The Gallopin' Gaucho
Encyclopedia
The Gallopin' Gaucho was the second short film featuring Mickey Mouse
to be produced, following Plane Crazy
and preceding Steamboat Willie
. The Walt Disney Company
completed the silent version on August 2, 1928, but failed to distribute it widely. Due to a lack of interest, the film was not given wide release until after Steamboat Willie
and Plane Crazy
had been released and a synchronized sound track was added, making it the third Mickey Mouse
short to be released, with the sound version released on December 30, 1928.
Both Mickey and Minnie Mouse
had already made their debuts with the release of Plane Crazy on May 15, 1928. However that film had also failed to catch the attention of distributors when first produced as a silent film. The Gallopin' Gaucho was a second attempt at success by co-directors Walt Disney
and Ub Iwerks
. The latter also served as the sole animator
for it.
As the title implies, the short was intended as a parody
of Douglas Fairbanks
's The Gaucho
, a film first released on November 21, 1927. Following the original film, the events of the short take place in the Pampas of Argentina
with Mickey cast as the gaucho
of the title.
instead of a horse as would be expected (or an ostrich as often reported). He soon reaches local bar and restaurant Cantina Argentina. He enters the establishment with the apparent intent to relax with some drinking and smoking
.
Already present are resident barmaid and dancer Minnie Mouse and a fellow customer. The latter is Black Pete
and is soon introduced as a wanted outlaw
. Pete had already been established as an antagonist
in both the Alice Comedies
and the Oswald the Lucky Rabbit
series. However this short marks his first encounter with either Mickey or Minnie. The latter pair also appear unfamiliar to each other. The short apparently depicts their initial encounter.
Minnie performs the tango
and salsa and both customers start flirting with her. Pete then attempts to put an early ending to their emerging rivalry by proceeding in kidnapping
her. He escapes on his horse while Mickey gives chase on his rhea and soon catches up to his rival. Pete and Mickey then proceed in challenging each other to a sword duel
. The latter emerges the victor and finally gets hold of the Minnie. The finale has Mickey and Minnie riding the rhea into the distance.
, an adventurer modeled after Fairbanks himself. Later audiences would comment on all three characters
seeming to come out of rough, lower class backgrounds that little resemble their later versions.
However the feature characters of the short were obscure at best. Mickey was at first thought to be much too similar to Oswald, resulting in the apparent lack of interest in him. Disney would soon start to contemplate ways to distinguish the Mickey Mouse series from his previous work and that of his rivals. Minnie's role as performer and damsel in distress
is solidified in this. It is also the first time she wears her distinctive oversized high heeled pumps
, although they fall off when she is kidnapped and she spends the rest of the cartoon shoeless. Mickey is also seen wearing shoes for the first time, adding more anthropomorphic traits to the characters which would progressively become more apparent as the years went on.
The result of his contemplations would be the third Mickey short to be produced, the second to be released and the first to really draw the attention of the audiences: Steamboat Willie. That short featured the same three characters as its predecessor but had the added appeal of being a sound film
. It was first released on November 18, 1928 and soon became a hit with the audiences. Sound was then added to both Plane Crazy and Gallopin' Gaucho and they were released again. They became popular hits as well. All three are considered significant in establishing Mickey Mouse as a popular character by the end of 1928.
Mickey Mouse
Mickey Mouse is a cartoon character created in 1928 by Walt Disney and Ub Iwerks at The Walt Disney Studio. Mickey is an anthropomorphic black mouse and typically wears red shorts, large yellow shoes, and white gloves...
to be produced, following Plane Crazy
Plane Crazy
Plane Crazy is an American animated short film directed by Walt Disney and Ub Iwerks. The cartoon, produced in 1928 by The Walt Disney Studio, was the first to feature the character Mickey Mouse. It was made as a silent film and given a test screening to a theater audience on May 15, 1928, but...
and preceding Steamboat Willie
Steamboat Willie
Steamboat Willie is a 1928 American animated short film directed by Walt Disney and Ub Iwerks. It was produced in black-and-white by The Walt Disney Studio and released by Celebrity Productions. The cartoon is considered the debut of Mickey Mouse, and as his girlfriend Minnie, but the characters...
