Donald Fauntleroy Duck is a cartoon
character created in 1934 at
Walt Disney Productions and licensed by
The Walt Disney Company. Donald is an
anthropomorphic white duck with a yellow-orange bill, legs, and feet. He typically wears a
sailor suit with a cap and a black or red bow tie. Donald's most famous personality trait is his easily provoked and explosive temper. Along with his friend
Mickey Mouse, Donald is one of the most popular Disney characters and was included in
TV Guide's list of the 50 greatest cartoon characters of all time in 2002.
Donald rose to fame with his comedic roles in animated cartoons. He first appeared in ''The Wise Little Hen'' (1934), but it was his second appearance in ''Orphan's Benefit'' which characterized him as a temperamental comic foil to Mickey Mouse. Throughout the 1930s, '40s and '50s he appeared in over 100 theatrical films, several of which were recognized at the Academy Awards. Donald was first a supporting character alongside Mickey, Goofy, and Pluto, but was given his own series of films in 1937, starting with ''Don Donald''. These films introduced Donald's girlfriend Daisy Duck and sometimes featured his three nephews Huey, Dewey, and Louie as recurring characters. After the 1956 film ''Chips Ahoy'' Donald appeared primarily in educational films before eventually returning to theatrical animation in 1983 with ''Mickey's Christmas Carol''. His most recent theatrical appearance was in 1999's ''Fantasia 2000''. Donald has also appeared in direct-to-video features such as ''Mickey's Once Upon a Christmas'' (1999) and ''The Three Musketeers'' (2004) as well as television programs such as ''DuckTales'' (1987–1990), ''Quack Pack'' (1996), and ''Mickey Mouse Clubhouse'' (2006–present).
Donald's voice, one of the most identifiable voices in animation, was performed by voice actor Clarence Nash up to his death in 1985. It was largely this semi-intelligible speech that would cement Donald's image into audiences' minds and help fuel both Donald's and Nash's rise to stardom. Since 1985, Donald has been voiced by Tony Anselmo who was trained by Nash for the role.
Beyond animation Donald is mostly known for his appearances in comics, both in comic books and newspaper strips. Donald was most famously drawn by Al Taliaferro, Carl Barks, and Don Rosa. Barks in particular is credited for greatly expanding the "duck universe," the world in which Donald lives, and creating many additional characters such as Donald's maternal uncle Scrooge McDuck. Today Donald is a particularly popular character in Scandinavian countries as a comic book hero.
Characterization
Personality
Donald's dominant personality trait is his short temper and, in contrast, his positive look on life. Many Donald shorts start with Donald in a happy mood, without a care in the world, until something comes and spoils his day.
His anger is a great cause of suffering in the duck's life, and he has on multiple occasions got in over his head and lost competitions because of it. There are times when he fights to keep his temper, and he has succeeded a few times, but he always returns to his well known, aggressive self at the end of the day.
Donald's aggressive nature is a double-edged sword however, and while it at times is a hindrance and even a handicap for him, it has also helped him in times of need. When faced against a threat of some kind, Donald may get frightened and even intimidated (mostly by Pete), but rather than getting scared, he gets mad and has taken up fights with ghosts, sharks, mountain goats and even the forces of nature. And, more often than not, Donald has come out on top.
Donald can at times be a bit of a bully and a tease, especially against his nephews and Chip 'n Dale. As animator Fred Spencer once wrote:
However, there is seldom any malice in Donald's pranks. He is never out to hurt anyone, and if he ever goes too far in his pranks he is always very regretful. In Truant Officer Donald, for example, when he is tricked into believing he accidentally killed Huey, Dewey and Louie, he shows great remorse, blaming himself and willingly takes a kick handed out by one of the “angel” nephews. That is, of course, until he realizes he has been played a sap and directly loses his temper.
Donald has also been shown to be a bit of a show-off. He likes to brag, especially when he is very skilled at something. This has a tendency to get him into trouble, however, as he also tends to get in over his head.
