September 7, 1945 – The Donald Duck and Goofy Short Film No Sail is Released
“Oh, give me the flashing brine, the spray, and the tempest’s roar, a life on the ocean wave, a home on the rolling deep…”
On September 7, 1945, the Donald Duck and Goofy short film No Sail was released to theaters. The film is one of the few listed under only Donald Duck’s filmography, even though it’s a double-billed short film. It was directed by Jack Hannah, with story by Dick Kinney and Ralph Wright. Clarence Nash stars as Donald Duck, and Pinto Colvig stars as Goofy.
Donald and Goofy arrive at a dock with several sailboats, and Donald deposits five cents in their chosen boat. Once the money has been inserted, the mast shoots out from the deposit box, and the boat zips away into the ocean. Goofy and Donald continue to sing their sea chantey as they sail quickly; unfortunately, the five cents only covers a short amount of time, and the mast returns to the deposit box. Donald pays again, and they soon go off and running, until the time runs out again. The mast lands on his head after he pays, so he kicks it, sending it flying back into the box. As Donald searches for another nickel, he soon realizes that he is out of change, and he and Goofy are stranded.
Goofy startles Donald when he declares that the ocean water he’s drinking needs more salt, then pulls a salt shaker from his pocket
Nighttime comes, and the two are still out in the open ocean. When the sun rises the next morning, Donald is nearly delirious with thirst. Goofy grabs a cup and attempts to drink the salt water, although Donald tells him not to. Goofy takes a sip and, to Donald’s surprise, proclaims it needs more salt. In the distance, Donald hears the sound of a boat approaching them, and they call out it. As Goofy waves his shirt, a nickel falls out of his shirt pocket. Donald chases after it, but it falls into the ocean, leaving them again stranded. Donald then looks up to see Goofy waving at the passengers as the ship sails by.
As the sun bears down on them, Donald is going mad. A fish lands on their boat, and the two argue over it, until a passing seagull eats it from their hands. Goofy attempts to kill the seagull for food, but the gull flies away unscathed. Out of nowhere, a shark appears, circling their boat. As Donald looks, several sharks have decided to circle their boat, until Goofy grabs one of their fins, realizing that the sharks aren’t real. Donald attempts to pick up a fin, and ends up staring a shark straight in the teeth. Goofy then decides that they can go fishing, and accidentally hooks Donald by the shirt and sends him flying into the water among the sharks. Donald tries to avoid getting eaten while Goofy attempts to untangle his line. At this point, Donald has had enough. He demands that Goofy let him down, so he does – beak first into the coin slot. This lets loose the mast, and the two sail home, although Donald isn’t too happy with how they accomplished such a feat.
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