Thru the Mirror

Thru the Mirror is a 1936 American animated short film directed by David Hand from a story by William Cottrell and Joe Grant. In this cartoon short, Mickey Mouse has a Through the Looking-Glass-parody-like dream that he travels through his mirror and enters a topsy-turvy world where everything is alive. While there, he engages in a Fred Astaire dance number with a pair of gloves and a pack of cards, until the cards chase him out of the bizarre world. Produced by Walt Disney Productions and released by United Artists, it was the 83rd Mickey Mouse short film to be released, the fourth of that year. The title is written as Thru the Mirror on the title card, but the alternative spelling Through the Mirror is used on the poster for the film. Plot Mickey falls asleep after reading Through the Looking-Glass by Lewis Carroll, and dreams that he passes through the mirror into an alternate reality. Beyond the mirror, his furniture and possessions have come to life, and he tangles with a rocking chair, a footrest and an umbrella while a nearby coat rack watches his actions in surprise. Mickey eats a walnut offered to him by a nutcracker after it cracks it open and eats its shells, and it causes him to grow until his head hits the ceiling, and then suddenly shrink to a tiny size. The telephone answers itself, and hauls Mickey up to the top of a desk with its cord. After a fruitless conversation, the phone uses its cord to amuse Mickey with a game of jump rope. The skipping turns into a tap dance, and the radio turns itself on to play a tune. Grabbing a tiny top hat and a matchstick for a cane, Mickey performs a tap dance routine, using a regular-size top hat as his platform. He has another dance scene with a pair of gloves, and then commandeers a marching set of playing cards. Mickey gets shuffled into the pack, which turns into another dance routine.