Pluto Goes to Hell

Pluto Goes to Hell (Pluto's Judgement Day)
Released	April 11, 2020
Running time	10:19
Link	http://channelawesome.com/pluto-goes-to-hell-dark-toons/
Previous	N/A
Next	Tom Dies and Meets the Devil

Doug: Ever wonder what would happen if Pluto went to Hell? Of course! Disney did!

(The title for the cartoon in question is shown: the 1935 Mickey Mouse cartoon Pluto's Judgement Day)

Doug (vo): Pluto's Judgement Day is a 1935 cartoon...

Doug: ...that has traumatized many of us. There's actually several videos that's been made about this cartoon, and you can see why.

Doug (vo): It scared us as children in all the best ways.

Doug: Let's take a look.

(The cartoon opens as all Mickey cartoons do: with a headshot of a smiling Mickey on a yellow starburst background. Suspenseful organ music plays)

Doug: Right away, the music should be a first clue.

(The title card "A Walt Disney MICKEY MOUSE" is shown next, along with credits for Technicolor and the distributor, RKO Radio Pictures. This was obviously a reissued version, as United Artists was Disney's distributor at the time, and RKO would not take over distribution until 1937, two years after the cartoon's release)

Doug (vo): It's just like an organ, a huge Gothic organ.

Doug: But then they try to sneak in the little happy-go-lucky Mickey Mouse music.

(The organ music is punctuated by a quick little jazz beat)

Doug: Like "We're not that scary! We-We're fucking scary!"

(Then the title is shown, displayed on a huge spotlight)

Doug (vo): Look at that title screen.

Doug: It's like that Time magazine cover with...

(The title is shown again, accompanied by the cover of an issue of Time magazine, showing the infamous cover story from 1966...)

Doug (vo): ..."Is God Dead?"

Doug: Except, you know, with a Disney cartoon.

(The cartoon opens with Pluto chasing a kitten around. They run into a mud puddle and get covered in mud. Then the kitten runs into Mickey's house through a window with a beam propping it open. The kitten knocks the beam down, causing the window to slam shut in the path of Pluto. As the dog continues on, he jumps through the closed window, shattering it in the process)

Doug: Jesus!

(The kitten jumps on Mickey, and Pluto, in trying to get at the kitten, also attacks his owner. Mickey forcibly separates the two and glowers at Pluto)

Mickey: (pointing to the floor) Sit down!

Doug (vo): You'll notice, too...

Doug: ...the colors are very muted, like something's already up.

(As the cartoon continues (with Pluto raising his paw to Mickey to charm his way out and Mickey not buying it), shots of other Pluto cartoons appear alongside it, all looking comparatively more colorful)

Doug (vo): It's not as bright and colorful like a usual Mickey Mouse or Pluto cartoon.

Mickey: (to Pluto) You're just a big bully! I suppose you're proud of yourself.

Doug: This is also when Walt Disney was still doing the voice of Mickey Mouse, and if you notice...

(As the cartoon continues, shots of dark moments in other films are shown alongside it: Lampwick's donkey transformation in Pinocchio, the Headless Horseman in the Sleepy Hollow segment of The Adventures of Ichabod and Mr. Toad, one of the Cauldron Born in The Black Cauldron, and Maleficent as a dragon in Sleeping Beauty)

Doug (vo): ...Disney has a lot of dark stuff in it.

Doug: So I have no doubt he was 100% fine with everything in this.

Mickey: Well, you're gonna have plenty to answer for on your judgement day.

Doug: It's not very often you hear Mickey say "judgement day", is it?

(Later, Pluto is sleeping by the fire when the door (or rather, a transparent dream version of the door) opens and in steps a tough-looking cat (also transparent))

Doug (vo): I like the idea of the dream kind of being like this transparent reality...

Doug: ...like it's familiar, but it's still something that's...not quite real.

(In the cartoon, as Pluto sleeps, a transparent dream version of himself rises awake, goaded by the cat, and reacts in shock at the cat, who raises his fists, challenging the dog to a fight)

Doug (vo): It would have been just so easy to have this whole thing be drawn like normal and you just reveal at the end it's a dream.

