"Mickey Mouse - On Ice" 1935
This short was released on September 28, 1935. This short is one of the originals to feature all the Fabulous Five (Mickey, Minnie, Goofy, Donald and Pluto) ice skating. The cartoon revolves around three different storylines that all take place on a frozen lake during wintertime. In the first, Mickey helps Minnie learn how to skate. The second storyline has Goofy attempting to catch fish by dropping tobacco into the water and making the fish come up to spit. Donald pulls a prank on Pluto by putting ice skates on his feet and luring him out onto the ice in the third one. Clarabelle Cow and Horace Horsecollar also make a small cameo in this short.
- As revealed in the reenactments of the Bambi story meetings on the Diamond Edition the gag involving Pluto on ice skates helped serve as the inspiration of the scene where Thumper teaches Bambi how to skate.
"Silly Symphony - The Tortoise and the Hare" - 1935
The Tortoise and the Hare on January 5, 1935. This short is retelling the classic Aesop fable starring Toby Tortoise and Max Hare. A retelling of Aesop's fable where the hare learns that slow and steady wins the race. The most admired of the athletes is Max Hare, who is always convinced that he will win. His opponent is Toby Tortoise, a humble turtle who doesn’t give up beating Max, despite the mockery of the audience and of Max himself. When the race starts, the hare goes off and the turtle goes slowly. In the path, the hare stops to impress some young schoolgirl bunnies, flattering him. He starts to show his many sport abilities to them and forgets the race. Some time later, the turtle gets to the finish line and wins the race, which shocks his rival.
"Silly Symphony - The Golden Touch" 1935
The golden Touch was released on March 22, 1935. This short is based on the story of King Midas that everything he touched, turned into gold. It would actually be the last short Walt Disney would direct himself. King Midas never gets enough of gold and wishes that everything he touched would turn to gold. One day an elf named Goldie appears in front of him and offers him the Golden Touch, and demonstrates its magical power by turning his cat to gold, then claps his hands and it changes back, but warns him that it's a curse. Midas however derides this, exclaiming "Fiddlesticks! Give me gold, not advice!", and Goldie gives him the golden touch. At first Midas is happy that he turns many things in his garden to gold, but then he finds out he can't eat and can't drink anymore. Deprived of meals and fear of starvation, he summons the elf and agrees to surrender everything he owns. Finally he exchanges the golden touch and his castle for a hamburger.
Dissatisfied with some of his other directors' take on the short, Walt chose to direct it himself, something he hadn't done in five years. In the end however, Walt would consider it his greatest mistake and forbade his workers from ever speaking of it again.
Mickey Mouse - The Band Concert" - 1935
The Band Concert was released on February 23, 1935. Mickey's orchestra is in performing a concert at the park. This short features Mickey Mouse, Donald Duck, and Goofy of the fabulous Five.
This short is the first color animated short in the Mickey Mouse series.This short, however, was not the first time that some of these characters appeared on screen in color.
When Donald plays his flute in this short, the piece he is performing is "Turkey in the Straw," which was the same song Mickey performed in Steamboat Willie.
"Elmer Elephant 1936"
Elmer Elephant was released on march 28, 1936. Poor Elmer is teased unmercifully by the other kids at Tillie Tiger's birthday party because of his long nose. But soon, he is shown that his trunk can be very handy when a fire breaks out.
"Silly Symphony - Three Little Wolves" 1936
Three little Wolves was released on April 18, 1936. A Disney take on "The Boy Who Cried Wolf" as Fifer Pig and Fiddler Pig continually set off the wolf alarm to Practical Pig's annoyance. Unbeknownst to them, they are being stalked by the Big Bad Wolves' sons.
"Silly Symphony - Three Blind Mouseketeers" 1936
Three Blind Mouseketeers was released on September 26, 1936.The evil and crafty Captain Katt is seeking for revenge against the Three Blind Mouseketeers, who are always stealing food from the house.
"Mickey's Rival" 1936
Mickey's Rival was released on June 20, 1936. This short is notable for marking the animated debut of Mortimer Mouse. This Short involves Mickey Mouse, Minnie Mouse and Mortimer Mouse.
"Mickey Mouse - Thru the Mirror" 1936
Thru the Mirror was released on May 30, 1936. When Mickey falls asleep reading Lewis Carroll's Alice Through the Looking Glass, he dreams he travels through his own mirror into a backward version of his house. After meeting some of its strange inhabitants, he eats a walnut that was thrown at him by a pair of pliers. The nut ends up rapidly growing him to the size of the house, and then rapidly shrinks him down to a size perfect for dancing with a telephone, a pair of gloves, and a deck of playing cards. However, when the King of Hearts sees Mickey dancing with his Queen, he becomes jealous and sends the cards after him. After an exciting chase, Mickey escapes back through the mirror and wakes up in the safety of his normal house.
"Silly Symphony - Toby Tortoise Returns " 1936
This short was released on August 22, 1936. This cartoon starring Max Hare and Toby Tortoise, and the sequel to The Tortoise and The Hare. A return bout between Max Hare and Toby Tortoise, this time mismatched in the boxing ring. After dominating the slow-moving Toby in the first round, Max finds himself unable to get a punch past Toby's powerful shell and resorts to dirty tricks which inevitably backfire.
"Mickey Mouse - Magician Mickey" 1937
Magician Mickey was released on February 6, 1937. When Donald Duck heckles Mickey's magic act, he ends up becoming the victim of many of his magic tricks. Goofy is also in this short as the camera man.
- The short served as the inspiration for the Town Square Theater meet and greet for Mickey at the Magic Kingdoms's Main St. U.S.A.
"Mickey Mouse - Hawaiian Holiday" 1937
Hawaiian Holiday was released on September 24, 1937. This short also features the Fabulous Five (Mickey, Minnie, Pluto, Goofy and Donald) while vacationing in Hawaii. Mickey and Minnie play the ukulele and dance for a few brief moments - then it's on to the main body of the short as Goofy surfs, Pluto fights with a crab, and Donald sets himself on fire.
This is the first Mickey Mouse short released by RKO Radio Pictures, ending a long contract with United Artists & the first Disney short to have a re-release, on October 17, 1947.
"Mickey Mouse - Clock Cleaners" 1937
Clock Cleaners was released on October 15, 1937. This short stars Mickey Mouse, Donald Duck and Goofy. Mickey, Donald, and Goofy each face different obstacles while cleaning a giant clock tower. Mickey tries to remove a sleepy stork that is nesting in the gears while the main spring causes trouble for Donald.
- This short was ranked #27 in The 50 Greatest Cartoons: As Selected by 1,000 Animation Professionals, a book by animation historian Jerry Beck.
- When visiting Mickey's house in Disneyland in California, this cartoon will often times play in the living room in black and white.
"The Old Mill" 1937
The Old Mill was released on November 5, 1937. It depicts the natural community of animals populating an abandoned windmill in the country and how they deal with a violent thunderstorm that nearly destroys their habitat.
Like many of the later Silly Symphonies, the short was a testing-ground for advanced animation techniques. Marking the first use of Disney's multiplane camera, the short also incorporates realistic depictions of animal behavior, complex lighting and color effects, depictions of rain, wind, lightning, ripples, splashes, reflections, three-dimensional rotation of detailed objects, and the use of timing to produce specific dramatic and emotional effects.The short won the 1937 Academy Award for Best Short Subjects.
