Mickey Mouse in Vietnam

{{Italic title}}{{Infobox film

| name = Short Subject

| image = File:Short Subject⧸Mickey Mouse in Vietnam (1969, silent version).webm

| alt =

| caption = Short Subject, without soundtrack

| director = Whitney Lee Savage

| producer = Milton Glaser

| writer =

| screenplay =

| story =

| based_on =

| starring =

| narrator =

| music =

| cinematography =

| editing =

| color_process = Black and white

| studio = Max Cats and Whittesey Sledge Studios

| distributor =

| released = {{Film date|1969}}

| runtime = 1 minute

| country = United States

| language = English

| budget =

| gross =

}}

Short Subject (commonly known as Mickey Mouse In Vietnam) is a 1969 16 mm anti-war underground animated short film. The director was Whitney Lee Savage (father of Adam Savage){{cite web|last1=Doctorow|first1=Cory|title=Mickey Mouse in Vietnam|url=http://boingboing.net/2013/06/22/mickey-mouse-in-vietnam.html|website=Boing Boing|access-date=1 June 2016|date=23 June 2013|archive-date=19 November 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181119000330/https://boingboing.net/2013/06/22/mickey-mouse-in-vietnam.html|url-status=live}} and the producer and head designer was Milton Glaser, who produced it independently with a total running time of one minute.John Grant, Encyclopedia of Walt Disney's Animated Characters: from Mickey Mouse to Hercules, 3rd Edition, p. 31 The short was not endorsed by The Walt Disney Company.

The short has the satirical theme of Mickey Mouse volunteering for military service, and getting killed within moments of arriving in Vietnam to fight in the Vietnam War.

The short was considered lost media up until 2013 when a YouTube user uploaded the full short, albeit with replaced music. The full short with its original music was uploaded in 2018.

Plot

Mickey Mouse is seen walking happily up until he sees a sign reading "Join the Army and See the World" before walking offscreen and coming back with a helmet and gun. He then travels by boat to Vietnam during the war. However, moments after, while walking in the grass, he is shot in the head by an enemy. The short ends with Mickey lying dead on the ground, his smile turning slowly into a frown while blood pours from the bullet wound.

Production

The short was produced under the auspices of a studio named Max Cats and Whittesey Sledge Studios. According to Glaser, it was meant for the Angry Arts Festival which, according to him, was "a kind of protest event, inviting artists to produce something to represent their concerns about the war in Vietnam and a desire to end it". Mickey Mouse was chosen due to being a symbol of innocence.{{Cite web|last=Metzger|first=Richard|date=October 1, 2017|title=Mickey Mouse in Vietnam|url=https://dangerousminds.net/comments/mickey_mouse_in_vietnam|access-date=June 25, 2020|website=Dangerous Minds|archive-date=April 6, 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230406062003/https://dangerousminds.net/comments/mickey_mouse_in_vietnam|url-status=live}}{{Cite web|last=Solway|first=Carl|date=July 19, 2013|title=A Rare 1968 Anti-War Short "Mickey Mouse In Vietnam" Has Resurfaced Online|url=http://blog.solwaygallery.com/2013/07/a-rare-1968-anti-war-short-mickey-mouse.html|access-date=June 25, 2020|website=Carl Solway Gallery|archive-date=December 9, 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231209020744/http://blog.solwaygallery.com/2013/07/a-rare-1968-anti-war-short-mickey-mouse.html|url-status=live}}

Reception and legacy

The film received an award from the International Short Film Festival Oberhausen in 1970.[https://books.google.com/books?id=XPcSAQAAMAAJ&q=%22mickey+mouse+in+vietnam%22 Filmmakers Newsletter], vol. 4, p. 55 (1970). According to Glaser it was positively received from the audience.

= Conservation status =

The film was erroneously thought to be lost for many years. It was shown under its French title Mickey au Vietnam or Mickey Mouse au Vietnam at the Festival Côté court de Pantin in France in 1998[https://www.cotecourt.org/documents/catalogues/cotecourt_1998_catalogue.pdf Côté-court] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201022125520/https://www.cotecourt.org/documents/catalogues/cotecourt_1998_catalogue.pdf |date=2020-10-22}}, 1998, p. 40 and 2003.[https://www.cotecourt.org/documents/catalogues/cotecourt_2003_catalogue.pdf Côté court] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201022130920/https://www.cotecourt.org/documents/catalogues/cotecourt_2003_catalogue.pdf |date=2020-10-22}}, 2003, p. 64 In both cases, the copy came from the French distributor ISKRA.[http://iskrafilms.com/MICKEY-AU-VIETNAM ISKRA] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200628140900/http://iskrafilms.com/MICKEY-AU-VIETNAM |date=2020-06-28 }}. The Cinémathèque québécoise in Montreal, Canada, used its own copy in 2004.{{Cite news|year=2003–2004|title=Mickey Mouse au Viêt-nam (Short Subject)|language=fr|work=La revue de la Cinémathèque|publisher=Cinémathèque québécoise|issue=77|location=Montréal}}

