Tag Archives: Short film

April 25, 1952 – The Donald Duck Short, Let’s Stick Together, is Released to Theaters

“You know, strange as it may seem, I used to be in business with that old duffer.”

On April 25, 1952, the Donald Duck short, Let’s Stick Together, was released to theaters. It features one of Donald’s many adversaries, Spike the Bee, who made his premiere in the 1948 Donald Duck short, Inferior Decorator. The short was directed by Jack Hannah, with the story by Nick George and Al Bertino. It also stars Clarence Nash as Donald, Bill Thompson as Spike, and voice actress legend June Foray in a cameo as Spike’s wife.

The short opens on a crisp fall day in the park, where an old bee is seen sitting on a ledge of a tree in his rocking chair, smoking a corncob pipe. He is suddenly startled as something lands into the ground in front of him. As the camera pans out, we see that the item belongs to an elderly Donald Duck, who is picking up trash in the park. He sits down on a bench to rest, and the bee laughs, narrating to the audience how he knows Donald, and taking the audience with him as he reminisces.

Spike discovers that his stinger is part of his secret talent

The flashback begins with Spike looking at the want ads in an abandoned newspaper. Just as he picks out what he thinks is the perfect job, the paper is snatched out from under him, flipping him into the air and dropping him harshly on the ground. Annoyed, Spike flies up to perch on a flower to look at his “attacker.” He then spies Donald, who is picking up the trash in the park, and gets an idea: he can use his stinger to pick up trash, and calls it his “hidden talent.” Excited by this discovery, he flies around Donald and shows the duck that he can help pick up trash. Donald is impressed, but is confused when Spike pushes Donald to the bench, letting him know he won’t be needed.

Spike makes quick work of the trash, and brings Donald part of a cigar he’s found. Donald pats Spike on the head and begins to relax while Elderly Spike relays to the audience that this was the beginning of a beautiful friendship. The next day, the two went into business together, beginning at a local carnival. Donald is seen selling balloons for 10 cents a balloon, and after he sells them, he sends Spike out to pop them, forcing the children to buy from Donald again. Spike is distracted, however, by an ad for a balloon dancer, and slips inside, popping the balloons that cover the girl. She lets out a shriek, and Spike flies out again, shrugging.

Spike working on creating a lace pattern

The next job the two held was a tattoo parlor, with Donald using Spike’s stinger for a needle. Donald is impressed with Spike’s work, and they move on to other projects, including making socks, lace, monogrammed handkerchiefs, and even fancy curtains. Soon, as Spike tells us, they were in full production mode. As the orders kept coming in, Spike became more and more fatigued. He pleads with Donald to let him have a vacation, and Donald surprises him with a greenhouse full of flowers, complete with a lady bee as well. Falling in love makes Spike work harder than ever, only he destroys everything by stitching hearts everywhere.

Donald, seeing as how everything has been vandalized, cries out that he’s ruined, and glares at the lovesick bee before trying to swat the lady bee. Spike runs to protect his lady, and decides to sting the duck in the tail. It was the end of their partnership, and Spike and his lady “have been happy all these years,” Spike tells the audience. The audience hears the truth, however, as Spike’s lady begins to scream at him for lounging around. Spike decides to join Donald once again in their partnership, and the two hobble down the road together.

April 23, 1943 – The Donald Duck Short, Fall Out – Fall In, is Released to Theaters

“After supper…? Please?”

On April 23, 1943, the Donald Duck wartime short, Fall Out – Fall In, was released to theaters. As with the other Donald Duck wartime shorts, it was based on the experiences many of the animators had when they were in the army during World War II. It is also one of the few times that Donald’s headshot in the opening shows him without his usual sailor hat—he’s wearing an Army hat instead. The short was directed by Jack King, with Clarence Nash as the voice of Donald Duck.

The short opens just as the sun is rising, with a rooster letting out his call. Soldiers are marching on the horizon, with Donald Duck the last one in line. When he passes a sign saying that the group has traveled five miles, Donald marks it down on the bag of the soldier in front of him, and continues marching with a smile. At the 10-mile mark, Donald’s cheer has waned slightly, and his rifle seems to be pulling his shoulder down, but he adjusts it and continues to march, though definitely not as enthusiastically as before.

