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"A Silly Symphony"
Synopsis
Characters
Credits
DVD
Television
Technical Specifications
Released by United Artists Pictures
Gallery
Sketch courtesy of Animation Art Gallery
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From Rod Bennett : A rare Silly Symphony appearance by one of "the gang," this time Pluto. (Note from the webmaster : the only other times were when Donald Duck was featured in "The Wise Little Hen," and Pluto again in "Mother Pluto.") The basic situation depicted in this short would be recycled almost intact in the later feature "Lady and the Tramp." In particular, the opening scene here (in which various "ethnic" dogs -- Russian wolfhound, etc. -- croon sentimental songs from their "cells") is directly "covered" in "Lady and the Tramp."
From Calvin Daprice : Here we have a variety of dog breeds in the pound. A Scottish Terrier, a Russian Wolfhound (who looks very malnourished), and several mixed breeds. Many of these dogs are cramped together in small cages that are hardly big enough for just one dog. For example, when the little black and white dog opens a cage, we se about 15 or 20 different dogs running out of it. I don't think the humane society would approve of this.
From Jerry Edwards : A small puppy digs out of his cage and releases all the other dogs in the dog pound. The puppy tags along with Pluto, but Pluto doesn't want anything to do with the puppy. Pluto even steals a large bone that the puppy dug up. A pack of dogs chase Pluto and the puppy to get the bone, but the puppy ends up with the bone. Pluto then befriends the puppy and shares the bone. A fun, well-done, enjoyable cartoon. One of the last Disney cartoons I was able to find. For years I did not find it on video, on the Disney Channel, or in trade. After finally finding a trade copy, the Disney Channel showed the cartoon. For years, none of the Disney reference books I have would acknowledge that the dog in this short was Pluto - just referring to the dog as a "large mongrel".
From Ryan : Although I am not a big fan of the "Silly Symphonies," I didn't mind this short. I guess I thought of it more as a Pluto short and in fact it is a Pluto short. This short could very well be considered Pluto's first solo appearance. In earlier comments posted on this short, yes many of the dogs do look like the ones from "Lady and the Tramp." This has also happened in the feature film "One Hundred and One Dalmatians."
From Gijs Grob : This not a particularly funny or beautiful short and Pluto is most of the time quite unsympathetic, but it does show the advancements in animation Disney was making at the time: we're not watching 'just dogs', we're watching several recognizable types of dogs, among them a very lifelike St. Bernhard. By now, the Disney animators didn't need to stick to stereotyped ducks, pigs, cows, horses, or in this case, dogs, but were able to draw and animate REAL dogs, who looked like dogs, moved like dogs and behaved like dogs. This kind of naturalism is quite unprecedented in earlier films. Furthermore, the two main protagonists, Pluto and his clever comrade, are two distinct characters, which behave and move differently, a great advancement in character animation.
Disney would develop both naturalism and character animation into perfection in the coming seven years.
From Brian Swan : I was quite surprised to find a "proto-Pluto" as one of the "stars" of this short. Much of it I thought was just "OK", but the opening section is an interesting foreshadowing of the pound scene from Lady and the Tramp.
From Kyle Peters : It is one of my favourites. Man! A lot of funny Pluto stuff involved!
From Matthew Cooper : This short is very well done! Although the ending is kind of bland whereas the puppy who befriends Pluto stops the other dogs from taking his bone by giving them fleas. I would have ended it with the dog catcher coming and collecting all the dogs except for Pluto and his friend, because those other dogs were causing lots of havock and trying to steal the bone so they don't deserve to be out of their cages! Anyway, this short was not only the blueprint for the pound scene in Lady and the Tramp but it was also probably where Fifi (Pluto's sweetheart before Dinah the dachsund came along) came from, for the dog who tells the other ones that Pluto has a bone looks just like her!
