Jungle Rhythm

Jungle Rhythm
Jungle Rhythm
Directed by	Walt Disney
Produced by	Walt Disney
Starring	Walt Disney
Music by	Carl W. Stalling
Animation by	Ub Iwerks; Ben Sharpsteen
Production; companies	Walt Disney Studios; Celebrity Productions
Distributed by	Columbia Pictures
Release date	November 15, 1929;
Running time	6:53
Country	United States
Language	English

Jungle Rhythm is a Mickey Mouse short animated film first released on November 15, 1929, as part of the Mickey Mouse film series.^[2] It was the thirteenth Mickey Mouse short to be produced, the tenth of that year.^[3]

Plot

Mickey Mouse wanders into a jungle and comes across several animals, including elephants, monkeys, and lions. A monkey and parrot begin playing a tune on Mickey's accordion, and it turns into a concert for the jungle animals. Mickey dances with a lion, a bear and a pair of monkeys to the tune of Johann Strauss' The Blue Danube. Then two ostriches dance as Mickey plays "Auld Lang Syne" on a makeshift saxophone. Mickey continues with "Aloha 'Oe", "Turkey in the Straw" and "Yankee Doodle", and the animals applaud.

Legacy

Jungle Rhythm was the inspiration for the first adventure storyline in the 1930 Mickey Mouse comic strip.^[2]

Jungle Rhythm is also a "Projector Screen" level in the 2010 Wii game Epic Mickey. It sets apart Mean Street and Ventureland, and later Tortooga and the Jungle.

Reception

Disney had some trouble with the state censors over this cartoon, due to the suggestive hula-dancing lion.^[1]

In his book Mickey's Movies: The Theatrical Films of Mickey Mouse, Gijs Grob writes: "Jungle Rhythm is one of the most boring early Mickey Mouse shorts: there's no plot, no dialogue, no song, and the dance routines resemble the worst in contemporary Silly Symphonies. Moreover, it remains unclear what Mickey, who until now we had known is a barnyard and small-town dweller, is doing in the jungle."^[2]

In the Disney Film Project, Ryan Kilpatrick observes: "Ub Iwerks' silly dancing numbers are constantly amusing. We get two monkeys in one sequence and two ostriches in another. We also get a lion that pushes its mane down to use as a grass skirt and become a hula dancer. All three are great flowing animation that are fun to watch, even if they're not necessarily story driven."^[4]

The Film Daily (December 8, 1929) wrote: "Mickey, Master Musician: The jungle beasts serving Mickey as musical instruments. His playing is such as to set the whole animal population a-dancing. In fact, it is his musical ability alone that stands between him and annihilation. The little fellow is fully aware that 'music soothes the savage breast'. He reveals an amazing mastery of every instrument. Again Mickey shows that he is a performer to be relied upon. Plenty of fun, especially for the young."^[5]

Motion Picture News (January 11, 1930) said: "Mark this down as a real laugh-getter. Mickey Mouse in the jungle getting the whole animal gang going by virtue of his musical ramblings on a wide variety of instruments. There are a number of clever gags which assure it many real laughs."^[6]

Home media

The short was released on December 7, 2004, on Walt Disney Treasures: Mickey Mouse in Black and White, Volume Two: 1929-1935.^[7]

References

^ ^a ^b Kaufman, J.B.; Gerstein, David (2018). Walt Disney's Mickey Mouse: The Ultimate History. Cologne: Taschen. p. 43. ISBN 978-3-8365-5284-4.
^ ^a ^b ^c Grob, Gijs (2018). "Jungle Rhythm". Mickey's Movies: The Theatrical Films of Mickey Mouse. Theme Park Press. ISBN 978-1683901235.
^ Lenburg, Jeff (1999). The Encyclopedia of Animated Cartoons. Checkmark Books. pp. 108–109. ISBN 0-8160-3831-7. Retrieved June 6, 2020.
^ Kilpatrick, Ryan. "Jungle Rhythm". Disney Film Project. Retrieved February 6, 2020.
^ "Short Subjects". The Film Daily: 9. December 8, 1929. Retrieved February 23, 2020.
^ "Looks Like Fair-to-Middling Week for Shorts; Cartoons Assume Lead". Motion Picture News: 82. January 11, 1930. Retrieved February 23, 2020.
^ "Mickey Mouse in Black & White Volume 2 DVD Review". DVD Dizzy. Retrieved February 19, 2021.

External links

Jungle Rhythm at IMDb
Jungle Rhythm on YouTube

[ultimate-1] Kaufman, J.B.; Gerstein, David (2018). Walt Disney's Mickey Mouse: The Ultimate History. Cologne: Taschen. p. 43. ISBN 978-3-8365-5284-4.

[movies-2] Grob, Gijs (2018). "Jungle Rhythm". Mickey's Movies: The Theatrical Films of Mickey Mouse. Theme Park Press. ISBN 978-1683901235.

[3] Lenburg, Jeff (1999). The Encyclopedia of Animated Cartoons. Checkmark Books. pp. 108–109. ISBN 0-8160-3831-7. Retrieved June 6, 2020.

[dfp-4] Kilpatrick, Ryan. "Jungle Rhythm". Disney Film Project. Retrieved February 6, 2020.

[5] "Short Subjects". The Film Daily: 9. December 8, 1929. Retrieved February 23, 2020.

[6] "Looks Like Fair-to-Middling Week for Shorts; Cartoons Assume Lead". Motion Picture News: 82. January 11, 1930. Retrieved February 23, 2020.

[7] "Mickey Mouse in Black & White Volume 2 DVD Review". DVD Dizzy. Retrieved February 19, 2021.

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