''The Pointer'' is an American animated

short film A short film is a film with a low running time. The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS) defines a short film as "an original motion picture that has a running time of not more than 40 minutes including all credits". Other film o ...

produced by

Walt Disney Productions The Walt Disney Company, commonly referred to as simply Disney, is an American multinational mass media and entertainment conglomerate headquartered at the Walt Disney Studios complex in Burbank, California. Disney was founded on October 16 ...

and released by

RKO Radio Pictures RKO Radio Pictures Inc., commonly known as RKO Pictures or simply RKO, is an American film production and distribution company, historically one of the "Big Five" film studios of Hollywood's Golden Age. The business was formed after the Kei ...

on July 21, 1939, shown in theaters with '' Way Down South''. The short was directed by

Clyde Geronimi Clito "Clyde" Geronimi (June 12, 1901 – April 24, 1989), known as Gerry, was an American animation director. He is best known for his work at Walt Disney Productions. Biography Geronimi was born in Chiavenna, Kingdom of Italy, Italy, immigrati ...

and animated by Fred Moore, Frank Thomas, Lynn Karp, Seamus Culhane, Ollie Johnston, Preston Blair, Lester Norvi, John Lounsbery, Claude Smitha, Art Palmer, and Josh Meador. The film was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Short Subject (Cartoon) in 1940.The Pointer
. ''www.bcdb.com'' It was the 106th short in the ''

Mickey Mouse Mickey Mouse is an American cartoon character co-created in 1928 by Walt Disney and Ub Iwerks. The longtime icon and mascot of the Walt Disney Company, Mickey is an anthropomorphic mouse who typically wears red shorts, large shoes, and white ...

'' film series to be released, and the third for that year. The cartoon follows

as he tries to teach his dog

Pluto Pluto (minor-planet designation: 134340 Pluto) is a dwarf planet in the Kuiper belt, a ring of Trans-Neptunian object, bodies beyond the orbit of Neptune. It is the ninth-largest and tenth-most-massive known object to directly orbit the Su ...

to be a pointer dog during a quail hunt. It was directed by

and features the voices of

Walt Disney Walter Elias Disney ( ; December 5, 1901December 15, 1966) was an American animator, film producer, voice actor, and entrepreneur. A pioneer of the Golden age of American animation, American animation industry, he introduced several develop ...

as Mickey and Lee Millar as Pluto. Although often cited as the animated debut of Mickey's modern character design, this actually occurred five months earlier in '' Mickey's Surprise Party''. Nevertheless, ''The Pointer'' is still considered a milestone Mickey Mouse film for its background art and Mickey's acting which was personally staged by Walt Disney. The film was nominated for the

Academy Award for Best Animated Short Film The Academy Award for Best Animated Short Film is an award given by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS) as part of the annual Academy Awards, or Oscars, since the 5th Academy Awards (with different names), covering the year ...

at the

12th Academy Awards The 12th Academy Awards ceremony, held on February 29, 1940, by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS), honored the best in film for 1939 at a banquet in the Coconut Grove at The Ambassador Hotel in Los Angeles. It was hosted ...

in 1940, but ultimately lost to Disney's own '' The Ugly Duckling'', the final installment of the ''

Silly Symphony ''Silly Symphony'' (also known as ''Silly Symphonies'') is an American animation, animated series of 75 musical short films produced by Walt Disney Animation Studios, Walt Disney Productions from 1929 to 1939. As the series name implies, the ''Si ...

'' series.

Plot

Mickey Mouse and Pluto are camping in the woods about to set out hunting. Mickey reads to Pluto from an instructional book how to point at game and not move. Mickey promises that if they are successful they will have "

quail Quail is a collective name for several genera of mid-sized birds generally placed in the order Galliformes. The collective noun for a group of quail is a flock, covey, or bevy. Old World quail are placed in the family Phasianidae, and New ...

on toast, and maybe a nice big juicy bear steak" that night. After Mickey tosses aside a can of beans in favor of their target meal, they set out into the forest, Mickey carrying a shotgun. The first time they see quail, Pluto gets too excited, knocks Mickey over, and scares the birds away. Mickey scolds Pluto, but later softens, realizing that Pluto is a mutt and won't be able to learn. They set off again, but become separated. Pluto again hears some quail, and points at them. He is careful this time not to move at all, even to the point of letting the quail jump up on him and pull his fur. Mickey however is unaware that Pluto is not right behind him. He jumps down from a rock and unwittingly wakes a sleeping bear who starts to follow him. Only when Mickey doubles around and comes across Pluto, still in his pointer position, does he realize that there is a bear behind him. The bear appears to be belligerent, but rather than running away, Mickey first tries to talk to the bear, explaining that he and Pluto were only hunting quail. Mickey even introduces himself to the bear, saying "I hope you've heard of me". The bear instead chases after Mickey and Pluto, who tear a path across the landscape back to their camp. That night they happily eat a supper of canned beans.

Use in other media

Animation of Mickey whistling and walking through the woods was reused in the ''

Disneyland Disneyland is a amusement park, theme park at the Disneyland Resort in Anaheim, California. It was the first theme park opened by the Walt Disney Company and the only one designed and constructed under the direct supervision of Walt Disney, ...

'' episode "Tricks of Our Trade" in 1957. For this appearance, Pluto was omitted, and Mickey was redrawn having different clothes and carrying a fishing pole instead of a shotgun.

Voice cast

* Mickey Mouse:

* Pluto: Pinto Colvig (archive sound)

Releases

* 1939 - theatrical release * 1954 - ''

'', episode #1.1: " The Disneyland Story" (TV) * 1961 - ''

Walt Disney's Wonderful World of Color The Walt Disney Company has produced an anthology series, anthology television series since 1954 under several titles and formats. The program's current title, ''The Wonderful World of Disney'', was used from 1969 to 1979 and again from 1991 onwa ...

'', episode #8.5: "The Hunting Instinct" (TV) * c. 1983 - '' Good Morning, Mickey!'', episode #9 (TV) * 1997 - '' The Ink and Paint Club'', episode #1.2: "Mickey's Landmarks" (TV)

Home media

The short was released on May 18, 2004, on '' Walt Disney Treasures: Mickey Mouse in Living Color, Volume Two: 1939-Today''. Additional releases include: * 1983 - "Cartoon Classics: Pluto" (VHS) * 2006 - " Funny Factory with Mickey Mouse" (DVD) * 2011 -

iTunes iTunes is a media player, media library, and mobile device management (MDM) utility developed by Apple. It is used to purchase, play, download and organize digital multimedia on personal computers running the macOS and Windows operating s ...

(digital download)

References

External links

''The Pointer''
at The Encyclopedia of Animated Disney Shorts *

at the Disney Film Project {{DEFAULTSORT:Pointer 1939 films 1930s color films Mickey Mouse short films 1930s Disney animated short films Hunting in popular culture Films about hunting Films directed by Clyde Geronimi Films produced by Walt Disney 1930s American films 1939 animated short films