Cumulative rating:	(3 ratings submitted)

Synopsis

Characters

Pluto Donald Duck (Voice: Clarence "Ducky" Nash)

Winner, Septimus : "Der Deitcher's Dog "

Traditional : "You're a Horse's Ass "

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DR1

Distributor(s)

RKO Radio Pictures

The Mickey Mouse Club

• Season 3, Episode 30

Germany

Donald Duck in die Größte Show der Welt

Pluto Präsentiert

France

Donald Superstar

Italy

Buon Compleanno Paperino

Japan

The Academy Award Review of Walt Disney Cartoons

Donald's Golden Jubilee

United States

The Chronological Donald: Volume 1: 1934-1941

Starring Donald

Germany

Alle Lieben Donald

Disney Treasures : Wave 3 : The Chronological Donald Volume 1

France

Tout le Monde aime Donald

Italy

Il Mio Eroe Paperino

Disney Treasures : Wave 3 : The Chronological Donald Volume 1

United Kingdom

Everybody Loves Donald

Disney Treasures : Wave 3 : The Chronological Donald Volume 1

Sweden

Alla Alskar Kalle

Disney Treasures : Wave 3 : The Chronological Donald Volume 1

Canada

Classic Cartoon Favorites : Volume 2 : Starring Donald

Netherlands / Belgium

The Chronological Donald: Volume Eén: 1934-1941

Running Time: 8:17

Production No.: 2232

MPAA No.: 4797

Animation Type: Standard (Hand-drawn-Cel) Animation

Aspect Ratio: 1.37 : 1

Cinematographic Format: Spherical

Color Type: Technicolor

Negative Type: 35mm

Original Country: United States

Original Language: English

Print Type: 35mm

Sound Type: Mono: RCA Sound Recording

Reviews and Comments

From Atsuko :

Donald once again has trouble with machines. This time he builds an automatic dog-washer for Pluto, but only gets caught up in it himself. He is scrubbed, washed, and powdered before being hung on a clothesline to dry. Poor Donald!

From Ryan :

While this short can get tiring seeing poor Donald have problems with the "dog washer", it was still a pretty good short. It is somewhat similar to Modern Inventions where Donald has trouble with modern technology.

From Ajisai :

While most of Pluto's antics get old pretty fast, I love the end where we finally see the dog washer in action, even if the whole scene is far shorter than it could and should be. I really love the "homemade" look of the dog washer, and the music that plays along with the scene while Donald's getting scrubbed, showered, dried and flea-powdered fits perfectly. I always think Donald is at his best when he's on the receiving end of some misfortune, and he really gets it in this one!

From Baruch Weiss :

I disagree with Ryan on his comment about this short that it is similar to Modern Inventions. Donald is not having trouble with modern technology, he is having trouble getting Pluto to take a bath. The plot was later used in the 1948 Goofy cartoon The Big Wash and 52 years later in a Spongebob episode titled "Gary takes a Bath". All end with the ironic ending that the main character ends up getting the bath instead. In my opinion, this cartoon was not all that great and it gets tiring after the first few minutes.

From Mikhail :

This is one of my favourite Donald Duck cartoons, because unlike most of them, Donald is actually happy in the end! Also, the part where Pluto is hiding from Donald in the doghouse and nods and shakes his head with the roof was very creative, and acutely amusing.

From Ryan Kilpatrick at The Disney Film Project :

Donald has had many adventures so far in the shorts, most of them involving his playing off another character, such as Gus Goose, the nephews or Pluto. That continues with Donald’s Dog Laundry, a short that features Donald and Pluto teaming up once more.

The premise of this short is that Donald has built a Rube Goldberg type contraption that will allow him to open a business washing dogs. Of course he has to test it out first, and Pluto is the nearby subject. The trick, though, is getting Pluto to take a bath, which is difficult, as anyone who has had a dog can attest.

The difference in this short and other Donald shorts is that we don’t get to see Donald get irritated and upset. That is the core of the character, of course, and not seeing it to full effect in this short makes this more of a Pluto vehicle than a Donald short.

Pluto does get the majority of screen time in this short, keeping up the old rule that any short he is in will immediately get taken over by the canine. A majority of the short involves Pluto sleeping/blowing a leaf and then trying to snag a rubber bone that Donald is using to lure him to the tub.

Most of that is interesting, but it’s not funny in the same way that a good Donald tantrum would be. Seeing Donald’s reaction to Pluto and being frustrated in his quest to get the dog in the tub would have been a much funnier bit of business. We get a little bit of it, but not nearly enough.

That is not to say that Donald’s Dog Laundry doesn’t have some high points. Watching Donald get attacked by the dog washing contraption is quite funny, and Pluto’s struggle with the rubber bone propping his jaws up is not bad, either. But those moments are fleeting, and the rest of the short seems to unfold at a slower pace, and doesn’t feature as much humor as other Donald shorts.