Pluto (Disney)
Template:DisneyChar Pluto (also known as Pluto the Pup) is a fictional character made famous in a series of Disney short cartoons. Pluto, has most frequently appeared as Mickey Mouse's pet dog. He also had an independent starring role in a number of Disney shorts in the 1940s and 1950s. Pluto is unusual for a Disney character in that he is not anthropomorphized beyond showing an unusually broad range of facial expressions; he is actually represented as a normal dog (unlike Goofy who is an anthropomorphic dog), although when the character appears at Disney theme parks, he walks upright on his two hind legs.
Appearances
Pluto first appeared in the 1930 Mickey Mouse cartoon The Chain Gang as a bloodhound on the trail of escaped prisoner Mickey Mouse. The bloodhound character was adapted into Minnie Mouse's dog Rover. His name was later changed to be named after the new discovery of the Dwarf Planet, Pluto and his owner to Mickey Mouse, making him Mickey's best pal.
Pluto has also appeared in the television series Mickey Mouse Works, Disney's House of Mouse and Mickey Mouse Clubhouse. He also had a cameo appearance in Quack Pack. Curiously enough, however, Pluto was the only standard Disney character not included when the whole gang was reunited for the 1983 featurette Mickey's Christmas Carol, although he did return in The Prince and the Pauper in 1990 and Runaway Brain five years later, and was also spotted in Who Framed Roger Rabbit in 1988. In 1996, he makes a cameo appearance in the Quack Pack episode "The Really Mighty Ducks".
Theatrical cartoons
- The Chain Gang (1930)
- Donald and Pluto (1936)
- Pluto's Quin-puplets (1937)
- Bone Trouble (1940)
- Pluto's Dream House (1940)
- Pantry Pirate (1940)
- Pluto's Playmate (1941)
- A Gentleman's Gentleman (1941)
- Canine Caddy (1941)
- Lend a Paw (1941)
- Pluto and the Armadillo (1942)
- Pluto, Junior (1942)
- The Army Mascot (1942)
- The Sleepwalker (1942)
- T-Bone For Two (1942)
- Pluto At the Zoo (1942)
- Private Pluto (1943)
- Springtime for Pluto (1944)
- First Aiders (1944)
- Dog Watch (1945)
- Canine Casanova (1945)
- The Legend of Coyote Rock (1945)
- Canine Patrol (1945)
- Pluto's Kid Brother (1946)
- In Dutch (1946)
- Squatter's Rights (1946)
- The Purloined Pup (1946)
- Mail Dog (1947)
- Pluto's Blue Note (1947)
- Pluto's Fledgling (1947)
- Pluto's Housewarming (1947)
- Rescue Dog (1947)
- Bone Bandit (1948)
- Pluto's Purchase (1948)
- Cat Nap Pluto (1948)
- Bubble Bee (1949)
- Pueblo Pluto (1949)
- Pluto's Surprise Package (1949)
- Pluto's Sweater (1949)
- Puss Café (1949)
- Sheep Dog (1949)
- Camp Dog (1950)
- Food For Feudin' (1950)
- Pests of the West (1950)
- Pluto and the Gopher (1950)
- Pluto's Heart Throb (1950)
- Primitive Pluto (1950)
- Wonder Dog (1950)
- Cold Storage (1951)
- Cold Turkey (1951)
- Plutopia (1951)
- Pluto's Party (1951)
- Pluto's Christmas Tree (1951)
In other media
In the Kingdom Hearts video game series, Pluto is still Mickey's pet and acts as somewhat of a messenger, assisting in his master's plans. For most of Kingdom Hearts II, Pluto stays by Kairi's side, as he has apparently taken a liking to her. Pluto also appears in Toontown Online, in the Brrrgh.
An interesting point raised most memorably in Stephen King's novella "The Body", and the feature film Stand By Me, is that Pluto, a dog, cannot talk or behave as a human, but Goofy, another dog, can. This point was parodied in a Drawn Together episode ("Xandir and Tim, Sitting in a Tree") when Pluto holds Goofy hostage at gunpoint and demands to be allowed to be the one to wear the pantaloons.
Characteristics
In Pluto's own cartoons, his friends included Fifi the Peke, Dinah the Dachshund, and Ronnie the St. Bernard Puppy. His enemies included Black Pete, Donald Duck, Butch the Bulldog, Figaro the Kitten, Chip 'n Dale, Buzz the Bee, and other characters. In Disney's 1942 animated short Pluto Junior, Pluto has a son who is simply referred to as "Pluto Junior." In the 1946 animated short Pluto's Kid Brother, Pluto has a younger brother named K.B.
Although Pluto does not normally speak, like his anthropomorphized companions, he communicates in a series of dog barks, facial expressions and body movement. The only words Pluto ever spoke, were "Kiss me." [1]
Concept and creation
Pluto was named after the dwarf planet Pluto which was discovered in 1930, the same year that the character was introduced, and thus is indirectly named after the Roman god of the underworld.
Pluto, designed and supervised by Disney animator, Norm Ferguson, is considered one of the first Disney characters to break out of the "rubber hose and circle" formula style the studio had relied on; the dog's design gave him the appearance of actually being round instead of flat. In addition, Pluto is one of the first cartoon characters that is actually shown to have thought processes through the use of character animation. The dog's thought processes are showcased in a landmark scene from 1934's Playful Pluto, in which Pluto becomes stuck to a piece of fly paper, and attempts to figure out a way to get himself unstuck.
Naming
In the 1987 book, Road to Disney, Disney writes, "There was a malaise of humanity sweeping across the country. I decided to take Nate's (Nathan Edmonson) advice and do something fun and creative. The planet Pluto had recently been discovered and I felt it was appropriate to name the pup in its honor." Even after the books publication, many people still profess that the naming was the other way around--that the then-planet was named after Disney's creation.
Actors portrayal
References
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