July 19, 1940 – The Donald Duck Short Film Put-Put Troubles is Released to Theaters
“Am I a surprised duck!”
On July 19, 1940, the Donald Duck short film Put-Put Troubles was released to theaters. It was directed by Riley Thomson.
Donald is sitting in his boat, singing a merry tune while Pluto pulls him along the side of the lake. Pluto gets distracted when a frog jumps in his path, however, and the boat crashes into him, knocking him headfirst into the sand. When he continues to chase the frog down a hill, the boat slides over him and down the hill, dropping Donald into the water with a laugh. As Pluto resumes his chase, he gets his nose caught in a spring of a broken mattress. While he struggles to break free, the spring is pulled from the mattress and wraps itself around his neck. Meanwhile, Donald is struggling with his motorboat, which doesn’t seem to want to go. He fills it with oil, but it just shoot out a lot of black smoke, which covers Donald. Donald retaliates, but the motor goes completely nuts, flying off into the air and landing in the ocean. When Donald pulls it out, it seems to pass out, and can only he revive it with smelling salts. The motor makes a whinnying sound, then wraps around the boat, taking the sides of the boat with it.
Poor Pluto is haunted by the menace that is the spring
Pluto manages to free himself from the spring, but is now haunted by its presence. He barks at it and lands on it, trapping his front legs in it once again. As he bounces free, the spring attaches itself to his back, capturing his back legs. Donald continues his fight with the motor, and falls into the lake. He calls out to Pluto for help, and Pluto, finally free from the spring rushes off the dock, landing into the errant boat. The motor flies up in the air and lands on Donald, taking the duck all the way to the bottom of the lake. Donald is them thrown up and into the rope that was tied to the boat, taking Pluto with him on a water-skiing adventure. The poor pair end up tied around a post after they crash.
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