The Purloined Pup

A Walt Disney PLUTO Cartoon.

Rookie police dog Pluto is on the trail of poor Ronnie, THE PURLOINED PUP, dognapped by the evil Butch.

This funny little film features plenty of action as Pluto & Butch chase each other throughout a deserted mansion and an industrial pipe yard. This was only one of a tiny handful of cartoons in which Ronnie appeared.

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 storm of naysayers, 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 pretty exciting Pluto cartoon where he plays detective and tries to rescue a pup kidnapped by Butch, whom demanded a 10,000 bone ransom. There's some good old fashion investigative moments with Pluto, even displaying some humorous traits, like Pluto pretending to be a lion rug in order to hide from Butch's view.

A fun cartoon overall!

Grade B+

Generally I do like Pluto, I like his cuteness and also his sense of energy and fun. My feelings on his solo cartoons though have been generally on the mixed side, some are very funny and others are too routine or have a foil that is not as interesting as Pluto. The Purloined Pup belongs in the former, except for that it is not just funny, most of it especially the rapport between Pluto and Butch is hilarious. The best gags for me were when Pluto managed to dangle from a string by his teeth to avoid being caught by Butch and the gag with the connected pipe. Pluto does what he does best, being cute and energetic yet heroic and goofy, with a touch of resourcefulness too. Butch the Bulldog is a good antagonistic foil, and Ronnie is cute. The well-paced story isn't too routine either, this is one of not that many Pluto cartoons where Pluto actually has some real purpose and sense of direction. The animation is bright and colourful, and the music is beautifully orchestrated and full of character. In a nutshell, The Purloined Pup is wonderful, one of Pluto's better shorts definitely. 10/10 Bethany Cox