Doug: But no, they kinda start off very early on this is very odd.

(As Pluto charges toward the cat with a growl, a transparent dream version of Mickey appears out of thin air and warns his dog against chasing the cat, wagging his finger and saying, "Ah-ah-ah-ah!" as he does so, then disappears. As this happens, Pluto sulks)

Doug (vo): Part of this could be, too, that they're trying emphasize that this is a dream, because it's kind of a Don Bluth philosophy of...

Doug: ...as long as you have a happy ending, you can show kids whatever you want, and I kind of believe this is proof of that.

Cat: Come on outside and I'll knock your block off! (laughs sinisterly as Pluto reacts in shock)

Doug (vo): People in the '30s have the best laughs.

(As we cut back to Doug, he imitates the cat's sinister laugh. We then cut back to the cartoon as Pluto, now happily goaded by the cat, chases after him out the door. Outside, the trees have taken on the unmistakable shapes of cats)

Doug: Okay, look at the cats in the background in the trees.

Doug (vo): You can see there's already sort of this foreboding foreshadowing of stuff that's gonna happen, it's gonna be bad.

Doug: It's like it's already preparing the trap. It's so creepy, and most little kids wouldn't notice that. That's something that's more for the adults.

Doug (vo): You'll notice the backgrounds are getting a lot darker, too. They're slowly but surely...

Doug: ...luring you into the dark stuff.

(The chase between Pluto and the cat leads to a mountain cave shaped like a giant cat's head with its tongue sticking out)

Doug (vo): Oh, that looks welcoming.

Doug: Could be where Aladdin...

(A shot of the Cave of Wonders from that film is shown, whose entrance is in the form of a giant tiger's head whose mouth is the entrance)

Doug (vo): ...got the Cave of Wonders maybe.

(The cat-shaped cave's eyes brighten up and shine down on Pluto, then its tongue catches him and pulls him into the cave entrance. The cat Pluto was chasing jumps up on the cave's nose, out of the way. The cat's tongue having forced Pluto into its mouth, the mouth closes. The cat laughs sinisterly)

Doug: Even that entrance is so scary! Just a tongue...

Doug (vo): ...wrapping you up, luring you in, it's...

Doug: Oh, I love it!

(Pluto falls down a trap door, and finds himself on a small pedestal with the words "Public Enemy No. 1" engraved on it. Out of the shadows, a number of ball-and-chains appear from the darkness, and shackle themselves to his legs)

Doug: That is fucking horrifying!

(Another ball-and-chain shackles itself to Pluto's neck and one more ball-and-chain shackles itself to his tail)

Doug (vo): Even his tail!

Doug: What's his tail gonna do?

(As the camera pulls back, it is revealed that Pluto is in a pitch-dark room with only the light above showing any light at all)

Offscreen voices: (chanting) We want Pluto, we want Pluto...

Doug: This is a long time to literally be kept in the dark for like a kid's cartoon.

(After a few seconds, we see where the source of the chanting is coming from, as one by one, sections of the room light up, revealing a courtroom appearing from the ether. Everyone – the audience, the judge and the jury (whose box is made up of a fence (i.e., they're literally on the fence)) – are all cats)

Doug (vo): You don't see this much black. And slowly but surely, every creepy thing is revealed. It's a very unnerving thing...

Doug: ...for a kid to watch.

(Last to appear is the prosecutor, an imposing cat in a demonic red robe, who announces that Pluto is Public Enemy Number 1)

Prosecutor: (to Pluto) You're on trial today for the crimes that you've committed.

Doug (vo): I'm almost wondering if this was meant to be Pete, (A shot of Mickey's nemesis, Black Pete, is shown in the corner) 'cause he has kind of that Pete look to him.

Doug: Maybe they were like, no, he's got to be Mickey's enemy, not Pluto's.*

• NOTE: Actually, Pete's versatility as a villain allowed him to be everyone's enemy, including Pluto's. Later, he would be an enemy of Donald Duck, Goofy and even Chip and Dale.

