September 20, 1940 – The Donald Duck Short Film Window Cleaners is Released to Theaters
“I’m flying high, up in the sky, watching the world go by…”
On September 20, 1940, the Donald Duck short film Window Cleaners was released to theaters. It was directed by Jack King.
Donald and Pluto are hard at work as window cleaners, with Pluto pulling the rope that suspends Donald high in the air on a scaffold. The first bit of danger is from a woman using pruning shears to trim her window box garden. While narrowly missing the rope and Donald’s neck, she snips off his hat and his tail feathers. As Pluto is pulling, he has an itch on his backside, and lets go of the rope to bite it, sending Donald plummeting. Luckily, the rope wraps itself around a sign and comes to a stop, but Donald has comically fallen through the scaffolding. He soon continues his work, sending his bucket down for more water. Pluto has fallen asleep on the job, and Donald tries to use the hook to wake the sleepy dog. Donald does all he can to wake Pluto, but ends up only more frustrated. He angrily throws his brush down the drain pipe, which rouses the dog. In annoyance, Pluto sends the hook to the direction of the water bucket, but it hooks onto a nearby bucket of nails and bolts. When Donald throws the bucket’s contents, it shatters the window. He then moves on to the next window, and a bee flies into the nearby flowers. Donald tries to drown the bee, who in turn tries to sting him. Donald manages to shield himself with his empty bucket, but the bee flies into the bucket, causing Donald to flip out. He ends up getting hit by a flagpole, and falls onto the scaffolding in a daze. As he tries to hit the bee, he ends up tied to the scaffold, and manages to hold off the bee as it continues to try and sting him. Exhausted, the bee holds up his stinger with his last bit of strength. Surprised by the sting, Donald ends up shooting down the drain pipe. He yells for Pluto to get him out, but the dog has gone back to snoozing.
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