Release
Date November 26, 1937
Running Time 9:05
Synopsis
Characters
Credits
Videos
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DVD
Television
Technical Specifications
Released by RKO Radio Pictures, Inc.
Comments
Married life has never been a blessing for the Disney characters. Mickey got a taste of it in "Mickey's Nightmare" and Donald in "Donald's Diary"; neither episode turned out too well for our heroes. But Pluto gamely gives it a try here. Now I have three kids myself, so I know what a handful they can be, and in this short, Pluto is saddled with five identical puppies! So, I think he can hardly be blamed if things get a little out of hand.
The short begins, as they always do with a scene of domestic bliss; Pluto and Fifi nuzzling away as they watch their five pups sleeping. But when a passing shopper with a string of weiners hanging out of his basket passes by, Pluto finds out just how henpecked he really is. Fifi assumes the role of the hunter \ gatherer which Pluto seems reluctant to abdicate. But abdicate he does, under duress, and he is left with the care of the five children. Now this might have been a simple job for him, had not one of them rolled over and woke up; and then woken up the rest of them.
As kids will do, they just want to go out and have fun and explore the world a bit. Pluto, fearful of Fifi's wrath if the pups aren't exactly where she left them when she gets back, tries every means at his disposal to keep them in; pinning a few down with his paws, lassoing one with his tail, and finally stretching out to grab a board and boarding up the door of the doghouse. But the pups must have been reading "Huckleberry Finn" as they discover a loose plank in the side of the house and make their escape that way. Their exploration of the world eventually leads them into an open basement of the house, where you wouldn't think they'd be able to get into too much trouble. Boy, would you be wrong.
The problem was that someone had left a live compressed air hose and, when one of the pups gets tangled up in it, he inadvertently pops it off and it begins to swing wildly around the room, blowing the pups this way and that and generally scaring them out of their wits. Meanwhile, Pluto has been mindful of his duties. In searching for the pup, he hears them yelping down in the basement and goes down to investigate. Heroic Pluto takes the initiative; he grabs the hose in his teeth and attempts to wrestle it down,but in doing so, he gets the air pressure in his mouth, blowing up his cheeks and then his ears like a Macy's Parade balloon. The pressure lets go and Pluto gets shot across the room, upending a variety of paint cans.
And as if things couldn't get any more troublesome for him, he also upends a jug of moonshine, which begins to empty right into poor Pluto. Well, what the heck ... might as well enjoy it. The air hose continues it's romp around the room, now aided and abetted by the spilt paint. One pup gets a waffle treatment as a paint job, one gets stripes, one gets polka dots. Earl Scheib couldn't have done the job any better or faster. The other two pups just get the splash treatment as does Pluto himself, who is as happy as can be ... hiccupping away. And the air hose finally spends itself out.
But who did we forget? Ah, yes ... here comes Fifi back from her shopping with the trail of weiners for supper. The pups hear her arrive and come running, all sporting impressive new paint jobs. Fifi is aghast - are these really her kids? Pluto attempts to run and greet her as well, but it's difficult to get up the basement stairs when you're both intoxicated and have paint cans stuck to your paws. Pluto gently smiles and greets Fifi without a clue that anything has gone wrong. But as any henpecked husband knows ... the blast from Fifi will be furious and long-lasting.
You would think after all this that Pluto would have ended up in the doghouse. But the doghouse this evening is reserved for Fifi by herself, madly snapping and growling through the night, while Pluto and the pups are banished, for the evening at least, to a nearby barrel, where they peacefully sleep off their adventure.
Gallery
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Pluto's attempt to keep the kids housebound |
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