Line #11 WesternAnimation/TheMadDoctor


1	[[quoteright:300:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/The_Mad_Doctor_x_5552.jpg]]
2	[[caption-width-right:300: The short is darker than this poster makes it out to be.]]
3
4	->''I'm a raring tearing wizard when it comes to cutting up,''\
5	''I can graft a chicken's gizzard on the wishbone of a pup.''\
6	''And here's the great experiment I'm just about to tackle,''\
7	''To find out if the end result will bark or crow or cackle!''\
8	''[[EvilLaugh Muahahahahahaha!]]''
9	-->-- The Mad Doctor's VillainSong
10
11	''The Mad Doctor'' is a 1933 SciFiHorror animated [[WesternAnimation/ClassicDisneyShorts short]] film starring WesternAnimation/MickeyMouse that, while not known for being particularly innovative, is quite popular among Classic Creator/{{Disney}} fans for its sheer dark, macabre tone.
12
13	The plot of the short is centered on Mickey, as WesternAnimation/{{Pluto\|ThePup}} is kidnapped by the titular mad doctor (named Dr. XXX) to be used in a chimera-esque experiment involving cutting off Pluto's head and splicing it onto the body of a chicken. Naturally, Mickey treks off to save him, all while trying to make his way through the doctor's elaborate castle.
14
15	As with the earlier Disney shorts ''WesternAnimation/TheSkeletonDance'' and ''The Haunted House'', this short's macabre tone [[GoneHorriblyRight was its own undoing]]; many theaters refused to show it (and was even completely [[BannedInChina banned in England]]), even though Mickey was at the height of his popularity at that point. However, the short [[VindicatedByHistory has managed to become much more popular in recent years]] for the same reasons it was initially shunned.
16
17	This short was the inspiration for the later Mickey Mouse short ''WesternAnimation/RunawayBrain'', and was remade as an entire level in the video game ''VideoGame/MickeyMania''. ''VideoGame/EpicMickey'' also features the Mad Doctor prominently as a key villain (called "The Mad Doctor"), a side-scrolling NostalgiaLevel themed to the short, and even the original short itself as an unlockable bonus. It also loosely inspired the storyline [[ComicBook/MickeyMouseComicUniverse "Blaggard Castle"]] in the 1930s Mickey Mouse [[NewspaperComics newspaper comic strip]] by Creator/FloydGottfredson.
18
19	----
20	!!Tropes Used by This Short:
21	* AffectionateParody: Of the Creator/{{Universal}} horror films of the 1930s, which were rising in popularity.
22	* AllJustADream: [[spoiler:[[NightmareSequence Of the "nightmare" variety, no less.]]]]
23	* AnimationBump: The part where Mickey is walking through a three-dimensional hallway, as well as falling down two flights of stairs. Scenes like that were ''notoriously'' difficult to animate on account of perspective. The scene originally came from one of the WesternAnimation/SillySymphonies, called ''Egyptian Melodies'', with Mickey being animated over a spider.
24	* ArtisticLicenseBiology:
25	** Dr. XXX wants to combine "a chicken's gizzard with the wishbone of a pup". Wishbones (more accurately called furculas) are a trait exclusive to birds and some non-avian dinosaurs, so a dog would not have one. A chicken would, though. Possibly justified partly due to the doctor's insanity and partly due to [[spoiler:it all being a dream]].
26	** Also, the doctor wanting to know what hatches from the dog-headed chickens egg. If the animal really would survive the surgery, its genitals would still be from the chicken, therefore it could only lay normal chicken eggs.
27	* BadPeopleAbuseAnimals: Dr. XXX wants to attach Pluto's head to a chicken's body.
28	* BaldOfEvil[=/=]BeardOfEvil: Dr. XXX
29	* BigShadowLittleCreature: Right after the long shot of Mickey in the corridors, he winds up between the shadows of two towering wolf-like creatures staring down on him. He turns around, only to see two metal figures not even his height in front of a fire. Even Mickey himself laughs at this, at least until a coal ember burns him.
30	* DarkerAndEdgier: WesternAnimation/TheSkeletonDance aside, which was more silly than scary, this cartoon was the first notable Creator/{{Disney}} cartoon to delve into a dark storyline which played more for BlackComedy if anything
31	* DemBones: Dr. XXX's castle is loaded with living skeletons.
32	* DoorJudo: Mickey falling victim to this is what sets up the climax.
33	* EvilEyebrows: The doctor has thick, large eyebrows.
