May 9, 1947 – The Donald Duck Short Film, Sleepy Time Donald, is Released to Theaters
“I must humor him. I mustn’t wake him, or it would be fatal.”
On May 9, 1947, the Donald Duck short film, Sleepy Time Donald, was released to theaters. The short was directed by Jack King, with story by Roy Williams, and starred Clarence Nash as the voice of Donald Duck, and Gloria Blondell as the voice of Daisy Duck. This is one of those rare shorts that, while Donald’s name is in the title, Daisy gets more of the starring role, with great results.
The scene opens with Donald fast asleep in his suburban home, when suddenly he rises from his bed, places a boot on his head, and sleepwalks to Daisy Duck’s house. Daisy wakes up, alarmed, but becomes puzzled when Donald walks right past her and out the other door, only to turn around and ring the doorbell. Daisy leaps out of bed and throws on a date-night outfit before answering the door for her “date.”
As Donald tries to kiss Daisy, she begins to play hard-to-get
Deciding that she needs to “humor” Donald, she opens the door and greets him, and Donald asks if he’s on time for their date. Daisy giggles as she reassures him he is, and then she is seen being escorted to the zoo. There’s a moment where she wonders if he’s going to kiss her, and she ducks when he tries to, and begins to play hard to get with him. She tricks him into kissing a tree branch, with Donald thinking it’s her arm. He then slips an engagement ring on the branch, with Daisy swooning at his romantic gestures. As he lets the branch go, the ring catapults into the monkey’s pen, with the female monkey giving the male a big kiss. Unfortunately for her, Daisy slips the ring away from the pair, causing the female monkey to deck the male.
Daisy admires the ring on her hand, noticing just a bit too late that Donald has sleepwalked into the lion’s cage, narrowly missing being eaten. After the zoo, Donald walks up the side of a building, with Daisy watching in horror on the ground. She calls out his name, and he only motions for her to join him. She tells him that her way is the shorter way; he shrugs and decides she’s right, although he continues to walk on the side of the building as they continue down the street, with Daisy trying to prevent him from getting into trouble as best she can.
Donald wakes and accuses Daisy of sleepwalking
Donald continues his sleepwalking by walking straight into traffic. Daisy flips the traffic sign to a stop so Donald won’t get hit by a car, causing a massive pile-up. Finally, she decides to make him think that they’re boarding a boat as she leads him back to his house and gets him back into bed. As she tries to slip out, Donald wakes up and accuses her of walking in her sleep. She argues with him that she has not been walking in her sleep, but Donald laughs, until Daisy hits him over the head with his boot, causing him to sleepwalk back into bed and fall fast asleep.
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