Me Dê Uma Pata

It took 115 cartoons to get the treasured Oscar, but Mickey Mouse finally received one during the 14th Academy Awards in Best Animated Short Film for his October 1941 "Lend a Paw." The win was a stunner for Mickey, although a well deserved one for the mouse that built the Disney empire. Mickey's voice was none other than Walt Disney's.

"Lend a Paw" was a remake of 1933 'Mickey's Pal Pluto.' In both cartoons, Mickey's dog Pluto has a split conscious in the form of a devil and an angel both vying for him to do either right or wrong in saving a kitten. It's winter time when Pluto rescued a kitten inside a bag floating on a river's ice flow. Pluto's none too happy with the kitten when it follows him home. The canine becomes upset when owner Mickey treats the newfound cat to his dog food. Things go completely off the rails for Pluto and the kitten when both end up inside an outdoor well.

The kitten in "Lend a Paw" was drawn similarly to the character Figaro in 1940's "Pinocchio." In the short's preface the cartoon is dedicated to a charity called "Tailwagger Foundation." This non-profit foundation, established in 1929, has helped save the lives of many sick and injured animals through life-saving treatments. It also assists rescue groups in their efforts to find homes for pets. Actress Bette Davis lent the organization a huge boost in publicity when she was elected president for the Southern California region. Also, huge donations from Howard Hughes and Walt Disney infused well-needed money to get the organization going into high gear.

This is my review of the tenth Oscar-nominated cartoon of 1941 having previously done the same for George Pal's Rhythm in the Ranks, Friz Freleng's Rhapsody in Rivets, Walter Lantz' Boogie Woogie Bugle Boy of Company B, Rudolf Ising's The Rookie Bear, Hanna-Barbera's The Night Before Christmas, Jack King's Truant Officer Donald, Dave Fleischer's Superman, Paul Fennell's When War Came, and Friz Freleng's Hiawatha's Rabbit Hunt. This was also the eventual winner of Best Short Subject, Cartoon award. And it deserved it! Directed by Clyde Geronimi, it has pet dog Pluto finding a kitten in the river. He picks it up and lets it go on it's way but that creature decides to follow the dog home where master Mickey Mouse makes it his new pet leading Pluto to get jealous. That also results in his good side (an angel version of him) and bad side (devil, natch) to appear in front of him. I'll stop there and just say there's both laughs and touching drama throughout with Geronimi handling both parts well. This nearly marked the end of Walt Disney Studios' dominance in this particular category of the Academy Awards. Starting the following year after next, M-G-M takes over with the Tom & Jerry series. It's also the only time a short starring Mickey & Pluto got the win. Since it's still a few days before the actual Oscars, I'll next review an animated short in which Bugs Bunny campaigns for the award. It's called What's Cookin' Doc?

Well the stereotypical animal dynamic is all over the shop here as a dog rescues an abandoned kitten from the river only for it to follow him home and befriend "Mickey Mouse". That just annoys it's rescuer who plans a revenge that makes matters worse thanks to a goldfish who is kept in a bowl by the mouse before the cat contrives to chase a ball down a well! Nope, it doesn't hang around right from the start as this enthusiastic young kitten causes mischief galore but the real question for the jealous "Pluto" is: does he rescue the helpless little cat from the icy well as his angelic self advises, or does he leave it to freeze as his more devilish persona suggests?

A Walt Disney MICKEY MOUSE Cartoon.

Pluto must LEND A PAW to save the life of a drowning kitten - but is disgusted when Mickey welcomes the tiny feline into their home.

There's much to enjoy in this Oscar-winning little film, with pathos, suspense & good humor all wrapped-up into one tidy package. The use of the Angel-Pluto & Devil-Pluto to express the Pup's thoughts is an amusing conceit. This was the second of only two appearances in a Disney cartoon made by Bianca the Goldfish, the other being MICKEY'S PARROT (1938).

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.

Lend a Paw is a great cartoon. Perhaps not one of my favourites, it definitely could have been longer by two minutes I think. However, it looks beautiful, everything looks fluid and Mickey's intense look was a great piece of character animation but what was special was the use of colour, blue for when Pluto is frozen, green to signify the devil's jealousy and yellow for when the devil is confronted by the angel. The music is lovingly orchestrated and does wonderfully yet again in enhancing the action. There are a few humorous moments, but it is the poignant pathos and strong suspense that made an even bigger impression. Pluto rescuing the kitten was by far the most memorable scene. The story while somewhat obvious has much cuteness and charm with a great, subtly used message and don't be prejudiced. It does use the angel vs. devil scenario but is one of the better and most interesting cases of it. Mickey is likable but plays second fiddle to Pluto, one of those characters who looks and acts like a dog(which he is) but unlike Goofy, Mickey and Donald he doesn't act human which is part of his charm, as well as his ability of being telling in his facial expressions without saying a word. The kitten and the goldfish are very cute and the angel and devil are an amusing contrast with the devil all tough and the angel more shrill. Overall, cute and touching, well worth seeing. 9/10 Bethany Cox