Tag Archives: Donald Duck

August 19, 1955 – The Donald Duck Short Film Bearly Asleep is Released to Theaters

“Yes, after we have bid farewell to the summer tourists, and the park is closed for the winter, it is time for our little bear friends to hibernate in their winter cave.”

On August 19, 1955, the Donald Duck short film Bearly Asleep was released to theaters. This is the third of four shorts where Humphrey the Bear is the antagonist of Donald Duck; this is also one of the few Donald Duck shorts filmed in CinemaScope. It was directed by Jack Hannah, with story by Al Bertino and Dave Detiege.

Ranger Donald Duck is waving goodbye to the visitors as they leave the national park. The bears also wave goodbye to the visitors, until Donald calls them all to attention, as it is time for them to hibernate in their cave. Humphrey, however, has been lounging in a nearby hammock, and reluctantly joins the line when Donald kicks him. Donald allows Humphrey to grab a drink of water before joining the bears, then yelps that someone pinched him. Donald throws the glass at Humphrey, telling him to go to sleep, and mutters “I hate bears,” over and over again as he walks back to his cabin.

Humphrey is happy to find a place where he can spend his hibernation

In the cave, Humprey starts annoying all the other bears with his fidgeting and snoring, and they kick him out into the snow. He finds a log to stay in, except that the rabbit living there kicks him out. He then finds what he thinks is another cave, but is nearly run over by a train running at full-speed. Finally, he comes across the ranger’s cabin and, spying the bunk beds, decides to find a way in. He pretends to sleepwalk into the cabin and crawl into one of the beds, but Donald is suspicious of his behavior, and places a lamp underneath the bed. As Humphrey becomes too warm, he “sleep-climbs” up to the top bunk, but Donald places the open flame of the lamp under the top mattress, and Humphrey leaps into the air in pain. Donald then uses a snowshoe to beat Humphrey out of the house before sealing all the exits.

As Humphrey gazes wistfully into the warm building, he finds that his nose is stuck to the glass of the window. He pulls the glass off as he tries to remove it from his nose, and ends up shutting himself back inside the house and placing the glass back in the window. Spying the snowshoe and its painful spike, Humphrey looks for a place to hide as Donald prepares for a shower. Unfortunately, Humphrey hides in the shower and ends up all wet. Donald finally finds Humphrey hiding and searches all over the house to catch the bear, trapping him in the oven. Donald then sends Humphrey flying out again, along with all other pieces of bear memorabilia. Seeing that Donald threw out a bear dressed as a baby, Humphrey dons the outfit and pretends to be a lost baby left in a basket in front of his old cave. The bears take him in, and his snoring once again keeps the entire cave awake through hibernation.

August 5, 1959 – The Donald Duck Short Film Honey Harvester is Released to Theaters

“Oh boy – honey!”

On August 5, 1949, the Donald Duck short film Honey Harvester was released to theaters. This short features the Goofy holler; commonly attributed to Goofy, this is one of the rare examples it has been used by Donald. It was directed by Jack Hannah, with story by Nick George and Bill Berg.

Spike the Bee is hard a work in Donald’s greenhouse, gathering honey from flowers and taking it back to his hive in a broken down old car’s radiator. As he works, Donald enters the greenhouse and sees Spike, but thinks nothing of it until he realizes that Spike will lead him to a large amount of honey. He starts looking for Spike, although the bee is reluctant to let Donald follow him to his hive. Donald sets up an ink pad for Spike to step in, and follows the footsteps, although Spike is able to outwit him. Donald tries again, attaching some string to some flypaper and following it to the old car. However, the string leads past the car and up a tree, where Spike cuts down a branch, sending Donald plummeting to the ground.

After several failed attempts to follow Spike, Donald accidentally finds the honey’s location

After this mishap, Donald leans on the radiator of the old car, irritated, when he realizes that he has honey all over his hand. Donald then starts filling jars with honey just when Spike returns with more honey. He sees Donald getting away with his stash and attempts to sting him, but Donald protects himself with a pot and a cork. Spike manages to free himself from the cork, but grabs a cactus spike and attempts to attack Donald again with much more force. Donald finally surrenders after being chased around his yard and returns the honey – save for one jar he has hidden in his shirt. Spike sees this and stings Donald again, and Donald flees in panic.

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.

July 18, 1952 – The Donald Duck Short Film Uncle Donald’s Ants is Released to Theaters

“Cute little fellow.”

