Title: Society Dog Show
Studio: Disney
Date: 2/3/39
Credits: None listed on viewed print
Series: Mickey Mouse
Running time (of viewed version): 8:10
Synopsis: Mickey enters Pluto in too fancy a dog show; they're kicked out, but Pluto ends up saving Fifi from a fire.
Comments: This is far better than the first Disney entry for the year. Which frankly surprises me, as I'm used to remembering Mickey cartoons are bad and Donald cartoons are good (at least from later times). It's also much better than the Lantz dog show cartoon entry. It just goes to show that getting your asteroid movie out first doesn't make it better. Mickey's voice and lines are by far the worst thing about this cartoon. He natters pointlessly whenever he's on screen. It's like the useless Woody Woodpecker talking over the cartoon Lantz would ultimately engage in once he cast his wife as Woody's voice. His pink face flesh is kinda creepy. This short is the last stand for the whiteless eyes. The music in the rescue sequence plays to the comedy, unfortunately. It would have been much better if it had played to the drama. There are many anthropomorphic dogs in this short, owning and observing the more animalistic dogs. This is yet another example of a short trying to ditch its name star; in this case, for Pluto.
Hey, great series! And although I disagree with great gobs of your critical commentary, the posts are terrific. I was a little shocked at how many of the titles so far still reside in my battered old 16mm collection (SCRAPPY'S COMING ATTRACTIONS, ALWAYS KICKIN', SEAL SKINNERS, HAMATEUR NIGHT, CUSTOMERS WANTED, etc.) I must love 'em all in some way to still hang onto them!
ReplyDeleteDave K.