The film was directed by Riley Thomson, and animated by Ward Kimball, Fred Moore, Ken Muse, Jim Armstrong, Les Clark, John Elliotte, Fred Jones, Walt Kelly, and Frank Follmer with effects animation by Art Fitzpatrick.

Promised a slice if he cleans the yard, Mickey immediately jumps into raking up the fall leaves littering Minnie's lawn.

While working in the yard, a small tornado as tall as Mickey comes along and makes his work more complicated: first the tornado hops into the basket and leaps over Mickey countless times before he pounds the basket in place before putting his hammer back in his overalls, shaking it to check if it is snared.

As the march moves toward the house, Mickey manages to trap the tornado with a sack, which, after a bit of wrestling, he ties and punts away.

Its angry rampage causes chaos and destruction through the farm fields and grasslands until it lifts the lower portion of its gigantic body and slows Mickey's movement.

The Little Whirlwind was the debut for a newly updated Mickey Mouse design: Mickey was given ears that worked in perspective (in lieu of his traditional, unchanging circles for ears), in addition to a slimmer body, larger head, hands and feet as well as buck teeth (the latter lasting for just two shorts; Canine Caddy was the other).