Pluto

**Pluto** (also known as **Pluto the Pup**) is a popular character from The Walt Disney Company. He has most frequently appeared as Mickey Mouse's pet dog and best pal. Pluto is very unique for a character in Mickey's world in that he is not anthropomorphic beyond showing a broad range of facial expressions; he is actually represented as a normal dog, although he does have some anthropomorphic shifts. His birthday is September 5, 1930. Pluto's original name was Rover in *The Picnic*and in 1931, Pluto's real name is given in *The Moose Hunt*.

## Personality

Pluto is truly a well-trained dog. Like his master Mickey, he can get into a large amount of trouble but has enough brains to escape the situation. He acts as Mickey's sidekick, best friend, conscience in some occasions and pet. The pet is extremely loyal but on occasion does have the tendency to argue and be fussy with people or even Mickey.

He shows a strong disliking towards cats. This hatred could have mostly been sparked by not only natural instincts, but the rivalry with Minnie's cat Figaro. The two constantly compete for Minnie's attention and love but in recent years have been much kinder to each other. Pluto is also famous for his powerful sense of smell. According to Mickey, Pluto can find anything and anybody with his nose. He appears to be a mixed breed containi

ng both a bloodhound and a pointer.

While intelligent enough, Pluto can be a bit clumsy and his childlike persona is often mistaken for stupidity. He's not immune to being outwitted but can get back on track which is usually bad news being that Pluto can have a nasty temper. He has two consciences. One evil (which is Pluto's devil counterpart) and one good (which is Pluto's angel counterpart). They occasional appear in hard situations and Pluto tends to listen to the negative side at the beginning but the positive doesn't take no for an answer having Pluto do good in the end.

The pup has an a-list life: A good home, family, and the greatest owner for his type, but he has been accidentally mistreated. Being that he spends most time in the house, he has been blamed for a handful of things. His pal Mickey has always forgiven him in the end as he is often reminded why Pluto is deemed his best friend. This situation showcases the strong bond between Mickey and Pluto who can be inseparable at times.

Pluto also has the tendency to fall in love rather quickly. Whenever this would occur, Pluto would usually stop at nothing to win the heart of the girl in question. Some of the girls Pluto has been smitten with include: Fifi the Peke, Dinah the Dachshund, and Tiki. Despite his recurring love bug, the cartoon *Pluto's Penthouse Sweet*, showed that Pluto's friendship with Mickey can overshadow his love interest.

## History

Pluto first appeared in the 1930 Mickey Mouse cartoon *The Chain Gang* as a bloodhound on the trail of escaped prisoner Mickey Mouse. The bloodhound character was adapted into Minnie Mouse's dog, Rover. His name was later changed to Pluto and his owner to Mickey Mouse, making him Mickey's best pal. As such, Pluto is considered one of the "Fab Five" Disney animated characters alongside Mickey Mouse, Minnie Mouse, Donald Duck and Goofy.

Pluto is also considered one of the first Disney characters to break out of the "rubber hose and circle" formula style the studio had relied on; the dog's design gave him the appearance of actually being round instead of flat. In addition, Pluto is one of the first cartoon characters that is actually shown to have thought processes through the use of character animation. His thought processes are showcased in a landmark scene from 1934's Playful Pluto, in which Pluto becomes stuck to a piece of flypaper and attempts to figure out a way to get himself unstuck.

Pluto is sometimes billed as "Mickey's Pal Pluto " (which is also the title of a 1933 cartoon), as he is very devoted to his master. Even though he's been known to run in the opposite direction when confronted by something frightening, Pluto is protective of Mickey. In many cartoons, Pluto tried his doggonedest to assist his owner, and nothing made the happy hound happier, even if their plans didn't always turn out as expected. Puppy Love (1933) found Pluto accompanying Mickey on a romantic visit to Minnie; the pooch tries to help out with spring cleaning in *Playful Pluto* (1934); and in On Ice (1935), the curious canine was out for a day of ice-skating, even though in Pluto's case it

is thanks to two pairs of skates attached to his paws by that prankster Donald Duck.

Audiences so took the loose-limbed hound to heart that, even as continued to co-star in many of Mickey's films, he was given his own series of solo-starring cartoons, starting with *Pluto's Quinpuplets* (1937), but even before that he became the only Disney standard character to star in his own Silly Symphony, *Mother Pluto* (1936). Pluto has a veritable kennel-full of supporting players, including his nemesis, the bullying bulldog called Butch, and not one but two canine-cuties as sweethearts Fifi, the temperamental Pekinese and also Dinah the long-lashed dachshund. Interestingly, in Pluto's Quinpuplets, Pluto and Fifi are seen as "Mr. And Mrs. Pluto," the parents of five mischievous mutts. Pluto is also seen as the pop of a pup in *Pluto Junior* (1942) and as the big bro of a little guy in Pluto's *Kid Brother* (1946). In films such as *First Aiders* (1944), Pluto has been teamed with Figaro the feisty feline from*Pinocchio* (1940), whose annoying antics gets the easily frustrated pooch's hairs up. A definite highlight for the humble hound was *Lend a Paw* (1941) which was awarded the Oscar® for Best Cartoon of the Year.

