The Little Whirlwind

Infobox Hollywood cartoon
cartoon_name = The Little Whirlwind
series = Mickey Mouse


caption = Mickey Mouse and his tornado antagonist in "The Little Whirlwind"
director = Riley Thomson
story_artist =
animator = Ward Kimball
Walt Kelly
Kenneth Muse
Fred Moore
voice_actor = Walt Disney
Marcellite Garner
musician =
producer = John Sutherland
Walt Disney (executive)
studio = Walt Disney Productions
distributor = RKO Radio Pictures
release_date = February 14, 1941
color_process = Technicolor
runtime = 8 min (one reel)
preceded_by = "Mr. Mouse Takes A Trip" (1940)
followed_by = "The Nifty Nineties" (1941)
movie_language = English
imdb_id = 0033838

"The Little Whirlwind" is a 1941 animated short subject, part of the "Mickey Mouse" series, produced by John Sutherland for Walt Disney Productions. Directed by Riley Thomson, the short was released by RKO Radio Pictures on February 14, 1941. The short involves Mickey's attempts to help Minnie with her yard work, despite the pretense of several (anthropomorphic) twisters as foils.

ynopsis

Walking by Minnie Mouse's house one day, Mickey Mouse is enticed by the aroma of a cake Minnie is baking. Promised a slice if he cleans the yard, Mickey immediately jumps into raking up the fall leaves littering Minnie's lawn. While working in the yard, a small tornado as tall as Mickey comes along and makes his work more complicated. Mickey tries to fight the tornado away, but while chasing it, he encounters a bigger one which in turn chases him.

When the twister finally sucks Mickey in, he is sent for a spin until he ends up falling into Minnie's water fountain. Minnie comes out, and she finds her yard a far worse mess than before. However, Mickey still gets the cake for his hard work - right in his face.

Animation notes

Much of the animation of the big tornado is taken from the 1935 "Mickey Mouse" cartoon "The Band Concert".

"The Little Whirlwind" marks the final appearance of Mickey Mouse in his trademark red button-down shorts during his cartoon series' original theatrical run. The shorts would not be restored until "Runaway Brain" in 1995. In addition, "The Little Whirlwind" was the debut for a newly updated Mickey Mouse design: Mickey was given ears that worked in perspective (in lieu of his traditional, unchanging circles for ears), in addition to a slimmer body, larger head, hands and feet and the removal of his tail. This cosmetic change was relatively short-lived, and only lasted for the duration of World War II.