Still, Donald has proven that he is a Jack of all Trades and is, amongst other things, a good fisher and hockey player.
Among his personality traits is his stubbornness and commitment. Even though Donald at times can be lazy, and he has stated many times that his favorite place is in the hammock, once he has committed to something he goes in for it 100%, sometimes going to extreme measures to reach his goal.
Phrases
Donald has a few memorable phrases that he occasionally comes out with in given situations. "What's the Big Idea!?" is a common one, which Donald usually says when stumbling across other characters in the midst of planning some sort of retaliation or prank, and sometimes when certain things do not go as planned or do not work properly. "Aw Phooey!" is another memorable saying Donald makes, usually after giving up on a particular action or event. Another popular phrase Donald says, in particular to Daisy, is, "Hiya, toots!". "Oh boy, oh boy, oh boy" is yet another common phrase Donald says, usually when he's very excited about something.
Health
A
running gag in the Donald Duck comics is about his physical condition. Usually, some character close to Donald believes that because of his laziness, Donald needs to do some exercise, which annoys Donald. But, in spite of his apparent lazy condition, Donald proves that he is physically strong, as evidenced in one of his shorts, ''Sea Scouts'', where Donald travels in a boat with his nephews, but a shark attacks the boat and Donald, after several misadventures, finally defeats the shark with a single punch.
Rivalry with Mickey Mouse
Throughout his career, Donald has shown that he's jealous of Mickey and wants his job as Disney's greatest star. This is very similar to the
Bugs Bunny and
Daffy Duck rivalry. In the early Disney shorts, Mickey and Donald were partners, but by the time ''
The Mickey Mouse Club'' aired on television, it was shown that Donald always wanted the spotlight. One animated short that rivaled the famous
Mickey Mouse March song was showing Huey, Dewey, and Louie as
Boy Scouts and Donald as their
Scoutmaster at a cliff near a remote
forest and Donald leads them in a song mirroring the Mouseketeers theme "D-O-N-A-L-D D-U-C-K-! Donald Duck!" The rivalry would cause Donald some problems, in a 1988
TV special, where Mickey is cursed by a sorcerer to become unnoticed, the world believes Mickey to be kidnapped. Donald Duck is then arrested for the
kidnapping of Mickey, as he is considered to be the chief suspect, due to their rivalry. However, Donald did later get the charges dismissed, due to lack of evidence.
Walt Disney, in his ''Wonderful World of Color'', would sometimes make reference to the rivalry. Walt, one time, had presented Donald with a gigantic
birthday cake and commented how it was "even bigger than Mickey's", which pleased Donald. The clip was rebroadcast in November 1984 during a
TV special honoring Donald's 50th birthday, with
Dick Van Dyke substituting for Walt.
The rivalry between Mickey and Donald has also been shown in ''Disney's House of Mouse''. It was shown that Donald wanted to be the Club's founder and wanted to change the name from ''House of Mouse'' to ''House of Duck''. However, in later episodes, Donald accepted that Mickey was the founder and worked with Mickey as a partner to make the club profitable.
Mickey Mouse has failed to realize how much Donald does not like him at times, and always counts him as one of his best friends. Despite the rivalry, Donald seems to be an honest friend of Mickey's, and will be faithful to him in tough situations, such as working with Mickey and Goofy as a team akin to The Three Musketeers. In the ''Kingdom Hearts'' games, Donald is quite loyal to Mickey, even briefly leaving Sora to follow King Mickey's orders.
The rivalry between Mickey and Donald is not unlike that of Warner Bros. characters Bugs Bunny and Daffy Duck, and many animation fans have commented on the parallels present among the four characters, the main difference being that Bugs actually realises that Daffy does not always like him, and uses this fact to play tricks on the duck.