. The Walt Disney Company
The Walt Disney Company
The Walt Disney Company is the largest media conglomerate in the world in terms of revenue. Founded on October 16, 1923, by Walt and Roy Disney as the Disney Brothers Cartoon Studio, Walt Disney Productions established itself as a leader in the American animation industry before diversifying into...
completed the silent version on August 2, 1928, but failed to distribute it widely. Due to a lack of interest, the film was not given wide release until after Steamboat Willie
Steamboat Willie
Steamboat Willie is a 1928 American animated short film directed by Walt Disney and Ub Iwerks. It was produced in black-and-white by The Walt Disney Studio and released by Celebrity Productions. The cartoon is considered the debut of Mickey Mouse, and as his girlfriend Minnie, but the characters...
and Plane Crazy
Plane Crazy
Plane Crazy is an American animated short film directed by Walt Disney and Ub Iwerks. The cartoon, produced in 1928 by The Walt Disney Studio, was the first to feature the character Mickey Mouse. It was made as a silent film and given a test screening to a theater audience on May 15, 1928, but...
had been released and a synchronized sound track was added, making it the third Mickey Mouse
Mickey Mouse
Mickey Mouse is a cartoon character created in 1928 by Walt Disney and Ub Iwerks at The Walt Disney Studio. Mickey is an anthropomorphic black mouse and typically wears red shorts, large yellow shoes, and white gloves...
short to be released, with the sound version released on December 30, 1928.
Both Mickey and Minnie Mouse
Minnie Mouse
Minerva "Minnie" Mouse is an animated character created by Ub Iwerks and Walt Disney. The comic strip story "The Gleam" by Merrill De Maris and Floyd Gottfredson first gave her full name as Minerva Mouse. Minnie has since been a recurring alias for her. Minnie is currently voiced by actress Russi...
had already made their debuts with the release of Plane Crazy on May 15, 1928. However that film had also failed to catch the attention of distributors when first produced as a silent film. The Gallopin' Gaucho was a second attempt at success by co-directors Walt Disney
Walt Disney
Walter Elias "Walt" Disney was an American film producer, director, screenwriter, voice actor, animator, entrepreneur, entertainer, international icon, and philanthropist, well-known for his influence in the field of entertainment during the 20th century. Along with his brother Roy O...
and Ub Iwerks
Ub Iwerks
Ub Iwerks, A.S.C. was a two-time Academy Award winning American animator, cartoonist, character designer, inventor, creator of Mickey Mouse, and special effects technician, who was famous for his work for Walt Disney....
. The latter also served as the sole animator
Animator
An animator is an artist who creates multiple images that give an illusion of movement called animation when displayed in rapid sequence; the images are called frames and key frames. Animators can work in a variety of fields including film, television, video games, and the internet. Usually, an...
for it.
As the title implies, the short was intended as a parody
Parody
A parody , in current usage, is an imitative work created to mock, comment on, or trivialise an original work, its subject, author, style, or some other target, by means of humorous, satiric or ironic imitation...
of Douglas Fairbanks
Douglas Fairbanks
Douglas Fairbanks, Sr. was an American actor, screenwriter, director and producer. He was best known for his swashbuckling roles in silent films such as The Thief of Bagdad, Robin Hood, and The Mark of Zorro....
's The Gaucho
The Gaucho
The Gaucho is a 1927 movie starring Douglas Fairbanks and Lupe Vélez set in Argentina. The lavish adventure extravaganza, filmed at the height of Fairbanks' box office clout, was directed by F...
, a film first released on November 21, 1927. Following the original film, the events of the short take place in the Pampas of Argentina
Pampa
The Pampas are the fertile South American lowlands, covering more than , that include the Argentine provinces of Buenos Aires, La Pampa, Santa Fe, Entre Ríos and Córdoba, most of Uruguay, and the southernmost Brazilian State, Rio Grande do Sul...
with Mickey cast as the gaucho
Gaucho
Gaucho is a term commonly used to describe residents of the South American pampas, chacos, or Patagonian grasslands, found principally in parts of Argentina, Uruguay, Southern Chile, and Southern Brazil...
of the title.
Synopsis
Mickey is introduced riding on a rheaRhea (bird)
The rheas are ratites in the genus Rhea, native to South America. There are two existing species: the Greater or American Rhea and the Lesser or Darwin's Rhea. The genus name was given in 1752 by Paul Möhring and adopted as the English common name. Möhring's reason for choosing this name, from the...
instead of a horse as would be expected (or an ostrich as often reported). He soon reaches local bar and restaurant Cantina Argentina. He enters the establishment with the apparent intent to relax with some drinking and smoking
Tobacco smoking
Tobacco smoking is the practice where tobacco is burned and the resulting smoke is inhaled. The practice may have begun as early as 5000–3000 BCE. Tobacco was introduced to Eurasia in the late 16th century where it followed common trade routes...
.
