August 1, 1953 – The Donald Duck Short Film The New Neighbor is Released to Theaters
“It has been man’s constant labor to live in peace with his next-door neighbor, and on the newcomer falls the chore of getting along with the man next door.”
On August 1, 1953, the Donald Duck short film The New Neighbor premiered in theaters. It was directed by Jack Hannah, with story by Nick George and Milt Schaffer.
Donald is moving into his new house, and decides to meet his next door neighbor, Pete. The first meeting, however, is not a smooth one, as Pete is seen dumping all of his trash into Donald’s carefully tended yard. Pete’s dog then destroys Donald’s fence and digs up his tulips. Pete then wanders over to Donald’s house and asks for some ice cubes, but then starts grocery shopping from Donald’s fridge, taking all of Donald’s food. His dog then brings over a note, which asks Donald for a favor. As Donald is distracted, the dog steals Donald’s tea set. Donald angrily goes to confront Pete, when Pete shows up at his door with a bowl of soup. Donald finds in delicious, only to find that it’s what Pete feeds his dog.
Donald rakes up all of the leaves that Pete sent flying into his yard
In the spring, Donald is out in his garden, when Pete asks to “borrow” all of Donald’s yard tools. As it begins to rain, Donald runs to find some shelter, when he sees that Pete has left all of Donald’s tools in the rain. The next day, when Pete is trimming his trees, the leaves have spread all over Donald’s yard. Donald quickly gathers the leaves, trying hard not to have a tantrum, and places them in his incinerator, hoping to use the smoke to ruin the clothes on Pete’s laundry line. Pete uses his hose to put out the leaves and spray Donald, but Donald sticks the hose in Pete’s pants and pokes holes in his pants with a rake, with water spraying everywhere. The fight gets ugly enough to make the neighborhood gather and watch, and then it makes front page of the papers. The fight turns into a neighborhood event, much like a sporting event. The two end up building a tall fence between them, which unfortunately falls apart once Pete’s dog starts burrowing in and breaking the foundation. The fight ends with the two moving away from the neighborhood, calling it a draw.
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