''Lend a Paw'' is an

animated Animation is a method by which still figures are manipulated to appear as moving images. In traditional animation, images are drawn or painted by hand on transparent celluloid sheets to be photographed and exhibited on film. Today, most anim ...

short film A short film is any motion picture that is short enough in running time not to be considered a feature film. The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences defines a short film as "an original motion picture that has a running time of 40 minutes ...

produced in

Technicolor Technicolor is a series of Color motion picture film, color motion picture processes, the first version dating back to 1916, and followed by improved versions over several decades. Definitive Technicolor movies using three black and white films ...

Walt Disney Productions The Walt Disney Company, commonly known as Disney (), is an American multinational mass media and entertainment conglomerate headquartered at the Walt Disney Studios complex in Burbank, California. Disney was originally founded on October ...

, distributed by RKO Radio Pictures and released to theaters on October 3, 1941. ''Lend a Paw'' was directed by

Clyde Geronimi Clito "Clyde" Geronimi (June 12, 1901 – April 24, 1989), known as Gerry, was an American animation director. He is best known for his work at Walt Disney Productions. Biography Geronimi was born in Chiavenna, Italy, immigrating to the United ...

and features original music by

Leigh Harline Leigh Adrian Harline (March 26, 1907 – December 10, 1969) was an American film composer and songwriter. He was known for his "musical sophistication that was uniquely 'Harline-esque' by weaving rich tapestries of mood-setting underscores and ...

. George Nicholas,

Kenneth Muse Kenneth Muse (July 26, 1910 – July 26, 1987) was an American animator best known for his work on the ''Tom and Jerry'' series at MGM. Biography Muse worked briefly at Walt Disney Productions, where he was Preston Blair's assistant on '' Fa ...

, Nick Nichols, William Sturm,

Eric Gurney Eric Gurney (1910–1992) was a Canadian-American cartoonist and illustrator. He immigrated to the US in 1938 to work with Walt Disney Productions, where he was a story writer and a collaborator on several Disney films. Turning freelance in 194 ...

, Norman Tate, Chick Otterstrom, Morey Reden, and

Emery Hawkins Emery Otis Hawkins (April 30, 1912 – June 1, 1989) was an American animator, best known for his work during the Golden age of American animation, working in various studios in the industry. Early life and career Emery Hawkins was born in Jerom ...

animated the film. The voice cast includes

Walt Disney Walter Elias Disney (; December 5, 1901December 15, 1966) was an American animator, film producer and entrepreneur. A pioneer of the American animation industry, he introduced several developments in the production of cartoons. As a film p ...

as Mickey and

Pinto Colvig Vance DeBar Colvig Sr. (September 11, 1892 – October 3, 1967), professionally Pinto Colvig, was an American voice actor, newspaper cartoonist, and circus and vaudeville performer whose schtick was playing the clarinet off-key while mugging. Co ...

as Pluto.Lend A Paw
. ''www.bcdb.com'' It was the 115th short in the ''

Mickey Mouse Mickey Mouse is an animated cartoon Character (arts), character co-created in 1928 by Walt Disney and Ub Iwerks. The longtime mascot of The Walt Disney Company, Mickey is an Anthropomorphism, anthropomorphic mouse who typically wears red sho ...

'' film series to be released, and the sixth for that year. In the cartoon, which was largely a remake of the 1933 short ''Mickey's Pal Pluto'',

Pluto Pluto (minor-planet designation: 134340 Pluto) is a dwarf planet in the Kuiper belt, a ring of trans-Neptunian object, bodies beyond the orbit of Neptune. It is the ninth-largest and tenth-most-massive known object to directly orbit the S ...

saves the life of a

kitten A kitten is a juvenile cat. After being born, kittens display primary altriciality and are totally dependent on their mothers for survival. They normally do not open their eyes for seven to ten days. After about two weeks, kittens develop qu ...

