July 24, 1942 – The Donald Duck Short Film Donald’s Gold Mine is Released to Theaters
“Quack quack quack quack, quack quack quack quack, excavating for a mine…”
On July 24, 1942, the Donald Duck short film Donald’s Gold Mine was released to theaters. It was directed by Dick Lundy, and stars Clarence Nash as the voice of Donald.
The Lucky Duck Mine is hard at work, and Donald is inside, singing a song as he shovels rocks into his cart. His donkey decides to join in the singing (although he is very off-key), much to Donald’s annoyance, and he shoves the cart into the donkey to silence him. The donkey shoves the cart right back, sending a shovel full of rocks down Donald’s throat. Donald tries to trick the donkey into shoving all the rocks out of his stomach, but once he does, he gives the donkey a “Thanks, pal” before giving him another sharp kick.
Donald finds the pickaxe stuck in his shirt after a slip from a boulder
Donald then takes a pickaxe and starts to mine, but slips on a boulder and ends up wearing the pickax, which is stuck beneath his shirt. He struggles to remove it, but to no avail, and the donkey continues to bray at the duck’s misfortune. He finally manages to remove to the pickax, which sticks into the ceiling and brings down a multitude of gold nuggets, which land in his cart.
Suddenly seeing dollar signs, Donald climbs into his cart and laughs maniacally at his good fortune, throwing pieces into the air while crying out that he’s rich. Unfortunately, the pieces spook the donkey, who takes off flying with Donald stuck in the cart; Donald and his cargo get dumped in the ore drop shaft when the donkey comes to a sudden stop. The donkey runs to see Donald getting caught in the ore drop process, narrowly missing being crushed over and over again. The donkey comes out to the finish, seeing Donald processed as a 24K gold block, and brays once again at the duck’s misfortune.
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