| The Dognapper | |
|---|---|
| Mickey Mouse series | |
Mickey and Donald on their first adventure |
|
| Directed by | David Hand[1] |
| Voices by | Walt Disney Clarence Nash |
| Animation by | Johnny Cannon Clyde Geronimi Hardie Gramatky Dick Lundy Bill Roberts Bob Wickersham Marvin Woodward |
| Studio | Walt Disney Productions |
| Distributed by | United Artists |
| Release date(s) | November 17, 1934 (USA)[1] |
| Color process | Black-and-white |
| Running time | 8 minutes |
| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
| Preceded by | Mickey Plays Papa |
| Followed by | Two-Gun Mickey |
The Dognapper is a 1934 American animated short film produced by Walt Disney Productions and released by United Artists. The cartoon stars Mickey Mouse and Donald Duck as police officers who chase after Pegleg Pete after he abducts Minnie's dog Fifi. The film was directed by David Hand and features the voices of Walt Disney as Mickey and Clarence Nash as Donald.[2]
The Dognapper was Donald's third film and was the first adventure story to feature both Mickey and Donald. The duck had appeared earlier that year in Mickey's Orphan's Benefit which had been the characters' first joint appearance.
The plot is introduced in newspaper headlines that Fifi, Minnie Mouse's "prize pooch," has been dognapped, along with a description of the suspect, Peg Leg Pete. A radio transmission detailing the suspect's get-away car is heard by police officer Mickey Mouse and his sidekick Donald Duck. The pair soon see Peg Leg Pete speed by in the car and they chase after him, Mickey driving a motorcycle and Donald riding in a sidecar. Despite Pete's evasive maneuvers he is unable to escape from Mickey and Donald, and they eventually follow him to his hideout in an abandoned sawmill.
Inside, Pete chains Fifi to the wall and grabs a submachine gun. Mickey and Donald follow Pete into the sawmill and hold him at gunpoint. The film is filled with various gags showing the two law men as bumbling and incompetent, yet at every turn they are able to stay ahead of Pete, but not capture him.
Finally, while Mickey and Donald are standing on a log, Pete turns on a circular saw positioned to cut the log. Mickey and Donald run to stay ahead of the blade, but eventually the end of the log comes and the saw blade shakes loose and spins out of control. The blade proves a threat for all three of the characters, but eventually Pete gets his peg leg caught in the center hole and brings it to a stop. Mickey and Donald restrain him with a corset, and in the final scene Mickey and Donald march Pete off to jail with the now-free Fifi angrily barking at him.