[4] The short was produced in black and white by The Walt Disney Studio and released to theaters by Celebrity Productions.

After a few initial sight gags, the action quickly focuses on Kat Nipp, a barker at the carnival who is enticing a crowd to see Minnie, "the Shimmy Dancer".

In the second segment, Mickey attempts to draw Minnie's attention by playing "Sweet Adeline" on the guitar, joined by two alley cats who imitate the monotone delivery of vaudeville comedy team Shaw and Lee.

During the "Shimmy Dance" sequence, a monkey, performing as a one-man band, plays the Snake Charmer song, the common name for The Streets of Cairo.

During the moonlight serenade segment, Mickey and the cats perform a rendition of the barbershop standard Sweet Adeline.

Walt Disney was thrilled by the progress, but Pat Powers of Celebrity Pictures wasn't, as he worried that Mickey speaking English would affect overseas sales of the cartoons.

This led to awkward facial expressions at times, with especially Mickey's face distorting into a multitude of mouth gestures.

[3] The hot dog gags are reused from an earlier film, Disney's 1927 Oswald the Lucky Rabbit short All Wet.

[5] Ub Iwerks reused elements of the plot and many of the visual gags from The Karnival Kid in his 1932 cartoon Circus.

[6] New York Weenie, an episode from the 2013 Mickey Mouse shorts series, shares similar themes and gags with The Karnival Kid.

The Film Daily (September 1, 1929): "Very Good: Mickey Mouse does his cartoonatics as a hot dog vendor at the circus grounds.