Don Donald

Don Donald is a 1937 American animated short film produced by Walt Disney Productions and released by United Artists.[3] The cartoon follows Donald Duck attempting to woo a female Mexican duck named Donna. It was directed by Ben Sharpsteen and features music by Paul J. Smith which was adapted from the Mexican folk songs "Cielito Lindo" and "Jarabe Tapatío." Clarence Nash voiced both Donald and Donna.[4]

Don Donald
Theatrical release poster
Directed byBen Sharpsteen
Produced byWalt Disney
Story byWebb Smith
Otto Englander
Merrill De Maris[1]
StarringClarence Nash
Music byPaul J. Smith
Animation byFred Spencer
Dick Huemer
Al Eugster
Johnny Cannon
Milt Schaffer
Jack Hannah
Ugo D'Orsi[1]
Color processTechnicolor
Production
company
Distributed byUnited Artists
Release date
  • January 9, 1937 (1937-01-09)
[2]
Running time
8 minutes
CountryUnited States
LanguageEnglish

Although billed at the time as another Mickey Mouse cartoon, explaining the face of Mickey Mouse at the beginning of the original release, the film is actually the first installment of the Donald Duck series, and is the first to feature Donald as the primary starring character.[5] The film also introduces a love interest for Donald.

Plot

Donald Duck rides a donkey through the Mexican desert playing a guitar and wearing a sombrero on his way to the house of his girlfriend, Donna Duck. Donna dances the Mexican Hat Dance and eventually lands on Donald's donkey who throws her off his back. Donald laughs causing Donna to get angry. She knocks Donald into a fountain, breaks his guitar over his head, and storms back inside the house.

Back outside, the donkey laughs at Donald's misfortunes. Donald decides to exchange the donkey for a car at a nearby trading post.

Donna is immediately won back with Donald's car. She lands in the rumble seat and gives Donald a big kiss. Together they speed off through the desert, but eventually the car has engine problems and stops working. Donald confidently tries to fix the problem but the car throws Donald out and speeds off without him. The rumble seat closes on Donna and she is trapped inside with Donald in pursuit. The car crashes, throwing Donna out of the rumble seat, across a waterhole, and into a mud puddle, and Donald laughs at her. Donna furious once again, grabs the car's horn and hits Donald with it, until he lands in some cacti and Donna shoves the horn in his mouth. Donna then rides off on her unicycle which she has conveniently carried with her in her purse, and declares their relationship over.

Donald, alone in the desert with the donkey who has escaped from the trading post, is furious at the car and throws the horn at it in retaliation. This however causes the car's radiator to explode and the hot water lands on Donald's sombrero, shrinking it. The donkey laughs yet again.

Donna Duck

It is unclear if Donna Duck simply represents an earlier version of Daisy Duck or is a separate character entirely. Donna is officially recognized as Daisy by the Internet Movie Database[6] and the Big Cartoon DataBase.[7] However Donna was later retconned in a 1951 Disney comic strip as Daisy's rival.[8]

Donna made several other appearances in the British magazine Mickey Mouse Weekly.[9] Donna did not appear in any other films.

Releases

Source:[10]

  • January 9, 1937 – original release (theatrical)
  • 1984 – "Cartoon Classics: Donald Duck's First 50 Years" (VHS)
  • November 13, 1984 – Donald Duck's 50th Birthday (TV)
  • 1987 – "Cartoon Classics: Starring Donald and Daisy" (VHS)
  • 1993 – The Adventures of Mickey and Donald, Episode 26 (TV)
  • October 13, 1997 – Ink & Paint Club, Episode 4 "Disney Firsts" (TV)[11]
  • May 18, 2004 – "The Chronological Donald Volume One" (DVD)
  • January 11, 2005 – "Classic Cartoon Favorites: Starring Donald" (DVD)
  • April 29, 2008 – bonus feature on the "Classic Caballeros Collection" (DVD)

See also

References
  1. "Walt Disney's "Don Donald" (1937) - Cartoon Research". Retrieved September 9, 2016.
  2. Kaufman, J.B.; Gerstein, David (2018). Walt Disney's Mickey Mouse: The Ultimate History. Cologne: Taschen. ISBN 978-3-8365-5284-4.
  3. Lenburg, Jeff (1999). The Encyclopedia of Animated Cartoons. Checkmark Books. pp. 74–76. ISBN 0-8160-3831-7. Retrieved June 6, 2020.
  4. Hischak, Thomas S. (2011). Disney Voice Actors: A Biographical Dictionary. McFarland & Company. ISBN 978-0786462711.
  5. Donald had appeared previously in 14 films as a co-star.
  6. Daisy Duck at the Internet Movie Database
  7. DataBase, The Big Cartoon. "Don Donald (Walt Disney Studios)". Retrieved September 9, 2016.
  8. "Donna Duck - I.N.D.U.C.K.S." Coa.inducks.org. Retrieved January 7, 2018.
  9. Daisy's First Incarnation as Donna in Mickey Mouse Weekly on Disneyville.
  10. Don Donald Archived February 1, 2015, at the Wayback Machine at The Encyclopedia of Disney Animated Shorts
  11. Movie connections for "Ink & Paint Club" at the Internet Movie Database
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