Nemesis
Donald has enemies, as worse than Mickey Mouse:
Chip and Dale,
Humphrey the Bear,
Spike The Bee,
Mountain Lion Louie,
Bootle Beetle,
Witch Hazel (in ''Trick and Treat''),
Aracuan Bird and
Baby Shelby (in ''
Mickey Mouse Works'').
In the comics, are the Beagle Boys, Magica De Spell and Mr. Jones.
In the videogame ''Donald Duck: Goin' Quackers'', he saves Daisy from Merlock.
Donald in animation
Early appearances
According to Adeytola in his introduction to ''The Chronological Donald - Volume 1'', Donald was created by Walt Disney when he heard Clarence Nash doing his "duck" voice while reciting "Mary had a little lamb". Mickey Mouse had lost some of his edge since becoming a role model for children and Disney wanted a character that could portray some of the more negative character traits he could no longer bestow on Mickey.
Donald Duck first appeared in the 1934 cartoon ''The Wise Little Hen'' which was part of the ''Silly Symphonies'' series of theatrical cartoon shorts. The film's release date of June 9 is officially recognized by the Walt Disney Company as Donald's birthday despite a couple in-universe contradictions. Donald's appearance in the cartoon, as created by animator Dick Lundy, is similar to his modern look—the feather and beak colors are the same, as is the blue sailor shirt and hat—but his features are more elongated, his body plumper, and his feet smaller. Donald's personality is not developed either; in the short, he only fills the role of the unhelpful friend from the original story.
Burt Gillett, director of ''The Wise Little Hen'', brought Donald back in his Mickey Mouse cartoon, ''Orphan's Benefit'' on August 11, 1934. Donald is one of a number of characters who are giving performances in a benefit for Mickey's Orphans. Donald's act is to recite the poems ''Mary Had a Little Lamb'' and ''Little Boy Blue'', but every time he tries, the mischievous orphans heckle him, leading the duck to fly into a squawking fit of anger. This explosive personality would remain with Donald for decades to come.
Donald continued to be a hit with audiences. The character began appearing regularly in most Mickey Mouse cartoons. Cartoons from this period, such as the 1935 cartoon ''The Band Concert''—in which Donald repeatedly disrupts the Mickey Mouse Orchestra's rendition of ''The William Tell Overture'' by playing ''Turkey in the Straw''—are regularly hailed by critics as exemplary films and classics of animation. Animator Ben Sharpsteen also minted the classic ''Mickey, Donald, and Goofy'' comedy in 1935, with the cartoon ''Mickey's Service Station''.
In 1936, Donald was redesigned to be a bit fuller, rounder, and cuter. He also began starring in solo cartoons, the first of which was the January 9, 1937 Ben Sharpsteen cartoon, ''Don Donald''. This short also introduced a love interest of Donald's, ''Donna Duck'', who evolved into Daisy Duck. Donald's nephews, Huey, Dewey and Louie, would make their first animated appearance a year later in the April 15, 1938 film, ''Donald's Nephews'', directed by Jack King (they had been earlier introduced in the Donald Duck comic strip by Al Taliaferro, see below). By 1938, at most, polls showed that Donald was more popular than Mickey Mouse. Disney could, however, help Mickey regain popularity by redesigning him, giving him his most appealing design as production for the ''Fantasia'' segment "The Sorcerer's Apprentice" began in 1938.
After his early appearances, he went on to become part of the famed trio Mickey, Donald, and Goofy. He appeared in many of the cartoons, including ''Moving Day''.
