Two Gun Mickey marked the directorial debut of Ben Sharpsteen. About Sharpsteen Walt would write, “Concerning Ben Sharpsteen and his contributions to the development of the Disney organization, I want to say he played a very important part.” Sharpsteen was born in Tacoma, Washington, on November 4, 1895, although he was raised in Alameda, California. He studied agriculture at the University of California at Davis. In 1917 he joined the marines serving in World War 1. After the war he went into animation working for the Hearst International Film Service. Later he came to work at the Max Fleischer Studio. A mutual friend introduced Ben to Walt. Walt valued Sharpsteen so much that he hired the artist at $125 a week. This salary was higher than even Walt's. It was also higher than Walt's head animator at the time, UB Iwerks who was only making $90 a week. In 1933, Ben would establish an in-house animation training program. He would also supervisor new animators. In this he was assisted by his cousin in law George Drake. Few people at the Disney studio were as hated by the artists as Drake, who was known for firing people for no good reason. Ben's opinion on some of these new artists was not much higher. Ben once told an inbetweener, "Listen, you artists are a dime a dozen and don't you forget it." Starting with this short, Ben would direct 21 cartoon shorts for Disney. He would then move on to features as soon as the studio started making them, first as a sequence director then a supervising director then a production supervisor. He would even get involved with the studio's live action output, producing the True-Life Adventure nature documentaries then the anthology Disneyland TV series. Ben retired in 1962. He would pass away on December 20, 1980, in Calistoga, California.
Though today, Mickey Mouse is known as a company mascot and a straight man to the more comedic characters of Donald and Goofy, in the 1920's and early 1930's Mickey was often cast as a fun-loving adventurer and a Fairbanks-ian action hero. One of his earliest screen appearances was The Galloping Gaucho (1928), where he swoops in and saves Minnie from Pete in a true Fairbanks inspired role. He is a tough character in that film with a fearless devil-may-care attitude, even drinking, smoking and being quite forward with Minnie. That cartoon would be remade as The Catus Kid (1930) with Mickey fully in the guise of an American cowboy. With the early Mickey being a rugged adventurer, it was only natural that he would play a cowboy again in Two Gun Mickey. This film would also follow the basic premise of The Galloping Gaucho with Mickey saving Minnie from the villainous Pete.
Though Pete is best known today as Mickey's nemesis, he actually dates back further than Mickey, first appearing in Walt Disney's silent Alice Comedy, Alice Solves the Puzzle (1925). Walt and co. would continue to use the character as an adversary for Oswald the Lucky Rabbit in that character's silent cartoons.
Walt Disney provides the voice of Mickey here as he does in most of the Mickey cartoons of this era. Marcellite Garner voices Minnie. The voice of Pete is by Billy Bletcher. Billy Bletcher is one of the main voices for cartoon villains in the 1930's. Most famously he provided the voice for the Big Bad Wolf for Disney's Three Little Pigs (1933). As well as his work at Disney, he also provided the voice of Papa Bear from Chuck Jones' Three Bears cartoons at Warner Brothers. Before his cartoon work, Bletcher appeared in many live action comedy shorts during the silent era.
In true cowboy fashion, this film uses traditional folk songs on its soundtrack. These include She'll be Coming Around the Mountain and Bury Me Not on the Lone Prairie. She'll be Coming Around the Mountain is a folk song based off the Christian Hymn When the Chariot Comes. Two of the earliest known recordings of the song are Henry Whitter in 1924 and Vernon Dalhart in 1925. The earliest known written version of Bury Me Not on the Lone Prairie appeared in John Lomax's Cowboy Songs and Other Frontier Ballads in 1910. The earliest known recording was by singing cowboy Carl T. Sprague in 1926.
The following is an exhibitors' review from an issue of the Motion Picture Herald (Dated December 7, 1936).
"Two Gun Mickey: Mickey Mouse - The Mickey and Silly seem to go over well second-run. Would advise everyone to pick them up. - C.L. Niles, Niles Theatre, Anamosa, Iowa, General Patronage."
