Clarabelle Cow
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| Clarabelle Cow | |
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| First appearance | Plane Crazy, 1928 |
| Created by | Walt Disney and Ub Iwerks |
| Voiced by | Marcellite Garner (1930)[1] Elvia Allman (1935-1990)[2] April Winchell (1999-Present)[3][4] |
| Also known as | Carolyn Cow |
Clarabelle Cow is a fictional character created by Ub Iwerks in 1928 for Walt Disney.
She is the girlfriend of Horace Horsecollar and one of Minnie Mouse's best friends. She appeared in the 1990s branded licensing program Minnie n Me. Clarabelle has never been anything more than a supporting character in the USA, her country of origin; only in Italy has she been treated as one of Disney's leading lights. Nevertheless, the character remains famous in the United States, surprisingly so in light of her decades of relative disuse.
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[edit] Clarabelle in animation
Clarabelle first appeared as a farm cow in the cartoon Plane Crazy in 1928.[5]. She appeared frequently from 1930 to 1932 and less frequently afterward, making her final classic-era bow in Symphony Hour (1942)[6]. As with most Disney characters, she was given small cameos in the featurettes Mickey's Christmas Carol (1983) and The Prince and the Pauper (1990), and the 1988 feature Who Framed Roger Rabbit.
Clarabelle mostly played bit-part characters in the approximately 30 cartoon shorts in which she appeared, and her character was never as fully developed as the "Fab Five." She and Horace Horsecollar had an uncanny ability to change from somewhat normal farmyard animals into anthropomorphized beings as necessary. Apparently Clarabelle was given a skirt originally to give a modicum of modesty to the rubbery bovine, serving to hide her enormous appendage.
In modern animation, Clarabelle has returned to active use, appearing first in a few segments of Mickey Mouse Works. In Disney's House of Mouse she regularly turned up as a gossip columnist, with the tagline "Gossip is Always True". Recently, Clarabelle has also made appearances in the preschool series Mickey Mouse Clubhouse and in the direct-to-video movie, Mickey, Donald, Goofy: The Three Musketeers as Pete's lieutenant and Goofy's love interest.
Clarabelle also makes a cameo in Kingdom Hearts II in the Timeless River world as one of its citizens.
[edit] Theatrical film appearances
- 1928 - Plane Crazy
- 1929 - The Plow Boy
- 1929 - Mickey's Choo-Choo
- 1929 - The Karnival Kid
- 1930 - The Barnyard Concert
- 1930 - The Shindig
- 1930 - The Chain Gang
- 1930 - Pioneer Days
- 1931 - The Birthday Party
- 1931 - Mother Goose Melodies
- 1931 - Blue Rhythm
- 1931 - The Barnyard Broadcast
- 1931 - The Beach Party
- 1932 - The Mad Dog
- 1932 - Barnyard Olympics
- 1932 - Mickey's Revue
- 1932 - Mickey's Nightmare
- 1932 - The Whoopee Party
- 1932 - Touchdown Mickey
- 1932 - Parade of the Award Nominees
- 1933 - Mickey's Mellerdrammer
- 1933 - Ye Olden Days
- 1933 - Mickey's Gala Premiere
- 1934 - Camping Out
- 1934 - Orphan's Benefit
- 1935 - The Band Concert
- 1935 - On Ice
- 1935 - Mickey's Fire Brigade
- 1936 - Mickey's Grand Opera
- 1936 - Mickey's Polo Team
- 1937 - Mickey's Amateurs
- 1938 - Boat Builders
- 1941 - Orphan's Benefit (remake)
- 1942 - All Together
- 1942 - Mickey's Birthday Party
- 1942 - Symphony Hour
- 1983 - Mickey's Christmas Carol
- 1988 - Who Framed Roger Rabbit
- 1990 - The Prince and the Pauper
[edit] Clarabelle in comics
When the Disney characters started to feature in comics, Clarabelle Cow was one of the first. Her first appearance was in the Mickey Mouse dailies April 1, 1930. Along with Horace Horsecollar, Clara Cluck, Goofy, Minnie and Mickey she appeared in comics on a regular basis in the fifties, sixties and seventies.
For a brief time, during the late 1960s, Clarabelle began dating Goofy, perhaps in an attempt to give Goofy a girlfriend. During this time Horace's whereabouts are unknown. Clarabelle's status with Goofy was challenged by another gal named Glory-Bee.[7]. In later comics, Clarabelle and Horace were a couple again. Clarabelle also has a young cousin, Bertie the Jinx, a niece, Itsy-Betsy, and a socialite aunt named Miss Bovina, who have appeared in several issues of Walt Disney's Comics and Stories.
From the eighties forward only a few stories with Clarabelle Cow were made in USA. In Europe on the other hand, especially in Italy, the production of stories continued and is still going strong today.
[edit] Clarabelle in the Disney theme parks
Recently[when?], Clarabelle Cow and Horace Horsecollar have been appearing in the Main Street Family Fun Day Parade and Disney's Dreams Come True Parade in the Magic Kingdom Park. This parade includes guests along with other classic Disney characters. Clarabelle and Horace can also be found greeting with guests in the morning either right past the entrance turnstiles to the Magic Kingdom or in Town Square.
She also appears in "Mickey's Boo-to-You Halloween Parade" and "Mickey's Once Upon a Christmastime Parade".
Clarabelle also appears (without Horace) at Disneyland Park. She has also appeared in several Disneyland parades and shows, including The World According to Goofy, Light Magic, the Parade of the Stars, Fantasmic and A Christmas Fantasy Parade.
Clarabelle and Horace come out for meet-and-greets and appear in parades and shows on a regular basis at Tokyo Disneyland as well.
[edit] In Disney's Toontown Online
Though Clarabelle is now very rarely seen in animation today, she is a character in Disney's Toontown Online. She plays the role of giving the player furniture to decorate their estates, with the catalog players must order from is a "Cattlelog". Her appearance is also somewhat changed to look like an operator.
[edit] References
- ^ Marcellite Garner. The Internet Movie Data Base (IMDB). Retrieved on May 30, 2008.
- ^ Elvia Allman. The Internet Movie Data Base (IMDB). Retrieved on May 30, 2008.
- ^ April Winchell. The Internet Movie Data Base (IMDB). Retrieved on May 30, 2008.
- ^ Clarabelle Cow. The Internet Movie Data Base (IMDB). Retrieved on May 30, 2008.
- ^ Plane Crazy. The Encyclopedia of Disney Animated Shorts. Retrieved on March 16, 2008.
- ^ Don Markstein: Disney HooZoo. Retrieved on March 16, 2008.
- ^ Glory-Bee. Disney's HooZoo. Retrieved on March 16 2008.
[edit] External links
- Clarabelle Cow at the INDUCKS
- Clarabelle's Profile @ HooZoo
- Whither Clarabelle Cow?: 11 Semi-Forgotten Disney Characters
- WeirdSpace Encyclopedia: Clarabelle Cow
- Clarabelle Cow @ BCDB
- Clarabelle Cow @ IMDB
- The Encyclopedia of Disney Animated Shorts: Clarabelle Cow
