The Opry House

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Movie
Original title The Opry House
Country of production United States
original language English
Publishing year 1929
length 7:29 minutes
Age rating FSK 0
Rod
Director Ub Iwerks ,
Walt Disney
script Walt Disney,
Ub Iwerks
production Walt Disney
music Carl W. Stalling

The Opry House is a black and white cartoon from 1929. It was produced by Walt Disney Animation Studios under the direction of Walt Disney and Ub Iwerks . The famous cartoon character Mickey Mouse takes on the leading role in this short film . The Opry House is the first Disney film in which Mickey wears his legendary white gloves.

action

The film introduces Micky to the viewer as the operator of a run-down opera house . He's invited everyone of high standing to a vaudeville- style show . After Micky has swept the yard and sidewalk clean, he has to help an extremely corpulent visitor to fit through the front door, among other things. Micky solves the problem in a very idiosyncratic way: he pokes the man with a thumbtack , which literally runs out of breath . Now all kinds of anthropomorphic animals are playing a kind of overture , but it sounds terribly crooked. This is because the "musicians" mostly use real domestic and farm animals as "musical instruments": a pig pulls three cats of different sizes by the tails so that they whine in time. An elderly billy goat with nickel-rimmed glasses uses his own beard as a violin after he has almost sawed up the real instrument with the bow . A little boy with dog ears pops soap bubbles with great sound after he has poured soapy water into the tuba player's instrument. The tuba player is not very enthusiastic and washes the cheeky badger away with his tuba.

Of course Micky insists on directing the show and appearing as a star. During the first act he pretends to be a snake charmer . A black snake actually seems to be rising from a large vase, but then the supposed “vase” tips over. It turns out to be a cardboard dummy and behind it is Kat Nipp , who had used his long tail to imitate a dancing snake. Kat runs away with a cheeky grin. Micky pretends nothing has happened and performs a kind of belly dance (second act). The third and last act consists of a piano piece that Micky tries to perform on a large piano . But he's more thrashing the keys than playing them. The piano defends itself and kicks Micky in the buttocks, the swivel chair on which the mouse was sitting supports the piano. Laughing, the piano plays itself until Micky returns and strumming on it one last time. In the end he even dances on the keys and at the end Mickey, the swivel chair and the piano bow to the audience. The film ends with applause from the audience.

Production and background

Production on The Opry House began in February 1929; the film premiered and released on March 28, 1929. On August 20 of the same year, the work was protected by copyright . The background music for the various theater scenes was played on a keyboard by Carl W. Stalling and recorded in Pat Power's Cinephone Studio in New York City . The Opry House was one of five successful black and white cartoon films, all of which came out in 1929.

A special feature of the film are two supporting characters from the Disney world who have a cameo appearance in The Opry House , one of which is rarely seen. The first character is Minnie Mouse , who - rather unusual - does not appear actively as a cartoon character, but can only be seen on posters in the background. The second character is Kat Nipp . The seedy tomcat made his debut at The Opry House , appeared a penultimate time in When the Cat's Away , and never appeared again in Disney cartoons after The Karnival Kid .

literature

  • Edwin M. Bradley: The First Hollywood Sound Shorts, 1926-1931 . McFarland, Jefferson 2005, ISBN 1476606846 , 153.
  • Michael Barrier: Hollywood Cartoons: American Animation in Its Golden Age . Oxford University Press, Oxford (UK) 2003, ISBN 0198020791 , page 59.
  • Russell Merritt, JB Kaufman, Cineteca del Friuli: Walt Disney's Silly symphonies: a companion to the Classic cartoon series . Udine, Chesham 2006, ISBN 8886155271 , page 53.

Web links