Tag Archives: Short film

January 29, 1943 – The Donald Duck Short Film Donald’s Tire Trouble Premieres in Theaters

“Doggone rubber shortage!”

On January 29, 1943, the Donald Duck short film Donald’s Tire Trouble premiered in theaters. Although not considered a WWII propaganda short, the film does reference the rubber shortage that went on during the time. The short was directed by Dick Lundy.

Donald is zooming down a mountain path in his little sports car, when one of the tires deflates, having been punctured by a nail. Irritated, Donald starts throwing supplies to fix it out of his car, and almost immediately has trouble with the jack, as it seems to disobey him as most objects tend to when around the duck. Finally, Donald is able to prop up his car, only to have it land on him before he can change the tire. He struggles to get the tire removed from the car, and when he does, he notices all the patches he’s used before on the tire, from rubber gloves to hot water bottles.

The one last rubber patch Donald has decides to stick all over the place other than the tire

Donald has one last rubber patch, and attempts to use it, only to have it stuck on his fingers, his beak, and his tail. It finally attaches to the tire, but to his foot as well. Once be removes the patch from his foot, he finds that it attached itself to exactly the right spot. He then attempts to use an air pump to inflate the tire, only to have the air go right back into the pump, which makes it explode. He then tries to manually inflate it, but it deflates once more. Finally, he begins to reassemble his tire, only to get his feet, followed by his fingers, then his beak, stuck in the rim. He then attempts another method to get the rim on the tire, only to get the rim caught around his waist. After freeing himself, he once again tries to get the rim on the tire, only to be completely encased in the rubber. Trying once again to get things to work his way, he accidentally catapults himself into a tree, which sends all the parts of the tire flying into their proper places on the car. Donald shrugs, and is about to head off, when he finds that all of his tires have been punctured. Unable to handle this, he loses his temper in his fashion, but attempts to drive off anyway, bursted tires and all.

January 26, 1945 – The Donald Duck Short Film The Clock Watcher Premieres in Theaters

“Dear Royal, we’re loyal, we’ll always be joyful, we’ll work hard and long for to you we do belong.”

On January 26, 1945, the Donald Duck short film The Clock Watcher is released to theaters. The short was directed by Jack King, with the story written by Harry Reeves and Rex Cox.

The clock tower tolls 8 o’clock, and a figure is speeding through traffic. The figure stops to reveal that it’s Donald, who has to punch his time card, although he is a bit late. He fools the clock by turning the hand back with a magnet, and punches in to appear that he’s there early. He then goes to his job at the gift wrapping department at Royal Brothers Department Store, but is less than thrilled to hear the boss sing a song about “loyal workers.”  Just as the song ends, a barrage of merchandise slides down the shoot to meet Donald, and he quickly begins his work. But he doesn’t do a great job, as he breaks a fragile bowl, squashes a trombone into a tuba to make it fit in a box, and pops a football to fit in another box.

When the boss has an important announcement, Donald thinks that he’ll be getting a nice bonus

Donald is distracted by a magazine and pretends to be working, then gives himself a rather long lunch hour. The loudspeaker announces big news, which has Donald excited, thinking he’s earned a raise. The boss announces that production has increased in every single department – except Donald’s. Donald continues his less than stellar work, wrapping himself in a rocking chair and getting flustered when trying to wrap a jack in the box. Donald imposes every method to keep the jack-in-the-box wrapped, but it gets loose every time. Finally, it’s five o’clock, and Donald is almost at the door, when the boss informs him that he has to stay and wrap a few more packages. Donald, having had enough, runs to the boss’s office, and the sounds of a fight between the two are heard over the loudspeaker.

January 15, 1954 – The Donald Duck Short Film Spare the Rod Premieres in Theaters

“This is the home of Donald Duck, where everyone does their chores willingly.”

On January 15, 1954, the Donald Duck short film Spare the Rod premiered in theaters. It was directed by Jack Hannah, with story by Roy Williams and Nick George.

