Tag Archives: 1930s

July 29, 1938 – The Donald and Goofy Short Film The Fox Hunt is Released to Theaters

“Come on out, you big palooka, or I’ll come in after you! What kind of a fox hunt do you think this is?”

On July 29, 1938, the Donald Duck and Goofy short film The Fox Hunt premiered in theaters. It was directed by Ben Sharpsteen, and was the second short in the series starring both characters. The short also features cameos by Mickey, Minnie, Horace Horsecollar, and Clara Cluck.

Early in the morning, the riders head off on their fox hunt, with Donald holding the leashes of the bloodhounds and struggling with keeping them in line. Meanwhile, Goofy is gaily riding his horse until he runs into a tree, finding the fox hiding inside. He alerts Donald, and the chase is on, with the bloodhounds dragging Donald with them helplessly. Donald is thrown from their leashes when he is rammed into a tree, and is trampled by the rest of the riders. Goofy has his own problems when it is revealed that his horse is afraid to jump. Goofy decides to teach his horse how to jump, and is successful, with the horse landing on Goofy’s head. The two start splashing around in the pond on the other side of the hedge. Donald decides to chase after the fox on foot, and corners him into a hole. The fox manages to sneak away and bring Donald into a teasing game of hide and seek. Donald places a large boulder over one of the holes in the ground and blows his trumpet into the other one, thinking it will blow the fox out, but manages to send the boulder flying into the air and landing on Donald’s head. After using a rather ginormous puff of air, Donald is able to push the fox out from underground, and grabs it by the tail. The fox pulls Donald into a log, and Donald announces that he has caught the fox – only to find that in the scuffle, he has a skunk instead. Donald flees as fast as his legs will carry him before he gets sprayed by the miffed skunk.

June 17, 1938 – The Donald and Goofy Short Film Polar Trappers is Released to Theaters

“On polar caps, we set our traps for walrus, bear, and seal. We fill a zoo with caribou – depends on how we feel.

On June 17, 1938, the Donald and Goofy short film Polar Trappers was released to theaters. It is the first of a handful of short films that feature the two characters together. The short was directed by Ben Sharpsteen.

Donald and Goofy have set up their own trapping company with the tagline “We bring ‘em back alive.” Goofy is setting up traps while Donald is cooking up some beans within their igloo. Donald is annoyed with eating only beans when he spies a penguin outside. He thinks he can capture the penguin and roast it like a chicken, so he dresses up like a penguin to capture her. Goofy continues to set up a walrus trap, not noticing when a walrus takes his bucket of fish. Goofy then dresses like a walrus to try and capture it, but ends up lost inside a cave full of icicles. Goofy ends up getting trapped in a hole in the cave, and ending up stuck in some ice. He then sneezes, sending all the icicles falling to the ground, dressing him up like the Statue of Liberty. Meanwhile, Donald continues his hunt for the penguin, and wanders into a penguin colony. He uses his flute to herd the penguins, having them march behind him as if he were a pied piper of penguins. A baby penguin continues to get in his way, and Donald continually tricks it to wander another direction, only to have it end up in front of him again. The baby penfuin finds himself alone and lets out a tear, which freezes and rolls down a snowy hill, turning into a giant snowball that chases Donald and Goofy down the slopes and crashes them into their igloo.