When the Cat's Away

Tom Cat drinks his moonshine and then heads off with his rifle to go hunting. While the cat is away, Mickey, Minnie, and the other mice living underneath the porch, will play. Mickey forms another mouse into a key to open the padlock on the door, and then into the house everyone goes. Mickey and Minnie dance on the piano to play music, while the other mice use whatever they can get their hands on - a saxophone, a violin, even a spittoon - to accompany him. A parrot attempts to join in, but the effort of his bad singing causes him to lose his balance and fall into the spittoon. Later, Mickey uses a mousetrap as a catapult to toss himself up to a wheel of Swiss cheese on a high shelf. But these mice are more interested in music than in eating. Mickey slices the cheese in a circular fashion that allows it to act like a paper roll for the player piano. When the roll is finished, two mice form themselves into a makeshift phonograph, which means more fun and music for everyone.