Poster

Pantry Pirate

A Pluto Cartoon

Release Date : December 27, 1940

Running Time : 8:09

Synopsis

Pluto is banished to his doghouse for trying to raid the pantry. But the smell of roast ham is more than he can resist.

Characters

Pluto
Mammy Twoshoes

Credits

Director
Gerry "Clyde" Geronomi
Animation
Norm Ferguson
Ed Love

Cut Scenes

A scene showing the black maid taking Pluto outside and tying him up was cut. Most of the scenes with the maid were cut, as was her shadow singing and most of her conversation.

Video

United States
Here's Pluto
Germany
Hier ist Pluto
Italy
Winny Puh a Tu Per Tu

Laserdiscs

United States
Here's Mickey / Here's Pluto

DVD

Disney Treasures : The Complete Pluto Volume 1
Germany
Disney Treasures : The Complete Pluto Volume 1

Television

Mickey's Mouse Tracks: Episode 11
Donald's Quack Attack: Episode 62

Technical Specification

Color Type: Technicolor
Animation Type: Standard animation
Sound Mix: Mono
Aspect Ratio: 1.37 : 1
Negative Format: 35mm
Print Format: 35mm
Cinematographic Process: Spherical
Original Language: English

Released by RKO Radio Pictures, Inc.

Comments

From Ryan Kilpatrick at The Disney Film Project : The last major short from the Disney company in 1940 was a bit of foreshadowing, as Pluto appeared solo again, something that would come to be more and more of a trend. Pluto’s appearance in Pantry Pirate, though is a probably my favorite of his shorts so far.

The main reason for that is because the short focuses on Pluto doing some great stuff that is typical for a dog. And strangely enough, that is not typical for Pluto. Think about his other shorts – Pluto’s Quinpuplets, Mother Pluto, etc. – they are really involving atypical behavior for a dog. In Pantry Pirate, he is just trying to get food out of the kitchen. If you’ve had a dog in the house before, you can relate to this.

It starts off with Pluto getting thrown out of the house, but he soon finds his way into the house to try and eat the fresh ham on top of the stove. It’s hilarious, because he goes through the same sort of craziness I have seen other house pets do. The first is sliding across the kitchen floor. I remember a cat doing this in my grandmother’s house, so this struck a chord for me.

When Pluto climbed on the ironing board to use it as a platform to get to the stove, I’ll admit I laughed out loud. Remember, I watch at least one of the shorts every day, so it’s hard for me to be affected by a short like that. But this one is that funny.

The capper is when Pluto gets caught in a box of super soap, and starts making bubbles all over the place. It’s another case where the animators pick up the pace and start having the gags come closer and closer together. We’ve seen this often in the shorts, where there are some slower gags in the beginning and then the pace picks up, building to a big climax.

Here, we get Pluto hiccupping bubbles and juggling coffee cups with his tail trying not to break them. It’s a fantastic bit, because Pluto is trying not to alert the people in the house that he’s in the kitchen, but it’s near impossible not to drop the cups. He eventually does, which prompts another fun scene.

Pluto has to scram when the cups finally break, but he’s so excited that he’s spewing bubbles like crazy, and when he runs out the door, he leaves a hole in the mass of bubbles pushing through the door. It’s a very funny visual, and a creative gag.

The only downside of this short is the “Mammy” character that is Pluto’s nemesis. It’s obviously a stereotype, which was not so bad in 1940, but these days seems offensive. If you understand the context it’s fine, but I could see some people being offended by that part of this short. Regardless, I liked Pantry Pirate better than any of the other Pluto shorts, and recommend it highly.

From Ryan : When I owned this cartoon on video as a kid, I used to watch it a lot. Everytime I watched it, I hoped Pluto would get the ham. I always found the scene where Pluto breaths in the soapsuds around the dishes to be suspensful. I was always hoping for them not to break as to get his owner's attention. Speaking of owner, why is he living with that black maid from those two "Orphan Kitten" shorts? Isn't Mickey his owner? Perhaps the woman is just working for Mickey as his housekeeper. I didn't really like that maid. I find it rather irksome that the scenes that show her are censored so that just her shadow appears.
From Candy : I saw Pantry Pirate on the Disney Channel and I used to have a video of it, along with three other cartoons. It's weird that these videos only had three cartoons on them. You'd think they could fit just a few more on there. My comment is about the black maid that appeared in the cartoon. She's very politically-incorrect nowdays, and I do think that she's kind of an offensive stereotype. She also appeared in a cartoon called Figaro and Cleo, where she is called Aunt Delilah. This part of the site calls her "Mammy Two-Shoes," which was the unofficial name of the black maid who always appeared in the Tom and Jerry cartoons. What is an MGM stereotype doing in the gentler, more morally-based Disney cartoons, anyway? I guess she's just a maid who comes in and helps Mickey every now and then. Who knows how she got to be in charge of Pluto, Figaro, and Cleo, not to mention the Three Orphan Kittens. I'm not surprised that she's being censored. I'm not for censorship, but I can see why she's regarded as offensive. Ultimately, I liked this cartoon. The scene with Pluto and the soap bubbles is very entertaining.
From Dino Cencia : I got the Complete Pluto Volume 1 on DVD for Christmas, and my favorite short was this one. My favorite part is when the black maid found out what was going on and seeing the bubbles that Pluto made, Pluto runs out of the house and pretends he's sleeping. Then Pluto's happy and bubbles are coming out of his mouth. This is my favorite Pluto cartoon.
From Michelle I. : I love Pantry Pirate. Despite the controversial inclusion of the maid, the cartoon is very funny. Pluto's escapades in the kitchen trying to get at the roast turkey on the stove are all amusing. Problems with bubbles, an ironing board, and teacups particularly stand out.
From Trae Robinson : This is a very funny Pluto short. I like the way Pluto sneezes in this cartoon. Pluto sneezes 12 or 13 times. Pluto must have been allergic to something in the kitchen. The animation is pretty neat.
From Baruch Weiss : I enjoy this cartoon despite the controversial black maid, but this was common in cartoons of the 1920s ,30s and 40s.
From Matthew Cooper : I have seen this short but once, although I can remember it well. I don't have a lot to say about Pluto in this cartoon, but there is certainly a lot to say abut the stereotypical black maid. I don't understand why she was censored in this cartoon because she was the same maid in the Three Orphan Kittens cartoons, and they didn't cut her out there because in those cartoons, she was singing "Hallelujah", yelling at the pets and angrily putting them out of the house, just like she was in this cartoon. Also, I think that it would be okay to keep her in the cartoon because the first time I saw it, she was not cut out and I was about 8 so I think that kids who saw her likely wouldn't know about stereotypes until they got older just like I did. The only thing I find bad about the maid in this cartoon and that I think should be cut is her calling Pluto a yellow devil.

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