April 28, 1939 – The Donald Duck Short Film The Hockey Champ is Released to Theaters
“I see that a demonstration is in order…so I’ll beat the three of you all by myself.”
On April 28, 1939, the Donald Duck short film The Hockey Champ was released to theaters. It was directed by Jack King.
It’s a cold winter’s day, and Donald is skating gracefully on a nearby pond. He imitates figure skater Sonja Henie, when he sees his nephews playing a fast and furious game of hockey. As Donald shows his nephews his hockey trophy, the boys are unimpressed. Donald decides to play the three boys by himself, and immediately begins to show off. The boys watch as Donald continuously scores, but are less than impressed when he berates them. Donald decides to try and beat them again, this time blindfolded, but the boys get the best of him, leaving an angry Donald to chase them across the frozen pond until he crashes into a bank of ice. The boys continue to mess with their uncle as they continue the game in the snow. Donald falls into a well and manages to get stuck in a block of ice, but frees himself quickly to chase his nephews. Unfortunately, Donald accidentally swallows the puck, and the boys chase him, hitting him with his hockey sticks to get the puck in the goal. The game ends with Donald and the puck getting caught in the net, with Donald squawking angrily.
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