Welcome to July, Mouseketeers! The summer weather has finally rolled into my area. The type of heat that has one sweat driving in an air-conditioned car. Thus, it is the perfect time for a Mickey story set in snowy conditions.
Enter Foray to Mount Fishflake. Part of the Sunday strip, it ran from December 9, 1934-January 20, 1935, and was scripted by star writer Ted Osborne and drawn by Floyd Gottfredson, both of whom were operating at the height of their powers in the mid-1930s. It was reprinted in Gemstone's Disney Comics 75 Years of Innovation - a remarkable collection.
The story is also remarkable for one of the few adventures with Mickey, Minnie, Goofy Dippy Dawg, Horace, and Clarabelle. Soon enough, the strip transitioned to Goofy as Mickey's main partner and Horace and Clarabelle moved to the bench. Not for this tale. The five characters' interplay enriches the tale.
Foray to Mount Fishflake
Lesson Learned: Group projects are carried by one person
My favorite art period for Mickey
Horace drives the action in this tale. Reading the paper, as Mickey works at a puzzle (Friday nights are lit in Mouseton!), he proclaims that The Gazopp Liniment Co. Ltd. is offering $1,000 ($25,000 today) to anyone who can scale Mount Fishflake - a peak that has never been conquered during the winter.
Naturally, Horace, combining his mercenary and braggadocious traits, suggests he and Mickey team up for the action. Horace claims he comes from mountaineer stock - in another story he hails from Arabian heritage - and Mickey agrees easily enough.
Mickey says he thinks Minnie would want to go. Horace, in an attempt to make sure this story won't be reprinted in 2026, says "No women and that's final!" That triggers a Gilligan's Cut as demanded by the gods of comedy, as the very next panel shows Minnie and Clarabelle trailing Mickey and Horace. Mickey has a wonderful, trolling grin.
Clarabelle mentions not being made of sugar - a delightful in-joke for me, as a track & field coach I know is fond of uttering that phrase during rain-drenched competitions.
Horace continues to try and fail to make the ladies turn back when Dippy Dawg arrives on the scene. Mickey argues for his inclusion (because he knows Dippy will DIE without the group) and Horace says a great line, "I'm s'posed to be leader of this caravan an' I got about as much say as a son-in-law!"
Hours pass, and as the gang is eating lunch, Horace again tempts fate by standing on the ledge. He almost falls but Dippy and Mickey save him. Horace saved the pie but dropped the compass. If this story were set any other time, Goofy would have been in that role.
You can feel the blizzard
The gang ties themselves together with a rope but the blizzard conditions create a comedic situation where Mickey and Horace are on one side of the gorge while Clarabelle, Dippy, and Minnie are suspended over a deep hole. Frankly, I would cut my losses if it means Dippy is gone.
Mickey and Horace tie off the rope and hunker down to figure out the situation, leaving the trio in frozen and spine-chilling suspense. I wonder if Don Rosa saw this story as inspiration for the similar situation in Last Lord of El Dorado?
Needed that compass
Mickey, noticing a cave on the other side, comes up with the solution. He will cut the rope and they swing into the cave where Horace can pull them up. Cartoon physics kick into play and the doomed trio flies into the cave and through the snow. They are safe, unlike Mickey and Horace, who face an uncertain and snowbally future.
The rest of the gang want to turn back but Mickey, having the stick-to-it-ness, of Walt Disney demands they continue. He sees the flag in the distance and they reach the top to discover an advertisement! They've climbed the wrong mountain!
Plot armor
The gang misses the opportunity to kill Horace for having the directional skills of the Donner Party. They head back down the mountain and find a cabin. The owner, displaying hospitality and basic human decency, welcomes the gang inside.
They sit around the roaring fire and realize that Dippy didn't enter with them. Ignoring the world's summons to pull a Sparta, Mickey heads out into the storm to rescue the goof. He finds the halfwit eating pie. They decide to sleep through the storm and wake to discover themselves stranded on a cliff.
Kinetic energy
The story transitions to more animation-like slapstick, as Mickey suffers through the pain of one-on-one interaction with a loon. The duo escapes with a firepole slide down a giant tree. Dippy suggests they keep going for the prize. The idea works well enough until Dippy sends himself flying over the falls.
They get results!
Mickey escapes his dangerous fate and chews out Dippy for his wild stunts. Dippy, living a more revisionist lifestyle than a cable newscaster, says "Swell way to talk after me savin' y'r life." Nothing like solving the problem that your disastrous actions created.
They see the flag and excitedly climb towards nirvana. Of course, being a funny animal comic and set on a mountain top, an avalanche begins. Being main characters, Mickey and Dippy survive and receive a stroke of luck, as the flag travels down with the snowslide.
Entertaining ending
Dippy finally proves useful and pulls out his invention - a pair of interestingly built skis. They make it work and head back to the cabin.
After receiving the prize, three different representatives from The Gazopp Liniment Co. Ltd. arrive as part of a strategy to recoup their money. Minnie suggests they donate the funds to a good charity because she doesn't trust the men to handle the money and yeah, I wouldn't trust 67% of that trio either with a nickel.
The story ends with Mickey calling Mr. Gazopp, telling him to send the salesmen to the orphans' home, like the Dukes of Hazzard, they donated the reward money to waifs.
Foray to Mount Fishflake is a fun little tale that served as a nice time capsule of where the strip was heading. It began with five characters and halfway through it switched to a Mickey and Dippy joint. Dippy, soon-to-be rechristened as Goofy, has a presence that lures artists and writers into using him. Even so, the short story has everything: a heroic Mickey, a supportive Minnie, a balloon-bursting Clarabelle, a boastful Horace, and an amusingly-clueless Dippy Dawg.
Two Ears Up
