The Strange Secret Behind Lost Mickey Mouse Short 'Get A Horse!'

Perhaps the most unusual thing shown at D23 today is the Mickey Mouse short Get a Horse!, which features the late Walt Disney voicing his signature character. The short played to raves at the expo, but it has a very unusual history. Get the full (and somewhat spoiler-ish) story below.

So Get a Horse! isn't really a "lost" Mickey short, because until recently it didn't exist as a piece of film at all. The early story behind the short involves a set of drawings that were in the hands of a private collector. They were marked "MM4," signifying that they were for the fourth Mickey Mouse short. That dates them to 1928. Along with the drawings was a film print, and between them the long-lost cartoon was restored.

But that's a fictional history.

The secret behind the short film is that it actually isn't an old short at all, but a brand new film by director Lauren MacMullan. Get a Horse! blends old black and white 4x3 Mickey Mouse animation with new CG and the voice of Walt Disney as Mickey Mouse. Disney's voice is the only truly "vintage" part of the short. And in a fashion that is more modern than true '20s animated shorts, here the characters break the fourth wall, as Mickey and friends enter the world of color and 3D.

The short film has played a couple places in the past summer, and will be attached to Walt Disney Animation's Frozen when it hits theaters in November.