January 4

Happy Feet, a cartoon utilizing the vocal talents of actors better known from conventional movies, such as Elijah Wood, Robin Williams, Hugh Jackman, and Nicole Kidman among others, has been a huge success in movie theaters. Many people seem to think that incorporating these human stars into an animated movie (although considering how much money Happy Feet has made perhaps calling it a ‘film’ is called for) is seen as a relatively new innovation. Not! On the 4th in 1939 Walt Disney released Mickey’s Polo Team, a movie featuring Mickey Mouse, Goofy, The Big Bad Wolf, and Donald Duck facing a team comprised of Stan Laurel, Oliver Hardy, Harpo Marx and Charlie Chaplin in a game of polo. A few of the people in the stands, watching the game, are Shirley Temple, W.C. Fields, Greta Garbo, and Clark Gable.