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 Day 2: Mickey’s Fire Brigade (1935) Starring: Mickey Mouse, Donald Duck and Goofy Costarring: Clarabelle Cow Setting: A flaming building Plot: Mickey, Donald and Goofy are firefighters who attempt to save Clarabelle Cow from a burning building. Yada, Yada, Yada…
This is Mickey’s second appearance as a fireman. He previously starred in The Fire Fighters (1930) where he and Horace Horsecollar rescue Minnie from a burning hotel. Goofy’s shirtless-with-suspenders look reminds me of the stud firemen from those steamy pinup calendars. #HUBBAHUBBA I love the gag where Donald is scooping up the flames in his “fire” bucket and dumping them in the fishbowl. Speaking of which, the fish in said bowl looks like a prototype for what would become Cleo from Disney’s Pinocchio (1940). The animation of Mickey holding onto the runaway firehose as he flies above the countryside looks normal by today’s standards but was probably considered to be pretty sophisticated during the era in which the short was released. Before Donald hits the piano with his axe, the flames are playing “Who’s Afraid of the Big Bad Wolf” from Disney’s short The Three Little Pigs (1933). I assumed that the building was either a hotel or an apartment building because of the “Rooms” sign on the front but then Goofy refers to it as Clarabelle’s “house.” It’s an odd to choice to have Goofy be the one to cajole Clarabelle from her tub but it’s also the funniest. Among the items stuck in Clarabelle’s sink drain are dentures, scissors and a pair of dice. A Short About Nothing How do you help someone who doesn’t want it? That’s the very awkward position the trio encounters as a water logged and very nude Clarabelle (apparently unaware of the fire) refuses rescue from the burning building. And, while Mickey receives what was probably meant to be the most iconic moment of the short with the runaway firehose, it was both Donald’s fire bucket scene and Goofy’s conversation with Clarabelle that made this cartoon really sing.
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