The Gallopin' Gaucho
About The Gallopin' Gaucho
Mickey Mouse rides a rhea into the Cantino Argentino, where a poster already calls him El Gaucho. Minnie, the barmaid, dances. Black Pete flirts with her, then kidnaps her on a donkey. Mickey's rhea, drunk, catches them. Mickey wins a sword fight by jamming a chamber pot on Pete's head and rides off with Minnie.
Cast & crew
More about The Gallopin' Gaucho
Ub Iwerks directed and animated it, and Walt Disney produced it. The silent version was finished in August 1928 and held while the studio made Steamboat Willie, then Celebrity Productions released the Cinephone version on 30 December 1928. It was the second Mickey short produced, after Plane Crazy, and Columbia later reissued it.
Themes
Reviews
The Film Daily on 6 January 1929 and Variety on 9 January 1929 both reviewed the sound release. Variety said audiences liked the chase and the duel.
Technique
Sound was added on the Cinephone system after the silent negative was already finished.
Music
Carl Stalling scored the sound release, including an instrumental Kingdom Coming and Sebastián Iradier's La paloma under Minnie's dance.
Preservation
The sound version is on Wikimedia Commons. The short entered the U.S. public domain on 1 January 2024.
Notes
- The short parodies Douglas Fairbanks in The Gaucho, which opened on 21 November 1927.
- Pete is drawn as a cat. The Mickey and Minnie designs still match Plane Crazy.
- The Film Daily of 6 January 1929 called Mickey a demon hero in a Fairbanks part and praised the sound gags.
- Variety of 9 January 1929 said the six minutes worked with or without sound.
- Carl Stalling's track uses Kingdom Coming, La paloma for Minnie's dance, and For He's a Jolly Good Fellow.
- United States copyright ended on 1 January 2024.
Scenes
- Mickey smokes and drinks under a poster that names him El Gaucho.
- He ends the duel by clapping a chamber pot over Pete's head.
Influenced by
- Douglas Fairbanks in The Gaucho (1927)
Also available
- Internet Archive (TheGallopinGaucho)
- Wikimedia Commons (The Gallopin' Gaucho (1928, With Sound).webm)
