The Milky Way (1940 film)

1940 American film

The Milky Way

Theatrical poster

Directed by| Rudolph Ising
Story by| Maurice Day
Starring| Bernice Hansen
Music by| Scott Bradley
Animation by| Jack Zander
Color process| Technicolor

Production
companies

MGM cartoon studio
Rudolf Ising Productions

Distributed by| Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer

Release date

* June 22, 1940 (1940-06-22)[1]

Country| United States
Language| English

The Milky Way is a one-reel animated cartoon short subject, produced in Technicolor and released to theatres with the film The Captain Is a Lady in 1940 by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer. The short (produced[2] and directed by Rudolf Ising and co-produced by Fred Quimby with the voice of Bernice Hansen as the kittens and their mother, and musical supervision by Scott Bradley)[2] explores the adventures of the "three little kittens who lost their mittens", as they explore a dreamland where space is made up entirely of dairy products (for example, the Milky Way is made of milk and the Moon is made of green cheese).[1][2] The short won the 1940 Oscar for Best Animated Short Film,[1][2] and was the first non-Disney film to do so. Other shorts nominated in 1940 included A Wild Hare by Warner Bros., introducing Bugs Bunny, and another MGM cartoon Puss Gets the Boot, with Jasper & Jinx, the prototype for Tom and Jerry. This makes 1940 the first time a Disney film wasn't even nominated for the award.[1] It was added as a bonus feature in the Marx Bros. DVD release of Go West (1940) and Warner Archive Blu-ray release of Broadway Melody of 1940 (1940).

## Plot

[edit]

Three kittens, denied milk as punishment for losing their mittens after playing out in the snow, sail up into the Milky Way in a basket lifted by three helium balloons. Their space flight takes them past the Moon, the planet Mars, the Big Dipper, and the Little Dipper, until they reach their destination: the Milky Way.

Once in the Milky Way, they find it a land of natural milk springs and geysers. The kittens proceed to happily gorge themselves on milk, until they get into trouble and risk falling back down to Earth. However, it is then revealed that the whole event was imagined. Their mother comes in to their bedroom to invite them down for supper. The kittens rush excitedly into the kitchen, only to be sickened to see that their supper is milk.

## Additional Crew

[edit]

* Production Manager: Fred Quimby[2]
* Film Co-Produced by William Hanna (uncredited)
* Uncredited Story by Maurice Day
* Uncredited Animation by Jack Zander

## Home Media

[edit]

* Go West (unrestored bonus feature)
* Warner Bros. Home Entertainment Academy Awards Animation Collection: 15 Winners (restored)
* Warner Bros. Home Entertainment Academy Awards Animation Collection, Disc 1 (restored)
* Broadway Melody of 1940, Warner Archive Collection Blu-ray release (restored bonus feature)

## References

[edit]

1. ^ a b c d Baxter's Breakdowns (November 18, 2015). "Rudolf Ising's 'The Milky Way' (1940)". Cartoon Research.
2. ^ a b c d e Webb, Graham (2011). The Animated Film Encyclopedia: A Complete Guide to American Shorts, Features and Sequences (1900-1999) (Second ed.). McFarland & Company Inc. p. 229\. ISBN 978-0-7864-4985-9.

## External links

[edit]

* The Milky Way (1940) on Dailymotion (uploaded by InternetAnimationDatabase)
* The Milky Way at IMDb

* v
* t
* e

Academy Award for Best Animated Short Film

1932–1950|

* Flowers and Trees (1932)
* Three Little Pigs (1933)
* The Tortoise and the Hare (1934)
* Three Orphan Kittens (1935)
* The Country Cousin (1936)
* The Old Mill (1937)
* Ferdinand the Bull (1938)
* The Ugly Duckling (1939)
* The Milky Way (1940)
* Lend a Paw (1941)
* Der Fuehrer's Face (1942)
* The Yankee Doodle Mouse (1943)
* Mouse Trouble (1944)
* Quiet Please! (1945)
* The Cat Concerto (1946)
* Tweetie Pie (1947)
* The Little Orphan (1948)
* For Scent-imental Reasons (1949)
* Gerald McBoing-Boing (1950)

