Most of us know Pluto as Mickey Mouse's dog, but few of us know his history and how he came about. Walt Disney and Norm Ferguson created Pluto just a few years after Mickey Mouse. He has been voiced mostly by Pinto Colvig and more recently by Bill Farmer.

Pluto is one of the few Disney characters who is not anthropomorphized. This means that he doesn't have human characteristics as the other animal cartoons do. He is represented as a doggy dog, unlike Goofy who is an anthropomorphic dog. Pluto starred independently in forty eight Disney shorts from 1930 to 1950.

Pluto was actually a minor character until he had a key roll in the cartoon Playful Pluto in 1934. In this cartoon, the dog becomes entangled in a piece of sticky flypaper, and this cartoon became a classic, as it demonstrated how well Disney artists could take a simple thing and build humor out of it.

Pluto is not a speaking dog like the other Disney Characters are, but we understand him well by his facial expressions and body language. "Kiss Me," are the only words that Pluto has ever spoken." Other than that he communicates in a series of dog barks and funny actions.

Over the years, Pluto has built up a few friends and family members in his own cartoons. His friends are Fifi the Peke, Ronnie the St Bernard Puppy and girlfriend Dinah the Dachshund. Although Dinah the Dachshund replaced Fifi the Peke as Pluto's girlfriend, she is still seen dating Butch the Bulldog on occasion.

Among his many enemies are Donald Duck, Salty the Seal, Black Pete, Chip 'n Dale, Butch the Bulldog and Spike the bee. His son is simply Pluto Junior and he also has a younger brother named K.B.

Some people believe that Pluto was named after the recently discovered ninth planet at the time, but this has never been verified. Pluto is officially ranked the fifth most popular Disney Character of all time and the second most popular dog after Goofy. Pluto's biggest rival was the animated pet Sylvester the Cat which was done by Warner Bros.

While he was featured in many cartoon shorts, he also made appearances in movies such as Totally Minnie, Who Framed Rodger Rabbit, Mickey's House of Villains, The Prince and the Pauper, Mickey's Magical Christmas and Roger Rabbit 2.

If you visit the various Disney Theme Parks, you will see Pluto on two legs, and much more like the other Disney Characters, as he walks about greeting all the visitors.