, and later feels jealous towards the kitten after

takes the kitten in. The film won the

Academy Award The Academy Awards, better known as the Oscars, are awards for artistic and technical merit for the American and international film industry. The awards are regarded by many as the most prestigious, significant awards in the entertainment ind ...

for

Best Animated Short Film The Academy Award for Best Animated Short Film is an award given by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS) as part of the annual Academy Awards, or Oscars, since the 5th Academy Awards (with different names), covering the year ...

at the

14th Academy Awards The 14th Academy Awards honored film achievements in 1941 and were held at the Biltmore Hotel in Los Angeles, California. The ceremony is now considered notable as the year in which ''Citizen Kane'' failed to win Best Picture, losing to John F ...

in 1942, the only Mickey Mouse short to win the award.

Plot

While out in the snow, Pluto hears meowing noises coming from a bag floating on a drifting ice floe. He saves it, only to lose interest when he finds an orange kitten inside. The kitten follows him home and Mickey immediately adopts it. Pluto becomes jealous of all the attention the kitten gets and is coerced by his shoulder devil to get it in trouble. Despite his shoulder angel's attempts to talk him out of it, the devil gets rid of the angel by jabbing him with his trident. Pluto tries to trick the kitten into attacking Mickey's goldfish Bianca, only for it to drag the fishbowl towards the edge of the table. The devil warns Pluto to run, but he fails to get away in time as the fishbowl, the kitten, and a lamp fall on him. This gets Mickey's attention and after some pondering, he demands answers from Bianca. She points to Pluto, knowing that he's the one trying to get the kitten into trouble in the first place, to the latter's horror. Mickey angrily kicks a guilty Pluto out of the house for the remainder of the day as punishment for the mess he made, and Pluto angrily blames his shoulder devil for getting him into trouble. Eventually, the kitten ends up being outside as well while chasing a ball, accidentally falling into a well. The angel tells Pluto to save it, but the devil furiously tells him to let it drown as revenge for getting him kicked out. Finally having enough of the devil's uncaring attitude, the angel chases off the devil by punching him into oblivion and convinces Pluto to do the right thing, only for him to fall in too. Hearing Pluto's cries, Mickey saves them both and comforts a near frozen Pluto after ramming him into the top of the well to break the ice that he's frozen in, feeling very remorseful for kicking him out. After receiving a nice hot bath from Mickey and a thank you kiss from the kitten, Pluto is told by the angel "Kindness to animals, my friend, will be rewarded in the end".

Voice cast

* Mickey Mouse:

: Teddy Barr * Pluto's angel: John McLeish * Pluto's devil:

John Dehner John Dehner (DAY-ner) (born John Dehner Forkum, also credited Dehner Forkum; November 23, 1915February 4, 1992) was an American stage, radio, film, and television actor. From the late 1930s to the late 1980s, he amassed a long list of performan ...

* Kitten:

Marcellite Garner Edna Marcellite Garner ( ; July 3, 1910 – July 26, 1993) was an American artist and voice actress. She is most remembered as the first regular voice of Minnie Mouse during her time working at Walt Disney Productions and has been partially c ...

Legacy

Pluto's angel and devil reappeared, played by

Eric Idle Eric Idle (born 29 March 1943) is an English actor, comedian, musician and writer. Idle was a member of the British surreal comedy group Monty Python and the parody rock band The Rutles, and is the writer of the music and lyrics for the Broadwa ...

and

Penn Jillette Penn Fraser Jillette (born March 5, 1955) is an American magician, actor, musician, inventor, television presenter, and author, best known for his work with fellow magician Teller as half of the team Penn & Teller. The duo has been featured ...

respectively, in two episodes of ''

Mickey Mouse Works ''Mickey Mouse Works'' (also known as ''Disney's Mickey Mouse Works'' or simply ''Mouse Works'') is an American animated television series produced by Walt Disney Television Animation featuring Mickey Mouse and his friends in a series of animate ...

