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Pluto
First appearance	The Chain Gang (1930)
Created by	Walt Disney and Norm Ferguson
Voiced by	Pinto Colvig(1930-1939,1941-his death in 1967), Lee Millar, Sr.(1939-1941), Jimmy MacDonald, Bill Farmer(current)

Pluto (formerly known as Pluto the Pup) is an animated cartoon character made famous in a series of Disney short cartoons. He has most frequently appeared as Mickey Mouse's pet dog. He also had an independent starring role in 48 Disney shorts in the 1930s, 1940s and 1950s.^[1] Pluto is unusual for a Disney character in that he is not anthropomorphized beyond showing an unusually broad range of facial expressions or use of his front paws at key points; he is actually represented as a normal dog (unlike Goofy who is an anthropomorphic dog).^[1] Pluto is a V.I.P. member of the Mickey Mouse Club.

[edit] Concept and creation

Sketches for Playful Pluto.

Pluto was initially a minor character until 1934, when Disney animator Norm Ferguson gave the dog a key role in the cartoon Playful Pluto. Pluto becomes entangled with a sticky piece of flypaper, and Ferguson expanded the sequence significantly. The segment became a classic, demonstrating how Disney artists can take a simple circumstance and build humor through a character.^[2]

Pluto 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.

[edit] Characteristics

McDonald's 2002 Disney World "100 Years of Magic" glassware includes trivia pertaining to Pluto's spoken words.

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, Salty the Seal, Butch the Bulldog, Figaro the Kitten, Chip 'n Dale, Spike the Bee, Ol' Benttail the Coyote, 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." ^[3]

[edit] Naming

The pup first appeared in Walt Disney's short The Chain Gang^[4], released in the USA on August 18, 1930. However, the dog had no name. In the next appearance on October 23, 1930, in The Picnic^[5] the dog is named not Pluto, but Rover. It was in The Moose Hunt^[6], released on May 8, 1931, that the dog is called Pluto the Pup, the studio's original name. A September 1931 model sheet for the character with that name is illustrated in Barrier's Hollywood Cartoons.^[7]

Several months had passed between the naming of what was believed to have been the ninth planet, Pluto, on March 24, 1930, and the attachment of that name to the dog character. Venetia Burney (later Venetia Phair), who as an eleven-year-old schoolgirl had suggested the name Pluto for the planet, remarked in 2006: “The name had nothing to do with the Disney cartoon. Mickey Mouse's dog was named after the planet, not the other way around.”^[8]

Although it has been claimed that the Disney studio named the dog after the planet (rather than after the mythical god of the underworld), this has not been verified. Disney animator Ben Sharpsteen has said: "We thought the name [Rover] was too common, so we had to look for something else. [...] We changed it to Pluto the Pup, [...] but I don't honestly remember why. I think we were stoned."^[9]

[edit] Popularity

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Once Pluto became an important member of the Mickey Mouse universe he has been one of the most popular cartoon characters of all time. Pluto is seen in almost every type of merchandise. He has also been listed as the fifth most popular Disney character of all time after Mickey Mouse, Donald Duck, Minnie Mouse and Goofy. By the early 1950s audiences have been more interested in Pluto than rival animated pet Sylvester the Cat from Warner Bros.. Pluto was awarded the #1 in The 100 Greatest Animated Pets of all Time.

[edit] Appearances

Two unnamed bloodhounds which are seen in the 1930 Mickey Mouse cartoon The Chain Gang resemble what would in later cartoons appear as Pluto the Pup, Mickey's pet dog.^[1] The Picnic, another Mickey Mouse cartoon from the same year features a pet dog of Minnie, referred to as "my little rover". The same canine appears as Mickey's pet dog in the 1931 cartoon The Moose Hunt and is named as Pluto for the first time.^[1] From then onwards, Pluto has joined the Mickey gang as a permanent character.

His first comics appearance was in the Mickey Mouse daily strips in 1931 two months after the release of The Moose Hunt. Pluto Saves the Ship, a comic book published in 1942, is one of the first Disney comics prepared for publication outside newspaper strips. However, not counting a few cereal give-away mini-comics in 1947 and 1951, he did not have his own comics title until 1952.

