September 12, 1936 – The Mickey Mouse Short Film Donald and Pluto is Released
“So! There you are! Come on out of there!”
On September 12, 1936, the Mickey Mouse short Donald and Pluto was released to theaters. Although it was released as a Mickey Mouse short, Mickey never appears; Donald’s series wouldn’t begin until the 1937 short Don Donald. This short also shows the new design of Donald, which was a much rounder figure with a shorter bill. The short was directed by Ben Sharpsteen, and stars Clarence Nash as Donald, and Pinto Colvig as Pluto.
Donald Duck is working as a plumber, using a magnet to grab his tools as he stays perched on a platform near the pipes. Pluto is hanging around the area, trying to chew on a bone, when Donald startles him by using the magnet to pull out his hammer from underneath the dog. As Donald angrily attacks the pipes with his hammer, he knocks the magnet to the floor, which attracts Pluto’s bone. As Pluto tires to release the bone, he ends up accidentally swallowing the magnet, and his bowl with the bone stick to his behind.
Pluto gives the term “magnetic personality” a whole new meaning when the magnet he swallowed begins attracting anything metal nearby
As Pluto tries to chase the bone attached to his rear, he accidentally knocks over the platform Donald stands on, sending the duck crashing to the floor. Pluto escapes to the kitchen, but as soon as he thinks he’s safe, the magnet inside begins to attract all the pots and pan, flying out of their cupboards and latch on to Pluto’s rear end. Pluto battles with his bowl and the magnet inside, unable to stop anything metal from latching on to him, which includes a rather traumatizing attack with an alarm clock.
As Pluto runs back to the basement to free himself from the metal objects, the magnet inside attracts the nails from Donald’s ladder, which causes Donald to fall from the ladder and land in the washing machine. When he is sent through the wringer, the hammer he holds is pulled by the forces of the magnet, and it’s all Donald can do to hold on as Pluto runs frightened up the stairs. When Pluto reaches the top, he is able to knock off the bowl, hammer, and Donald, but Donald chases after the dog, waving the hammer wildly.
While Pluto sits on the roof, Donald’s hammer is attracted to the magnet still in Pluto, and clings to the hammer for dear life he is dragged across the ceiling
Pluto escapes to the roof and sits, relieved as he thinks it’s over. However, Donald is standing right under where Pluto sits, and the magnet pulls Donald up to the ceiling, attached to the force of the magnet. As Pluto struggles to move, Donald is dragged across the ceiling of the house. Donald tries in vain to release the ladder, as Pluto tries just as hard to release his backside. As they both fall down the basement stairs in the end, Pluto is able to cough out the magnet; it is pulled to the boiler, trapping Donald by the neck, and covering him with all of his tools and Pluto’s dish.
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