January 10, 1941 – The Donald Duck Short Film Timber is Released in Theaters
“Doggone it…I might just as well be in a concentration camp.”
On January 10, 1941, the Donald Duck short film Timber premiered in theaters. The antagonist, Pete, is named Pierre in this short, playing the part of a French-Canadian lumberjack. The short was directed by Jack King, and stars Clarence Nash as Donald Duck, and Billy Bletcher as Pete/Pierre.
Donald is seen walking the train tracks with a hobo sack, when he smells something delicious. Spying food in a nearby window, he decides to steal some. Inside, Pete is beginning to enjoy his meal when he spots Donald’s wandering hand. Donald begins to load up his sack, with Pierre, the owner of the shack, just watching. Finally, Pierre decides to trick Donald by baiting him with a lighted stick of dynamite in place of a hot dog. Donald’s clothes are blown clean off, and he emerges from a deep hole in the ground where the blast blew him.
The head of the axe flies off the handle, sailing close enough to Pete to sear through a layer of his clothes
Pierre then tells Donald that he will work for food as a lumberjack; Donald, however, has other plans. He breaks his axe when Pierre isn’t looking, hoping that Pierre will just let him go since he has no tool. But Pierre won’t let him off so easily, and fixes the axe for him. When Donald begins his attempt at chopping down a tree, the axe head breaks off and flies into another tree, cutting off part of Pierre’s clothing in the process. Donald, hoping to avoid trouble, attempts to use a saw instead, only to find himself in more trouble. As he flees with the saw in hand, it begins to vibrate, sending Donald bouncing around the forest. When he finally is able to chop something down, he saws off a branch, which knocks Pierre deep into the ground
After Pierre sends Donald flying and bouncing with the saw, Donald is knocked into a tree and chops it down accidentally with his beak. The tree falls on Pierre, who has had it with the duck. Donald flees the camp, with Pierre close behind. As the chase continues on train tracks, Pierre tries anything he can to stop Donald, including breaking his cart piece by piece. Luckily, Donald is able to evade him, and uses quick thinking to send Pierre flying through a line of empty boxcars. Donald walks off into the sunset, traveling once again.
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