Lonesome Ghosts is a 1937 Disney animated cartoon, released through RKO Radio Pictures on Christmas Eve. It was directed by Burt Gillett and animated by Izzy (Isadore) Klein, Ed Love, Milt Kahl, Marvin Woodward, Bob Wickersham, Clyde Geronimi, Dick Huemer, Dick Williams, Art Babbitt, and Rex Cox. In the cartoon, four ghosts named Jasper, Grubb, Boo, and Moss are bored because they have scared away all of the inhabitants of a haunted house. The ghosts decide to hire Mickey Mouse, Donald Duck, and Goofy, who are ghost exterminators, in order to prank them. It was the 98th short in the Mickey Mouse film series to be released, and the ninth for that year. This short marked the first use of one of Goofy's catchphrases, "Somethin' wrong here!".
It is often speculated that this cartoon was an inspiration for Ghostbusters. The phrase "I ain't scared of no ghost" occurs in this cartoon, a similar line to that used in the bridge of the 1984 film's theme song written by Ray Parker Jr. In the 1987 Halloween special DTV Monster Hits, the song is matched to an edited version of the cartoon.
On a snowy night, four ghosts named Jasper, Boo, Moss and Grubb are alone inside a haunted house, complaining about how there is no one remaining inside the house to scare. Moss finds an advertisement in a newspaper for the Ajax Ghost Exterminators whose members consist of Mickey Mouse, Donald Duck and Goofy. The ghosts decide to hire them in order to prank them. At their work building, the ghost exterminators are sleeping until their telephone rings. They get the ghostsâ call with Grubb impersonating a woman while claiming that the house is haunted.
When they arrive at the house, Mickey knocks on the front door but no one answers. He knocks on it again, causing it to fall down. He announces their arrival but they discover that there is no one inside. While they tiptoe into the house, the door lifts up and throws them inside before putting itself back in place, causing a mousetrap to fall shut on Goofy's nose. After hearing the ghostsâ laughter, Mickey decides that he, Donald and Goofy should split up in order to surround them.
Jasper knocks Mickey on the head and Mickey tries to shoot him but Jasper blocks his gunâÂÂs barrels with his fingers, causing it to explode. Mickey chases Jasper upstairs and tries to open a door that he disappears into which falls down. All of the ghosts, forming a marching band, come out of the door and go into another. When Mickey opens the door, water pours out. Jasper, Boo and Moss surf on surfboards and Grubb drives a motorboat that goes in a circle around Mickey until the ghosts and water disappear.
After Grubb uses the sounds of breaking dishes and rattling chains to scare Donald, he whacks him in the butt with a wooden board twice. Donald punches Grubb, who falls on the floor but he transforms into water and disappears. Grubb comes out of the floor and spits water at DonaldâÂÂs face before disappearing again when Donald tries to follow him. Donald gets soaked with water when he puts his hat back on.
Moss bangs a wooden spoon on a pan and plays a trombone, scaring Goofy into running into a bedroom. When Moss kicks his butt, he chases him into a dresser and sees Moss in the mirror instead of his reflection. After a mirror gag, Moss punches him in the face. Goofy becomes tangled in the dresser and stabs his butt with a pin when he mistakes his pants for a ghost.
The ghosts shove Goofy and the dresser into the basement where Mickey and Donald are. Mickey and Donald take cover behind boxes of molasses, flour and syrup that the dresser crashes into, causing the three to be covered in the ingredients. This makes them look like ghosts which scares the actual ghosts out of the house. The trio walk up to a window that the ghosts crashed through and triumphantly watch them run off, while also not sure how they were driven out. Donald closes the short with calling the ghosts sissies and laughing.
The short was released on December 4, 2001, on '.
Additional releases include: