The Mad Doctor (1933 film)

Plot

The Mad Doctor kidnaps Mickey's dog Pluto to perform an experiment: attaching Pluto's head onto a chicken's body to see what noise the hatchling would make. Mickey navigates booby traps and animated skeletons, but is caught and strapped to a table under a circular saw. He sucks in his belly as he trembles, then the scene fades to Mickey waking in bed. A fly's buzzing mimics the saw, and Pluto jumps onto the bed with his doghouse and chain still attached.

Reception

The short's horror elements made it unusual for a Mickey Mouse cartoon, and some theaters refused to show it as too scary for children. It was banned entirely in the United Kingdom and Nazi Germany, and never reissued due to perceived scariness. In February 1933, The Film Daily called it one of the liveliest animated cartoons and plenty comical.

Further analysis suggests the short spoofs Universal's horror films, particularly Frankenstein, and examines the machine age and its discontents as Mickey faces the horror of science technology. The short also reflects Mickey's evolution into an innocuous hero, selflessly rescuing Pluto, with the dream ending allowing surreal situations. Horror elements parallel the 1896 novel The Island of Doctor Moreau, particularly the hybrid creation plan.

Legacy

A cel from the short, showing Mickey peering down a staircase made of skeletons with its background, fetched $63,800 at auction in 1988. Five years later, additional artwork sold for $18,700.

The film inspired the second level and title of the video game Mickey Mania, where the Mad Doctor appears as a boss and on the cover. He is also a major character in Epic Mickey and its sequel, with the cartoon itself unlockable in the first game. Kingdom Hearts III includes a Game & Watch style mini-game based on the short, and a photo of the Mad Doctor hangs on a hospital wall in the Roger Rabbit short Tummy Trouble.