Already present are resident barmaid and dancer Minnie Mouse and a fellow customer. The latter is Black Pete
Black Pete
Pete, also called Peg-Leg Pete, and Black Pete among other names, is a cartoon character created in 1925 by Walt Disney and Ub Iwerks. He is a licensed character of The Walt Disney Company and often appears as a villain in Mickey Mouse universe stories...
and is soon introduced as a wanted outlaw
Outlaw
In historical legal systems, an outlaw is declared as outside the protection of the law. In pre-modern societies, this takes the burden of active prosecution of a criminal from the authorities. Instead, the criminal is withdrawn all legal protection, so that anyone is legally empowered to persecute...
. Pete had already been established as an antagonist
Antagonist
An antagonist is a character, group of characters, or institution, that represents the opposition against which the protagonist must contend...
in both the Alice Comedies
Alice Comedies
The "Alice Comedies" are a series of animated cartoonscreated by Walt Disney in the 1920s, in which a live action little girl named Alice and an animated cat named Julius have adventures in an animated landscape....
and the Oswald the Lucky Rabbit
Oswald the Lucky Rabbit
Oswald the Lucky Rabbit is an anthropomorphic rabbit and animated cartoon character created by Ub Iwerks and Walt Disney for films distributed by Universal Pictures in the 1920s and 1930s...
series. However this short marks his first encounter with either Mickey or Minnie. The latter pair also appear unfamiliar to each other. The short apparently depicts their initial encounter.
Minnie performs the tango
Tango (dance)
Tango dance originated in the area of the Rio de la Plata , and spread to the rest of the world soon after....
and salsa and both customers start flirting with her. Pete then attempts to put an early ending to their emerging rivalry by proceeding in kidnapping
Kidnapping
In criminal law, kidnapping is the taking away or transportation of a person against that person's will, usually to hold the person in false imprisonment, a confinement without legal authority...
her. He escapes on his horse while Mickey gives chase on his rhea and soon catches up to his rival. Pete and Mickey then proceed in challenging each other to a sword duel
Duel
A duel is an arranged engagement in combat between two individuals, with matched weapons in accordance with agreed-upon rules.Duels in this form were chiefly practised in Early Modern Europe, with precedents in the medieval code of chivalry, and continued into the modern period especially among...
. The latter emerges the victor and finally gets hold of the Minnie. The finale has Mickey and Minnie riding the rhea into the distance.
Characters
In later interviews, Iwerks would comment that Mickey as featured in The Gallopin' Gaucho was intended to be a swashbucklerSwashbuckler
Swashbuckler or swasher is a term that emerged in the 16th century and has been used for rough, noisy and boastful swordsmen ever since. A possible explanation for this term is that it derives from a fighting style using a side-sword with a buckler in the off-hand, which was applied with much...
, an adventurer modeled after Fairbanks himself. Later audiences would comment on all three characters
Fictional character
A character is the representation of a person in a narrative work of art . Derived from the ancient Greek word kharaktêr , the earliest use in English, in this sense, dates from the Restoration, although it became widely used after its appearance in Tom Jones in 1749. From this, the sense of...
seeming to come out of rough, lower class backgrounds that little resemble their later versions.
However the feature characters of the short were obscure at best. Mickey was at first thought to be much too similar to Oswald, resulting in the apparent lack of interest in him. Disney would soon start to contemplate ways to distinguish the Mickey Mouse series from his previous work and that of his rivals. Minnie's role as performer and damsel in distress
Damsel in distress
The subject of the damsel in distress, or persecuted maiden, is a classic theme in world literature, art, and film. She is usually a beautiful young woman placed in a dire predicament by a villain or monster and who requires a hero to achieve her rescue. She has become a stock character of fiction,...
is solidified in this. It is also the first time she wears her distinctive oversized high heeled pumps
Court shoe
Court shoes or pumps are shoes with a low-cut front and usually without a fastening. However, some have ankle straps...
, although they fall off when she is kidnapped and she spends the rest of the cartoon shoeless. Mickey is also seen wearing shoes for the first time, adding more anthropomorphic traits to the characters which would progressively become more apparent as the years went on.
The result of his contemplations would be the third Mickey short to be produced, the second to be released and the first to really draw the attention of the audiences: Steamboat Willie. That short featured the same three characters as its predecessor but had the added appeal of being a sound film
Sound film
A sound film is a motion picture with synchronized sound, or sound technologically coupled to image, as opposed to a silent film. The first known public exhibition of projected sound films took place in Paris in 1900, but decades would pass before sound motion pictures were made commercially...
. It was first released on November 18, 1928 and soon became a hit with the audiences. Sound was then added to both Plane Crazy and Gallopin' Gaucho and they were released again. They became popular hits as well. All three are considered significant in establishing Mickey Mouse as a popular character by the end of 1928.