Happy Birthdaze (1943 Disney short)

Happy Birthdaze is a 1943 short produced in Technicolor by Walt Disney Productions and directed by Dan Gordon. This short starred Mickey Mouse, Minnie Mouse, and Danny Dog, Mickey's Navy pal who is an individual prone to cause mischief and annoy others.

Plot
It's Mickey's birthday, and Minnie managed to get enough rationed sugar to bake him a cake, so she invites him over. Danny is suicidal because he never gets any mail; Mickey invites him, too. But Danny is also accident prone. He goes to wash his hands, and manages to flood Mickey right into the sewer. He assembles the ingredients, then manages to get them all over Mickey. Minnie tells Mickey to wash up; Danny runs the water, and we get another flood. Danny decides Mickey needs to play some games, so they play baseball, golf, and hockey in Minnie's living room, all ending disastrously for everybody. Mickey manages to cut a hole in the floor; Danny falls in, Mickey throws a rug on it, then Minnie arrives carrying the cake and falls in. Soon, everyone's in the furnace in the cellar.

Major

 * Mickey Mouse
 * Minnie Mouse
 * Danny Dog

Minor

 * Unnamed british dog with monocle
 * Other sailors

Production
In 1941, Walt Disney began producing World War II short films, in order to help the US Army, this film is one of them, because of its setting in the Navy, where Mickey and Minnie are sailors, in a similar way to Der Fuehrer's Face, which features Donald Duck in a nightmare setting working at a factory in the German Army. Unlike Der Fuehrer's Face, Mickey and Minnie were not dreaming about the German Army.

Quotes

 * [Danny pulls out a gun to commit suicide]
 * Mickey: Hey, what's eatin' you?
 * Danny: Gee, I never get no letters! Nobody loves me!
 * Mickey: That's funny. I like ya. You're cute, and good lookin'! Why, your face looks like Bob Hope!
 * [Danny pulls out an even BIGGER gun to commit suicide]
 * Mickey: Er.... I mean, uh...... Bing Crosby!

Reception
The short film received mixed reviews because it had the character of Danny, as well as the ending. Some criticized about the suicidal jokes and Danny's personality, while others have praised for its slapstick humor and animation.

About the short film

 * Danny Dog is an alternative reality counterpart to Popeye's pal, Shorty.

Cut Scenes

 * The ending, where it's implied that Mickey shot and killed Danny, is often cut from TV showings.