On July 18, 1952, the Donald Duck short film Uncle Donald’s Ants was released to theaters. It was directed by Jack Hannah, with story by Al Bertino and Nick George.

An ant colony starts taking food out of their ant hill, marching across the pathway in Donald’s front yard. Donald has just made a trip back from the grocery store, and hasn’t realized that his sack of sugar has been leaking and leaving a trail behind him. The last ant of the colony looks up just in time to see giant sugar crystal hurtling toward him. Donald turns and notices the ant, and gives a crystal to the ant before sidestepping him to reach his front door. The ant quickly takes the crystal back and and explains what happened, and the ants call all the other ant colonies in the nearby area to get more of this sugar.

Donald finishes making a cake, unaware of the chaos he has created by his act of charity

Inside his house, Donald is putting the finishing touches on the cake he’s been making, and thinks back to the little ant. Suddenly, he has a nightmarish vision of hundreds of ant storming his house for the sugar, and runs to the front door to see that his vision has come true. He runs back inside to hide his maple syrup, barricade the door and windows with masking tape, and wall up the chimney. He hears the whistle of the postman and rushes to the door, but remembers the ants and sneaks to the window to spy on his stoop. Seeing no ants, he takes the tape off the door and grabs the letter from his mailbox, but is angered that the letter only reads the words “BIG SALE.” He puts the letter down on a nearby table, unaware that the words have been comprised of the ants. The ants spy Donald’s cake, and distract him long enough to carry it away.

One ant finds himself in the cupboard where the maple syrup and the sugar cubes are stashed away, and calls some more ants to help him carry the sweet things out. Meanwhile, Donald is setting up traps to catch the ants, while the ants use macaroni to build an intricate plumbing system to send the maple syrup. Donald then stops the maple syrup flow by sending the flow into a nearby flower pot, but doesn’t count on the ants taking the entire jar of maple syrup. Donald chases after them, and when they hide in the garage, Donald gets a plan to pour gasoline down the other side of their macaroni pipe, then light it with a match. The ants, who have been counting on this, have already made a switch, and Donald opens the garage door to find that they’ve hooked the other end of Donald’s trap to the gas tank in his car. Donald’s car explodes, sending him sky high. All of the ants celebrate with maple syrup, safe in their colony once again.

June 21, 1961 – The Donald Duck Short Film The Litterbug is Released to Theaters

“Still, we have no cause to be smug, for we’ve invented no poison, nor drug to settle the score with one pest we abhor and contemptibly call the ‘Litterbug.’”

On June 21, 1961, the Donald Duck short film The Litterbug was released to theaters. This was the last Donald Duck short ever made. Huey, Dewey, and Louie also make a cameo in this short. The short was directed by Hamilton Luske, with story by Bill Berg and Lance Nolley.

The short begins with several live-action shots of litter, before turning to the book Pest Control by Dr. D.D. Tee, who narrates. He runs through a few pests, including mosquitoes and termites, and how we have been able to stop their destruction. There is one pest, the doctor warns, that we have been unable to stop: the litterbug. Donald plays the part of the litterbug, leaving trash wherever he goes. When the season changes to spring, Donald (multiplied enough to fill a neighborhood) is seen cleaning his house, dumping trash on his neighbor’s lawn. The doctor then moves on the types of litterbugs, starting with the “unconscious carrier.” As Donald walks down the street, he leaves his trash everywhere, oblivious to what he is doing. As Donald starts smoking cigarettes and lighting matches, his careless tossing of the lit matches sets fires all over town.

The animals are less than pleased about the condition these litterbugs have left the environment in

The next type of litterbug is the “sports bug.” Donald runs out of a stadium game, carrying snacks and several other items, throwing his trash around in excitement, mimicking various sports actions, including bunting and punting. The narrator then moves on to the “sneak bug,” who hides his trash in various places, like mailboxes and potted plants. He then talks about children, who start innocent, but let their true littering nature soon shine through. We observe Donald’s nephews on the playground, leaving their trash from their lunches all over the ground. After this, Donald and his nephews travel for the summer, leaving trash everywhere, from the mountains to the beaches. When all the tourists leave their holiday destinations, they leave mountains of trash in their wake. As Donald trashes the mountains, all of the animals start singing a song about the shame of littering. However, as the short ends and we pull away from the book, we see that Dr. D.D. Tee is no different, with piles of litter surrounding his desk.