The Little Whirlwind

Plot

While walking by Minnie Mouse's house, Mickey Mouse is enticed by the aroma of a cake Minnie is baking. Promised a slice if he cleans the yard, Mickey begins raking fall leaves. A small tornado as tall as Mickey complicates his work: it hops into the basket, leaps over Mickey repeatedly, and after Mickey pounds the basket in place, the tornado pounces on him, knocks him down, grabs his hat, and taunts him. Angered, Mickey pounces on the tornado, who spins him around and scoots away.

The tornado scoops a pile of leaves, stuffs them into Mickey's overalls, and flies off. As Mickey unstuffs his overalls, the tornado dives into a red hose and emerges as smaller tornados that merge into one. They have a tug-of-war on the basket until it shatters on Mickey. The tornado makes an army of leaves that march about; a leaf jumps on Mickey's nose, sending his hat onto the leaf.

Mickey grabs his hat in his mouth, and the leaf taunts him before rejoining the march. Mickey traps the tornado with a sack, ties it, and punts it away. The tornado retaliates with two punches, then flees with Mickey in pursuit. Mickey chases the terrified tornado with a rake but is pursued by a larger tornado, presumably the smaller one's parent.

Its rampage causes chaos through farm fields and grasslands, lifting its lower body to slow Mickey. The twister sucks Mickey in, spinning him until he falls into Minnie's water fountain. After the tornadoes leave, Minnie, unaware of the incident, finds her garden in a mess. Incensed, she throws the cake into Mickey's face, and he proceeds to eat the cherry.

Production

The big tornado's animation in this short was largely reused from the 1935 Mickey Mouse cartoon The Band Concert. This cartoon also introduced a redesigned Mickey, featuring ears that could turn in perspective instead of his usual fixed circles, along with a slimmer body, a larger head, bigger hands and feet, and buck teeth.

Those buck teeth appeared in only two shorts, the other being Canine Caddy. This updated look was temporary, lasting only through World War II. For the same reason, Mickey's tail was also removed for this short.