Pluto's Judgement Day
One of the scariest cartoons I remembered watching as a kid was “Pluto’s Judgment Day” (1935). The film continues to spook me out because it is so well done it is nightmare storyline and vivid animation. It begins very innocently as Pluto chases a cat into the house. But it quickly becomes a guilt trip as Mickey Mouse scold him for going after the cat in the first place. People forget this nowadays but in the early cartoons Mickey could be a complete jack-ass whenever he was upset…especially to Pluto. It does not get mentioned often but credit should be given to Walt Disney, who voiced Mickey, for really giving him an edge through his vocal performance during the scolding scene. It’s a side to the character that is not observed in today’s time so seeing it now may seem odd but true to the character. The majority of the cartoon really revolves around Pluto’s nightmare as soon as the dog enters the cat cave. You really have to feel bad for Pluto during the entire ordeal. As a dog person I feel even worse for the poor mutt. The way the chains lock him up or when he shrinks down always kills me. I still get spooked out by the hell scenes with the song “We Want Pluto” sung by the cat chorus. I still continue to be spooked out by the scenes in hell as the cat chorus sings and chants the song, “We Want Pluto”. The scariest character in the whole film is the Cat Devil. He is just terrifying to witness with his dominating figure, piercing eyes, and intimidating voice. Your heart breaks when you see Pluto quivering through the eyes of the Cat Devil. In addition to the great visuals the film also has some very unusual camera shots. Whenever we saw the Cat Devil and Car Judge (who seems to sound a lot like the voice of Popeye) it was always from Pluto’s perspective which only heightened the drama and horror of the shot. The Justice Montage in particular was always freaky because of the way the camera would zoom in to the character’s faces as they spoke directly to us. By the time Pluto reaches hellfire you just wish he was out of there.
