Wikipedia

Lend a Paw

Lend a Paw is an animated short film produced in Technicolor by Walt Disney Productions, distributed by RKO Radio Pictures and released to theaters on October 3, 1941. Lend a Paw was directed by Clyde Geronimi and features original music by Leigh Harline. George Nicholas, Kenneth Muse, Nick Nichols, William Sturm, Eric Gurney, Norman Tate, Chick Otterstrom, Morey Reden, and Emery Hawkins animated the film. The voice cast includes Walt Disney as Mickey and Teddy Barr as Pluto.[2] It was the 115th short in the Mickey Mouse film series to be released, and the sixth for that year.[3]

Lend a Paw
Theatrical release poster
Directed byClyde Geronimi
Assisted by:
Don A. Duckwall (uncredited)
Produced byWalt Disney
StarringTeddy Barr
Walt Disney
John Dehner
John McLeish
Marcellite Garner
Music byLeigh Harline
Animation byUncredited character animation:
George Nicholas
Kenneth Muse
Nick Nichols
William Sturm
Eric Gurney
Norman Tate
Chick Otterstrom
Morey Reden
Emery Hawkins
Layouts byUncredited:
Bruce Bushman
Color processTechnicolor
Production
company
Distributed byRKO Radio Pictures
Release date
  • October 3, 1941 (1941-10-03)
[1]
Running time
8:12
CountryUnited States
LanguageEnglish

In the cartoon, which was largely a remake of the 1933 short Mickey's Pal Pluto, Pluto saves the life of a kitten, and later feels jealous towards the kitten after Mickey Mouse takes the kitten in. The film won the Academy Award for Best Animated Short Film at the 14th Academy Awards in 1942, the only Mickey Mouse short to win the award.

Plot

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While out in the snow, Pluto hears meowing from a bag floating on a drifting ice floe. He saves it, only to lose interest when he finds a kitten inside. The kitten follows him home and gets adopted by Mickey. Pluto becomes jealous of all the attention the kitten gets and is urged by his shoulder devil to get the kitten in trouble. Pluto's shoulder angel attempts to talk him out of it, but the devil gets rid of the angel by jabbing him with his trident. To get the kitten into trouble, Pluto lifts the kitten within reach of Mickey's goldfish Bianca, only for it to drag the fishbowl off the edge of the table. This gets Mickey's attention and he demands answers from Bianca, who angrily fingers Pluto as the culprit. Mickey angrily kicks Pluto out of the house as punishment, and Pluto blames his shoulder devil for getting him in trouble.

The kitten chases a ball outside and accidentally falls into a well. The angel tells Pluto to save it, but the devil tells him to let it drown as revenge for getting him kicked out and silences the angel by trapping him in his halo and punching him outt. Roused by the kitten's cries, the angel steps on the devil's tail and punches him into oblivion, convincing Pluto to extract the kitten using the well's bucket. In the process, Pluto slips and falls in the well, saving the kitten. Hearing Pluto's howl, Mickey pulls him out, but finds him frozen in a block of ice. He rams him into the well's top to break the ice. After receiving a hot bath from Mickey and a grateful lick from the kitten, Pluto pants contentedly and is told by the angel, "Kindness to animals, my friend, will be rewarded in the end."

Voice cast

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Legacy

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Pluto's angel and devil reappeared, played by Eric Idle and Penn Jillette respectively, in two episodes of Mickey Mouse Works - "Pluto's Kittens" (1999) and "Minnie Takes Care of Pluto" (2000) - as well as a 2002 episode of House of Mouse, "Pluto vs Figaro",[4] and in the Mickey Mouse episode, "Easy Street"; in the latter, the angel actually agrees with the devil's plan remarking "Amen".

Releases

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Home media

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The short was released on December 7, 2004, on Walt Disney Treasures: The Complete Pluto: 1930-1947.[5]

Additional releases include:

It is also available on Disney+.[6]

See also

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References

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  1. ↑ Kaufman, J.B.; Gerstein, David (2018). Walt Disney's Mickey Mouse: The Ultimate History. Cologne: Taschen. ISBN 978-3-8365-5284-4.
  2. ↑ "Lend A Paw". www.bcdb.com
  3. ↑ Lenburg, Jeff (1999). The Encyclopedia of Animated Cartoons. Checkmark Books. pp. 107–109. ISBN 0-8160-3831-7. Retrieved June 6, 2020.
  4. ↑ "Pluto's Devil". Internet Animation Database. Retrieved February 15, 2020.
  5. ↑ "The Complete Pluto Volume 1 DVD Review". DVD Dizzy. Retrieved February 19, 2021.
  6. ↑ Disney+
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