BOOTLEG FILES 929: “Swabbies” (canceled Disney animated short that survives as an animatic video).
LAST SEEN: On YouTube.
AMERICAN HOME VIDEO: None.
REASON FOR BOOTLEG STATUS: This was never meant to be seen publicly.
CHANCES OF SEEING A COMMERCIAL DVD RELEASE: Nope.
The history of the Walt Disney Company is littered with projects that were aborted in various stages of concept and execution. Some of these canceled projects could have been truly fascinating, such as a feature-length animated film based on “Don Quixote.” Other pulled-plug endeavors would have been more than a little peculiar, such as an animated version of “The Catcher in the Rye” with an all-canine cast.
And then there is the case of “Swabbies,” which was intended for theatrical release in the late 1980s as an animated short. The film reached the level of becoming an animatic (a preliminary version that used sequential storyboard pencil drawings tied to an audio track) while model sheets of the characters were created and, reportedly, some animation began. However, the project was abruptly canceled.
Incredibly, the “Swabbies” animatic emerged in June 2025 as 25-minute animatic VHS tape, which was sold at auction by Julien’s Auctions for $2,600. The seller was not publicly identified (it probably wasn’t anyone with Disney’s approval), and in September 2025 the video was uploaded to YouTube via an account belonging to someone identified as “Derps.” To date, the notoriously litigious folks at Disney have not agitated to have this video removed from YouTube – which gives animation fans a rare opportunity to enjoy what could have been a very entertaining little film.
“Swabbies” teams Mickey Mouse, Donald Duck and Goofy as laid off factory workers who are frantic to get new jobs – their rent is coming due and they don’t have any money. They land a series of gigs for which they are woefully inadequate, beginning with work with a demolition firm – they are tasked with unloading crates of dynamite, but somehow blow up their new place of employment. They are then hired by a moving company but manage to break the furnishings in their care. Next, they land up at a fast-food joint where Mickey and Goofy cannot keep up with the high volume of orders while the patrons at the drive-thru window cannot understand a word that Donald is saying.
The trio are inspired by a recruiting poster to join the Navy. They catch the fancy of three female members of the Navy – Minnie Mouse takes a shine to Mickey, Daisy Duck is fascinated by Donald, and Clarabelle Cow is smitten with Goofy (an interspecies romance, of course, but that’s never raised). But their drill instructor, the tough lantern-jawed canine Pete, is considerably less enthusiastic with these three newbies and pushes them to their limits.
Meanwhile, the villainous Beagle Boys emerge from a submarine with a plan to steal the Navy’s new CyberJet. Donald and Goofy are playing around in the jet when it takes off, with Pete hanging on to its exterior. The Beagle Boys use a giant magnet on their submarine to pull the aircraft down into the water. Mickey borrows a minisub to rescue his friends and return the CyberJet.
The plot of “Swabbies” has more than a passing resemblance to the 1981 Bill Murray comedy “Stripes,” while some of the slapstick in the cartoon’s early scenes feel more like a Three Stooges romp than a Disney cartoon. But if the animatic video is any indication, “Swabbies” would have been a fast-moving and entertaining work with a fun mix of humor and action. While it would not be in the same league as the classic shorts that Disney produced during its halcyon days, it was charming and cute and probably would have resonated with 1980s audiences.
So, what went wrong? In the 1980s, Disney planned to resurrect its classic characters in a new series of half-hour cartoons. An off-lot animation division called the Disney Special Projects Unit was set up to handle these works, and this endeavor also served to train new animation talent in a lower-budget setting.
“Sport Goofy in Soccermania” was the first title from this unit, and it premiered on television in 1987. But that effort was weak and poorly received by critics and Disney fans.
Darrell Van Citters, a respected animator who was tasked with directing “Swabbies,” was unhappy with the production. In a November 26, 1985, memo to studio chief Jeffrey Katzenberg, Van Citters complained there was “…nothing inherently cartoon about it… It’s not funny.” He also called out the borrowing from “Stripes” and insisted the Disney characters lacked the comic flexibility that Bill Murray brought to his comedy. He also voiced concern about whether the cartoon could be completed on schedule because most of his animators were going to be reassigned to work on “Who Framed Roger Rabbit.” Van Citters’ memo, which was never intended for public release, was included in the Julien’s Auctions of the animatic video.
Maybe someday the Disney crew can revisit “Swabbies” and complete the film as it was intended to be seen. Until then, this is the only way we can see that ill-fated project:
IMPORTANT NOTICE: While this weekly column acknowledges the presence of rare film and television productions through the so-called collector-to-collector market, this should not be seen as encouraging or condoning the unauthorized duplication and distribution of copyright-protected material, either through DVDs or Blu-ray discs or through postings on Internet video sites.
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