On April 22, 2013, YouTube user abadhiggins uploaded the video.[http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/06/24/mickey-mouse-in-vietnam_n_3491245.html "Mickey Mouse In Vietnam: Anti-War Animation By Milton Glaser Shows Character's Sad Demise"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131213085624/http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/06/24/mickey-mouse-in-vietnam_n_3491245.html |date=2013-12-13 }}, Huffington Post, June 24, 2013.David Haglund, [http://www.slate.com/blogs/browbeat/2013/06/21/mickey_mouse_in_vietnam_watch_long_lost_1968_short_film_by_milton_glaser.html "Watch the Long Lost Anti-War Short 'Mickey Mouse in Vietnam{{'"}}] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181019210847/http://www.slate.com/blogs/browbeat/2013/06/21/mickey_mouse_in_vietnam_watch_long_lost_1968_short_film_by_milton_glaser.html |date=2018-10-19 }}, Slate, June 21, 2013.Gabriel Grand, [http://www.salon.com/2013/06/23/when_mickey_mouse_fought_in_vietnam_partner/ "When Mickey Mouse fought in Vietnam"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140520234013/http://www.salon.com/2013/06/23/when_mickey_mouse_fought_in_vietnam_partner/ |date=2014-05-20 }}, Salon, June 23, 2013.[http://www.filmthreat.com/features/67857/ "The Bootleg Files: Mickey Mouse in Vietnam"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140520220518/http://www.filmthreat.com/features/67857/ |date=2014-05-20 }}, Film Threat, June 28, 2013. Five years later, on July 31, 2018, the full short was uploaded by another YouTube user CDCB2 on a distorted VHS print which is low-faded; this version includes the opening and closing titles, the SMPTE Universal countdown film leader, and a Telecine Compact Video Systems servants entrance Disney segment VHS slide, both of which were absent in the 2013 upload, as well the audio track, which, until then, was assumed to be completely lost. The music prominently used in the soundtrack is "The Gonk" by Herbert Chappell.{{Citation |title=Mickey Mouse in Vietnam (ORIGINAL 1968 SOUNDTRACK!!!) |date=31 July 2018 |url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hAtnOkqO_l0 |access-date=2023-05-27 |language=en |archive-date=2023-05-27 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230527113527/https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hAtnOkqO_l0 |url-status=live }}

The film was included as part of the 2022 Disney+ documentary Mickey: The Story of a Mouse.{{Cite web |last=Taylor |first=Drew |date=2022-03-16 |title='Mickey' Documentary Director Was Shocked Disney Let This Stay in the Doc |url=https://www.thewrap.com/mickey-mouse-controversy-history-documentary-director-interview/ |access-date=2023-05-30 |website=The Wrap |language=en-US |archive-date=2022-03-20 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220320005101/https://www.thewrap.com/mickey-mouse-controversy-history-documentary-director-interview/ |url-status=live }}{{Cite web |last=Spry |first=Jeff |title=Jeff Malmberg Dives Down the Mouse Hole for 'Mickey: The Story of a Mouse' |url=https://www.animationmagazine.net/2022/11/jeff-malmberg-dives-down-the-mouse-hole-for-mickey-the-story-of-a-mouse/ |access-date=2023-05-30 |website=www.animationmagazine.net |date=14 November 2022 |archive-date=2023-05-30 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230530031015/https://www.animationmagazine.net/2022/11/jeff-malmberg-dives-down-the-mouse-hole-for-mickey-the-story-of-a-mouse/ |url-status=live }}

References

External links

[https://www.buzzfeed.com/briangalindo/rare-1968-anti-war-short-mickey-mouse-in-vietnam-resurfaces Buzzfeed article with video]
[http://www.mouseplanet.com/8223/Disney_Cartoons_That_Arent_Disney Disney Cartoons That Aren't Disney Cartoons]
[https://web.archive.org/web/20070430000552/http://mag.awn.com/index.php?ltype=Columns&article_no=1573&page=3 An article about the representation of war in cartoons in the U.S., mentioning the existence of Mickey Mouse in Vietnam]
[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VLJG2qbknIk Mickey Mouse in Vietnam] on YouTube
{{IMDb title|2048807}}

Category:1969 films

Category:1960s American animated films

Category:1960s parody films

Category:1960s political satire films

Category:1960s war comedy films

Category:1960s rediscovered films

Category:1969 black comedy films

Category:American parody films

Category:Disney parodies

Category:American political satire films

Category:American animated comedy films

Category:Anti-war films about the Vietnam War