Expressions In Pluto's Sweater

Today's another day to watch a few cartoons.

The one I'm talking about most is Pluto's Sweater (1949). This one is interesting and I'm actually glad I watched it because it's one of my favorite Pluto cartoons so far.

The characters featured in this short are Pluto, Figaro and Minnie Mouse.

Just watching this short, I did not realize that Figaro's personality was going to be this malicious even after watching Pinocchio. He was a good fit for the classic disney shorts.

I'm already liking the plot of this cartoon so far. Pluto has to wear this uncomfortable sweater Minnie made. But just when it reaches the 2 minute mark, something unexpected happens.

We get some good bit of expressive animation.

I know I haven't watched every Pluto cartoon but I don't think I ever seen Pluto frightened like that ever even with the solid animation.

That was... shocking. Yet I liked it.

But wait... I catched another scene in which Pluto sees himself in the mirror with the sweater.

I was laughing when I saw this. I never expected the Disney animators to have some unique and funny facial expressions in this even in a Pluto cartoon.

Yeah. I know, I might like the cartoon a bit more when they use quirky faces but honestly, I really think Pluto's expressions here make this more watchable.

I get that feeling with Pluto's expressions in Cold Storage (1951) which also is one of my favorite Pluto cartoons so far.

Pluto cartoons tend to be more safe than the Goofy, Donald and Silly Symphony cartoons, which I don't really like somehow. It's like Looney Tunes's Coyote and Roadrunner cartoons and MGM's Barney Bear cartoons. It just isn't entertaining than the more smarter and interesting cartoons. 

 

Mike The Dog Series

 

This is my proudest achieving character I made. A dog. Mike The Dog.

Mike is a dog with steal, he rarely feels weak and is always up for a bone.

When making these cartoons I want them to be similar to the Pluto cartoons in classic disney days. They weren't anything special but they were interesting and it did inspire me to make cartoons like this. It's kinda easy. 

What the Pluto cartoons didn't have enough of is well, funny stuff going on in the shorts. I'm not expecting anything funny all the time but I think the Pluto cartoons weren't the highest effort of trying to gain humor. I would say Cold Storage (1950) was the one that gotten the most impact outta me.

I'm not saying these cartoons are all bad. I do think almost all of them are watchable and entertaining.

They had some good ideas with these cartoons like Pluto going to the zoo, singing like Sinatra, sleepwalking etc.

They also have some solid theatrical posters, so that's a plus.

I definitely wanted to make the Mike cartoons like this. Have some unique plots and make it zany and fast.

(sometimes The Worm Turns (1937) levels of fast)

List of Mike The Dog shorts

Duty Dog - Mike The Dog goes to pet camp and becomes the guard dog and completes responsibilities. However, when he sleeps he suddenly sees a southern mosquito landing on his back, biting him violently and gets suspended at the camp for causing a mess.

Lantern Dog - Mike explores a picnic table outside with lanterns. He messes around with them and gets into alot of chaos. People notice his mess and decides to put up a Chinese New Year celebration. 

The Dognapper - Mike searches for a bone until he gets kidnapped by the one and only Ox Fisher. 

Mike And The Martians - In a similar vain to Jumpin' Jupiter (1955), Mike sleeps in his normal doghouse until he is sent in space by martians with a UFO and wakes up in Mars.

The Piano Lesson - Mike sees himself living normal with his pet owner. The pet owner gets a piano sent to his house. He however has plans outside. So while on that, Mike tests and practices playing the instrument. He then seeks an annoying grasshopper ruining his lesson and causes chaos making the pet owner mad.

Mike The Mutineer - Mike gets hired in the pirate's ship but however causes alot of messes in the area making the ship almost sink, but not entirely as Mike saves the day.

Spinning The Wheel - On Valentine's Day, Mike goes out of town to go to an amusement park, he plans to go on the Tunnel of Love, but says "No Pets Allowed" in fact all the rides say no dogs allowed except for the spinning wheel. 

Mike will be an interesting character in the Artmania series. And he will definitely have a solid impact giving that silent characters are becoming more popular nowadays.