Wartime Donald
Several of Donald's shorts during the war were
propaganda films, most notably ''
Der Fuehrer's Face'', released on January 1, 1943. In it, Donald plays a worker in an artillery factory in "Nutzi Land" (
Nazi Germany). He struggles with long working hours, very small food rations, and having to
salute every time he sees a picture of the
Führer (
Adolf Hitler). These pictures appear in many places, such as on the assembly line in which he is screwing in the detonators of various sizes of shells. In the end he becomes little more than a small part in a faceless machine with no choice but to obey until he falls, suffering a nervous breakdown. Then Donald wakes up to find that his experience was in fact a dream. At the end of the short Donald looks to the
Statue of Liberty and the
American flag with renewed appreciation. ''Der Fuehrer's Face'' won the 1942
Academy Award for Animated Short Film. ''Der Fuehrer's Face'' was also the first of two animated short films to be set during the War to win an Oscar, the other being
Tom and Jerry's short film, ''
The Yankee Doodle Mouse''.
Other notable shorts from this period include the Army shorts, seven films that follow Donald's life in the US Army from his drafting to his life in basic training under sergeant Pete to his first actual mission as a commando having to sabotage a Japanese air base. Titles in the series include:
''Donald Gets Drafted'' (May 1, 1942)
''The Vanishing Private'' (September 25, 1942)
''Sky Trooper'' (November 8, 1942)
''Fall Out Fall In'' (April 23, 1943)
''The Old Army Game'' (November 5, 1943)
''Home Defense'' (November 26, 1943)
''Commando Duck'' (June 2, 1944)
''Donald Gets Drafted'' also featured Donald having a physical examination before joining the army. According to it Donald has flat feet and is unable to distinguish between the colors green and blue, which is a type of color blindness. Also in this cartoon sergeant Pete comments on Donald's lack of discipline.
thumb|right|Donald on the nose of a [[North American P-51 Mustang|P-51 Mustang]]Thanks to these films, Donald graced the nose artwork of virtually every type of WWII Allied combat aircraft, from the L-4 Grasshopper to the B-29 Superfortress.
Donald also appears as a mascot—such as in the Army Air Corps 309th Fighter Squadron and the U.S. Coast Guard Auxiliary, which showed Donald as a fierce-looking pirate ready to defend the American coast from invaders. Donald also appeared as a mascot emblem for: 415th Fighter Squadron; 438th Fighter Squadron; 479th Bombardment Squadron; 531st Bombardment Squadron. He also appears as the mascot for the United States Air Force 319 Aircraft Maintenance Unit at Luke Air Force Base. He is seen wearing an old style pilots uniform with a board with a nail in it in one hand and a lightning bolt in the other hand.
During World War II, Disney cartoons were not allowed to be imported into Occupied Europe. Since this cost Disney a lot of money, he decided to create a new audience for his films in South America. He decided to make a trip through various Latin American countries with his assistants, and use their experiences and impressions to create two feature length animation films. The first was ''Saludos Amigos'', which consisted of four short segments, two of them with Donald Duck. In the first, he meets his parrot pal Jose Carioca. The second film was ''The Three Caballeros'', in which he meets his rooster friend Panchito.
Post-war animation
thumb|right|Title screen seen before many Donald Duck short filmsMany of Donald's films made after the war recast the duck as the brunt of some other character's pestering. Donald is repeatedly attacked, harassed, and ridiculed by his nephews, by the
chipmunks
Chip 'n Dale, or by other characters such as
Humphrey the Bear,
Spike the Bee,
Bootle Beetle, the
Aracuan Bird,
Louie the Mountain Lion, or a colony of ants. In effect, the Disney artists had reversed the classic
screwball scenario perfected by
Walter Lantz and others in which the main character is the ''instigator'' of these harassing behaviors, rather than the butt of them.
The post-war Donald also starred in educational films, such as ''Donald in Mathmagic Land'' and ''How to Have an Accident at Work'' (both 1959), and made cameos in various Disney projects, such as ''The Reluctant Dragon'' (1941) and the ''Disneyland'' television show (1959). For this latter show, Donald's uncle Ludwig von Drake was created in 1961.
