The Plowboy (1929)

I agree there is no plot. It's strictly a series of events involving farm animals and Mickey's efforts to plow a field. Of course, conventional methods don't work and the animators come up with alternatives. The animals are quite interesting, especially the cows and pigs. The problem is that nothing goes anywhere and there is no rhyme or reason for most happenings.

Another of the Ub Iwerks animated (and directed) Mickey Mouse cartoons from his time with Disney in the late 20's; here Mickey is on a farm, milking a cow, surrounded by some other farm animals who make sounds, and Minnie comes along. The charm and total joy in seeing this short is seeing Mickey Mouse at a time when he was basically the Bad Boy, in capital letters. He plants a giant kiss on Minnie Mouse's face without any asking, and gets a swift bucket of milk over his head after she huffs and puffs. He also without any sense of right or wrong gets this cow into a state where she's just had it with him. There's a chase (of course), with the perspective of the cow coming at the camera - as if in a very early 3D - and it ends with a pig being used as the new plow (!) Very short on plot, but if you love black and white Mickey Mouse cartoons, the likes of which were just about the animators and Walt Disney trying to make sure they got this thing called synchronized sound down - and, to be sure, all the other competitors didn't have them beat in that regard at the time - this is another wonderful one, with gags a-plenty and (relatively innocent) attitude to spare.

The Ployboy (1929) *** (out of 4) If you're looking for plot then it's best you stay away from this Mickey Mouse short, which has him working in the fields with his cow Clarabelle. She's refusing to work that well so Mickey ends up getting into some trouble. THE PLOYBOY is a pretty entertaining cartoon even though it contains pretty much zero story. It's basically a cute little film thanks in large part to the animation but there's also a nice little score that goes along with it as Mickey and Minnie both whistle a nice tune. There are some funny moments to be found including one sequence where Mickey gets fed up with Clarabelle licking him so he has to resort to a couple tricks.

A Walt Disney MICKEY MOUSE Cartoon.THE PLOWBOY who should be attending more to his chores and less to trying to lip lock with his girlfriend is none other than Mickey Mouse.This very early black & white Mouse cartoon has virtually no plot, but is driven almost entirely by the soundtrack. In his first screen appearance, Horace Horsecollar pulls the plow, but also displays a rather unhealthy interest in Miss Minnie. Artist Ub Iwerks makes poor Clarabelle Cow and her vast udder the subject of more of his favorite appendage jokes.Walt Disney (1901-1966) was always intrigued by drawings. As a lad in Marceline, Missouri, he sketched farm animals on scraps of paper; later, as an ambulance driver in France during the First World War, he drew figures on the sides of his vehicle. Back in Kansas City, along with artist Ub Iwerks, Walt developed a primitive animation studio that provided animated commercials and tiny cartoons for the local movie theaters. Always the innovator, his ALICE IN CARTOONLAND series broke ground in placing a live figure in a cartoon universe. Business reversals sent Disney & Iwerks to Hollywood in 1923, where Walt's older brother Roy became his lifelong business manager & counselor. When a mildly successful series with Oswald The Lucky Rabbit was snatched away by the distributor, the character of Mickey Mouse sprung into Walt's imagination, ensuring Disney's immortality. The happy arrival of sound technology made Mickey's screen debut, STEAMBOAT WILLIE (1928), a tremendous audience success with its use of synchronized music. The SILLY SYMPHONIES soon appeared, and Walt's growing crew of marvelously talented animators were quickly conquering new territory with full color, illusions of depth and radical advancements in personality development, an arena in which Walt's genius was unbeatable. Mickey's feisty, naughty behavior had captured millions of fans, but he was soon to be joined by other animated companions: temperamental Donald Duck, intellectually-challenged Goofy and energetic Pluto. All this was in preparation for Walt's grandest dream - feature length animated films. Against a blizzard of doomsayers, Walt persevered and over the next decades delighted children of all ages with the adventures of Snow White, Pinocchio, Dumbo, Bambi & Peter Pan. Walt never forgot that his fortunes were all started by a mouse, or that simplicity of message and lots of hard work will always pay off.