Donald using ingenuity to keep himself dry

A harsh storm hits the troops by mile 20. Donald is annoyed with the raindrops hitting his helmet, but he comes up with an idea to shield himself from the rain by using the bag of the soldier ahead of him. As they continue to march, the rain turns into snow, and icicles hang from the duck’s tail. Donald is still wearily keeping track of the miles on his fellow soldier’s bag, with the count at 35 miles traveled.

As suddenly as the snowstorm arrived, the snow disappears and is replaced by scorching hot weather, 40 miles into their march. Donald isn’t so much as marching any more as he is limping, and sweating buckets. As the sun sets on the troops, their commanding officer calls them to a halt, and we see that Donald has marked the soldier in front of him up and down with hash marks for each mile they’ve crossed. When Donald is told to fall out, he collapses.

Donald rushes madly to grab his meal after the excruciating hike

When a trumpet sounds, Donald revives, knowing that the sound means that it’s dinnertime. Excited, he opens his overstuffed bag, grabs his utensils, and runs to get his food – but his commanding officer won’t let him eat until he’s made up his tent. Donald leaps to the task, driven by the promise of food; unfortunately he has the worst luck when it comes to building his tent, and we see him still trying to build it long after the other soldiers have gone to sleep. Exhausted, Donald collapses and refuses to take care of his tent, but he can’t sleep because all of the other soldiers’ snoring keeps him awake.

Donald has only closed his eyes for a second, when the trumpet again sounds, telling the soldiers that it’s time to wake up. Too exhausted to even notice that he’s tied his belongings around a tree, Donald falls in line, carrying the tree and his belongings with him for the long trek back to camp.

April 10, 1942 – The Donald Duck Short Film, Donald’s Snow Fight, is Released to Theaters

“Snow, oh boy! I’m crazy about snow!”

On April 10, 1942, the Donald Duck short film, Donald’s Snow Fight, was released to theaters. Directed by Jack King, it stars Clarence Nash as the voice of Donald and the nephews. There are many clever gags in this short, including a couple that is seen kissing underneath a mound of snow, which is swept away when Donald rushes by.

It’s a wintery day in suburbia, and Donald Duck is excited that there’s snow on the ground. He peeks outside to see how much there is, his beak turning blue in the process. Seeing the ice build up on the tip of his beak does not deter him from running to grab his overcoat.

Donald merrily on his way to go sledding

Bundled up and ready for a snow day, Donald treks up a hill with his sled, singing “Jingle Bells” while jingling the icicles on his sled rope. When he reaches the top of the hill, he notices his nephews building a snowman right in the sled path. Donald decides this is the perfect moment to “have some fun,” and dive bombs into the nephews’ creation, sending snow flying everywhere. Donald cracks up with laughter and rolls around in the snow, and the nephews quickly come up with a plan for revenge.

Their first idea is to disguise a rock with another snowman, one that looks like Donald. They cry for Donald’s attention, and the duck takes the bait, flying full speed toward the “snowman.” Donald hits the rock so hard that all of the fur is shaken off his fur coat. Not to be beaten by his nephews, he chases them across the snow, only to be cut off by the nephews escaping into their elaborate snow fort, with the springs of the door bouncing Donald back into a tree where the built-up snow and icicles trap him.

Captain Donald plays a bowling game while his nephews play the part of the pins

Inside, the nephews think they’ve won, but Donald swears revenge. The next scene shows that Donald has built his own fort that looks like a boat on the ice-covered pond, and he declares war on the nephews. He shoots snowballs at the three with elaborate trick shots, covering them with snow and making them appear to be bowling pins. Donald then grabs a large ball of snow and, throwing it like a bowling ball, throws a strike. Not satisfied, Donald grabs another large mound of snow shaped like a bullet and starts dunking it into a bucket of water, turning it into a deadly ice bullet. He fires it over to the nephews’ fort, splitting their flagpole into three sections, which ends up knocking into the nephews.

“Do you surrender?” Donald asks, but the nephews refuse. They gather all the materials they have, including mousetraps and rope, and plant the mousetraps into snow sculptures shaped like rockets. They place all the rockets into a basket and let it fly from a catapult, and Donald is trapped by the mousetraps. They continue their attack with more snow cannons, even though Donald calls it “unconstitutional.”

The first set of coals and arrows spell the end for Donald Duck

Not done with their uncle yet, the nephews gather hot coals and fire them attached to arrows, melting part of Donald’s boat. The largest arrow causes the whole boat to melt, with poor Donald stuck on the top. He falls through a hole in the ice and is seen frozen at the top of the splash of water, and the nephews are seen performing a victory war dance around the ice.