Tag Archives: Donald Duck

September 20, 1946 – The Donald Duck Short Film Lighthouse Keeping is Released to Theaters

“Hahaha, ain’t I a devil?”

On September 20, 1946, the Donald Duck short film Lighthouse Keeping was released to theaters. It was directed by Jack Hannah, with story by Harry Reeves and Jesse Marsh.

Donald is trying to read his book by the light of the lighthouse, but is having difficulty as the light only passes by so often. After being annoyed by the inability to read properly, he decides to play a prank on a sleeping pelican on a nearby rock, holding the light so it shines directly on the pelican’s face. The pelican grabs his nest and tries to move, but Donald moves the light again, angering the pelican. As Donald laughs, he hears the door knock, and he goes to answer it. The pelican rushes inside and blows out the candle in the lighthouse. The pelican continues to fight Donald over the light, until Donald grabs the pelican to throw him over the railing at the top. The pelican is able to use his beak to swing him back onto the balcony, sending Donald flying over the railing. Fortunately for the duck, a wave brings him right back to the top, and the two resume their fight over the light.

As the pelican has Donald trapped in his bill, he takes Donald to the balcony to drop him off the edge

Donald thinks he gains the advantage hiding in a trunk, not realizing that he’s hiding in the pelican’s beak. The pelican carefully walks to the balcony and sends Donald over the edge, but Donald only pretends to fall, and the fight once again resumes. The pelican then tricks Donadl into running into a glass door, knocking the duck out and giving the pelican a chance to extinguish the flame. The pelican traps Donald in his beak again, and Donald starts hitting the pelican with a mallet. The mallet breaks apart, with the head landing on the top of the pelican’s beak, and he uses this to beat Donald senseless. He soon loses the mallet head, and Donald uses it to light it on fire, making the pelican release him. The fight over the light continues once more, until the sun comes up. Eager to win, Donald closes the blinds, and the two continue their fight over the lighting of the lighthouse candle.

September 12, 1941 – The Donald Duck Short Film Old MacDonald Duck is Released to Theaters

“Let’s see…eenie meenie miney mo, okay, missy, here we go.”

On September 12, 1941, the Donald Duck short film Old MacDonald Duck was released to theaters. It was directed by Jack King.

It’s a sunny day on Donald’s farm, and he is happily feeding the animals and singing “Old MacDonald,” with the animals accompanying him. He calls out for his cow Clementine, but she seems to be nowhere to be found. He finally spies her up a tree, eating leaves, and she gracefully jumps down to meet him. He sits down to milk her, and all is going well until a fly lands on Clementine’s nose. She accidentally whacks Donald with her tail, and although he is initially irritated, he resumes work until the fly lands on his own beak. After slapping it away, he tries to pull his hat down over his head, but the fly finds its way in and bugs him. He is interrupted to the point where he loses focus, and ends up milking into his hat, sitting on his pail, and wearing his stool as his hat. The fly continues to mock him, so Donald uses Clementine’s udder to shoot milk at the bug. The bug is terrified, but manages to safely get away. The bug seeks the ultimate revenge, and tricks Clementine into wrapping her tail around Donald’s neck before swishing him around to rid herself of the fly, and ends up dumping poor Donald into the milk bucket. The fly then bites the cow to make her kick Donald into the barn, with tools falling all over him. The fly laughs himself silly over his triumph.

September 1, 1944 – The Donald Duck Short Film The Plastics Inventor is Released to Theaters

“Now, the moment we’ve been waiting for: the first flight in our plastic plane.”

On September 1, 1944, the Donald Duck short film The Plastics Inventor was released to theaters. It was directed by Jack King, with story by Jack Hannah and Dick Shaw.

Donald is listening to a radio program called “The Plastic Hour with Professor Butterfield,” of which he is a big fan. He is excited about learning how to bake an airplane out of a huge hunk of junk. He waits until the plastic is ready to be poured into the mold, and creates the parts for the motor while he waits, and is soon ready to fly his plastic plane after baking his helmet as well. Soon, he heads up into the sky with his plane, and enjoys his flight immensely. The professor warns that the plane will melt in water, so Donald should be sure not to get it wet, and should avoid all rainclouds. Unfortunately, a storm quickly brews, and Donald quickly tries to keep his plane together, to no avail. He acts quickly to avoid some mountains, but ends up quickly losing parts of his plane in the process. The plane completely disintegrates, and Donald ends up falling to the ground, covering a flock of blackbirds like a pie. Angered by the professor’s carefree attitude about Donald’s plan falling apart in the rain, Donald takes a nearby watering can and dumps it on the radio, which, like the plane, quickly disintegrates.

August 9, 1940 – The Donald Duck Short Film Donald’s Vacation is Released to Theaters

“Doggone it! Am I mortified. This is absolutely…!”

On August 9, 1940, the Donald Duck short film Donald’s Vacation was released to theaters. The short was directed by Jack King.

Donald is sailing in his canoe, singing while playing his guitar, when he falls over a waterfall. He makes his way out of the river and sets up his camp, which fits rather nicely inside his canoe contraption, which doubles as a tent. He decides to relax, and pulls out a new e-z folding model of the Comfy Vacation Chair, although for Donald, it is anything but easy. Donald ends up folded in the chair as if he were imprisoned, and is soon flung back into the river. He gets back to the chair and starts jumping on it, until it springs into shape. A herd of chipmunks, having watched the interaction, observe Donald as he sleeps in his chair, then make a break for his food supplies. They accidentally puncture Donald’s tail with a pineapple, waking him from his slumber; as he jumps in the air, he is once again trapped in his chair, helpless to watch as the chipmunks carry his food away. He uses the chair to propel him forward to chase the chipmunks, unaware that a bear has discovered his food as well. As he chases the chipmunks, he crashes into his food and ends up grabbing the bear by accident. Annoyed, the bear chases after Donald all over the woods, which ends with Donald quickly packing up his things and hightailing it down the river once again.