Mickey Mouse Clubhouse “Pluto’s Playmate” Episode

The “Pluto’s Playmate” episode of Mickey Mouse Clubhouse first premiered in the Playhouse Disney programming block on the Disney Channel on August 29, 2009. This episode begins with Pluto being excited about the big circus show. Mickey tells about the show including that he is going to be the ringmaster and in charge of the show. As he finishes explaining they hear a barking sound from the anywhere area of the Clubhouse.

It turns out that there is an animal in the bathtub. It is not a dog, though, but rather it is a seal. Goofy and Donald then arrive and explain they are training Salty the Seal for the big circus show. They are having trouble training her because she does not know any tricks. Pluto suggests that they help teach Salty tricks for the show and Mickey asks viewers to help in the training.

Next it is time for the Mouskatools for this episodes mission (i.e. teach Salty tricks). The Mouskatools are colorful cards, ice, and a cork along with the mystery Mouskatools. They decide to train Salty in the pool, but he does not want to get in because it seems to be too warm. Mickey uses a thermometer that Goofy has to determine if it is too warm. It is determined to be too warm and they call on Toodles to use a Mouskatool to cool off the pool. The Mouskatool ends up being giant ice cubs, which they push into the pool to make it more comfortable for the seal.

The first trick they teach Salty is how to roll over. For doing a good job they give Salty a gooey fish treat. Donald accidentally spills them and viewers are encouraged to help find the 3 purple, 2 red, and 1 blue gooey fish. Once they find them all they count how many gooey fish there are in total before giving one to Salty. Mickey also gives a gooey fish to Pluto for helping. They then count how many are left and present the math problem of 6 minus 2 equals 4, thus helping to teach some math concepts in this episode beyond just counting.

Minnie and Daisy now arrive and want to help teach Salty a trick. Goofy decides they should teach Salty to play a tune on the horns. Minnie gives Salty direction on playing the horns, but Salty mixes up the order of playing the horns. Minnie suggests that there might be a Mouskatool they can use to mark the horns with different colors, so Salty does not mix them up. This time it is the colored cards that come in handy. They labeled the horns and then sing the order of colors to play to help Salty play a tune on the horns.

They next decide to teach Salty how to balance a ball. Goofy has a ball, but it does not have any air in it. Donald tries to blow it up, but the ball does not have a plug. It is time for another Mouskatool. The use the cork to plug the hole in the beach ball and Salty balances the ball.

Now that Salty is trained it is time for the big circus show. At the circus it is too loud for them to hear Mickey as the ringmaster. The mystery Mouskatool is a whistle and helps Mickey bring order to the circus show. Salty needs help from Pluto and viewers to help him do his tricks. Viewers are encouraged to tell Salty the commands to do the different tricks he learned.

Overall this is an interesting episode that I think is based on a classic Mickey Mouse episode at least in respect to the character Salty the Seal. I really like how it has the math concepts with the gooey fish treats and it teaches subtraction and not just counting and addition like most shows. Other than that, though, it is not really an educational episode, but more just a fun circus episode.