Clarence Nash voiced Donald for the last time in ''Mickey's Christmas Carol'' (1983), making Donald the only character in the film to be voiced by his original actor. Since Nash's death in 1985, Donald's voice has been provided by Tony Anselmo, who was mentored by Nash. Anselmo's voice is heard for the first time in ''Who Framed Roger Rabbit?''. In this movie, Donald has a piano duel scene with the Warner Brothers duck Daffy Duck voiced by Mel Blanc and wins the duel with a cartoon cannon. Many fans call this confrontation between the 2 ducks as one of the greatest duels in animation history.
Donald has since appeared in a lot of different television shows and (short) animated movies. He played roles in ''Mickey's Christmas Carol'' and ''The Prince and the Pauper'' and made a cameo appearance in ''A Goofy Movie.''NOTE:During a Darkwing Duck episode a star is scorned and everyone thinks Darkwing is Donald. He later dresses up like Donald to sneak in with Goslyn dressed as Huey
Donald had a rather small part in the animated television series ''DuckTales''. There, Donald joins the Navy, and leaves his nephews Huey, Dewey, and Louie with their Uncle Scrooge, who then has to take care of them. Donald's role in the overall series was fairly limited, as he only ended up appearing in a handful of episodes. Some of the stories in the series were loosely based on the comics by Carl Barks.
Donald made some cameo appearances in ''Bonkers'', before getting his own television show ''Quack Pack''. This series featured a modernized Duck family. Donald was no longer wearing his sailor suit and hat, but a Hawaiian shirt. Huey, Dewey, and Louie now are teenagers, with distinct clothing, voices, and personalities. Daisy Duck has lost her pink dress and bow and has a new hairdo. Oddly enough, no other family members, besides Ludwig von Drake, appear in ''Quack Pack'', and all other Duckburg citizens are humans, and not dogs.
thumb|right|A [[Computer-generated imagery|CGI Donald as he appears in the children's television series ''Mickey Mouse Clubhouse'']]He made a comeback as the star of the "Noah's Ark" segment of ''Fantasia 2000'', as first mate to Noah. Donald musters the animals to the Ark and attempts to control them. He tragically believes that Daisy has been lost, while she believes the same of him, but they are reunited at the end. All this to Edward Elgar's ''Pomp and Circumstance'' Marches 1o4.
In an alternate opening for the 2005 Disney film ''Chicken Little'', Donald would have made a cameo appearance as "Ducky Lucky". This scene can be found on the ''Chicken Little'' DVD.
Donald also played an important role in ''Mickey Mouse Works'' and ''House of Mouse''. In the latter show, he is the co-owner of Mickey's night club. He is in the TV show ''Mickey Mouse Clubhouse'' as well.
Donald in comics
While Donald's cartoons enjoy vast popularity in the
United States and around the world, his weekly and monthly comic books enjoy their greatest popularity in many
European countries, especially
Sweden,
Denmark,
Norway,
Finland and
Iceland, but also
Germany,
Italy, the
Netherlands, and
Greece. Most of them are produced and published by the Italian branch of the
Walt Disney Company in Italy and by
Egmont in Denmark, Norway, Finland and Sweden. In Germany, the comics are published by Ehapa which has since become part of the Egmont empire. Donald-comics are also being produced in The Netherlands and France. Donald also has been appeared in Japanese comics published by
Kodansha and
Tokyopop.
According to the INDUCKS, which is a database about Disney comics worldwide, American, Italian and Danish stories have been reprinted in the following countries. In most of them, publications still continue: Australia, Austria, Argentina, Belgium, Brazil, Bulgaria, Canada, the People's Republic of China, Colombia, Croatia, Czech Republic, Denmark (Faroe Islands), Egypt, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Guyana, Hungary, Iceland, India, Indonesia, Israel, Italy, Japan, Latvia, Lithuania, Mexico, the Netherlands, Norway, Philippines, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Russia, Saudi Arabia, Slovakia, Spain, Sweden, Thailand, Turkey, the United Kingdom, the United States, and the former Yugoslavia.
