Perro al rescate

DURING HIS MOST prolific film career, Pluto has been cast in many, many different jobs as a true working dog. Although we do know that he is officially the faithful "animal companion"* of Mickey Mouse, he is often put in starring roles in his own series in which his master doesn't make any appearance, not even for on frame of film.

AS WE'VE JUST stated, his jobs were numerous and quite varied. After making his screen debut in THE CAIN GANG (1930).** (There the character is drawn as virtual identical twin hounds seen in pursuit of escaping convict, Mickey Mouse. From there he has been put in the role of watch dog, sheep dog and even in the World War II Army K-9 Corps. Even Pluto volunteered his services then.

IN TODAY'S REVIEWED film short, we have Pluto as a rescue dog in what had traditionally been the domain of the Saint Bernard in the Swiss Alps. And that's where we thought this locale was at the cartoon's beginning. With our pup sporting a cask of brandy (?) attached to his collar and the surroundings being quite mountainous and snow filled that's what it appeared to be, Switzerland.

BUT NO, WE are abruptly introduced to the ocean and the rocky coastline. Armed with the knowledge that the country is landlocked, we knew it was surely another land, possibly in Alaska, Newfoundland or in northern Canada. But, we digress.

THIS SHORT DOES a fine job in both pitting Pluto against his seeming antagonist. This starts almost immediately, with the keg of whiskey's being the "bone" of contention. (Get it-'bone!') After several complicating incidents in which Pluto finds himself trapped under the frozen layer of ice, the little seal manages to save the day and cement a friendship with our canine hero.

THE TRUE GENIUS of this cartoon short lies in its ability to successfully bring us a highly satisfying, funny and satisfying 8 or 9 minutes of screen time. And lest we forget, the production team does so with only two characters, who don't talk. With both our doggie and the young seal only being able to bark, there is no truly spoken word dialog.

BUT THEN AGAIN, both Schultz and I agree that it didn't need any!

NOTE: * "Animal Companion" = what we used to call a "Pet." (Ain't this Political Correctness wonderful?)

NOTE: ** Now this year of THE CHAIN GANG being released was 1930, which coincidentally was the year that the planet Pluto was discovered. This begs the question: Is the minor planet named for Mickey's dog or visa-versa? (Sort of like: Which came first, the chicken or the egg?)

Rescue Dog (1947)

*** (out of 4)

Pluto is working in the Arctic when he decides to take a walk. He crosses a frozen pond when he sees a whole in the ice and inside that hole is a playful seal. The seal begins to follow Pluto who doesn't want anything to do with him. RESCUE DOG isn't a classic Disney short but it's certainly cute enough to make it worth watching to fans of Pluto. There's not any spoken dialogue here and there's still no problem with the entertainment level because there's just so much nice action going on. This includes Pluto constantly trying to get away from the seal and a good (but dark) moment where he finds himself trapped under the water. There are certainly enough laughs to make this worth watching.

A Walt Disney PLUTO Cartoon.

RESCUE DOG Pluto is not at all amused when his precious keg of brandy is turned into a plaything by a friendly seal.

Here is another in a long list of cartoons in which Pluto encounters a much smaller creature and is typical of all the rest - ordinary animation & a few good laughs. Although undeniably cute & frisky, this was to be Salty the Seal's only appearance in a Disney cartoon.

Walt Disney (1901-1966) was always intrigued by pictures & drawings. As a lad in Marceline, Missouri, he sketched farm animals on scraps of paper; later, as an ambulance driver in France during the First World War, he drew comic figures on the sides of his vehicle. Back in Kansas City, along with artist Ub Iwerks, Walt developed a primitive animation studio that provided animated commercials and tiny cartoons for the local movie theaters. Always the innovator, his ALICE IN CARTOONLAND series broke ground in placing a live figure in a cartoon universe. Business reversals sent Disney & Iwerks to Hollywood in 1923, where Walt's older brother Roy became his lifelong business manager & counselor. When a mildly successful series with Oswald The Lucky Rabbit was snatched away by the distributor, the character of Mickey Mouse sprung into Walt's imagination, ensuring Disney's immortality. The happy arrival of sound technology made Mickey's screen debut, STEAMBOAT WILLIE (1928), a tremendous audience success with its use of synchronized music. The SILLY SYMPHONIES soon appeared, and Walt's growing crew of marvelously talented animators were quickly conquering new territory with full color, illusions of depth and radical advancements in personality development, an arena in which Walt's genius was unbeatable. Mickey's feisty, naughty behavior had captured millions of fans, but he was soon to be joined by other animated companions: temperamental Donald Duck, intellectually-challenged Goofy and energetic Pluto. All this was in preparation for Walt's grandest dream - feature length animated films. Against a blizzard of doomsayers, Walt persevered and over the next decades delighted children of all ages with the adventures of Snow White, Pinocchio, Dumbo, Bambi & Peter Pan. Walt never forgot that his fortunes were all started by a mouse, or that childlike simplicity of message and lots of hard work always pay off.

This is a nice little Disney cartoon featuring Pluto the dog. Here, he is a rescue dog on duty at the snow covered mountains. A playful and harmless seal keeps stealing Pluto's cask of grog. This naturally enrages Pluto, and tries to drive the poor seal away. But, there is some nice action, like the part where Pluto constantly tries to get away from the seal and and then finds himself trapped under the water. As a result, the seal goes for the rescue.

Nice friendship and helping others story - great animation and family time.

Grade A

Cute Disney short with Pluto as a mountain rescue dog, a job usually reserved for St. Bernards in cartoons. Pluto's biggest problem in this one is keeping a seal from stealing the cask of brandy he wears around his neck. After fighting off the playful seal for awhile, Pluto finds himself in need of rescue, with only the seal around to help him. It's a fun little cartoon. Nothing extraordinary but pleasant and enjoyable. The animation is lovely, with rich colors and well-drawn characters and backgrounds. I'm a sucker for a good animated snowscape and this one is just gorgeous. As with many Pluto cartoons, it probably plays better for little kids. But there's joy to be had here for those of us who are still kids at heart.