Bath Day

Disney shorts in the 1940s are quite a mixed bag. While the energy of the Mickey shorts from the 30s is not there, the focus shifted to Donald Duck mostly, and partially some Goofy exploits. There are some notable exceptions, though, and one of them is Figaro. The cat from Pinocchio featured in an earlier short, Figaro and Cleo, and returns with Bath Day.

Figaro was never going to be a star on the scale of the bigger Disney characters, but he’s not terrible. The acting and animation of the character are perfectly fine, about on par with that of Pluto in some of his shorts. The problem is that there is not a good reason to have Figaro about. He doesn’t fit in any real niche that is underserved by the other Disney characters.

In Bath Day, Figaro interacts with Minnie, and the beginning of the short makes you think this will be a fairly typical idea. Figaro doesn’t want to take a bath, and Minnie is trying to make him do so. He puts up a little bit of a fight, but within two minutes, he’s bathed and ready to go. His big worry is not so much the bath but how the bath makes him look.

In short, it makes him look like a bit of a fop. Figaro is concerned that his looks will not serve him well in the world at large. He is right about that, because he immediately encounters some alley cats that threaten him. Seeing Figaro interact with the other cats is somewhat fun, but ultimately it lacks a little heart that we’ve seen in other shorts.

Figaro is the hero here, but as a viewer, I’m not familiar enough with him to really root for him like I would the other characters. It’s a catch 22, because if he doesn’t appear that much then you won’t develop familiarity, right? But the story here doesn’t do much to help matters. I don’t feel for Figaro or care what he ends up doing.

I’ll admit to enjoying the ultimate ending, when Figaro gets the best of the alley cat through no fault of his own. Seeing the cat get clobbered by the garbage around Figaro is fun, but it does nothing to further Figaro’s character. When he ends up strutting back to his house, he’s rather arrogant and not endearing.



Sure, that’s probably the point of Figaro, but it doesn’t make him likeable. I can see why Figaro is not in the pantheon of Disney characters, because in Bath Day, I just didn’t care what happened to him. That may be the modern viewer looking back, but for some reason, I don’t connect to Figaro.

First Aiders

So Minnie Mouse, Pluto and Figaro living together – sounds like a good set up for a joke, doesn’t it? Apparently the Disney staff thought so, too, as this odd trio are set up as the stars of First Aiders, a decidedly World War II short.



Minnie is attempting to learn first aid, which was a common thing to do during World War II. Fears of bombings like Pearl Harbor or other enemy attacks prompted lots of emergency readiness among Americans of all stripes. In this case, Minnie is learning lots of things by practicing on Figaro and Pluto.



You read that right. Minnie is practicing first aid on Pluto and Figaro. The comic possibilities are endless, right? As it turns out, the animators chose to focus on a rivalry between Figaro and Pluto. I don’t know for sure it was the right choice, but it’s pretty darn funny. The two of them have a natural vicious streak that we have seen in other cartoons, so they play well off of each other.



One of the best sequences comes when Minnie tries to bandage Pluto up with splints, then runs out of bandages. Leaving Pluto laying on the floor, stuck to a variety of boards and splints, Minnie runs out of the house. Since Pluto had been antagonizing him before that, Figaro attempts to take advantage of his rival’s precarious situation.



Seeing Figaro leap into action, baring his claws and trying to attack, is quite funny. It’s interesting that these two characters were not used together more often. They would seem to be a natural counterpoint to Tom and Jerry or Sylvester and Tweety, just with different animals.



When Figaro begins riding Pluto like a bronco, I had to laugh. Although the back and forth gags between them aren’t particularly inventive, they are tried and true funny stuff. Minnie is there primarily to serve the role of a straight man, imploring one or either of the animals to back off. It’s a simple role for her, but it fits.

First Aiders doesn’t showcase these characters as well as other shorts they have been in, but there is definitely a fun dynamic between Figaro and Pluto, and since that doesn’t appear that often, it’s worth a watch.

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