Early development
Though a 1931 Disney publication called ''
Mickey Mouse Annual'' mentioned a character named Donald Duck, the character's first appearance in
comic-strip format was a newspaper cartoon that was based on the short ''The Wise Little Hen'' and published in 1934. For the next few years, Donald made a few more appearances in Disney-themed strips, and by 1936, he had grown to be one of the most popular characters in the ''
Silly Symphonies'' comic strip.
Ted Osborne was the primary writer of these strips, with
Al Taliaferro as his artist. Osborne and Taliaferro also introduced several members of Donald's supporting cast, including his nephews,
Huey, Dewey, and Louie.
In 1937, an Italian publisher named Mondadori created the first Donald Duck story intended specifically for comic books. The eighteen-page story, written by Federico Pedrocchi, is the first to feature Donald as an adventurer rather than simply a comedic character. Fleetway in England also began publishing comic-book stories featuring the duck.
Developments under Taliaferro
A daily ''Donald Duck'' comic strip drawn by Taliaferro and written by
Bob Karp began running in the
United States on February 2, 1938; the Sunday strip began the following year. Taliaferro and Karp created an even larger cast of characters for Donald's world. He got a new
St. Bernard named
Bolivar, and
his family grew to include cousin
Gus Goose and grandmother
Elvira Coot. Donald's new rival girlfriends were
Donna and
Daisy Duck. Taliaferro also gave Donald his very own automobile, a 1934
Belchfire Runabout, in a 1938 story.
Developments under Barks
In 1942, Western Publishing began creating original comic-book stories about Donald and other Disney characters. Bob Karp worked on the earliest of these, a story called "Donald Duck Finds Pirate Gold". The new publisher meant new illustrators, however: Carl Barks and Jack Hannah. Barks would later repeat the treasure-hunting theme in many more stories.
Barks soon took over the major development of the comic-book version of the duck as both writer and illustrator. Under his pen, the comic version of Donald diverged even further from his animated counterpart, becoming more adventurous, less temperamental, and more eloquent. Pete was the only other major character from the ''Mickey Mouse'' comic strip to feature in Barks' new Donald Duck universe.
Barks placed Donald in the city of Duckburg, which he populated with a host of supporting players, including Neighbour Jones (1944), Uncle Scrooge McDuck (1947), Gladstone Gander (1948), the Beagle Boys (1951), Gyro Gearloose (1952), April, May and June (1953), Flintheart Glomgold (1956), and Magica de Spell (1961) also John D. Rockerduck (1961). Many of Taliaferro's characters made the move to Barks' world as well, including Huey, Dewey, and Louie. Barks placed Donald in both domestic and adventure scenarios, and Uncle Scrooge became one of his favorite characters to pair up with Donald. Scrooge's popularity grew, and by 1952, the character had a comic book of his own. At this point, Barks concentrated his major efforts on the Scrooge stories, and Donald's appearances became more focused on comedy or he was recast as Scrooge's reluctant helper, following his rich uncle around the globe.
Further developments
Dozens of writers continued to utilize Donald in their stories around the world.
For example the Disney Studio artists, who made comics directly for the European market. Two of them, Dick Kinney (1917–1985) and Al Hubbard (1915–1984) created Donald's cousin Fethry Duck.
The American artists Vic Lockman and Tony Strobl (1915–1991), who were working directly for the American comic books, created Moby Duck. Strobl was one of the most productive Disney artists of all time, and drew many stories which Barks wrote and sketched after his retirement. In the 1990s and early 2000s, these scripts were re-drawn in a style closer to Barks' own by Dutch artist Daan Jippes.
Italian publisher Mondadori created many of the stories that were published throughout Europe. They also introduced numerous new characters who are today well known in Europe. One example is Donald Duck's alter-ego, a superhero called Paperinik in Italian, created in 1969 by Guido Martina (1906–1991) and Giovan Battista Carpi (1927–1999).
