1 | [[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/shortsubject_5.jpg]] |
2 | [[caption-width-right:350:Mickey, as seen in the short]] |
3 | An anti-war underground short created in 1969 by Whitney Lee Savage (father of Creator/AdamSavage, future host of ''Series/{{MythBusters}}'') and Milton Glaser. |
4 | |
5 | Officially titled ''Short Subject'', it involves WesternAnimation/MickeyMouse wanting to see the world, so he joins the army. He is sent to serve in the Vietnam War, but things take a turn for the worst the moment he arrives in Vietnam... |
6 | |
7 | Initially thought to be lost, an incomplete copy was rediscovered in 2013 by a Website/YouTube user, while the full video was uploaded five years later. Watch it [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hAtnOkqO_l0 here]]. |
8 | |
9 | Also see ''WesternAnimation/BambiMeetsGodzilla''. |
10 | ---- |
11 | !!Tropes found in this short: |
12 | * AnachronismStew: The US didn't use steamboats or bolt action rifles in the 60s. |
13 | * CurbStompBattle: Mickey didn't even fire a round before getting killed. |
14 | * DeliberatelyMonochrome: Like many underground animated films of this era, it's in black and white. |
15 | * DownerEnding: Mickey gets shot in the head, and dies. |
16 | * DyingForSymbolism: The short uses Mickey as a symbol of innocence, and its loss during the war. |
17 | * ExtremeCloseUp: The short ends with the camera zooming in on the face of Mickey's lifeless body, where his smile slowly forms into a frown. |
18 | * GoOutWithASmile: Subverted. Mickey gets shot in the head still with a smile on his face, but it slowly gives into a frown as he lays bleeding. |
19 | * InexplicablyTailless: For some reason, Mickey is drawn without his tail. |
20 | * LeFilmArtistique: Short runtime, [[DeliberatelyMonochrome black and white]], and a [[TrueArtIsAngsty bleak]] yet violent [[DownerEnding conclusion]] of the innocent protagonist (in this case, Mickey Mouse) all to hammer home a specific moral. Not surprisingly, it was made for the Angry Arts Festival, a "protest event" that encouraged artists to express their concerns about the UsefulNotes/VietnamWar and their desire to end it. |
21 | * LimitedAnimation: This being an underground animated short and not an official Disney cartoon, animation is [[TropesAreTools only used as needed to carry out the intent of the short]]. |
22 | * MoodWhiplash: At first, it looks to be an homage to Mickey Mouse's 1930s shorts with a wartime theme, then suddenly, Mickey is unceremoniously killed after he sets foot on Vietnam. |
23 | * PenName: The short's only credits are for "Max Cats" and "Whitney Sledge". |
24 | * PerpetualSmiler: Up until the end of the short, Mickey keeps a smile plastered onto his face. |
25 | * PublicDomainAnimation: Whitney couldn't copyright the short since it was unauthorized. |
26 | * RecruitersAlwaysLie: Mickey takes the invitation to join the army from a billboard promising that he will "see the world". He barely steps foot in another country before being fatally shot. |
27 | * SoundtrackDissonance: Herbert Chappell's "The Gonk" (better known nowadays for its use in ''Film/{{Dawn of the Dead|1978}}'') plays once more after Mickey's death scene. |
28 | * TheSpeechless: Mickey never says a single word throughout the short. |
29 | * UsefulNotes/TheVietnamWar: Of course. |
30 | * WarIsHell: The moral of the short is that war is horrible. |
31 | * WartimeCartoon: [[DeconstructedTrope Deconstructed]], as it uses the conventions of the trope to criticize not just the UsefulNotes/WorldWarII cartoons it takes inspiration from, but also [[WarIsHell war in general]]. |
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FollowingContext WesternAnimation / MickeyMouseInVietnam
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