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.

The Disney shorts are still fun to watch, and there are a number of classics. Pluto is not as strong or effortlessly funny a character as Goofy and Pluto, but his energy and cuteness gives him a real likability. Pluto and the Gopher is pleasant but Pluto has done and been in much better. While it is nice to have the general setting as inside the house rather than in the gardens, much of the short consists of a fair number of Tom and Jerry-like chase scenes and not a lot of else. The story does have energy and does well in accommodating Pluto's personality, but the formula of Pluto vs something/somebody else(usually an animal) has been used a lot(almost all of his shorts actually) and very little new is done with it, coupled with it being driven by chase scenes and not much else it is routine and predictable. And Minnie's role here is so small that her presence felt unnecessary and wasted. The animation on the other hand is bright and colourful with more fluid and refined movements and drawings than the animation in the shorts of the 30s-40s(which is still nice and charming). The music is bouncy and lively with lush orchestration, while the gags are still amusing- if not hilarious- and Pluto and the Gopher is quite cute too. Pluto's personality is played more to his strengths than in the previous 7 or 8 shorts and the scenario in a way helps him. He is likable and very energetic, being careful not to antagonise too much. He is well supported by the gopher, one of the foils that matches Pluto rather than stealing the show from under him. He may have a cute appearance but goodness isn't he crafty or what? The two work very nicely together. On the whole, nothing special but it is a nice watch still. 6/10 Bethany Cox