Tag Archives: Short film

March 12, 1943 – The Donald Duck Short, The Flying Jalopy, is Released to Theaters

“Ah, yes, a little matter of insurance…”

On March 12, 1943, The Flying Jalopy, a Donald Duck short, was released to theaters. Directed by Dick Lundy, the short is about Donald dealing with a shady used plane dealer, who tries to get Donald to have an accident so he can collect on a $10,000 insurance policy. Although Donald is known for being accident-prone, this short is one of the few that shows Donald avoiding a major accident, for the most part.

The short opens with a billboard sign for Ben Buzzard and his used planes (which used to be called “wrecked planes,” but the word “wrecked” is crossed out in bold back strokes). The camera zooms out and shows the airfield where the “used” planes sit as scrap sculptures, except for one last plane that is very Wright Brothers-esque. Donald is seen examining the plane, which has been marked down to a down payment of $59.98. Donald feverishly checks to see if he has enough money, but unfortunately is a bit short of the asking price.

Ben Buzzard, the proprietor, lurks in the office doorway, observing the cash in Donald’s hands. Thinking quickly, he starts the salesman act, pulling Donald back with his cane and asking Donald if he is interested in an airplane. Donald nods excitedly, and Ben launches into his sales pitch. The first one he calls attention to has its wheel burst while they are observing it, but Ben offers Donald the chance to buy it with an offer of no down payment. He hits the tail of the plane with his cane, making the tail fall off. He quickly puts it back on and rushes to get Donald to take a test flight.

The shady insurance document Ben was able to have Donald sign

As Donald is sitting in the cockpit, ready for his test flight, Ben tells him there is one more thing: an insurance policy he unrolls from his coat pocket. Donald eagerly signs it, as it seems to say that in the event of an accident, he will be paid $10,000. As Ben takes the paper, he unfolds it, revealing that in the event of an accident, $10,000 will be paid to Ben, signed by Donald. To get this money, Ben decides that Donald will have to die.

Ben begins the test flight, breaking the front propeller, and continuing his plan of making Donald have an accident. Unfortunately for him, Donald is able to avoid hitting the side of a cliff, and manages to keep the plane in the air, with Ben watching angrily from the ground as his plans are foiled. Ben swears that he will get Donald, and takes off to the sky.

Donald feels pretty good about his flying skills as he keeps the jalopy in the air

Ben greets Donald in the air, telling the beaming duck that he is rather good at flying, and suggesting a game of Follow the Leader. Donald agrees, and Ben offers to lead. He gracefully dives around the clouds, and Donald tries to follow him, but both of the plane’s wings rip from the body of the plane. Quickly, as Donald begins to plummet to the ground, he grabs the wings floating in the air and reattaches them, and is able once again to keep himself in the air.

Ben sits on a cloud and furiously tries to come up with a plan, only to be blown away by Donald, who is quickly flying by. As Ben dangles in the air from his cane that has caught a part of a cloud, he spies a small opening between two cliffs, which he knows the plane won’t possibly make it through. He then surrounds the cliff tops with cloud cover, and calls Donald over to continue the game. As he slips to the other side, Ben gives an evil grin and brags to the audience with death in his eyes, “He’ll never make it!” Unfortunately for Ben, once again, Donald is able to save himself from danger at the last minute, turning the plane sideways and slipping through quite easily.

As Donald tries to put out the flames with his hat, he looks in alarm as it catches on fire

Having had enough, Ben cries out that Donald is a dirty cheat, and begins to destroy the plane outright, being done with underhanded plans. It becomes an outright war between the two, especially after Ben opens Donald’s gas tank and sets the stream of gasoline on fire. Donald tries to blow the flames out, but to no avail. Ben, meanwhile, perches on a cloud and laughs, thinking the policy will soon be his. He doesn’t count on Donald flying in his direction, and while Ben tries to make a break for it, he continues to be in the plane’s path. The plane finally meets its demise when the flames reach the gas tank, but all is not lost: Donald safely flies his new plane – Ben, who is trapped inside the last piece of the body of the plane – through the air, laughing all the way.

March 2, 1951 – The Donald Duck Short Film, Dude Duck, is Released to Theaters

“D. Duck, Rover Boy, number six.”

