Ice skating shows would typically incorporate comedy skits in between major production numbers, including duos dressed up as four-legged animals. These shows would always try and incorporate pop culture characters whenever possible. In honor of its tenth anniversary in 1946, with permission from Walt Disney Studios, Ice Follies debuted "Walt Disney's Pluto", in which Ole Ericsen and Jim Hutchinson dressed up as Pluto for a comedic ice skating act. The costume was a two-performer costume, with Ericsen operating the character's front and Hutchinson his rear. This marked the very first time a Disney character appeared in an ice skating show.
The next appearance of Pluto was at the Ice Capades of the early 1950s, when Disney characters were featured prominently in several Ice Capades shows. Pluto is unique among the costumed Disney characters in that it was a two-performer costume, as the Ice Follies costume had been before it. As Walt Disney did not have his own costumed characters at the time, he borrowed the characters, including the two-person Pluto, for use in the opening of Disneyland in 1955.
Pluto received a dramatic redesign, to make it more park-friendly. He now stands upright and walks on his hind legs (thus eliminating the need for two people). He had no collar, a closed mouth, a shiny nose, and whiskers. There were a few different variants of this Pluto. For example, his pupils changed size, depending on whatever year it was (either big or small, looking here, looking there). His paws also varied: sometimes they were black, sometimes they had individual circles. His ears were also very long.
This Pluto (pictured here with Goofy and Donald Duck), seen in Disney on Parade in 1973, had larger eyes (with eyeliner around them at times) and a larger snout with more defined ridges. His ears were not as long as they once were. An orange collar was added, which would eventually show up in the parks.
Pluto was drastically redesigned yet again in 1978. This Pluto costume looks a bit more like his cartoon counterpart. He received a resculpted head and new body. He has a happier, friendlier appearance, with his mouth open and a red frog-like tongue sticking out. He also wears an orange collar with a name tag. Originally, his pupils were much larger than previously. This Pluto appeared mostly at Disneyland, with a few appearances at Tokyo Disneyland and once in Australia.
There was also an unusual Pluto which had missing fur around his eyes.
At Walt Disney World, Pluto had smaller pupils and his mouth was slightly more open. This particular Pluto was also used occasionally at Disneyland and Tokyo Disneyland off and on with the bigger-pupiled Pluto, which was formally retired in 1990 (except for sporadic appearances at Disneyland until December 1992 and a special return for the Disney's Sing-Along Songs: The Twelve Days of Christmas video in 1993), thus making the smaller-pupiled Pluto the official Pluto in the parks. Only one change was made to the costume since then: in 2005, Pluto's tongue was reduced, not hanging out as far.
Pluto receives an articulated head with a pink cartoony tongue, debuting in Mickey's Most Merriest Celebration. Albeit modeled after the 1978 non-articulated version, his eyes are a bit thinner and still not conjoined to make him resemble his 1960 counterpart.