Pluto has also appeared in the television series Mickey Mouse Works, Disney's House of Mouse and Mickey Mouse Clubhouse. 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 made a cameo appearance in the Quack Pack episode "The Really Mighty Ducks".

[edit] Theatrical cartoons

1. Bone Trouble (1940)
2. Pantry Pirate (1940, with Mammy Two Shoes)
3. Pluto's Playmate (1941, first appearance of Salty the Seal)
4. Lend a Paw (1941)
5. Pluto Junior (1942)
6. The Army Mascot (1942)
7. The Sleepwalker (1942)
8. T-Bone For Two (1942)
9. Pluto At The Zoo (1942)
10. Private Pluto (1943)
11. Springtime For Pluto (1944, musical)
12. First Aiders (1944, with Minnie and Figaro)
13. Dog Watch (1945)
14. Canine Casanova (1945)
15. The Legend of Coyote Rock (Academy Award Winner for best cartoon) (1945)
16. Canine Patrol (1945)
17. Pluto's Kid Brother (1946)
18. In Dutch (1946)
19. The Purloined Pup (1946, first appearance of Ronnie)
20. A Feather In His Collar (1946, commercial short)
21. Pluto's Housewarming (1947)
22. Rescue Dog (1947, second appearance of Salty the Seal, later third appearance in only Mickey Mouse cartoon, also later appearance in Mickey Mouse Works, movies and Disney's Magical Things)
23. Mail Dog (1947)
24. Pluto's Blue Note (1947)
25. Bone Bandit (1948)
26. Pluto's Purchase (1948, with Mickey Mouse)
27. Cat Nap Pluto (1948, with Figaro)
28. Pluto's Fredgling (1948)
29. Pueblo Pluto (1949, second appearance of Ronnie with Mickey Mouse, later third appearance of Ronnie in 2007)
30. Pluto's Surprise Package (1949)
31. Pluto's Sweater (1949, with Minnie and Figaro)
32. Bubble Bee (1949)
33. Sheep Dog (1949)
34. Pluto's Heart Throb (1950)
35. Pluto & The Gopher (1950, with Minnie Mouse)
36. Wonder Dog (1950)
37. Primitive Pluto (1950)
38. Puss Cafè (1950, first appearance of Marvin the Cat, later in Plutopia and Cold Turky, also later in movies and Disney's Magical Things)
39. Pests of The West (1950)
40. Food For Feudin' (1950)
41. Camp Dog (1950)
42. Cold Storage (1951)
43. Cold Turkey (1951)
44. Hot Dogs! (2009, with Mickey Mouse)

[edit] Movies

• Mickey's House of Villains
• Mickey's Magical Christmas: Snowed in at the House of Mouse
• Totally Minnie
• Who Framed Roger Rabbit
• Prince and the Pauper
• Mickey Mouse Clubhouse: The Great Clubhouse Hunt

[edit] Kingdom Hearts Series

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 (even when she has been kidnapped), as he has apparently taken a liking to her. Strangely, throughout the series, Pluto appears and disappears at random moments, and none of the other characters are surprised by his sudden absences.

[edit] Disney Parks

In the various Disney theme park resorts around the world, Pluto is on two legs, and much more similar to that of the other main Disney characters.

[edit] Love Interest

[edit] Fifi the Peke

Fifi is Pluto's first original girlfriend and the pet of Minnie Mouse. She has starred in cartoons alongside Pluto, Figaro the Kitten, Minnie Mouse and Mickey Mouse.

[edit] Dinah the Dachshund

Dinah the Dachshund, Pluto's second love, who replaced Fifi.

Dinah replaced Fifi the Peke as Pluto's girlfriend in the later Disney cartoons. She appears as Pluto's girlfriend although she sometimes dates Butch the Bulldog as well. She first appeared in The Sleepwalker.

[edit] References

[edit] External links

• Pluto at the INDUCKS
• Pluto at Disney Archives