Mickey's Parrot

A Walt Disney MICKEY MOUSE Cartoon.

Bumped out of a moving van, a hot-tempered parrot takes refuge in Mickey's home.

MICKEY'S PARROT is an excellent little film, with very fine animation and some good gags. The plot follows Pluto more closely than Mickey, but that is not unusual. Despite a strong debut, the Parrot would make no further appearances in any Disney animated films. Mickey's voice is supplied by Walt Disney.

Walt Disney (1901-1966) was always intrigued by drawings. As a lad in Marceline, Missouri, he sketched farm animals on scraps of paper; later, as an ambulance driver in France during the First World War, he drew figures on the sides of his vehicle. Back in Kansas City, along with artist Ub Iwerks, Walt developed a primitive animation studio that provided animated commercials and tiny cartoons for the local movie theaters. Always the innovator, his ALICE IN CARTOONLAND series broke ground in placing a live figure in a cartoon universe. Business reversals sent Disney & Iwerks to Hollywood in 1923, where Walt's older brother Roy became his lifelong business manager & counselor. When a mildly successful series with Oswald The Lucky Rabbit was snatched away by the distributor, the character of Mickey Mouse sprung into Walt's imagination, ensuring Disney's immortality. The happy arrival of sound technology made Mickey's screen debut, STEAMBOAT WILLIE (1928), a tremendous audience success with its use of synchronized music. The SILLY SYMPHONIES soon appeared, and Walt's growing crew of marvelously talented animators were quickly conquering new territory with full color, illusions of depth and radical advancements in personality development, an arena in which Walt's genius was unbeatable. Mickey's feisty, naughty behavior had captured millions of fans, but he was soon to be joined by other animated companions: temperamental Donald Duck, intellectually-challenged Goofy and energetic Pluto. All this was in preparation for Walt's grandest dream - feature length animated films. Against a blizzard of doomsayers, Walt persevered and over the next decades delighted children of all ages with the adventures of Snow White, Pinocchio, Bambi, Peter Pan and Mr. Toad. Walt never forgot that his fortunes were all started by a mouse, or that simplicity of message and lots of hard work always pay off.

This cartoon is kind of ambiguous, which firstly Mickey heard a news about an escaped killer, kind of thrilling, then which happened to appeared a parrot and Mickey got frightened, and caused chaos. I'm not so really understand how did the news relevant to parrot, and how did the parrot appeared, that's probably a coincidence, and Pluto and Mickey got frantic needlessly, be conincidence enough, the firstly animation of Mickey heard of the news contained in a prelude of Donald Duck and the Gorilla (1944) in my country during the video, unsuccessfully comfort me. Though the movie still contained gags, but to my mind, it's underwelming to me. Oh, uh, never mind....

This is a somewhat exciting little Mickey thriller cartoon where a killer has escaped from jail and Mickey and Pluto thinks that he has broken into their home. However, it was actually the criminal's parrot that has been making all the strange noises.

This is like a cool little thriller movie, with surprises and tense moments waiting to creep up on you. Mickey and Pluto's tactics will send you laughing. The parrot is a bit of a loud mouth and smartie pants, and was annoying at times.

This story has an overall eerie feel to it, perfect for a murder mystery plot. Mickey and Pluto roaming around in their big house makes the eerie feeling for intriguing.

Grade B

Mickey's Parrot could have gone either way. In any instance it would be funny, but it would have either been a short where Mickey is as prominent as the title would suggest or he would take a back-seat and Pluto, Goofy or Donald would provide most of the laughs. Mickey's Parrot is a terrific example of being the former. The premise of mistaking the parrot for an escaped convict may be hard to swallow at first, but the pacing never lets up and the short is always fun so I don't consider it much of a problem. The animation is really beautiful, with a lot of colour, fluidity and well drawn characters. It isn't really a Mickey Mouse short without a priceless facial expression from him. We get several in fact, not just those that make us laugh but also ones where they convey much emotion. That is especially true of the sheepish fear when he thinks the crook is standing right behind him. Mickey himself is also a sheer delight. He has more of a prominent role here than in other shorts of his in the 30s and has some nifty moments of his own, such as at the end where we are reminded of his warm-hearted nature. Pluto may have done funnier stuff before and since Mickey's parrot, but he is still funny and full of energy. The parrot is a great foil also. The music is beautifully orchestrated and characterful, while the gags are imaginative and often very amusing. The best are with Pluto getting emasculated literally, with the goldfish biting his nose and also when he is cornered and driven up the wall. Overall, Mickey's Parrot is a lot of fun, well recommended. 10/10 Bethany Cox

Can someone explain to my why Polly is a common name for a parrot? And why do they have a fascination for crackers? I've never seen a real life parrot each a cracker.

In this cartoon a moving van goes over a nasty bump and a birdcage falls out. The newly freed parrot inside immediately flies into Mickey's house where Mickey mistakes his noisy presence as an invasion by escaped convict Machine-gun Charlie (or something). This is the set-up for the usual hijinks seen in Disney cartoons in which everything Mickey, Donald or Goofy owns is trashed because of their own clumsiness.

Something different it ain't.