Cat jury: (singing) And we promise, he'll get justice! (They all nod)

Doug (vo): I like how the cat jury...

Doug: ...is literally on the fence, like how...

Doug (vo): ...cats usually are; they like to sing on the fence. But at the same time...

Doug: ...there's clearly nothing about their judgement that's gonna be on the fence.

(Pluto having been sworn in, the prosecutor holds up a telephone book to the dog)

Doug (vo): The telephone book's a nice touch, too; just showing...

Doug: ...nothing's gonna be fair in this trial.

Prosecutor: You solemnly swear to tell the whole truth... (babbles incoherently while shaking his finger) ...so help you?

(Pluto reaches out his paw to the book, which he learns, too late, is actually a huge mouse trap. Caught in the trap, the dog howls in pain)

Doug: I think that's how most kids hear the swear-in process. (He imitates the cat's babbling) But they don't actually hear what they're saying.

(The prosecutor announces the coming witnesses, his shadow huge and menacing)

Doug (vo): Look at the lighting against the background. It really just heightens the shadow he has.

Prosecutor: ...up to the jury to decide. (gets a menacing expression on his face)

Doug (vo): Oh, that's a great face.

Doug: That's such a creepy face!

Doug (vo): The short has what I like to call flexible lighting. If you actually...

Doug: ...look at how the lighting is supposed to be in every scene, it doesn't make sense.

Doug (vo): Sometimes it's above, sometimes it's to the sides, sometimes it's really bright, sometimes it's really dark, but it's all just to emphasize the shadows, the angles, and it does such a great job of it...

Doug: ...you don't care, you just accept it. (beat) Also, it's a dream; who knows what the hell lighting's like in a dream?

(In the cartoon, the first witness appears: an overweight cat wearing a bowtie and holding a balloon)

Overweight cat: (pointing at Pluto) He chased me under a steamroller and then he left me flat!

(He turns to his side to emphasize the severity of his predicament: he and his balloon are literally flat as a pancake)

Doug (vo): This cartoon does legit have me asking...

Doug: ...how many cats has Pluto killed.

(Pluto cowers in fear as the prosecutor, cackling maniacally, leans in close to the dog, so close that his eyes fill up the entire screen. Pluto is reflected in the cat's eyes)

Doug: All right, so a lot of hand-drawn animation has what I like to call "eye porn".

(A montage of shots in animation, involving characters' eyes filling up the screen, is shown. The first shot is from the Donald Duck cartoon The Flying Jalopy, in which Ben Buzzard, confident that Donald won't be able to fly his plane through a narrow mountain passage, leans in close to the camera, the pupils in his eyes taking on the shapes of skulls)

Doug (vo): It's very much these closeup...

(Two more shots of characters' eyes close up are shown: Miss Bunny in Bambi as she flirts with Thumper and Rex in We're Back: A Dinosaur's Story, whose eyes have Elsa the Pterodactyl reflected in them)

Doug (vo): ...of eyes and there's usually reflection of another character in there, and it always seems a little odd, because...

Doug: ...eyes in cartoons are already huge, they're already so expressive, so to go in that close is always so weird. But in something like this...

(The prosecutor is seen again as he leans in close to the camera, with Pluto reflected in both of his eyes)

Doug (vo): ...it's meant to be uncomfortable, and you literally...

Doug: ...cannot invade personal space more than that.

(Suddenly, a trio of black (i.e., African-American) female kittens appear, wearing pigtails with bows in them and red skirts)

Doug (vo): Oh, this aged great.

Kittens: (singing as they point at Pluto) He drank our milk and stole our liver...

Doug (vo): It's funny, 'cause growing up with cartoons like this...

Doug: ...or Tom and Jerry and stuff where they did blackface and that, I never realized it was supposed to be a racial thing...

Doug (vo): ...because it was so exaggerated, I couldn't even recognize it as a racial thing.

Doug: So maybe sometimes naivete is a good thing.

