Mickey's Surprise Party was an advertising film for Nabisco shown at the 1939 New York World's Fair, which featured the first appearance of Fred Moore's ‘modern' Mickey Mouse design. This Pluto drawing was used for the 1 min 55 sec mark, when we first see Pluto and the redesigned Mickey approach Minnie's door. The drawing was skilfully rendered on 5 hole 1930s Disney animation paper, and features a lovable expression with elaborate shadow effects. Reportedly, the animation for this scene was assigned to Walt Kelly, who was a Disney animator at the time, and went on to become a legendary figure in the comics world.
This model sheet, featuring a variety of Pluto poses by Don Towsley, would have been given to Disney artists as reference to keep the character appearance consistent. This example is from a brief period of time around 1937 when Disney produced the sheets by lithography, which soon gave way to the easier to make and cheaper photostats. At some point the former owner wrote "Disney Model Sheet" in pencil at the top, in what looks to be an animator's hand.
