Papa Pluto

Pluto stumbles into a henhouse when chicks are being born, and they think that he is their mother. The joke I refer to is when one of the chicks eats a grasshopper as big as he is, and bounces around when the grasshopper refuses to stop. This is a very funny cartoon to be found on the new Silly Symphonies DVD collection.

A Walt Disney SILLY SYMPHONY Cartoon Short.

Mickey's pal finds himself becoming MOTHER PLUTO when he attracts the affections of a brood of neglected chicks.

Pluto is in very sophisticated surroundings indeed with his starring role in a SILLY SYMPHONY short, an accomplishment even The Mouse never achieved. The film is fun to watch and the animation is excellent. No dialogue is needed, as the plot is driven along by the visuals & the soundtrack (music mavens will recognize `Oh Where, Oh Where Has My Little Dog Gone?' and `John Brown's Body'). Florence Gill, hilarious as always, vocalizes the hen's clucks.

The SILLY SYMPHONIES, which Walt Disney produced for a ten year period beginning in 1929, are among the most fascinating of all animated series. Unlike the Mickey Mouse cartoons in which action was paramount, with the Symphonies the action was made to fit the music. There was little plot in the early Symphonies, which featured lively inanimate objects and anthropomorphic plants & animals, all moving frantically to the soundtrack. Gradually, however, the Symphonies became the school where Walt's animators learned to work with color and began to experiment with plot, characterization & photographic special effects. The pages of Fable & Fairy Tale, Myth & Mother Goose were all mined to provide story lines and even Hollywood's musicals & celebrities were effectively spoofed. It was from this rich soil that Disney's feature-length animation was to spring. In 1939, with SNOW WHITE successfully behind him and PINOCCHIO & FANTASIA on the near horizon, Walt phased out the SILLY SYMPHONIES; they had run their course & served their purpose.

Mother Pluto is an adorable and hilarious silly symphony, that is just living proof of how much you can love Disney. Here, the animation is bright, colourful and fluid, and the music is a real treat to the ears, and very playful.

I thought the little chicks were truly adorable, and Pluto was really likable as usual. Two of the highlights were the grasshopper and the fight between Pluto and the Rooster- these two scenes never fail to crack me up. You do feel sorry at the end of the short though for Pluto.

Overall, perfectly watchable, adorable and hilarious are the two words I can think of to describe this. 10/10 Bethany Cox

Pluto becomes a parent to baby chicks after they hatch in his doghouse, where the mother hen inadvertently laid the eggs. When the mother hen discovers that Pluto seemed to have taken the chicks, she attempts to get them back and later asks the rooster for help. The rooster then grapples with Pluto, but the chicks seem to have a liking to Pluto.

Not a whole lot of laughs in this cartoon, but I do like the bond between Pluto and the little chickens, and the music (especially the little rendition of the Battle Hymn of the Republic). With all the fuss the chickens made, you wonder why the hen chose Pluto's house of all things to lay her eggs.

Grade B-

A fat hen, who has built a nest in Pluto's kennel, is distracted by a butterfly and goes off to chase it, leaving Pluto in charge of looking after her newly-hatched chicks. Like any sensible man Pluto would rather have his freedom and not be anchored by needy children. His attempts at ditching them fail however, and he eventually is suckered into caring for them after being smitten by the runt.

Mother hen soon returns and is shocked that her neglectful parenting has resulted in wayward offspring. She calls on the alpha cockerel to sort out Pluto's interference, which he solves with violence and intimidation.

Underlying message of cartoon: if you cannot be bothered looking after your children properly just let them go free and have nature take its course. If this does not work out for the best then blame whatever entity your children chose instead.

Second underlying message of cartoon: everyone involved with your children are a bad and/or dangerous influence and must be viewed with suspicion and dealt with in violence/hostility.