The way his pedigree improved over the years would have made his mother proud.
He moved on to become a supporting player in various other cartoons, principally those starring Mickey Mouse. In most, he played ?man?s best friend? to Mickey, which enabled him to goof around with various other characters, including Minnie Mouse, Donald Duck, and Goofy.
Somewhere along the road to fame and fortune, Walt decided that the colorful canine with the malleable face and expressive eyes (ears, and tail, too) deserved a shot at his own cartoons, so a career was born.
The Complete Pluto is part of the Walt Disney Treasures set of collections. It spans Pluto?s appearances from 1930 to 1947 and it is very much a treasure to view and to own. The main reason is that watching Pluto is like watching a character that can be reinvented from short to short. He?s not typecast as just another dog. At one point he?s a father figure (albeit a rather haphazard one), at another he?s a guard dog entrusted with protecting a huge gun emplacement from terrorists (who appear in the guise of a pair of troublemaking squirrels), and at yet another he is a mutt-like metaphor for the goods and evils that tempt us all. And that?s only a small sampling of the roles he portrayed during his illustrious career (this episode won an Academy Award for Disney Animation ? high praise indeed).
The Complete Pluto includes two discs. The first opens with a two minute intro segment by Leonard Maltin. Maltin provides some prerequisite background to help anyone less than familiar with the character appreciate him all the more. There are a few still shots of noted Pluto animators. There are then 13 short cartoons which are offered in alphabetical or chronological order. You can also choose to ?Play All? and you?ll see them one after another in chronological order, starting with The Chain Gang, Pluto?s first appearance in cartoon land.
All of the shorts and bonus features are presented in 1.33:1 fullscreen. All the shorts are wonderfully restored and this work is never more evident than with The Chain Gang, a black & white short that has seen a lot of water go under the bridge since it debuted in theaters in the 30s. The audio tracks are also crisp and clean and you?re never straining to understand dialogue, even in the older shorts.
The first of the bonus features is called ?The Life and Times of Pluto? and it is as interesting as it is brief (unfortunately brief!!). Maltin discusses Pluto with current animator Andreas Deja along with old-school animators Frank Thomas and Ollie Johnston. Fans of Disney and fans of the broader field of animation will find what these men have to say interesting in the extreme.
The second featurette, ?Pluto 101? dissects the most popular villains from the past decade through the eyes of Andreas Deja. He mentions how valuable it was to have studied the older shorts and how he used this information to breathe new life into the character in his own work. Then Deja is able to show quickly and efficiently how to design Pluto using the simple shapes that are really the only ones necessary. His simple, effective technique makes this part of the segment fun to watch and very educational for kids of all ages.
The menus and packaging of The Complete Pluto are both above average to very good. The menus are easy to use and use backup music to give them additional vitality. The metal box theme for the other Disney Treasures compilations is carried out here, though there is nothing on the side of the case to distinguish it from any other Treasures set.
While it may be that Pluto never earned a spot on the Hollywood Walk of Fame, if he didn?t, there should at least be a place nearby for his dog house and water bowl. Watch The Complete Pluto treasury and I?m sure you?ll agree.