This cartoon was released to theaters on December 15, 1934. It would be reissued to theaters in 1936. The film would make its TV debut with an episode of The Mickey Mouse Club that aired on October 7, 1955. It would later appear again on an episode that aired on March 27, 1958. It is available on the DVD set Walt Disney Treasures: Mickey Mouse in Black and White.
Animation
Leonard Sebring (Minnie in at iris; horses stop at puddle of water; C.U. horses-Minnie falls into water; Mickey and horse laugh-talk; Minnie sitting in puddle)
Archie Robin (Mickey's horse drinks- let's water out; Mickey and Minnie on horse)
George Drake (L.S. Minnie into town; Lasso pans to limb)
Nick George (M.C.U. Pete - Minnie "hello keed" C.U. poster; Pete sees Minnie coming; Pete accosts Minnie)
Jack Kinney (Minnie in bank; Mickey on mt. - sees smoke; L.S. Mickey sees chase; Shadow truck back to Mickey; Mickey throws lasso)
Wolfgang "Woolie" Reitherman (Minnie on to the wagon; Pete on horse-whistles; Pete Pursuing; Minnie on springs out -reins shot away; Minnie across log - Pete follows; L.S. Mickey and Minnie towing Pete)
Don Towsley (Bandits leave town; C.U. Cellar Door; Pete and gang)
Ugo D'Orsy (Minnie startled - dips down around bend - gang follows; Minnie-wheels are shot off wagon; Minnie ono bridge-bridge shot away; L.S. bridge shot away- bandits reconnoiter)
Louie Schimdt (Horse and Mickey into action)
Paul Allen (Mickey to rescue on inclined pan; Mickey downhill; Horse skids to stop; Mickey firing)
Earl Hurd (Minnie in chariot)
Cy Young (Last of wagon torn away wheel spins; Bandit cactus deflated hole reamed in ledge - bandits fall through; Bandits around catus - mushroom gag; Bandits firing from pinnacle; Bandits down pinnacle X-Dix; Mickey across chasm - horse bites Pete)
Art Babbitt (Minnie escapes Pete - rec Posses logs; Pete tilts log; Pete shakes leg; Pete catches Minnie - bites gun muzzle; Pete in air; Mickey catches Pete in pistol - shoot; Pete in air - shoe; Pete lands on Mickey - fight; Mickey puts on hat; Mickey into clothes - Mickey kicks him over chasm; Mickey and Pete fight on ledge; C.U. Pete pulls knife; Mickey eludes Pete - hangs onto root; Pete gets cactus on fanny. Ledge breaks)
Ed Love (Minnie running on log)
Ed Smith (Minnie grabs top of log; Minnie falls; Pete falls past Mickey; Pete onto cactus X-Dis)
Frank Oreb (L.S. Bandits)
Roy Williams (Mickey fires a la artillery; bandit sneaking; Bandit shot in fanny - leaps off cliff; Mickey fires like machine gun)
Eric Larson (Mickey sees shadow - throws gun on lasso)
Story: Minnie is out west and wishes to take care of herself. Pete tries to tell her to let him help her, but she refuses. When it turns out the Pete is a bandit and he pursues Minnie, Mickey rushes to her rescue.
Here is the original version of this film.
And here is the colorized version.
Resources Used
Walt Disney’s Mickey Mouse: The Ultimate History by David Gerstein and J.B. Kaufman
Of Mice and Magic: A History of American Animated Cartoons by Leonard Maltin
The Life and Times of Ward Kimball: Maverick of Disney Animation by Todd James Pierce.
https://disney.fandom.com/wiki/Two-Gun_Mickey
https://web.archive.org/web/20201022084904/https://www.fresnostate.edu/folklore/ballads/San372.html
https://afilmla.blogspot.com/search/label/Shorts_UA?updated-max=2006-12-11T02:00:00-08:00&max-results=20&start=26&by-date=false
https://d23.com/walt-disney-legend/ben-sharpsteen/
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