Hello everyone and thank you for continuing to join me for my Spooky Shorts blog series! I’ve covered some great cartoons and today’s is no exception! Today’s Spooky Short is The Haunted House featuring none other than Mickey Mouse himself! Like Skeleton Dance this was done in 1929 but was not a Silly Symphony. It has a lot of similarities to Skeleton Dance which I will cover later on in the blog. Please forgive my screen caps as the cartoon itself is very grainy!
The cartoon starts on a dark rainy night with poor Mickey caught in the storm. After his umbrella is blown away by the wind, he takes refuge in a nearby house. Upon entering the door slams shut and locks on its own. All of the usual haunted house suspects are present, bats, spiders, and a dark hooded skeleton (wait he’s not usual!).
As Mickey continues through the house he is stalked by the hooded skeleton and is cornered in a room. When trying to escape four more skeletons join the hooded skeleton. The hooded skeleton then tells Mickey he needs to play the piano. Apparently the skeletons just want to party down! This is where the cartoon gets very similar to Skeleton Dance. In fact, some of the animation from Skeleton Dance appears to be the same as in The Haunted House in this scene.
After finishing his song Mickey tries to escape and encounters several more skeletons around the house and outside. He is able to escape and the short somewhat abruptly ends. Apparently in 1929 they hadn’t quite figured out how to end the cartoon with a tad more subtlety. With that being said, this blog has come to its end! I hope everyone enjoying this blog series on Spooky Shorts! I still have a few more up my sleeve so stay tuned!!
Have a Magical Day!
DC