Cat Nap Pluto

Cat Nap Pluto is not a short that you should watch while you’re sleepy or even somewhat tired.  It could easily get frustrating and irritate you more than you can possibly imagine.  Pluto is interested in taking a nap, yet he gets denied by Figaro.  If you have kids and have ever tried to take a nap, you can probably relate.

The first part of the short, however, seems rather aimless.  It takes about a minute and a half for Pluto to even show up.  Instead we get time that seems to be “Figaro’s cute antics” for no discernible reason.  There’s nothing wrong with Figaro or his antics, but it just doesn’t seem necessary.  He wakes up, bounds around the house and tries to wake up Pluto, who is not there.  That should be a short intro, but it takes quite a while.

Pluto shows up dragging in from what seems to be a very rowdy night out.  After all, we know that the milk man just showed up, and that happens in the morning.  Pluto is red eyed and sleepy.  It makes you wonder what the main dog was up to the night before, eh?  He comes in and collapses in bed, bringing in the great running gag of the short, which is the Sandman version of Pluto showing up to throw sleep into his eyes.

This gag gets repeated in a variety of places, as Figaro keeps trying to keep Pluto awake.  My personal favorite, and the only laugh out loud moment of the short, was when Pluto stuck his head underneath the couch to get away and the Sandman follows, lugging his sack behind him.  It’s really funny for reasons I might not even be able to explain.  I just know I loved it.

The main issue I have with this sort is that I cannot figure out why Figaro is trying to keep Pluto awake.  It does not seem like a good idea for the little cat to antagonize the larger dog.  If I were Figaro, I’d leave well enough alone.  That doesn’t happen, however, and Figaro ends up getting knocked out by his own version of the Sandman.  The problem is, there’s no reason for any of this to happen in the first place.  It’s a short that has some funny gags, but the story needed a little more  meat on the bones to make it truly entertaining.