The Little Whirlwind
Encyclopedia
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.
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.
.
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
.
Animation
Animation is the rapid display of a sequence of images of 2-D or 3-D artwork or model positions in order to create an illusion of movement. The effect is an optical illusion of motion due to the phenomenon of persistence of vision, and can be created and demonstrated in several ways...
short subject
Short subject
A short film is any film not long enough to be considered a feature film. No consensus exists as to where that boundary is drawn: the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences defines a short film as "an original motion picture that has a running time of 40 minutes or less, including all...
, part of the 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...
series, produced by John Sutherland
John Sutherland
John Andrew Sutherland is an English academic, emeritus professor, newspaper columnist and author.John Sutherland is now Emeritus Lord Northcliffe Professor of Modern English Literature at University College London. After graduating from the University of Leicester in 1964, he began his academic...
for Walt Disney Productions. Directed by Riley Thomson
Riley Thomson
Riley A. Thomson, Jr. was an American animator and comics artist who spent most of his career working with Walt Disney films and characters. He directed six Disney short films including The Nifty Nineties and Symphony Hour.-Career:Thomson began his career in 1935 at Leon Schlesinger Productions ...
, the short was released by RKO Radio Pictures on February 14, 1941. The short involves Mickey's attempts to help Minnie
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...
with her yard work, despite the pretense of several (anthropomorphic) twisters
Tornado
A tornado is a violent, dangerous, rotating column of air that is in contact with both the surface of the earth and a cumulonimbus cloud or, in rare cases, the base of a cumulus cloud. They are often referred to as a twister or a cyclone, although the word cyclone is used in meteorology in a wider...
as foils.
Synopsis
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 tornadoTornado
A tornado is a violent, dangerous, rotating column of air that is in contact with both the surface of the earth and a cumulonimbus cloud or, in rare cases, the base of a cumulus cloud. They are often referred to as a twister or a cyclone, although the word cyclone is used in meteorology in a wider...
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.
Animation notes
Much of the animation of the big tornado is taken from the 1935 Mickey Mouse cartoon The Band ConcertThe Band Concert
The Band Concert is an animated short film produced in Technicolor by Walt Disney Productions and released to theaters on February 23, 1935 by United Artists. The film was the first Mickey Mouse film produced in color and remains one of the most highly acclaimed of the Disney shorts...
.
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
Runaway Brain
Runaway Brain is a seven-minute animated short-subject produced by Walt Disney Feature Animation Paris, and starring Mickey Mouse and Minnie Mouse...
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
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
.