A Bird in the Bush

How strong were the gags in a Mickey Mouse cartoon?

The earliest Mickeys, I like. Once the ‘30s started rolling along, things get really lame.

Take Mickey Cuts Up (1931), for example. A good portion of the cartoon is taken up by Mickey and Minnie whistling, part of the time while Mickey pretends to be a bird. That’s it.

The cartoon gets its title from the scene where Mickey (with huge pupils) is skipping along with gardening shears, what I think is a pair of rose clippers and some kind of hand rake/comb.



He sticks the end of the rose clippers in a bush to form a nose, grabs a couple of daises or something or other as makeshift eyes, clips a mouth and then pretends to be a barber. You can follow along with the frames.



Now the gag. Are you ready? A bird comes out of the bush and spoils Mickey’s work. Not even Minnie laughs at this one.



This is yet another cartoon where the climax involves Pluto creating complete mayhem by chasing something (a cat this time). If it’s all the same to you, I’ll take Galloping Gaucho, thanks.