The short begins with a live-action introduction of Calloway and his orchestra, who perform a short chorus of "Minnie the Moocher" before performing a vamp of the title song, "The Old Man of the Mountain". As the cartoon proper begins, a lion on roller skates (made of rabbits) rushes from his guard post atop a mountain, racing into a nearby village crying "Look out! The Old Man of the Mountain!" The lion's warning sparks a mass exodus of the other animals who pack up their things and start to flee as the lion continues to warn "Look out! The Old Man of the Mountain!"