Studio: Walt Disney Productions
Distributor: RKO Radio Pictures
Produced by: Walt Disney
Short Synopsis
Pluto wakes up hungry and finds that the birds have eaten everything in his dish. Over the fence, he hears snoring: Butch the bulldog is asleep next to a juicy bone. Pluto sneaks into Butch's yard, creeping past trees and old tyres, and after a couple of failed attempts gets the bone away without waking him. But before he can enjoy it, Butch is standing over him. The chase goes over the fence, through town and into a deserted carnival, past posters of a strongman and a belly dancer and through the Tunnel of Love, where Pluto manages to turn the tables for a moment. He dives into the hall of mirrors and Butch loses him. Inside, Pluto discovers the distorting mirrors and is delighted: in each one he becomes a different creature, stretched, squashed, swollen. He plays with his reflections until Butch reappears. Pluto then uses a set of mirrors to make himself look monstrous, frightens Butch away, winks at his reflections and leaves with the bone.
Why It Matters
- The hall of mirrors is the reason to watch. Pluto's wordless reactions to his own distorted reflections, curiosity becoming delight becoming showing off, are a showcase of Disney pantomime, and the mirror shapes give the animators a chance to redraw Pluto as a whole bestiary.
- It is the first appearance of Butch the Bulldog, who became Pluto's regular rival in later shorts. The story is by Carl Barks, shortly before he left the animation department to become the great Donald Duck comics writer; it partly inspired his first Disney comics story, Pluto Saves the Ship (1942).
Notes and Trivia
- Butch is voiced by Clarence Nash, best known as the voice of Donald Duck.
- The short appears on Walt Disney Treasures: The Complete Pluto, Volume 1 (2004).
- See also: The Picnic (1930), Pluto's first appearance.