or tease the stock in the barnyard. Mickey has been spanked. It is the old, old story. If nobody knows you, you can do anything, and if everybody knows you, you can’t do anything – except what every one approves, which is very little of anything. It has happened often enough among the human stars of the screen and now it gets even the little fellow in black and white who is no thicker than a pencil mark and exists solely in a state of mind.”

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