. . . is that they seldom get to exercise their American Firearms Rights. Most of the time when you hear about a mutt shooting someone, it's usually a case of a careless canine owner leaving a loaded piece where Fido is able to "accidentally" gun him down. Talk about "Man's best friend"! That's a fine how-do-you-do, for you! If so-called "watch dogs" or "guard dogs" COULD actually perform the function that these adjectives imply, they'd spend lots of time at the shooting range, becoming proficient marks mutts and then conduct their patrols with a rod slung over their haunches. That way, it would take just one double-barreled blast from Pluto to annihilate his flower-munching costar in PLUTO AND THE GOPHER. So after viewing this cartoon, be thankful that you're not a mongrel, and remember to support your local chapter of BANGS: Broke Americans Need Gun Stamps.

This is a Disney 6-minute Technicolor cartoon from 65 years ago and it is exactly about what the title say: Pluto's encounter with a feisty little gopher. Minnie Mouse has a little cameo as in a couple other Pluto short films and she basically plays the character who always comes in when the gopher caused some mayhem and it looks like it was Pluto's fault. There is certainly a parallel to Tom's owner in the Tom and Jerry cartoons that were incredibly famous around 1950. Anyway, it starts chaotic here, but gets really much more when the gopher mistakes a green carpet for a meadow. Poor Pluto is really in trouble in this one. Unfortunately, in terms of the humor I cannot say I was too impressed or well-entertained. All in all, a fairly generic Disney piece that does not stand out for any reason. A bit of a disappointment given how prolific Nichols, Kinney and Schaffer were at this point. Not recommended.

This Disney short rather highlights Pluto's limitations in cartoons and also owes a debt to the Tom and Jerry cartoons. Even my son mentioned it reminded him of the cat and mouse capers.

Pluto finds a gopher in Minnie's garden and tries to get rid of the annoying gopher without much success. In fact in trying to get rid of him Pluto has destroys the garden in the process.

Minnie Mouse makes a small cameo appearance but we have seen this variation of a formula before as Pluto tries to get rid of a pesky animal that is annoying him. An energetic short but also instantly forgettable.