Playful Pluto (1934) is a Walt Disney cartoon, directed by Burt Gillett. It was the first cartoon to showcase Pluto as a major character. It was the 65th Mickey Mouse short film, and the third of that year.[2]

Playful Pluto
Pluto struggles with a piece of flypaper.
Directed byBurt Gillett
Produced byWalt Disney
StarringWalt Disney
Pinto Colvig
Music byFrank Churchill
Larry Morey
Paul J. Smith
Animation byCharacter animation:
Norman Ferguson
Dick Lundy
Art Babbitt
Color processBlack and white
Color (1991 computer color edition)
Production
company
Distributed byUnited Artists
Release date
  • March 3, 1934 (1934-03-03)[1]
Running time
7 minutes 40 seconds
CountryUnited States
LanguageEnglish

Plot

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Title card.

While Mickey Mouse is working in his garden Pluto keeps bothering and interrupting him. After a while Pluto swallows a flashlight and gets stuck on a piece of flypaper.[3]

Voice cast

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Legacy

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The cartoon is well known for a classic scene where Pluto gets stuck on a sticky piece of flypaper. This scene, animated by Norm Ferguson, has been described as vital in the history of character animation, because for the first time an animated character really seemed to think and have a mind of his own. The segment is also classic because it demonstrated how Disney artists were able to take a simple circumstance and build humor through a character.[3][4] Clips from the cartoon, including the flypaper scene, were used in the Preston Sturges film Sullivan's Travels (1941), in which the title character (Joel McCrea) has a revelation while viewing Playful Pluto alongside an audience of church-goers and chain-gang prisoners.[3]

Home media

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The short was released on December 7, 2004, on Walt Disney Treasures: Mickey Mouse in Black and White, Volume Two: 1929-1935.[5] The short was included in bonus on the Diamond Edition blu-ray of 2009 of Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs.[6]

It was released to Disney+ between September 5 and 8, 2023.[7]

See also

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References

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  1. ^ Kaufman, J.B.; Gerstein, David (2018). Walt Disney's Mickey Mouse: The Ultimate History. Cologne: Taschen. ISBN 978-3-8365-5284-4.
  2. ^ Lenburg, Jeff (1999). The Encyclopedia of Animated Cartoons. Checkmark Books. pp. 108–109. ISBN 0-8160-3831-7. Retrieved 6 June 2020.
  3. ^ a b c "Saturday Morning Cartoons: Playful Pluto (1934)". The Retro Set.
  4. ^ "Playful Pluto". Dr. Grob's Animation Review.
  5. ^ "Mickey Mouse in Black & White Volume 2 DVD Review". DVD Dizzy. Retrieved 19 February 2021.
  6. ^ https://dvdizzy.com/snowwhite-diamondeditionb.html
  7. ^ The D23 Team (June 19, 2023). "Disney+ to Debut 28 Restored Classic Walt Disney Animation Studios Shorts". D23. Retrieved June 19, 2023.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
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