(As the kittens leave, they drag with them the tombstone of their Uncle Tom (whom Pluto had allegedly pushed into a river, causing him to drown). Nine angelic ghosts of Uncle Tom emerge from the grave and do a little dance together)

Doug (vo): Something clever they're doing, I never noticed...

Doug: ...the rocks at the bottom, they're very much trying to make this look like the stage of a theater. There were still like...

Doug (vo): ...uh, vaudeville shows that were still going on and they usually had the lights at the bottom of the theater.

Doug: Even the lighting very much looks like that's where the lighting is coming from, so it's a little touch, but it's actually very clever.

Judge: Jury, do your duty.

(The cat jury jumps down from their fence-like box and go into the jury room – or rather, just go around the revolving door entrance and right back to the courtroom, winking at the camera as they do so)

Doug (vo): You know, sometimes a cartoon can introduce you to a new term as well. Like, I never knew the term "swinging door justice" until I saw this.

Doug: And they don't even say it! That's just what you want to call that. Again, it's very subtle, but it's very clever.

(The jury returns to the fence-like box and deliver the verdict: guilty. To emphasize their point, they raise signs on their tails, each with a letter on it that spells the word: G-U-I-L-T-Y)

Cat jury: Guilty, guilty, guilty! Hooray!

(As the jury cheers, confetti streams down, and the gallery of cats, some of whom have taken on the appearance of the devil (red with horns and holding pitchforks), all storm Pluto and carry him off to face his punishment. He is put a literal "hot seat", consisting of a chair with a hole in the seat hung in the air over a huge fire! The cats all cheer the dog's impending fiery doom)

Doug (vo): This is just so mean-spirited! There's always something so creepy about not only a character put in danger, but everybody's cheering it on. It's just...

Doug: (shudders) Ugh! It's so horrifying, I love it.

Doug (vo): That hot seat I believe they also used in Casino Royale...

Doug: ...for very different purposes. And maybe not that different.

(A group of the flames come to life and climb up on Pluto and then onto the rope holding up the chair, which they start tearing up, effectively bringing Pluto ever closes to his final punishment)

Doug (vo): This is another Disney trope they did a lot. They had these little, uh, either raindrops...

Doug: ...or usually fire that would, uh, come. They had like these little personalities and they would...

Doug (vo): ...try to destroy something. They do a little dance. It's cute.

Doug: It's horrifying, but it's cute.

(The cartoon then cuts back to the present day as an ember from the fireplace leaps and hits the sleeping Pluto on his rear. He leaps awake with a start and, to the sound of a fire truck's ringing bell, runs painfully through the house and leaps into a tub where Mickey is bathing the kitten Pluto was chasing earlier, splashing water out of the tub. Mickey holds up the kitten to Pluto, telling them to kiss and make up. The kitten meows softly and licks Pluto on the nose. Pluto smiles and licks the kitten in return)

Doug (vo): Aw, see, now that's super sweet. That's how they can get away with it.

Doug: They put a super sweet, super nice ending...and they can show you whatever they want.

(As Pluto licks the kitten, the image irises out to end the cartoon)

Doug (vo): And you can tell when a cartoon needs to do that, because...

Doug: ...the ending is usually very short. The happy ending is super quick. They obviously want to focus on the dark, creepy stuff. Uh, you can tell that was the intent of the director and the animators, is that they wanted to scare the shit out of you.

Doug (vo): And what's so funny about it is that it's not like it's a lesson that's...super beneficial to kids.

Doug: I mean, it's a dog learning not to chase cats. Uh, but I guess you could argue it's kind of about bullying.

Doug (vo): I mean, Pluto's just chasing this cat for no reason. Mickey even calls him a bully.

Doug: No, I feel like this cartoon is super creative, super creepy. Uh...

Doug (vo): But the imagery is so imaginative and the shadows are wonderful, and the different lighting on these creatures...

Doug: There's something really to be appreciated about, you know, the dark side, 'cause you know, we always try to put kids in these, you know, very happy environments, and rightfully so. But you know, every once in a while, it's good to have that little dab of just flat-out scary.