34	* EvilGenius: Dr. XXX. He is a mad scientist who wants to attach Pluto's head to a chicken's body.
35	* EvilLaugh: The Doc does one of these.
36	* EvilSoundsDeep: Again, The Doc.
37	* ForScience: XXX wants to graft Pluto's head to a chicken just to see what comes out of the eggs afterward.
38	* FourFingeredHands: Aside from Mickey, Dr. XXX also has these despite being human.
39	* HaveAGayOldTime: The cartoon predates the first use of the [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/X_rating X classification rating]] for pornographic films by about 35 years. As a result, Dr. XXX's name tends to get changed to [[IAmNotShazam The Mad Doctor]] in modern appearances like ''VideoGame/EpicMickey''.
40	* KnightOfCerebus: Dr. XXX for the cartoon and the Creator/{{Disney}} franchise in general, as a darker villain wouldn't show up until ''WesternAnimation/SnowWhiteAndTheSevenDwarfs''.
41	* LargeHam: Dr. XXX when he explains his EvilPlan.
42	* LeanAndMean: The doctor is very tall and thin.
43	* LivingShadow: While Pluto is being hung by a hook, the Mad Doctor takes a pair of scissors and cuts Pluto's shadow in half. Disturbingly, the shadow then just hangs there lifelessly as Pluto continues to squirm and howl for help...
44	* MadDoctor: Subverted. Despite the title, XXX uses no medical technology at all. While he does [[MorallyAmbiguousDoctorate have the title of "doctor"]], he fits the MadScientist trope much better.
45	* MadScientist: Dr. XXX. He is an EvilGenius who performs horrible experiments on animals ForScience.
46	* MatryoshkaObject: When Mickey hears Pluto howling near the end, he encounters a door version of this; he opens five doors that are all on the same hinges before reaching the locked sixth, which he resolves to ramming. [[DoorJudo It doesn't go how he expected.]]
47	* MorallyAmbiguousDoctorate: XXX doesn't seem to practice any medicine, as he acts more like a MadScientist than a MadDoctor.
48	* ObviouslyEvil: XXX is a skeleton thin man with EvilEyebrows, a BeardOfEvil, and a villain mustache.
49	* PublicDomainAnimation: This is one of the ''very few'' Disney works that have slipped into the PublicDomain, likely due to it's horror elements, the fact it was banned in England, as well as most theaters refusing to show it, giving Disney very little reason to renew the copyright.
50	** PublicDomainCharacter: This in turn makes Dr. XXX one of the ''very few'' public domain Disney characters.
51	* RammingAlwaysWorks: Except when the door can make use of DoorJudo all by itself.
52	* {{Sadist}}: XXX clearly takes joy in his horrible experiments.
53	* SawBladesOfDeath: A saw blade instrument is present above the operating table, for purposes of cutting up anyone under it.
54	* SayMyName: "PLUTO!!!"
55	* StealthPun:
56	** Part of one drawing on the board is the sequence of a dog, then a division sign, then a saw. Get it? [[CrossesTheLineTwice A dog divided by a saw?]]
57	** Two more that also double as {{Visual Pun}}s occur during Dr. XXX's monologue to Pluto, who is strapped under an X-Ray allowing view of his heart and ribcage. Halfway through, Pluto's heart begins to race and jumps up into his throat (so he ''has his heart in his throat''). Then at the conclusion of the monologue, his heart falls all the way down to his pelvis (or ''his heart sank'').
58	* StockScream: Mickey's yells in this short are easily mistakable for the famous [[WesternAnimation/{{Goofy}} Goofy Holler]]. (They are slightly different, but seem to be early versions of it).
59	* StrappedToAnOperatingTable: Mickey himself at the climax, as a giant buzzsaw lowers to slice him in half.
60	* VillainSong: Sort of. Doctor XXX's monologue.
61	* WhatHappenedToTheMouse: Dr. XXX cutting Pluto's shadow in half is the last shot we see of the poor dog inside the castle. {{Justified\|Trope}} due to [[spoiler:the whole thing being a dream]]. But one can only imagine Mickey assuming the worst.
62	* WritersCannotDoMath: One of the drawings on the mad doctor's chalkboard, refers to the 32nd root of minus divided by zero. [[JustifiedTrope Of course, the character who wrote it was completely insane.]]
63	* XylophonesForWalkingBones: Xylophone music is used in some of the skeleton scenes. It's mainly used to play quick notes [[MickeyMousing indicating the skeletons' movements]].

Context WesternAnimation / TheMadDoctor