1:15 AM – Pluto’s Purchase (1948)
Mickey has a big job for Pluto in this short from the late 1940’s. When Pluto is sent to purchase sausages for Mickey, he encounters his rival Butch, who tries to take the delicious meat treats from him. But in the end, he discovers that Mickey was buying the sausage for his neighbor dog to begin with.
Recommendation: This short is Pluto-silliness at it’s finest. Should you watch it? In the words of Pluto, “Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.”
1:15 AM – Big Red (1962)
The next film is another scripted drama with a canine headliner from the same era. This one is set in French Canada, offering different locals and accents from the previous films. Fans should also look for two songs written by the Sherman Brothers.
Rene is an orphan hired to train an Irish Setter named Big Red, who is destined to be a show dog. When the dog develops a special bond with the boy, Big Red’s owner fires him and sells the dog. But when Big Red breaks free, only Rene can save him.
Filming locations included La Malbaie, Quebec, Canada, and at Big Bear Lake in California. Winston Hibler of True-Life Adventure fame produced this film, which was a box office disappointment and whose title has been eclipsed in popularity by cinnamon chewing gum.
Recommendation: “Big Red” has its charms, but is by no means a must-see Disney film.
3:00 AM – Moose Hunters (1937)
Mickey, Donald, and Goofy prove to be quite the saucy dish when they dress as a female moose in an effort to hunt one. When a couple of male moose falls in love, they’ve got bigger problems. Especially when their disguise falls apart.
Recommendation: Don’t miss this hilarious example of Mickey, Donald, and Goofy getting in and out of a tricky situation.
3:00 AM – Benji the Hunted (1987)
The 1980’s were a weird time at Walt Disney Pictures and a real curiosity in the cannon of Disney films is Benji the Hunted. You’ve no doubt heard of Benji, the popular dog film series by Joe Camp who already had three theatrical films and a holiday TV special by the end of the 1970’s. Flash forward almost a decade when Disney gives the little dog his fourth and final theatrical outing, although he would resurface in direct-to-video and Netflix films later.
The famous show dog Benji gets lost in the woods of Oregon and must fend for himself if he’s ever to get home. His journey leads him to four orphaned cougar kittens and the loving dog becomes their surrogate father, taking care of them and protecting them against the dangerous elements.
From the uniquely 1980’s score to cinematography that often resembles those posters of kittens in a field of flowers from the same era, there’s no doubt about when this film was released. It may not have been beloved at the time, but with nostalgia it takes on some added entertainment value. And with Benji returning to prominence on Netflix, Disney fans should revisit the star dog’s only film to open with a blue castle intro.
Recommendation: Dog + cougar kittens = cuteness overload.
Overall, this was a great way to celebrate Walt Disney’s love of dogs and it exhausted nearly all of the Disney films starring a canine, save for the three titles mentioned in the introduction (and the forgettable Shaggy D.A.). The lineup should return around September and I can’t wait to see what Leonard Maltin has in store for us.