'' -- "Pluto's Kittens" (1999) and " Minnie Takes Care of Pluto" (2000) -- as well as a 2002 episode of ''

House of Mouse ''Disney's House of Mouse'' (or simply ''House of Mouse'') is an American Animation, animated television series produced by Walt Disney Television Animation that originally aired for three seasons on ABC and Toon Disney from January 13, 2001, to ...

'', "Pluto vs Figaro," and in the

episode, Easy Street, however, the angel actually agrees with the devil's plan remarking "Amen".

Releases

* 1941 – theatrical release * 1954 – ''

Disneyland Disneyland is a amusement park, theme park in Anaheim, California. Opened in 1955, it was the first theme park opened by The Walt Disney Company and the only one designed and constructed under the direct supervision of Walt Disney. Disney in ...

'', episode #1.6: "A Story of Dogs" (TV) * c. 1972 – ''

The Mouse Factory ''The Mouse Factory'' is an American syndicated television series produced by Walt Disney Productions and created by Ward Kimball, that ran from 1972 to 1973. It showed clips from various Disney cartoons and movies, hosted by celebrity guests (cre ...

'', episode #29: "Consciences" (TV) * c. 1992 – ''

Mickey's Mouse Tracks ''Mickey's Mouse Tracks'' is an American animated television series on The Disney Channel which ran from 1992 to 1995, and featured Disney cartoons and animated short films, dating from before the advent of The Disney Channel. A similar show was ...

'', episode #67 (TV) * c. 1992 – ''

Donald's Quack Attack ''Donald's Quack Attack'' is an American animated television series which ran on The Disney Channel and was later rerun on Toon Disney. It premiered on November 2, 1992,''The Disney Channel Magazine'', Vol. 10, no. 5, October/November 1992: pp ...

'', episode #15 (TV) * 1993 – ''The Adventures of Mickey and Donald'', episode #1 (TV)

Home media

The short was released on December 7, 2004 on '' Walt Disney Treasures: The Complete Pluto: 1930-1947''. Additional releases include: * 1981 – "

Mickey Mouse and Donald Duck Cartoon Collections ''The Mickey Mouse and Donald Duck Cartoon Collections'' was a series of Disney videos compiling cartoon shorts produced between 1936 and 1954. It was a Disney attempt at releasing its stable of cartoon shorts to video under their own label, aft ...

Volume Three" (VHS) * 1998 – "

The Spirit of Mickey ''The Spirit of Mickey'' is a 1998 American animated direct-to-video anthology film, produced and released by Walt Disney Home Video on July 14, 1998. It features clips from ''The Mickey Mouse Club'', ''The Wonderful World of Disney'', and ''A ...

" (VHS) * c. 2002 – Bonus on ''

Oliver and Company ''Oliver & Company'' is a 1988 American animated musical adventure film produced by Walt Disney Feature Animation and released on November 18, 1988, by Walt Disney Pictures. The 27th Disney animated feature film, it is loosely based on the Charl ...

'' (DVD/VHS, only in USA/Canada) * 2005 – "Classic Cartoon Favorites: Holiday Celebration with Mickey and Pals" (DVD) * 2006 – Bonus on ''

The Fox and the Hound ''The Fox and the Hound'' is a 1981 American animated buddy drama film produced by Walt Disney Productions and loosely based on the 1967 novel of the same name by Daniel P. Mannix. The 24th Disney animated feature film, the film tells the st ...

'' (25th anniversary edition DVD) * 2009 – Bonus on ''

'' (20th anniversary edition DVD) * 2013 – Bonus on ''

'' (25th anniversary edition Blu-ray)

References

External links

* * {{AcademyAwardBestAnimatedShortFilm 1941–1960 1941 short films 1941 animated films 1941 comedy films 1941 drama films American comedy-drama films Best Animated Short Academy Award winners 1940s Disney animated short films Disney film remakes 1940s English-language films Films scored by Leigh Harline Films directed by Clyde Geronimi Films produced by Walt Disney Mickey Mouse short films Pluto (Disney) short films Short film remakes RKO Pictures animated short films American animated short films RKO Pictures short films Animated films about mice Animated films about dogs Animated films about cats