Poster

The Sleep Walker

A Pluto Cartoon

Release Date : July 3, 1942

Running Time : 7:13

Synopsis

Pluto gives Dinah his bone while sleepwalking, but can't understand how she got it when he wakes up!

Characters

Pluto
Dinah, the Dacshund

Credits

Director
Gerry "Clyde" Geronomi

Video

United States
Mickey Mouse and Donald Duck Cartoon Collections Volume 1
Germany
Zeitungsjunge Pluto
Italy
Pluto Amico Quasi Perfetto
Topolino and Co. : Avventure Tutte da Ridere

CED

United States
Disney Cartoon Parade Volume 4

Laserdiscs

Mickey Mouse and Donald Duck Cartoon Collections Volume 1

DVD

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

Television

The Ink and Paint Club: Episode 12: The Many Loves of Pluto
Mickey's Mouse Tracks: Episode 42
Donald's Quack Attack: Episode 43

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 : Today, we stray entirely from any sort of war related short, with another Pluto subject that is not among the best of the Disney canon. The Sleepwalker is a good premise, but it doesn’t go much farther than that.

The basic idea is that Pluto, in his posh doghouse full of bones, is reluctant to share with Dinah, a dachshund that lives nearby. He chases her off when she tries to take his bone, and intimidates the poor thing over and over again. The twist comes when he falls asleep.

In his sleep, Pluto gets up and delivers the bone to Dinah. She is of course overjoyed, but Pluto wakes up on his way back to his own doghouse, and takes the bone back again. Wash, rinse, repeat, as this happens two more times.

That’s my problem with this short, is that although the concept is quite funny, it loses steam after the first time it happens. From there, you get the gag, but there has to be more added to it to make this a memorable short. There’s not, and that’s why I think this short suffers.

The problem I see with Pluto as a character is that if one element of the animation process falls down, he is not effective. If the animation is bad, he does not convey the emotion without talking. If the story is bad, then you don’t really care what he’s doing, because the character is hard to root for, on account of all the bad things he tends to do. Everything has to be in sync for Pluto to work, and that doesn’t happen here.

Sure, you could say the same about other characters, but I’d rather see a Donald Duck short where the story is bad, but Donald still has his frustration outbursts than a boring Pluto short. This one isn’t boring, it just doesn’t give you a good hook to latch onto and carry you through the short.

In the end, Pluto makes a sacrifice to help Dinah and her puppies, after he realizes what’s going on. Dinah had actually been taking the bone to feed her children, and after Pluto demolished their doghouse, they were stuck out in the rain. Pluto drags his house over to shelter them, and gets a great kiss from Dinah.

The Sleepwalker is interesting, but it’s a good example of a premise that may or may not make a good short. The story is okay, but doesn’t provide us a good look at the characters or a great gag to latch onto.

From Ryan : This isn't one of my favorite Pluto shorts, but I still like it. Pluto is sleepwalking and gives her his bone. He later wakes up and sees what he has done. The dachshund looks just like the one in Canine Casanova. After Pluto has wrecked her doghouse, he sees she has puppies, just as she did in Canine Casanova. Pluto feels guilty and lets her stay in his doghouse while he uses a newspaper for shelter. I don't think that's going to do much good as paper easily gets wet.
From Baruch Weiss : Has anyone besides me noticed Pluto's reaction in the final scene was similar to Canine Casanova?
From Dino Cencia : This short has a DTV music video called "I Saw Her Again Last Night" by The Mamas and the Papas and I loved the music video with this short on it. I feel disappointed that Pluto had destroyed Dinah's doghouse with little puppies and Dinah. But then Pluto gets an idea by sharing his doghouse with Dinah and the puppies and by sharing his bones and his home. And Dinah's happy and she licks Pluto a kiss and Pluto's happy and he feels proud of himself. I remembered that the same part in "Canine Casanova" with the same part when Dinah kissed Pluto. I'm glad that Pluto is friends with Dinah the dachshund. This short is awesome and I give it a 805 out of 805.
From Bryce : I notice the final scene when Pluto is all sad that he slouches his tail down behind his legs similar to the Pluto cartoon short Canine Casanova When Dinah barks very angrily at Pluto for playing tricks on her right after Pluto made the furniture objects fall and broke the frame glass mirror and both Pluto and Dinah run off together to hide behind a tree and Dinah is not very happy with Pluto at all for making trouble with her.

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