Tag Archives: Short film

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.