Throughout the 1950's, Pluto would continue to appear in short films. But, as the studio began focusing on other endeavors such as their animated features, the introduction of television, and the debut of Disneyland, Pluto's career in animated shorts would eventually cease; his last theatrical cartoon in the original *Mickey Mouse* series being *The Simple Things* (1953).

Afterwards, Pluto would make appearances in comic stories, and some episodes of the Walt Disney anthology series, until finally vanishing from the mainstream audience for nearly three decades. Unlike the rest of the classic cast, Pluto did not return for the short film *Mickey's Christmas Carol*, instead reappearing in the 1990 short *The Prince and the Pauper*, reprising his classic role as Mickey's dog and companion. From this point, forward, Pluto's vocal performance would be provided byBill Farmer, who also began voicing Goofy around the same time. Pluto's red collar was also revamped as an identical green collar for most modern appearances. Something that was first introduced in *A Gentleman's Gentleman* (1941)

Today, Pluto remains one of Disney's most recognizable and popular characters, appearing in various forms of media, and every incarnation of the *Mickey Mouse*franchise. Along with Mickey, Donald, Goofy, Minnie, and Daisy, Pluto is one of the six leading characters of the Walt Disney Company.

## Mickey Mouse Short Series

His very first appearance was in "Dog Show". In this episode, he and Mickey were getting ready for a dog show, practicing tricks in the park when Goofy arrives. Believing they're playing as opposed to practicing, Goofy decides to join in on the fun and grabs a stick to play fetch with Pluto. Pluto chases the stick and catches it, but accidentally runs off the edge of a cliff and gets hospitalized. Due to this, Mickey cleverly gets the idea to have Goofy take Pluto's place in the dog show.

Pluto reappears in "Space Walkies", where he and Mickey travel to the unknowns of space, though Pluto's uncontrollable habits (such as his uncontrollable bladder and urge to chase Chip and Dale) causes chaos.

## Disney Parks

Pluto is a common character in the Disney Parks, the most common after Mickey, Minnie, Donald and Goofy. He is featured in many shows. The character similar to other characters is seen walking on his hind legs instead of on all fours like in the cartoons.

Pluto's Doghouse could be found in the backyard of Mickey's home in Mickey's Toontown at Disneyland, as well as at Mickey's Country House in the now-closedMickey's Toontown Fair. A large dog house is found at Disneyland in Toontown, selling hot dogs.

Pluto can be found in *Mickey's Soundsational Parade*, *Festival of Fantasy Parade*, and *Mickey's Jammin' Jungle Parade* at Disney's Animal Kingdom.

### *Fantasmic!*

In the popular live show, *Fantasmic!*, Pluto can be seen in the Steamboat Willie in Disney's Hollywood Studios and The Mark Twain Riverboat in Disneyland.

### *Celebrate the Season*

Pluto appears in the holiday show in Disney's Magic Kingdom park. In the show Pluto joins Mickey and Friends as they celebrate the magic of Christmas.

### *One Man's Dream II: The Magic Lives On*

In Tokyo Disneyland Pluto is seen in the opening song and dance scene and also during the scene where Donald tries to become an actor to win the heart of Hollywood starlet Daisy Duck. In the finale Pluto joins some of the other characters as they celebrate Mickey's success.

## Trivia

* Pluto was also shown to be the pet dog of Donald Duck and Goofy on occasions.
* Pluto spoke once in his career - "Kiss Me" in *The Moose Hunt*. He also had one somewhat-spoken line after that - "Huh?" in *Mickey's Seal*.
* Pluto's deceased mother was shown in the comic '*Pluto's Birthday*', which revealed Pluto's origins.
* Like Sora becoming friends with Donald and Goofy, and Riku becoming friends with King Mickey, Pluto may be the Disney friend to the original character, Kairi, in *Kingdom Hearts II*, as he keeps her company during her capture in The World That Never Was.
* Aside from Goofy, Pluto is the only other parent in the Sensational Six group.
* He is the only member of the Sensational Six who doesn't appear in *Disney Universe*.
* Pluto's head design is actually quite similar to Goofy's, minus the buck teeth.
* Pluto is also the name of the Roman god of the Underworld (his Greek counterpart is Hades). Coincidentally, Pluto (the dog) was actually created at the same time as the discovery of the dwarf planet named Pluto, which was at the time considered as the Solar System's ninth planet (the eight official planets are Mercury, Venus, Earth, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, and Neptune), but was demoted to its current status in 2006, reducing the number of planets back down to eight (there are currently five known dwarf planets in our Solar System, the four others being Ceres, located in the Asteroid Belt; and Haumea, Makemake, and Eris, all located in the Kuiper Belt).
* Coincidentally, the more recent photographs of Pluto (the dwarf planet) taken by the Hubble Space Telescope reveal it to be the exact shade of orange as Pluto's (the dog) fur.
* Pluto made a cameo appearance in the pilot episode of *Quack Pack*, "The Really Mighty Ducks", when Huey, Dewey, and Louie (who were turned into superheroes) attempt to escape to Pluto to get away from their uncle, Donald Duck (who had turned into a supervillain).