The Little Whirlwind
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| The Little Whirlwind | |
|---|---|
| Mickey Mouse series | |
 Mickey Mouse and his tornado antagonist in The Little Whirlwind |
|
| Directed by | Riley Thomson |
| Produced by | John Sutherland Walt Disney (executive) |
| Voices by | Walt Disney Marcellite Garner |
| Animation by | Ward Kimball Walt Kelly Kenneth Muse Fred Moore |
| Studio | Walt Disney Productions |
| Distributed by | RKO Radio Pictures |
| Release date(s) | February 14, 1941 |
| Color process | Technicolor |
| Running time | 8 min (one reel) |
| Language | English |
| Preceded by | Mr. Mouse Takes a Trip (1940) |
| Followed by | The Nifty 1990s (1941) |
The Little Whirlwind is a 1941 animated short subject, part of the Mickey Mouse series, produced by John Sutherland for Walt Disney Productions. Directed by Riley Thomson, the short was released by RKO Radio Pictures on February 14, 1941. The short involves Mickey's attempts to help Minnie with her yard work, despite the pretense of several (anthropomorphic) twisters as foils.
[edit] Synopsis
While walking by Minnie Mouse's house one day, Mickey Mouse is enticed by the aroma of a cake Minnie is baking. Promised a slice if he cleans the yard, Mickey immediately jumps into raking up the fall leaves littering Minnie's lawn. While working in the yard, a small tornado as tall as Mickey comes along and makes his work more complicated: first the youngster hops into the basket and leaps over Mickey countless times before he pounds the basket in place, shaking it to check if it's snared. After he throws the leaves in, the child pounces on him, spins him around, grabs his hat, and taunts him. Angered, Mickey pounces on the youngster, who spins him around and scoots away, leaving Mickey's hat on his head. Both Mickey and the youngster have a tug'o'war on the basket until it shatters on Mickey, who is entangled. Then, the child makes an army of leaves and marches around the house. Mickey manages to trap the child with a sack, which he ties and punts away. The tornadoling retaliates with just 2 punches, then attempts to get away, with Mickey hot on her heels. The terrified child calls out for help. The mother tornado, unamused with Mickey tormenting her offspring, furiously pursues him with a look of relentlessness on her face. Her angry rampage causes chaos and destruction through the farm fields and grasslands until she lifts the lower portion of her gigantic body and slows Mickey's movement.
When the twister finally sucks Mickey in, he is sent for a spin until he ends up falling into Minnie's water fountain. Minnie unaware of the whole incident finds her garden in a complete mess causing Mickey to get her cake thrown in his face which he proceeds to eat.
[edit] Animation notes
Much of the animation of the big tornado is taken from the 1935 Mickey Mouse cartoon The Band Concert.
The Little Whirlwind marks the final appearance of Mickey Mouse in his trademark red button-down shorts during his cartoon series' original theatrical run. The shorts would not be restored until Runaway Brain in 1995. In addition, The Little Whirlwind was the debut for a newly updated Mickey Mouse design: Mickey was given ears that worked in perspective (in lieu of his traditional, unchanging circles for ears), in addition to a slimmer body, larger head, hands and feet. This cosmetic change was relatively short-lived, and only lasted for the duration of World War II.