Giorgio Cavazzano and Carlo Chendi created ''Umperio Bogarto'', a detective whose name is an obvious parody on Humphrey Bogart. They also created O.K Quack, an extraterrestrial Duck who landed on earth in a spaceship in the shape of a coin. He however lost his spaceship, and befriended Scrooge, and now is allowed to search through his moneybin time after time, looking for his ship.
Romano Scarpa (1927–2005), who was a very important and influential Italian Disney artist, created Brigitta McBridge, a female Duck who is madly in love with Scrooge. Her affections are never answered by him, though, but she keeps trying. Scarpa also came up with Dickie Duck, the granddaughter of Glittering Goldie (Scrooge's possible love-interest from his days in the Klondike) and Kildare Coot, a nephew of Grandma Duck.
Italian artist Corrado Mastantuono created Bum Bum Ghigno, a cynical, grumpy and not too good looking Duck who teams up with Donald and Gyro a lot.
The American artist William van Horn also introduced a new character: Rumpus McFowl, an old and rather corpulent Duck with a giant appetite and laziness, who is first said to be a cousin of Scrooge. Only later, Scrooge reveals to his nephews Rumpus is actually his half-brother. Later, Rumpus also finds out.
Working for the Danish editor Egmont, artist Daniel Branca (1951–2005) and script-writers Paul Halas and Charlie Martin created Sonny Seagull, an orphan who befriends Huey, Dewey and Louie, and his rival, Mr. Phelps.
The most productive Duck-artist today is Victor Arriagada Rios, who is better known under the name Vicar. He has his own studio where he and his assistants draw the stories sent in by Egmont. With writer/editors Stefan and Unn Printz-Påhlson, Vicar created the character Oona, a prehistoric duck princess who traveled to modern Duckburg by using Gyro's time-machine. She stayed, and is still seen in occasional modern stories.
The best-known and most popular Duck-artist of this time is American Don Rosa. He started doing Disney comics in 1987 for the American publisher Gladstone. He later worked briefly for the Dutch editors, but moved to work directly for Egmont soon afterwards. His stories contain many direct references to stories by Carl Barks, and he also wrote and illustrated a 12-part series of stories about the life of Scrooge McDuck, which won him two Eisner awards.
Other important artists who have worked with Donald are Freddy Milton and Daan Jippes, who made 18 ten-pagers which experts claim were very difficult to separate from Barks' own work from the late 1940s.
Japanese artist Shiro Amano worked with Donald on the graphic novel ''Kingdom Hearts'' based on the Disney-SquareEnix videogame.
Donald Duck outside the United States
Donald Duck has a slightly different character abroad.
Nordic Countries
Donald Duck (''Kalle Anka'' in Sweden, ''Anders And'' in Denmark, ''Andrés Önd'' in Iceland, ''Donald Duck'' in Norway and ''Aku Ankka'' in Finland) is a very popular character in Nordic countries. In the mid-1930s,
Robert S. Hartman, a German who served as a representative of Walt Disney, visited Sweden to supervise the merchandise distribution of Sagokonst (The Art of Fables). Hartman found a studio called L'Ateljé Dekoratör, which produced illustrated cards that were published by Sagokonst. Since the Disney characters on the cards appeared to be exactly 'on-model', Hartman asked the studio to create a local version of the English-language ''
Mickey Mouse Weekly''. In 1937 L'Ateljé Dekoratör began publishing ''
Musse Pigg Tidningen'' (''Mickey Mouse Magazine''), which had high production values and spanned 23 issues; most of the magazine's content came from local producers, while some material consisted of reprints from ''Mickey Mouse Weekly''. The comic anthology ended in 1938. Hartman helped Disney establish offices in all Nordic countries before he left Disney in 1941. Donald became the most popular of the Disney characters in Scandinavia, and Scandinavians recognise him better than Mickey Mouse. ''Kalle Anka & Co'', Donald's first dedicated Swedish anthology, started in September 1948. In 2001 the Finnish Post Office issued a stamp set to commemorate the 50th year anniversary of Donald's presence in Finland. By 2005 around one out of every four Norwegians read the Norwegian edition ''Donald Duck & Co.'' per week, translating to around 1.3 million regular readers. During the same year, every week 434,000 Swedes read ''Kalle Anka & Co''. By 2005 in Finland the Donald Duck anthology ''Aku Ankka'' sold 270,000 copies per issue. Tim Pilcher and Brad Books, authors of ''The Essential Guide to World Comics'', described the Donald anthologies as "the Scandinavian equivalent of the UK's ''
Beano'' or ''
Dandy'', a comic that generations have grown up with, from grandparents to grandchildren."
