The early days of Walt Disney animation were a time of innovation and experimentation. Not only did the late ’20s through the early ’40s give us the gift of Mickey Mouse and sound cartoons, but the eras also gave us some peculiar journeys for the medium of animation.
Though Walt Disney and his team were champions in their field, everyone has to start out somewhere, and these strange and stupendous features are animated examples of how far the field has come since the days of pen and paper. Strike up the Rubber Hose Band as we look at a blast from the past with ten of the strangest black-and-white Disney cartoons.
Mickey’s Gala Premiere (1933)
Granted, the entire short makes perfect sense at the end, but we’re going to put this one on our list for one major factor, all of the “celebrity cameos.” This 1933 short film features a great gala premiere of a Mickey Mouse cartoon, sounds simple enough, to begin with. But it also features dozens of Disney-made caricatures of famous Hollywood Stars.
Gretta Garbo, Clark Gable, Mae West, the Marx Brothers and more all come out to support Mickey Mouse. Things go strange when they all start literally rolling in the aisles of Grauman’s Chinese Theatre at the sight of Mickey’s antics on screen.
The Karnival Kid (1929)
Though not a weird plot per se, this cartoon definitely features some weird visuals, like a cow being carried by balloons, screaming hot dogs, and a freaky clown face suddenly popping out of the screen. It should also be noted that this was the very first time the world heard Mickey speak.
Mickey aside, the strange visuals and gags used at the time might go over the heads of several modern viewers nowadays. After all, Minnie wouldn’t exactly be employed as a hoochie-coochie dancer in today’s media. What can we say other than it was a very experimental time.
The Whoopee Party (1932)
No, that title is not a ’30s euphemism for anything. It’s the title of a loud and boisterous cartoon featuring Mickey, Minnie, and Goofy which premiered in 1932. The plot is essentially a house party featuring various animated animals, during which they all shout “whoopee!” at random intervals. That’s not the weird part, however.
The weird part comes when various inanimate objects in the house start getting in on the action. It’s as if the house is suddenly possessed by a drunken poltergeist. Stools, laundry, and books of matches come to life and join the party. What were the animators on?
Gulliver Mickey (1934)
We’re willing to let this one slide a little simply because it’s mostly a fictional account in Mickey’s imagination. That being said, seeing Mickey go through the trials and travels of Gulliver is more than a bit strange. We certainly don’t remember a boxing match with a giant spider last time we read the book.
We see Mickey purposefully terrorize a town of Lilliputians, sink toy-sized battleships, and play marbles with cannonballs as the tiny villagers try to protect their town. We’ll chalk it up as Mickey having a few creative liberties with his story. We’d hate to see him painted as an antagonist.
The Chain Gang (1930)
Speaking of putting him in an antagonistic light, here’s a Mickey cartoon that’s weird and makes no sense in either setup or story. In this “cheerful” little short, we see Mickey in the slammer on a chain gang with an assortment of other animal characters, including Clarabelle Cow and a baby puppy!
Although there are a lot of humorous visual gags put into play to bring the situation some much-needed levity, whose idea was it to throw Mickey in the big house? Not only that, but a riot soon breaks out, resulting in the prisoners dodging bullet fire as they attempt to escape. Not exactly something Mickey would want on his resume, is it?
The Skeleton Dance (1929)
If you wanna talk weird Disney cartoons, the Silly Symphonies are a goldmine of strange, and what better way to bring them up than The Skeleton Dance. If you’ve ever seen anything Disney related on TV around Halloween, chances are you’ve probably seen at least a segment of this short film.
The plot is essentially nonexistent aside from a group of skeletons in a graveyard deciding to break into a strangely-choreographed musical number. Granted, the skeletons know how to shake, rattle, and roll, but this is definitely a bizarre cartoon. Still, it is perfect for Halloween.
The Mad Doctor (1933)
Speaking of cartoons perfect for Halloween, here we have The Mad Doctor a delightfully nightmarish adventure for Mickey Mouse which most recently has been featured heavily in the Epic Mickey series of games. This short shows Mickey chasing after the titular Mad Doctor into his evil castle to rescue Pluto. What follows is more than a little weird.
We’re talking skeletons, buzzsaws, and Frankenstein-esque laboratories worthy of a James Whale movie. This is starting to sound more like a Disney-fied version of Castlevania than a mickey mouse adventure. No wonder it was a prominent feature in the Wii game.
The Haunted House (1929)
If you were to take The Skeleton Dance and throw it in the blender with The Mad Doctor, you’d get The Haunted House. This feature puts Mickey in a stereotypical haunted house, complete with ghosts, skeletons, and things that go bump in the night. However, Mickey can do something none of the fiends are able to: play the organ.
After getting forced to play some music by the Grim Reaper, Mickey leads the ghouls in a dance number obviously inspired by The Skeleton Dance. Once again, we have those ever-popular Halloween visuals and an excuse for the animators to get weird.
Egyptian Melodies (1931)
Egyptian Melodies is one of those Silly Symphonies where the plot is essentially the viewer walking in on this weird scene before them. In this short, we follow a curious spider into an Egyptian tomb, complete with mummies, hieroglyphics, and ancient artifacts, all coming to life and dancing for our amusement.
Things get strange when the pictograms on the wall start coming to life and morphing into some strangely psychedelic images for the 1930s. Pharaohs, soldiers, and other hieroglyphs go absolutely bonkers in an ultimate finale of animated oddities. Who says you need a mummy’s curse to protect your tomb?
Hell’s Bells (1929)
No, this isn’t the final level from Cuphead, but it did serve as some heavy inspiration for it. Hells Bells is literally a cartoon hellscape produced by Walt Disney and Ub Iwerks. You read that right, Disney did a cartoon about Hell, complete with fire, brimstone, and Satan. Ya know, stuff kids want to see.
This is by far the strangest thing to come out of early Disney, and we’ve not even mentioned the demonic spiders and cow-dragon with flaming milk (yes, really). We don’t know what was going on to give us this strange short, but we’ve got to give it top billing.
