Cat Nap Pluto

Poor Pluto; he comes home exhausted, barely able to climb into his little bed. We get a glimpse of what he sees through his droopy eyelids as he wanders off to bed: the little kitten at the other end of the room The sandman is there, though, pouring sand in his eyes as the pooped-out pooch gets ready for some serious sleep time.

Unfortunately, Figaro, the little cat, is wide awake and he wants to play. He's not mean- spirited, just playful, but all Pluto wants his to get some shuteye.

Each time he starts to fall asleep, the cat comes by and wakes him! It's almost frustrating to watch and wind up feeling sorry for the poor dog. Actually, both Pluto and Figaro take turns being nasty and nice. The highlight of the cartoon is the sandman, who keeps coming back with bigger loads to put the dog back to sleep. The end of this story involves a twist with him

Once again, "cute" but not really too funny./ It was part of the "Best Pals - Mickey and Goofy" DVD. They did a nice job of restoring the prints of these old cartoons. They look terrific.

Pluto comes back to the house in the early morning after a late, restless night, and goes immediately to sleep - with the help of his sandman. This upsets Figaro as he wants Pluto to keep him company and play. What results are funny moments where Figaro agitates Pluto while the sandman keeps making sure Pluto gets to sleep. There's also a few chase moments between the two pets - sure to bring laughs.

With Pluto and Figaro in the cartoon together, it sure brings loads of fun and laughter. The animation is great and the story is full of surprises. A great one.

Grade A

While I'm not sure just when Figaro moved to...wherever Pluto lived in the late 40's, I'm not complaining, because this is fun. The plot is good, and well-told... not a single spoken or written word, yet we follow it without any problems. This was featured on the DVD of Pinocchio, which is how I watched it. Recently, anyway. The humor is great, and universal. The gags and jokes are almost all realized skillfully and are entertaining, and this doesn't suffer too much under repetition of material. There is some cartoon violence in this, as with many of its brethren, young and old alike. The sound is well-done, though not as synchronized or as much of a tool as the Silly Symphonies pieces. The animation is nice, most everything is conveyed well. Music is spot-on. It's part of the drive of this entire short. There is no actual moralizing herein, but there is some moral to be found. The personalities are easy to relate to and understand. I recommend this to any fan of these animated cartoons, especially those who love the two already-mentioned characters. 7/10

A Walt Disney PLUTO Cartoon.

CAT NAP PLUTO has had a long night and is desperate for some sleep; frisky kitten Figaro, however, is just as eager for a serious romp.

While the cartoon is routine in respect to story & animation, it is interesting to see the two protagonists together in the same film. The drowsy little dog & cat sandmen are also enjoyable.

Walt Disney (1901-1966) was always intrigued by 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 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 simplicity of message and lots of hard work always pay off.

I did like Cap Nap Pluto. The story is crisp and grabs your attention if slightly routine, and the cartoon is more cute than laugh-out-loud hilarious. By all means there are some amusing moments, but not much above that. However, it is beautifully animated, all very colourful and fluid, and the music is just wonderful, full of energy and dynamics and actually the biggest reason why the cartoon works without ever being more than amusing. The characters and their personalities also drive the cartoon, Pluto is as energetic as ever and shows both sides of his personality, and Figaro is adorable with priceless facial expressions and also showing more than one personality, but the best character was the Sandman, the cartoon's action revolves around him mostly and he has the most effective moments. Overall, Cap Nap Pluto is a nice cartoon, but not an exceptional one. 7/10 Bethany Cox