Donald Duck

Donald Duck is an animated cartoon and comic-book character best known for his cartoons from Walt Disney Productions. Donald is a white anthropomorphic duck with yellow-orange bill, legs, and feet. He usually wears a sailor shirt and cap — but no pants (except when he goes swimming). Some people believe that Finland banned him because he has no trousers, but this is an urban legend, explained here.

Donald in animation

Early appearances

Donald first appeared in the Silly Symphonies cartoon The Wise Little Hen on June 9, 1934 (though he is mentioned in a 1931 Disney storybook). Donald's appearance in the cartoon, as created by animator Dick Lundy, is similar to his modern look — the colors are the same, as is the blue sailor shirt and hat — but his features are more elongated, his body plumper, and his feet bigger. Donald's personality is not developed either; in the short, he only fills the role of the unhelpful friend from the original story.

Related Topics:
Silly Symphonies - The Wise Little Hen - June 9 - 1934 - 1931 - Animator - Dick Lundy

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Bert Gillett, director of The Wise Little Hen, brought Donald back in his Mickey Mouse cartoon, The Orphan's Benefit on August 11, 1934. Donald is one of a number of characters who are giving performances in a benefit for Mickey's Orphans. Donald's act is to recite the poems Mary Had a Little Lamb and Little Boy Blue, but every time he tries, the mischievous orphans eat his specially made pie, leading the duck to fly into a squawking fit of anger. This explosive personality would remain with Donald for decades to come.

Related Topics:
Bert Gillett - Director - Mickey Mouse - The Orphan's Benefit - August 11 - Mickey's Orphans - Mary Had a Little Lamb - Little Boy Blue

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Donald continued to be a hit with audiences. The character began appearing in most Mickey Mouse cartoons as a regular member of the ensemble with Mickey, Minnie, Goofy, and Pluto. Cartoons from this period, such as the 1935 cartoon The Band Concert — in which Donald repeatedly disrupts the Mickey Mouse Orchestra's rendition of The William Tell Overture by playing Turkey in the Straw — are regularly hailed by critics as exemplary films and classics of animation. Animator Ben Sharpsteen also minted the classic Mickey, Donald, and Goofy comedy in 1935, with the cartoon Mickey's Service Station.

Related Topics:
Minnie - Goofy - Pluto - 1935 - The Band Concert - The William Tell Overture - Turkey in the Straw - Ben Sharpsteen - Mickey's Service Station

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Donald was redesigned in 1936 to be a bit fuller, rounder, and cuter. He also began starring in solo cartoons, the first of which was the January 9, 1937 Ben Sharpsteen cartoon, Don Donald. This short also introduced Donald's long-time love interest, Daisy Duck (here called Donna Duck). Donald's nephews, Huey, Dewey and Louie, would make their first animated appearance a year later in the April 15, 1938 film, Donald's Nephews, directed by Jack King (they had been earlier introduced in the Donald Duck comic strip by Al Taliaferro, see below).

Related Topics:
1936 - January 9 - Don Donald - Daisy Duck - Huey, Dewey and Louie - April 15 - 1938 - Donald's Nephews - Jack King - Comic strip - Al Taliaferro

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Wartime Donald

During World War II, film audiences were looking for brasher, edgier cartoon characters. It is no coincidence that the same era that saw the birth and rise of Bugs Bunny also saw Donald Duck's popularity soar. By 1949, Donald had surpassed Mickey Mouse as Disney's most popular character. Before 1941, Donald Duck had appeared in about 50 cartoons. Between 1941 and 1965, Donald would star in over 100.

Related Topics:
World War II - Bugs Bunny - 1949 - 1941 - 1965

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Several of Donald's shorts during the war were propaganda films, most notably Der Fuehrer's Face, released on January 1, 1943. In it, Donald plays a worker in an artillery factory in "Nutzi Land" (Nazi Germany). He struggles with long working hours, very small food rations, and having to salute every time he sees a picture of the Führer (Adolf Hitler). These pictures appear in many places, such as on the assembly line in which he is screwing in the detonators of various sizes of shells. In the end he becomes little more than a small part in a faceless machine with no choice but to obey till he falls, suffering a nervous breakdown. Then Donald wakes up to find that his experience was in fact a nightmare. At the end of the short Donald looks to the Statue of Liberty and the American flag with renewed appreciation. Der Fuehrer's Face won the 1943 Academy Award for Animated Short Film.

Related Topics:
Propaganda - Der Fuehrer's Face - January 1 - 1943 - Nazi Germany - Salute - Führer - Adolf Hitler - Statue of Liberty - American - Academy Award for Animated Short Film

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Other notable shorts from this period include the so-called Army shorts, six films that follow Donald's life in the US Army from his drafting to his life at boot camp under sergeant Pete to his first actual mission as a commando having to sabotage a Japanese air base. Titles in the series include:

Related Topics:
US Army - Pete - Commando - Japanese

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• Donald Gets Drafted - (May 1, 1942).
• The Vanishing Private - (September 25, 1942).
• Sky Trooper - (November 6, 1942).
• Fall Out Fall In - (April 23, 1943).
• The Old Army Game - (November 5, 1943).
• Commando Duck - (June 2, 1944).

Donald Gets Drafted also featured Donald having a physical examination before joining the army. According to it Donald has flat feet and is unable to distinguish between the colors green and blue, which is a type of color blindness. Also in this cartoon sergeant Pete comments on Donald's lack of discipline.

Related Topics:
Donald Gets Drafted - Color blindness

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Post-war animation

Many of Donald's films made after the war recast the duck as the brunt of some other character's pestering. Donald is repeatedly attacked, harassed, and ridiculed by his nephews, by the chipmunks Chip 'n Dale, or by other one-shot characters such as Humphrey the Bear, Buzz the Bee, Bootle Beetle, the Aracuan Bird, Louie the Mountain Lion or a colony of ants. In effect, the Disney artists had reversed the classic screwball scenario perfected by Walter Lantz and others in which the main character is the instigator of these harassing behaviors, rather than the butt of them. However, by turning the tables, Donald's aggressors come off to some as sadistic or cruel, and some critics have found the films unfunny as a result.

Related Topics:
Chipmunk - Chip 'n Dale - Humphrey the Bear - Buzz the Bee - Aracuan Bird - Walter Lantz

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The post-war Donald also starred in educational films, such as Donald Duck in Mathmagic Land (1959), and made cameos in various Disney projects, such as The Reluctant Dragon (1941) and the Disneyland television show (1959).

Related Topics:
Educational film - Donald Duck in Mathmagic Land - 1959 - The Reluctant Dragon - 1941 - Disneyland - Television

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Since Clarence Nash's death in 1985, Donald's voice has been provided by Tony Anselmo, who was mentored by Nash.

Related Topics:
Clarence Nash - Tony Anselmo

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