Throughout the decades, the cartoon short Mickey’s Good Deed, released in theaters on this day in 1932, has been a holiday mainstay on television and home video. In 1933, however, long before home videos or television, families could gather before the warmth of the fire to read the story of the holiday short when it appeared in Mickey Mouse Magazine. Here’s that version of the story, as edited from that original version. “It was Christmas Eve. Nobody seemed to mind the cold except Mickey and Pluto. They were so poor they didn’t even have any stockings to hang up. They stopped to rest in front of a great big house, where some very rich people lived. The rich man’s little boy was being very naughty. Then he looked out of the windows and saw Mickey and Pluto, and decided he wanted Pluto. So the father sent the butler out to buy Pluto from Mickey. But Mickey said he didn’t need money that badly. He felt poorer than anybody in the world; but just then he looked in the window of a very tiny house and saw a poor lady crying. Mickey could see her babies sleeping and knew she was crying because she had no money and their stockings would be empty Christmas morning. Suddenly he grabbed Pluto and ran down the street till he came to the home of the rich little boy. So he sold Pluto to the butler and walked away fast with tears in his eyes. He bought some presents for the poor lady’s babies and went to her home and left them with the rest of the money. But what about Pluto? His cruel little master only wanted him to have something to tease. The worst thing he did was to tie a great big roasted turkey on Pluto’s tail. That was the limit. Through the door Pluto jumped and off he ran. He had only one thought — to get back to Mickey. They were back together again, and had plenty to eat, and Mickey had done a good deed besides!”