The short begins at the home of Donald Duck, where Donald is outside painting the side of his house a cheerful yellow. The nephews are supposed to be chopping wood, but have left their axes and snuck off into their treehouse, pretending to be a tribe. Their yelling starts to irritate Donald as he tries to carefully paint his window trim. Noticing that they have disappeared, he decides to play a prank on them, scaring them back to work. But a little later, the boys are at it again, pretending this time to be pirates. As Donald runs to stop them again, his conscience appears as the “voice of child psychology.” He tells Donald to be their pal, and Donald agrees.

Donald tries to play with the boys, but with his own usual style of having the upper hand

As the boys pretend to play, Donald appears as another pirate and makes them walk the plank. His conscience tells him that Donald should be walking the plank, not the boys. Donald agrees, and is thrown off into a bucket. Meanwhile, a circus is traveling into town, complete with pigmy cannibals, who detach their cart from the train and escape into town, stopping at Donald’s house (as they see Donald as a tasty meal). The boys begin another game, pretending to be cannibals, with Donald’s conscience telling him to once more become the boys’ friend. When the real cannibals capture Donald, he thinks they are only his nephews, and plays along, bringing out a pot and preparing himself to be cooked. Donald thinks he’s tricking the boys to cut firewood, but they’re on the other side of the yard.

The boys quickly capture Donald, and cut firewood to burn Donald at the stake, but the cannibals try to capture him again. At this point, the conscience figures out that the cannibals are real cannibals, who quickly capture Donald and prepare to cook him. Angered, Donald grabs the cannibals and begins to punish them. The boys watch as the cannibals flee from Donald’s wrath, and quickly resume their chores. The conscience tries to state that his psychology was effective, but Donald will have none of it, and takes his wrath out on the “voice of child psychology.”

January 10, 1941 – The Donald Duck Short Film Timber is Released in Theaters

“Doggone it…I might just as well be in a concentration camp.”

On January 10, 1941, the Donald Duck short film Timber premiered in theaters. The antagonist, Pete, is named Pierre in this short, playing the part of a French-Canadian lumberjack. The short was directed by Jack King, and stars Clarence Nash as Donald Duck, and Billy Bletcher as Pete/Pierre.

Donald is seen walking the train tracks with a hobo sack, when he smells something delicious. Spying food in a nearby window, he decides to steal some. Inside, Pete is beginning to enjoy his meal when he spots Donald’s wandering hand. Donald begins to load up his sack, with Pierre, the owner of the shack, just watching. Finally, Pierre decides to trick Donald by baiting him with a lighted stick of dynamite in place of a hot dog. Donald’s clothes are blown clean off, and he emerges from a deep hole in the ground where the blast blew him.

The head of the axe flies off the handle, sailing close enough to Pete to sear through a layer of his clothes

Pierre then tells Donald that he will work for food as a lumberjack; Donald, however, has other plans. He breaks his axe when Pierre isn’t looking, hoping that Pierre will just let him go since he has no tool. But Pierre won’t let him off so easily, and fixes the axe for him. When Donald begins his attempt at chopping down a tree, the axe head breaks off and flies into another tree, cutting off part of Pierre’s clothing in the process. Donald, hoping to avoid trouble, attempts to use a saw instead, only to find himself in more trouble. As he flees with the saw in hand, it begins to vibrate, sending Donald bouncing around the forest. When he finally is able to chop something down, he saws off a branch, which knocks Pierre deep into the ground

After Pierre sends Donald flying and bouncing with the saw, Donald is knocked into a tree and chops it down accidentally with his beak. The tree falls on Pierre, who has had it with the duck. Donald flees the camp, with Pierre close behind. As the chase continues on train tracks, Pierre tries anything he can to stop Donald, including breaking his cart piece by piece. Luckily, Donald is able to evade him, and uses quick thinking to send Pierre flying through a line of empty boxcars. Donald walks off into the sunset, traveling once again.