1951–1975|

* The Two Mouseketeers (1951)
* Johann Mouse (1952)
* Toot, Whistle, Plunk and Boom (1953)
* When Magoo Flew (1954)
* Speedy Gonzales (1955)
* Magoo's Puddle Jumper (1956)
* Birds Anonymous (1957)
* Knighty Knight Bugs (1958)
* Moonbird (1959)
* Munro (1960)
* Ersatz (The Substitute) (1961)
* The Hole (1962)
* The Critic (1963)
* The Pink Phink (1964)
* The Dot and the Line: A Romance in Lower Mathematics (1965)
* A Herb Alpert and the Tijuana Brass Double Feature (1966)
* The Box (1967)
* Winnie the Pooh and the Blustery Day (1968)
* It's Tough to Be a Bird (1969)
* Is It Always Right to Be Right? (1970)
* The Crunch Bird (1971)
* A Christmas Carol (1972)
* Frank Film (1973)
* Closed Mondays (1974)
* Great (1975)

1976–2000|

* Leisure (1976)
* The Sand Castle (1977)
* Special Delivery (1978)
* Every Child (1979)
* The Fly (1980)
* Crac (1981)
* Tango (1982)
* Sundae in New York (1983)
* Charade (1984)
* Anna & Bella (1985)
* A Greek Tragedy (1986)
* The Man Who Planted Trees (1987)
* Tin Toy (1988)
* Balance (1989)
* Creature Comforts (1990)
* Manipulation (1991)
* Mona Lisa Descending a Staircase (1992)
* The Wrong Trousers (1993)
* Bob's Birthday (1994)
* A Close Shave (1995)
* Quest (1996)
* Geri's Game (1997)
* Bunny (1998)
* The Old Man and the Sea (1999)
* Father and Daughter (2000)

2001–2024|

* For the Birds (2001)
* The ChubbChubbs! (2002)
* Harvie Krumpet (2003)
* Ryan (2004)
* The Moon and the Son: An Imagined Conversation (2005)
* The Danish Poet (2006)
* Peter & the Wolf (2007)
* La Maison en Petits Cubes (2008)
* Logorama (2009)
* The Lost Thing (2010)
* The Fantastic Flying Books of Mr. Morris Lessmore (2011)
* Paperman (2012)
* Mr Hublot (2013)
* Feast (2014)
* Bear Story (2015)
* Piper (2016)
* Dear Basketball (2017)
* Bao (2018)
* Hair Love (2019)
* If Anything Happens I Love You (2020)
* The Windshield Wiper (2021)
* The Boy, the Mole, the Fox and the Horse (2022)
* War Is Over! Inspired by the Music of John and Yoko (2023)
* In the Shadow of the Cypress (2024)

* Submissions for Best Animated Short Academy Award

* v
* t
* e

Harman and Ising

* Hugh Harman
* Rudolf Ising

* Aladdin's Vamp (1926)
* Bosko, the Talk-Ink Kid (1929)
* Sinkin' in the Bathtub (1930)
* Congo Jazz (1930)
* Hold Anything (1930)
* The Booze Hangs High (1930)
* Box Car Blues (1930)
* Big Man from the North (1930)
* Ain't Nature Grand! (1930)
* Ups 'n Downs (1931)
* Dumb Patrol (1931)
* Yodeling Yokels (1931)
* Bosko's Holiday (1931)
* The Tree's Knees (1931)
* Cubby's World Flight (1933)
* The Gay Gaucho (1933)
* Good Wrinkles (1951)
* The Adventures of Sir Gee Whiz on the Other Side of the Moon (1960)

