The Mickey Mouse Cartoon That Protested the Vietnam War
Even in situations of absolute moral clarity, Mickey Mouse isn’t a violent creature. The gentle nature of Mickey Mouse’s adventures make the Looney Tunes look like bloodthirsty gladiators in comparison. He’s rarely, if ever, wielded a mallet, much less a marksman’s rifle. Yet, there does exist a short film in which Mickey himself engages in the horrors of war.
It’s not a first-party Disney production, of course. I’m sorry to shatter your dreams of finding out that the Walt Disney Company was on the side of the hippies back in the Nam days. Instead, it was a parody piece titled Short Subject. I assume that they left out the mouse’s proper name to insulate themselves a little further in what is already dark and litigious waters.
Don't Miss
That same entirely unrealistic innocence and absence of violence was exactly what landed Mickey in the animated movie. He learned the hard way that if you’re meant to be the pure essence of family-friendly fun, you’re also prime fuel for metaphor. Not that it’s particularly subtle. The one-minute long short, embedded below, is pretty straightforward. Mickey excitedly signs up for Vietnam, ships out and is immediately shot in the head, thick black ‘toon blood oozing from the wound.
Now, here’s the thing: In my opinion, as a piece of art, this thing sucks. It’s got the intellectual depth of phyllo dough. The brain activity it requires to process probably exists within the margin of error. Nobody without a Banksy hanging in their living room is really having their mind blown here (pun unavoidable). Still, do I respect the hell out of someone poking the legal bear that is the Walt Disney Company in order to animate Mickey getting the air let out of his skull? Yes.
Strangely, Short Subject was, in a weird way, made an official part of Mickey’s history by Disney themselves decades later. It was featured in the documentary Mickey: The Story of a Mouse, which aired on Disney+. Meaning that, in a weird way, it almost is canon. One other fun fact: It was produced by Milton Glaser, one of America's all-time great graphic designers.
