12 Days of the Big Three, Day 1: Mickey's Service Station

Day 1: Mickey’s Service Station (1935)
Starring: Mickey Mouse, Donald Duck and Goofy
Costarring: Pete
Setting: A roadside service station
Plot: Working as auto mechanics, Mickey, Donald and Goofy are tasked with eliminating a “squeak” from Pete’s fancy automobile.

Yada, Yada, Yada…

Although it’s since been colourized, this is the penultimate Disney short to be released in black and white with Mickey’s Kangaroo (1935) serving as the last.

This is the first in a series of shorts featuring Mickey, Donald and Goofy as a comedic trio.

It’s unclear whether Mickey actually owns the service station or if his name just serves as a mechanism for titling the short.

Pete’s fur coat, cigar, shiny pocket watch and fancy car serve as a relative sign of opulence in contrast with the blue collar service station gang.

Pete would don the same fur coat and bowler hat combo in the 2015 short Once Upon a Coin.

Pete even has personalized hubcaps emblazoned with “Ps.”

Pete arrives at 11:50 am and gives Mickey and his crew ten minutes to fix his car’s “squeak.”

As said by Goofy and on a sign posted on the wall, the service station’s unofficial slogan is “U wreck em, we fix em.”

Not only does Pete carry two pistols, he even fires them at the trio of grease monkeys.

The squeaky car was nothing more than a Yankee Doodle chirping cricket!
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A Short About Nothing
As the first in the series of “Mickey, Donald and Goofy“ shorts, it’s worth noting Mickey’s now diminished role as the trio’s straight man.  Donald’s temper and Goofy’s clumsiness seem to overshadow Mickey’s brand of well-natured, happy-go-lucky charm.  Sure, he takes his share of slapsticky pratfalls but it’s without the distinctive flourish and personality of his two partners.’  It will be interesting to see if Mickey finds his niche among his more colourful counterparts going forward.