The natural instinct of a dog is to chase cats, particularly animated dogs such as Pluto. In the Mickey Mouse cartoon short Pluto’s Judgement Day, released on this day in 1935, Disney’s hero hound might have chased his last cat. When his master Mickey Mouse scolds him for chasing an adorable little kitten, Pluto takes it to heart and his conscience gets the best of him when he falls asleep and dreams it is his judgement day, complete with all-cat judge, jury, and witnesses. When he awakens from his near CATastrophic dark and sinister nightmare, his attitude has CATapulted in the opposite direction. Matt Groening, creator of The Simpsons TV series once said specifically about Pluto’s Judgement Day, “Pain, torture, humiliation and a happy ending. That’s what children’s entertainment is about.”
