April 30, 1948 – The Pluto Short Film Bone Bandit is Released to Theaters
On April 30, 1948, the Pluto short film Bone Bandit was released to theaters. It was directed by Charles Nichols, with story by Art Scott and Sterling Sturdevant. The animation for this short was done by George Nicholas, Jerry Hathcock, George Kreisl, and Sandy Strother.
Pluto has just woken up from a nap when he spies his empty bowl. He recalls the places he’s buried bones, and decides to go dig one up. Unfortunately, his bone is buried right next to a patch of goldenrod, to which he is allergic. After he sneezes, he hears a strange noise coming from below, and a gopher pokes his head up from the ground. The gopher collects the goldenrod and disappears before Pluto can catch him. The gopher then sticks his hand above ground, searching for more goldenrod, when he latches on to Pluto’s tail and drags the dog into a hole.
Pluto reaches in to find the gopher, not realizing that all the bones he’s buried have been used for the gopher’s home
When Pluto pulls his tail and the gopher out from the hole, the gopher tries to make amends and quickly scamper away, but Pluto reaches into the hole to catch him. When he finds a bone instead, he happily pulls it up, but the gopher, who used Pluto’s bones to prop up his house, bites his paw. Pluto, however, successfully props up the bone, and the gopher tries to use a carrot in the bone’s place. Pluto sets out to chew on the bone, but more goldenrod nearby causes him to sneeze. The gopher laughs at Pluto’s predicament, but Pluto’s sneeze shoots the bone away from the goldenrod, and Pluto chomps on the bone happily. The gopher, still peeved about his bone being taken away, decides to get back at Pluto by making him sneeze from the goldenrod and taking the bone when he’s sneezing.
After the gopher tries to get away, Pluto runs after him, but the gopher arms himself with more goldenrod. Once the goldenrod is gone, however, the chase is on all over the garden, with Pluto sneezing up a storm through the goldenrod. Pluto lands in the hole leading to the gopher’s home; the carrot the gopher used to prop up a part of his house gives under Pluto’s weight, and the whole house sinks in. Pluto is able to retrieve his bone, and the gopher, unfortunately, has developed an allergy to goldenrod.
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