Lend a Paw (1941)

This is a touching cartoon featuring Pluto, where he finds his attention from Mickey turned away to care for a newly found kitten left in a bag floating on ice. Pluto wasn't too pleased to see the kitten and his inner angel and devil sides battle it out to offer him the best advice in dealing with the situation.It's a classic little tale of good vs. evil and conscience vs. mischief as we see Pluto wondering what he should do with the kitten, whose adoring personality and kindhearted innocence will tug at your heartstrings. Pluto learning to be on the good side and save the kitten from danger is the highlight of the story and serves as a good moral about helping others. Great cartoon! Grade A

I first saw this short upon purchasing the DVD I mentioned in the summary and it is very fitting due to its inclusion of Pluto and an abandoned kitten. While it has the cliché of the angel and devil situation, the devil is green rather than red, which makes it somewhat new.The snowy background is lovely and is reminiscent of two other Disney shorts where various characters go ice skating and Donald Duck's nephews cause havoc in the snow, both of which were childhood favourites. The musical score is pleasantly nostalgic and the story is more wholesome in comparison to that in 'Puss Cafe' due to including spoken dialogue. While Pluto appears to be jealous of the kitten at first, I like it when he rescues it from the well and it reminded me of the nursery rhyme 'Ding Dong Bell' in which a naughty boy puts a poor cat down the well but a good boy pulls her out. The animation is on the same level as that in similar Disney shorts such as the ones I have already mentioned. I might have seen a clip from this cartoon before (the part where Mickey pulls a frozen Pluto from the well) during a song on one of the Disney Sing-A-Long Songs videos (possibly 'Friendship' on 'Friend Like Me').Overall this is a lovely if somewhat distressing cartoon that is definitely the best bonus cartoon on my 'Oliver and Company' DVD. 8/10.

LEND A PAW was the Oscar winner for Best Animated Short for 1942 and while I was not bowled over by its brilliance, this year a particularly distinguished one for animation. Looney Tunes was still a few years away from greatness as they still hadn't switched to the sillier and edgier films of Bugs Bunny. MGM had only made one or two Tom and Jerry cartoons and Tex Avery's best with this studio was still a few years away. So, for the 1941-42 era, LEND A PAW was probably as good as any cartoon. The quality of the nominees would skyrocket in just the next year or two.The film begins with Pluto finding a sack with a baby kitten in it that had been thrown in the river! When Pluto realizes it's a kitten, he's rather sad to have done this good deed by rescuing the little kitten! Talk about a dark cartoon premise!! Well, the nice kitten follows Pluto home and Mickey decides to keep it. However, Pluto isn't happy about this and wants to get rid of the thing! The old cliché of an angel and a devil that appear and tell him what to do--and at least for a while the devil has his sway. Eventually, however, by the end, Pluto has done the right thing and everyone lives happily ever after--which is exactly what you'd expect from a Disney short.No major surprises but an exceptionally well animated and enjoyable short film.

A cute Disney Mickey Mouse short. I love cats and dogs and.. Well, fishes make for a lousy pet. Any who, a wonderful cartoon to watch with the family. I really recommend this. It brings a message to not be prejudice.Pluto finds a kitten, he automatically disapprove of the kitten, but Mickey Mouse automatically loves the kitten. Pluto tries to get the kitten framed for something he/she didn't do but it ends up with Pluto getting kicked out. Later, the kitten falls in a well after chasing a ball. Pluto saves the kitten and they now love each other.I recommend this cartoon for everyone. It was a really cute cartoon. Disney produced cartoons are usually good like this.