Pluto vs. the Watchdog

A Pluto Cartoon

Release Date : June 5, 1999

Synopsis

Because of Pluto's ineptitude at watch-dogging, Mickey gets a new watchdog. Little does he realize the new dog is part of Pete's plot to rob Mickey's house.

Characters

Mickey Mouse

Pete

Pluto

Ludwig von Drake

Credits

Television

Mickey Mouse Works: Season 1 - Episode 6

House of Mouse: Season 3 - Episode 5

Technical Specification

Comments

From Rich Bellacera : This cartoon was pretty predictable from the onset. I did like it, though. I guess I just have a soft spot for Pluto. I loved it when Mickey asked him, "What kind of a watchdog just sits there while a burglar robs his house?" and Pluto's expression was priceless. When Mickey said the new dog's name I immediately flashed back to the 1953 Donald Duck cartoon, The New Neighbor, and my suspicions of Pete's involvement in this cartoon were confirmed. It is nice to see Muncey return, and I love to hate Pete, so I was glad to see him as well. Pete and Mickey have a strange relationship. Mickey always acted like he didn't recognize him each time they met again, and I guess they're sticking to that plot device. Well, this time Mickey knew Pete only as the guy who sold him Muncey. The rest of the plot was nicely played out. It was also nice to see a "Pluto Gets the Paper" sequence thrown in.

From Patrick Malone : I wish I could say that I liked this one better, since I was very impressed with what they did in Pluto's Penthouse Sweet. But for me, this one was fairly empty. It was predictable; there were no big surprises or big laughs. Even the ending seemed a bit out of character for Pluto who (I think) should have come across his solution by happy accident, rather than by thinking his way out of it.

From J. D. Weil : It seems that Pluto is no great shakes as a watchdog, so Mickey brings in a substitute; Muncie (from The New Neighbor)to guard his home from burglars, Ah but there's a string attched: It seems the Muncie old(?) owner Pete has a scam going; he uses Muncie to help him burglarize Mickey's home and it's up to Pluto to stop him, which he does. One questtion though. How does Pluto dig a hole in a solid cement walk with only his paws?

From Juan F. Lara : I found this short very appealing. I loved seeing Muncie again. The scene where he and Pluto were playing around was charming. Later on Muncie and Pete were entertaining as villains. This short seemed better plotted than usual, with no time wasted on dragged out running gags. I was glad that they got to Mickey realizing the truth early on. Pete then relished at rubbing the truth in a deserving Mickey's face, and I was relishing in that myself. And the makers finished the short by giving Pluto an inspired way to catch the bad guys, which Pluto does on his first try instead of running through the series of failures that I'd expect.

The animation (maybe by Wang) was the weakest yet seen in this series, with characters floating in the air a lot. But I liked the plot so much that I didn't mind much this time.