 On March 2^nd, 1951, the new Donald Duck short, Dude Duck, was released to theaters. In this short, Donald takes his vacation at a dude ranch, but ends up assigned to a horse that does not want him as a rider. As with many of the shorts featuring Donald and an animal, there is a lot of humor in the mutual animosity between the duck and the horse. The short was directed by Jack Hannah, with story by Ralph Wright and Riley Thompson, and stars Clarence Nash as the voice of Donald.

Donald steps off the bus, admiring his surroundings

The audience is taken to the Bar-None Dude Ranch, where the horses are seen relaxing in their stalls, except for one playing horseshoes with his own shoes, whose name is Rover Boy. A bus horn sounds, and a group of beautiful women step out excitedly, ready for their vacation, which causes Rover Boy to wolf whistle and quickly put his shoes back on. Donald is the last to step off the bus, and slowly begins to explore the ranch.

Meanwhile, Rover Boy is busily primping, hoping one of the girls will pick him as her steed. They take little notice of him, however; no matter how much he whistles and pounds his hooves on the fence for their attention. Soon, all the girls are off riding, while Rover Boy stands at the fence, visibly upset.

Donald has found his horse - Rover Boy can't believe Donald's his rider

He soon hears whistling, and looks up to see Donald, who is dressed in formal riding gear. Donald approaches Rover Boy, and he studies Donald’s outfit before bursting into peels of laughter. Donald doesn’t seem to notice, but instead walks in the gate and reads the sheet with his name and assigned horse. The horse stops laughing, alarmed that Donald is his assigned rider. He attempts to hide, unsuccessfully, but Donald insists that they get going.

Now desperate to be rid of Donald, Rover Boy fakes an injured leg and a broken back, as well as having no teeth, a horrible cough, heart palpitations, and ultimately, death. Donald rushes to grab some water to help revive the horse, only to have the horse quickly move out of the way as he throws the water. Donald senses something’s amiss, and pulls an apple from his pocket to tempt the horse. Rover Boy tries to fight the temptation of the treat, but ends up taking it from Donald’s hand, chewing it as he still feigns death. Donald then pulls a trumpet from his coat, and the horse quickly is revived, standing in race position. Donald pulls out a starter’s pistol and fires it, and Rover Boy takes off like a shot, before realizing that he gave up his ruse, causing Donald to begin to laugh.

Donald then throws down the saddle and points the gun at his steed, ordering him to put on the saddle. Rover Boy refuses, and Donald begins shooting at the creature’s feet, causing him to jump around the yard. Quickly, he puts on the saddle, and Donald twirls the gun, thinking he’s won, until the gun slips from his finger, leaving only a metal ring. The horse, seeing an opportunity, takes off the saddle. Donald tries to threaten him again, only to find his gun is gone.

"Moo."

Undeterred, Donald grabs a lasso and begins to chase Rover Boy behind some hay bales, but stops when he sees that Rover Boy has attached bull horns to his hair, and gives his pursuer a haughty “Moo.” He whispers in Donald’s ear, presumably telling him where his “horse” has gone, and Donald races on, until he realizes he’s been duped.

Thoroughly frustrated at this point as only Donald can be, he pursues the horse again, with Rover Boy hiding behind some other hay bales and pretending that he’s gone galloping off. Donald almost falls for it, until he looks down and sees the horse. Thinking fast, Donald stands behind the other side of the bales and laments that the horse got away from him, and he’d better go home, then pretends to walk away. The horse falls for this easily, and begins to laugh, thinking he’s gotten rid of the duck. He is then alarmed at the sound of galloping, and a woman’s voice (which the audience is able to see is Donald doing a spot-on imitation) asking for that “big beautiful number 6.” Excited, Rover Boy races out, only to be caught in Donald’s lasso. Calmly, Donald ties the other end of the rope to a post and waits, while the horse is still running wildly.

Rover Boy comes up with an evil scheme as he passes the bull pen

Rover Boy is suddenly pulled to a stop, falls to the ground, and can only say, “Oh, no.” Donald laughs at this situation and begins to pull the horse in; unfortunately, the horse passes by the wild bull pen, giving him a wicked idea. We see the horse run to the fence, quietly observing his little plan, while Donald still blissfully pulls on the rope. The horse tilts the bull’s horns in the direction of Donald’s tail, and with Donald giving the rope one final pull, the audience sees only Rover Boy’s reaction, but hears Donald give out a loud scream, and a whistle that indicates the duck shot straight up into the air. He lands on the now saddled bull and rides off into the old west, just as he wanted to in the first place.