“Pluto’s Purchase”

It’s strange, really, that the thing I’ve discovered of Mickey’s later personality is that he’s a bad pet owner. I wasn’t expecting that. I wasn’t expecting that to be the throughline in his character. But every time I see a cartoon where he’s got Pluto, Pluto comes off the worst for it. It’s very strange. We never really see him love Pluto. I’ve had pets my whole life, since I was a little kid and our dad’s cat couldn’t stand us, and I think I even loved her, little though she returned it. I’m not sure I’ve ever seen Mickey show concern toward Pluto as a being.

This time, Pluto is lazing about the house when Mickey sends him to run an errand. Pluto is to go to the butcher’s shop for a sausage. Spike the Bulldog sees him doing it. He follows Pluto to the shop, encourages the butcher to pick out the biggest sausage. Which he proceeds to take from Pluto. Pluto then spends most of the rest of the short trying to get his sausage home. He thinks it’s for him, though I’m not sure why he’s so convinced of that.

Okay, so Pluto’s a dog who can be trusted to go to the butcher’s shop on his own and actually bring back the thing he’s been sent for. Because he’s a cartoon dog. Yes, fair enough. But Butch is a stronger, tougher dog, and while Pluto is pretty clearly smarter, that’s not enough to really do what needs to be done here. He can’t protect the sausage, which isn’t even in a bag, the way I’d send a sausage home. He’s on his own in a way a dog shouldn’t be regardless of how smart that dog is.

The Pluto films do tend to repeat themselves. Over and over. Mickey puts Pluto in a situation he shouldn’t be in. Pluto does what he can to overcome the situation. It turns out none of that really needed to happen. Mickey doesn’t appreciate what Pluto’s been through. Wash, rinse, repeat. There’s a reason I’ve never been terribly excited about the Pluto shorts, a reason I don’t honestly care that we don’t even have Pluto as a possible companion in Disney Dreamlight Valley.

Me, I’m just in it for the bizarre stills. I don’t know what it is about them. I have yet to find a Pluto cartoon that didn’t have at least one moment that makes you blink. Would you be surprised to learn that this cartoon ends with a hint of a gay dog subculture? If you would, you haven’t been reading my articles about Pluto cartoons often enough.