Mickey's Surprise Party

Mickey's Surprise Party is a 1939 Walt Disney commercial cartoon that promotes Nabisco products. It stars Mickey Mouse, Minnie Mouse, Pluto, and Fifi. This is the first cartoon of Mickey Mouse with his current design. This is notable for being the first Disney commercial sponsoring a company, and one of two Disney cartoons to be in the public domain.

Plot

Minnie bakes cookies to impress Mickey. As she leaves, her dog, Fifi, accidentally knocks popcorn into her batter while chasing a fly. Minnie, none the wiser, puts the batter in the oven. Minnie then prepares for the visit, as does Fifi. Mickey and Pluto then arrive. Minnie accepts Mickey's flowers, but Fifi rejects Pluto's bone. Unfortunately, Minnie has baked the cookies too long, burning them. As she takes them out, the corn starts popping, but not before Pluto eats one, leading to him having a exploding cookie stuck in his belly. Minnie is then seen crying on the couch, saying that she wanted to bake cookies just like Mickey's mom. Mickey tries to reasure her, saying "My mother used to burn them all the time!" She continues to cry, however, which leads to Fifi crying too. Mickey suddenly had an idea, and leaves with Pluto. When they come back, they have several Nabisco products, including: Ritz Crackers, Oreos, Lorna Doone, Barnum's Animal Crackers, Social Tea biscuits, Fig Newtons (Mickey's favorite), and Milk Bones (which Fifi accepts). The film ends with Minnie kissing Mickey all over his face. The cartoon fades to "The End", which fades to the Nabisco logo.

Trivia

• Walt Disney hated the idea of public commercials for some reason, and swore he would not do one until then.
• This is the only Mickey Mouse cartoon, and one of only two Disney cartoons in general to be in the public domain, and is freely distributed across online video websites such as YouTube.
• The cartoon was shown at the 1939 New York World's Fair.
• Despite being in the public domain, this cartoon was included in the VHS release The Spirit of Mickey, with all the Nabisco packaging replaced by generic products.

Bibliograghy

• Neal Gabler, Walt Disney: The Triumph of the American Imagination (2006), p. 406.
• Disney Shorts - "Mickey's Surprise Party"