The Old Mill

Various birds, mice and bats take up residence in an old windmill. Frogs, crickets and fireflies make their music in an adjacent pond. A storm slowly approaches, building suspense. The wind turns the mill's blades, which turn gears inside the mill. A small bird is nesting with eggs in a gear hole, and a cog threatens to crush them.

Animals in the Mill

This short was the first production use of the Disney multiplane camera. Disney also won an Academy Award (Scientific or Technical, Class II) for the invention and use of the Multiplane Camera which allowed a greater depth of field than the regular two dimensional animation of the time.

Academy Award Winner, Best Short Subject (Cartoon), 1938