Thursday, January 09, 2014
Pluto talks!
The Pluto/Goofy divide is one of the eternal and unsolvable puzzles of all literature. But it wasn't always a firm divide. In 1935 Pluto briefly crossed the line into anthropomorphism. He didn't quite become a human, he simply became a dog who talks like a human.
It was in the middle of a monumentally corny Salute to the 50th anniversary of the Bell System. I'm accustomed to '30s hokeyness, but this program blows all the gaskets.
Starting at 18:00 in the clip, there's a musical medley/rhapsody based on songs about phones, starting with Hello My Baby. In the middle of this medley/rhapsody, for no particular reason, we hear the following conversation in Sprachgesang form:
Ring, ring, ring.
Mickey: Hello, hello, hello?
Operator: One one one niner, please hold the liner.
Pluto: Hello, is this Mickey Mouse?
Mickey: Yes, this is Mickey Mouse. Who's calling up MY house?
Pluto: This is Pluto. Your doggie Pluto. I won't be home tonight. Woof woof!
Mickey: Well, watch your step now. Don't get in a fight!
No, it doesn't make any more sense in context.
Pluto's voice here is just what you'd expect from a working class dog. Nothing like Goofy's retarded country-hick human.
¶ 2:00 AM 
