When Magoo Flew
{{Use mdy dates|date=March 2025}}
{{Use American English|date=January 2025}}
{{Infobox film
| name = When Magoo Flew
| image = When Magoo Flew poster.jpg
| caption = Theatrical Poster for When Magoo Flew
| alt = Poster for When Magoo Flew
| director = Pete Burness
| story = Barbara Hammer
Tedd Pierce
| animator = Rudy Larriva
Tom McDonald
Cecil Surry
| layout_artist = Sterling Sturtevant
| background_artist = Bob McIntosh
| starring = Jim Backus
| music = Hoyt Curtin
| producer = Stephen Bosustow
| studio = UPA
| distributor = Columbia Pictures
| released = {{Film date|1955|1|6}}
| color_process = Technicolor, CinemaScope
| runtime = 6 min.
| language = English
}}
When Magoo Flew is a 1955 animated short produced by UPA for Columbia Pictures. Directed by Pete Burness and produced by Stephen Bosustow, When Magoo Flew won the 1955 Oscar for Short Subjects (Cartoons).{{cite web|url=http://cartoonresearch.com/index.php/cartoons-considered-for-an-academy-award-1954/|title=Cartoons Considered For An Academy Award – 1954 -|website=cartoonresearch.com}}{{cite news |last=Beck |first=Jerry |url= http://www.indiewire.com/2014/01/shout-factory-to-release-mr-magoo-the-theatrical-collection-1949-1959-124491/ |title=Shout Factory to Release "Mr. Magoo: The Theatrical Collection (1949-1959) |work=IndieWire |date=January 21, 2014 |access-date=March 29, 2018}} In addition, it was the first UPA short to be made for the CinemaScope widescreen format.{{cite book |last=Abraham |first=Adam |title=When Magoo Flew: The Rise and Fall of Animation Studio UPA p. 156 |publisher=Wesleyan University Press |year=2012 |isbn=978-0-8195-7270-7}} When Magoo Flew is also the title of a 2012 book by Adam Abraham on the history of the UPA studio.[https://www.amazon.com/When-Magoo-Flew-Animation-Studio/dp/0819569143 Amazon.com]
Plot summary
Near-sighted Mr. Magoo goes to see a movie but instead mistakes the airport across the street for the theater and takes a seat on a departing airplane. This cartoon makes reference to the 3-D movies that briefly became popular around the time of the release of this short as Magoo comments on the apparent realism of his movie experience ("it's like I can actually feel the plane taking off!") The man in the seat next to Magoo turns out to be a bank robber who flees without his briefcase (full of stolen money) when he sees a policeman talking with the stewardess. Magoo politely tries to find the robber so he can return his briefcase, stepping out into what he believes is the theater lobby (actually the wing of the plane).
After startling many of the other passengers due to his apparent lack of concern of the danger to his life as he wanders on the outside of the plane, the pilot opens up the cargo bay door so Magoo can get back inside. Promptly finding the robber, Magoo returns his briefcase and keys the policeman onto the identity of the robber. After the plane lands, Magoo comments to the stewardess that he thoroughly enjoyed watching his first 3-D movie. The only thing that bothered Magoo was that there was no cartoon before the movie. The closing gag is a particularly sly one as Magoo describes himself when describing his favorite cartoon character (the narcissist).[https://archive.org/details/1955When.Magoo.Flew1 1955 When. Magoo. Flew-Internet Archive]
References
{{reflist}}
External links
- {{IMDb title|id=0047672|title=When Magoo Flew}}
- [http://whenmagooflew.com When Magoo Flew]
{{United Productions of America}}
{{Mr. Magoo}}
{{AcademyAwardBestAnimatedShortFilm 1941–1960}}
Category:1955 animated short films
Category:1950s American animated films
Category:American aviation films
Category:Best Animated Short Academy Award winners
Category:Columbia Pictures short films
Category:Columbia Pictures animated short films
Category:Films scored by Hoyt Curtin
Category:1950s English-language films
Category:English-language short films
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