In the earliest Mickey Mouse cartoons, you never knew in what role the main mouse would be cast. In 1930, he was a prisoner in The Chain Gang. While we can’t imagine what crime Mickey has done other than steal a scene, he is nonetheless locked up and tries to escape. During his flight, he is chased by a couple prison guard dogs, one of which looks remarkably like Pluto. If Mickey can be an escaped convict, certainly Pluto can play the role of two bloodhounds, thus marking today as the 79th birthday of Disney’s prize pooch. The following month in the cartoon short The Picnic, Pluto plays the part of Rover, Minnie’s pet dog. While the dwarf planet Pluto was first given that name in 1930, it wasn’t until the following year that the dog settled into the role of Mickey’s dog pal in The Moose Hunt and was finally christened with the stellar name of Pluto!