Harman only

* High Up (1928)
* Panicky Pancakes (1928)
* Rocks and Socks (1928)
* South Pole Flight (1928)
* Sick Cylinders (1929)
* The Suicide Sheik (1929)
* Nuts and Jolts (1929)
* Bosko Shipwrecked! (1931)
* Bosko the Doughboy (1931)
* Bosko's Soda Fountain (1931)
* Bosko's Fox Hunt (1931)
* Bosko at the Zoo (1932)
* Battling Bosko (1932)
* Big-Hearted Bosko (1932)
* Bosko's Party (1932)
* Bosko and Bruno (1932)
* Bosko's Dog Race (1932)
* Bosko at the Beach (1932)
* Bosko's Store (1932)
* Bosko the Lumberjack (1932)
* Ride Him, Bosko! (1932)
* Bosko the Drawback (1932)
* Bosko's Dizzy Date (1932)
* Bosko's Woodland Daze (1932)
* Bosko in Dutch (1933)
* Bosko in Person (1933)
* Bosko the Speed King (1933)
* Bosko's Knight-Mare (1933)
* Bosko the Sheep-Herder (1933)
* Beau Bosko (1933)
* Bosko's Mechanical Man (1933)
* Bosko the Musketeer (1933)
* Bosko's Picture Show (1933)
* Tales of the Vienna Woods (1934)
* Bosko's Parlor Pranks (1934)
* Hey-Hey Fever (1935)
* The Lost Chick (1935)
* Good Little Monkeys (1935)
* Poor Little Me (1935)
* Run, Sheep, Run! (1935)
* Bottles (1936)
* The Old Mill Pond (1936)
* The Old House (1936)
* Circus Daze (1937)
* Swing Wedding (1937)
* Bosko's Easter Eggs (1937)
* Little Ol' Bosko and the Pirates (1937)
* Little Ol' Bosko and the Cannibals (1937)
* Little Ol' Bosko in Bagdad (1938)
* Pipe Dreams (1938)
* Art Gallery (1939)
* Goldilocks and the Three Bears (1939)
* The Bookworm (1939)
* The Blue Danube (1939)
* Peace on Earth (1939)
* A Rainy Day (1940)
* Tom Turkey and His Harmonica Humdingers (1940)
* The Bookworm Turns (1940)
* Papa Gets the Bird (1940)
* The Lonesome Stranger (1940)
* Abdul the Bulbul Ameer (1941)
* The Little Mole (1941)
* The Alley Cat (1941)
* The Field Mouse (1941)
* The Hungry Wolf (1942)
* Personal Cleanliness (1945)
* Drinking Water (1945)
* Native Food (1945)
* Cleaning Mess Gear (1945)
* Use Your Head (1945)
* Winky the Watchman (1945)
* March of Progress (1945)
* Easy Does It (1946)
* Johnny Learns His Manners (1946)
* The Hot Stoogie (1947)
* Down the Drain (1947)
* The Littlest Angel (1950)
* Tom Thumb in King Arthur's Court (1963)

Ising only

* Fiery Fireman (1928)
* Homeless Homer (1929)
* Lady, Play Your Mandolin! (1931)
* One More Time (1931)
* Smile, Darn Ya, Smile! (1931)
* You Don't Know What You're Doin'! (1931)
* Hittin' the Trail for Hallelujah Land (1931)
* Red-Headed Baby (1931)
* Pagan Moon (1932)
* Freddy the Freshman (1932)
* Crosby, Columbo, and Vallee (1932)
* Goopy Geer (1932)
* It's Got Me Again! (1932)
* Moonlight for Two (1932)
* The Queen Was in the Parlor (1932)
* I Love a Parade (1932)
* You're Too Careless with Your Kisses! (1932)
* I Wish I Had Wings (1932)
* A Great Big Bunch of You (1932)
* Three's a Crowd (1932)
* The Shanty Where Santy Claus Lives (1932)
* One Step Ahead of My Shadow (1933)
* Young and Healthy (1933)
* The Organ Grinder (1933)
* Wake Up the Gypsy in Me (1933)
* I Like Mountain Music (1933)
* Shuffle Off to Buffalo (1933)
* The Dish Ran Away with the Spoon (1933)
* We're in the Money (1933)
* The Discontented Canary (1934)
* The Old Pioneer (1934)
* Toyland Broadcast (1934)
* When the Cat's Away (1935)
* The Calico Dragon (1935)
* The Chinese Nightingale (1935)
* Barnyard Babies (1935)
* The Old Plantation (1935)
* Honeyland (1935)
* Alias St. Nick (1935)
* The Early Bird and the Worm (1936)
* Two Little Pups (1936)
* The Pups' Picnic (1936)
* Little Cheeser (1936)
* The Pups' Christmas (1936)
* The Hound and the Rabbit (1937)
* The Wayward Pups (1937)
* Little Buck Cheeser (1937)
* The Little Bantamweight (1938)
* Merbabies (1938)
* The Little Goldfish (1939)
* The Bear That Couldn't Sleep (1939)
* One Mother's Family (1939)
* The Fishing Bear (1940)
* Home on the Range (1940)
* The Milky Way (1940)
* Romeo in Rhythm (1940)
* The Homeless Flea (1940)
* Mrs. Ladybug (1940)
* The Prospecting Bear (1941)
* The Rookie Bear (1941)
* Dance of the Weed (1941)
* Little Cesario (1941)
* The Flying Bear (1941)
* The First Swallow (1942)
* The Bear and the Beavers (1942)
* Little Gravel Voice (1942)
* Bats in the Belfry (1942)
* Wild Honey (How to Get Along Without a Ration Book) (1942)
* Barney Bear's Victory Garden (1942)
* Bah Wilderness (1943)
* The Boy and the Wolf (1943)
* Barney Bear and the Uninvited Pest (1943)

Characters|

* Barney Bear
* Bosko
* Foxy
* Goopy Geer
* Piggy

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