The History of Disney’s Pluto

Pluto made his debut in 1930’s The Chain Gang. Interestingly, his likeness was used to portray two different bloodhounds in the animated film. Walt Disney liked the character so much that he made Pluto a fully licensed member of Mickey Mouse’s cast of characters. Pluto was first cast as a household pet in The Picnic (1930), but the character was named Rover and belonged Minnie, not Mickey. He didn’t become Mickey’s dog until The Moose Hunt (1931). Pluto also got his official name (Pluto the Pup) around this time; the moniker was likely chosen as a nod to the recently discovered planet. Pinto Colvig voiced Pluto’s woofs, yaps, and yelps. (Bill Legend later took over the role.) Master animator Norm “Fergy” Ferguson achieved an animation milestone with Pluto in the famous flypaper sequence in Playful Pluto (1934), which marked one of the first times that an animated character was shown thinking. Pluto gained a family with Fifi and their five mischievous mini-Plutos in 1937's Pluto’s Quin-Puplets. Notably, this was also the first animated short officially starring Pluto. He was also given a puppy in Pluto, Junior (1942) and a brother named K.B. in Pluto’s Kid Brother (1946). Pluto starred in 48 official cartoons of his own as well as many Mickey Mouse cartoons, including Pluto’s Party (1952) and The Simple Things (1953). During World War II, Pluto appeared on roughly 45 Disney-designed military insignia for outfits that selected Pluto as their official mascot. Pluto also became a favorite in the Disney comics. In 1955, Pluto was featured in the first Mousekartoon shown on the Mickey Mouse Club television series. Today, Pluto remains a beloved Disney character and is featured in a variety of television shows, comics, movies, and games, as well as at Disney Parks all over the world.