Pluto's Judgement Day

A Walt Disney MICKEY MOUSE Cartoon.

After being unfriendly to one cat too many, PLUTO'S JUDGEMENT DAY finally arrives via a vivid nightmare.

This is a fun little film, with some good imagination used to depict the Afterworld Court - staffed entirely by felines. Walt supplies Mickey's voice, who makes little more than a cameo appearance.

Walt Disney (1901-1966) was always intrigued by drawings. As a lad in Marceline, Missouri, he sketched farm animals on scraps of paper; later, as an ambulance driver in France during the First World War, he drew figures on the sides of his vehicle. Back in Kansas City, along with artist Ub Iwerks, Walt developed a primitive animation studio that provided animated commercials and tiny cartoons for the local movie theaters. Always the innovator, his ALICE IN CARTOONLAND series broke ground in placing a live figure in a cartoon universe. Business reversals sent Disney & Iwerks to Hollywood in 1923, where Walt's older brother Roy became his lifelong business manager & counselor. When a mildly successful series with Oswald The Lucky Rabbit was snatched away by the distributor, the character of Mickey Mouse sprung into Walt's imagination, ensuring Disney's immortality. The happy arrival of sound technology made Mickey's screen debut, STEAMBOAT WILLIE (1928), a tremendous audience success with its use of synchronized music. The SILLY SYMPHONIES soon appeared, and Walt's growing crew of marvelously talented animators were quickly conquering new territory with full color, illusions of depth and radical advancements in personality development, an arena in which Walt's genius was unbeatable. Mickey's feisty, naughty behavior had captured millions of fans, but he was soon to be joined by other animated companions: temperamental Donald Duck, intellectually-challenged Goofy and energetic Pluto. All this was in preparation for Walt's grandest dream - feature length animated films. Against a blizzard of doomsayers, Walt persevered and over the next decades delighted children of all ages with the adventures of Snow White, Pinocchio, Bambi, Peter Pan and Mr. Toad. Walt never forgot that his fortunes were all started by a mouse, or that simplicity of message and lots of hard work always pay off.

"Pluto's Judgement Day" is one of the darker Disney shorts I've ever seen...so much so that I am a bit surprised they ever made it in the first place. And, incidentally, MGM later copied the idea and used it in a Tom & Jerry cartoon.

The story begins with Pluto chasing a kitten. Mickey stops him and scolds Pluto for being mean to cats...telling him that he'll get his on Judgement Day if he doesn't stop. Soon Pluto falls asleep and dreams about going to cat Hell...where he's judged for all his nefarious anti-cat actions. It's all very dark and weird....and great for adults. As for kids....it's one you just might want to skip due to its dark theme.

As usual for the era, the artwork is second to none, with vivid full color* and great animation. Well worth seeing and very weird.

*While a few studios used color in 1935, only DIsney could use full color, as they had an exclusive contract with Technicolor to use their three-color process. Other studios were stuck using two-color Technicolor or Cinecolor, two color processes that only used red-orange and green-blue....resulting in a strange look and less than lovely results.

A large number of the old Disney cartoons have a creepy side. "Pluto's Judgement Day" is a prime example. Basically, Pluto dreams that he gets sent to Hell run by cats who prosecute him for crimes against felinity. This is NOT something that should get shown to tykes. It's borderline violent and the whole thing is basically scary. "The Simpsons", "South Park" and "Family Guy" have displayed fine examples of twisted humor (including scenes set in Hell). This cartoon, on the other hand, has to be one of the meanest productions in animation history. If you show this to your children, then you are a HORRIBLE excuse for a parent. Keep it away from the young ones at all costs.

Pluto chases a cat right into the mud then right into Mickey's arms. Mickey scolds Pluto for chasing cats and tells him he will have a lot to answer for on his judgement day. Pluto then lays by the fire and dreams he is in hell for chasing cats. It is Pluto's judgement day in his dream. In the end Pluto awakens and learns to like cats.

Cute lesson cartoon of not torturing animals.

8/10.

While not the best Silly Symphony out there, this is still very good. Pluto is the star of the show, and he really shines here. There were times here when I felt really sorry for Pluto, who wouldn't when hell was portrayed in a very scary way. And those felines... I wouldn't want to mess with them.

The animation is terrific, in colourful and vibrant Technicolour and it hasn't aged a jot. The music, an element I always look out for is superb, and Walt Disney and Pinto Colvig provide the voices flawlessly. The story is well-told and simple, starting with Pluto chasing an adorable kitten, and then most of the silly symphony is spent with him in hell, being tried by cats, in the silly symphony's highlight.

All in all, not the best, but well worth the look. 9/10 Bethany Cox