Hannu Raittila, an author, says that Finnish people recognize an aspect of themselves in Donald; Raittila cites that Donald attempts to retrieve himself from "all manner of unexpected and unreasonable scrapes using only his wits and the slim resources he can put his hands on, all of which meshes nicely with the popular image of Finland as driftwood in the crosscurrents of world politics." Finnish voters placing "protest votes" typically write "Donald Duck" as the candidate.
By 1978, within Finland there was extensive debate over the morality of Donald Duck. Some observers criticized Donald for living with Daisy while not being married to her, for not wearing trousers, and for, in the words of the ''Library Journal'', being "too bourgeois". Some observers from Finland from the same time period supported Donald, referring to him as a "genuine proletarian...forced to sell his labor at slave rates to make a living". The ''Library Journal'' stated that it had been revealed that, since 1950, Donald had secretly been married to Daisy.
An annual Christmas special in Norway, Denmark, Finland and Sweden is ''From All of Us to All of You'', in Norway and Sweden with a title of ''Donald Duck and His Friends Celebrate Christmas''. Segments include ''Ferdinand the Bull'', a short with Chip 'n' Dale, a segment from ''Lady and the Tramp'', a sneak preview of a coming Disney movie and concludes with Jiminy Cricket performing "When You Wish Upon a Star". To many people watching this special is a tradition as important as having a Christmas tree.
Germany
Donald Duck is very popular in Germany, where Donald themed comics sell an average of 250,000 copies each week, mostly published in the kids’ weekly ''Micky Maus'' and the monthly ''Donald Duck Special'' (for adults). The ''
Wall Street Journal'' called Donald Duck "The Jerry Lewis of Germany", a reference to American star
Jerry Lewis's popularity in France. Donald's dialogue in German comics tends to be more sophisticated and philosophical, he "quotes from German literature, speaks in grammatically complex sentences and is prone to philosophical musings, while the stories often take a more political tone than their American counterparts", features especially associated with
Erika Fuchs's popular German translations of the comics created by ''The Good Duck Artist''
Carl Barks. Christian Pfeiler – president of D.O.N.A.L.D., a German acronym which stands for "German Organization for Non-commercial Followers of Pure Donaldism" – says Donald is popular in Germany because "almost everyone can identify with him. He has strengths and weaknesses, he lacks polish but is also very cultured and well-read." It is through this
everyman persona that Donald is able to voice philosophical truths about German society that appeal to both children and adults. Donald's writers and illustrators
Carl Barks,
Don Rosa and
Ub Iwerks are well known in Germany, and have their own
fan clubs.
Disney theme parks
Donald Duck has played a major role in many Disney theme parks over the years. He has actually been seen in more attractions and shows at the parks than Mickey Mouse has. He has appeared over the years in such attractions as
Mickey Mouse Revue,
Mickey's PhilharMagic,
Disneyland: The First 50 Magical Years,
Gran Fiesta Tour Starring the Three Caballeros and the updated version of
"it's a small world". He also is seen in the parks as a meet-and-greet character.
One long-ago-scrapped idea was also to have a bumper boat ride themed to Donald Duck.
Donald in children's books
The following is an incomplete list of Donald Duck children's books. While Donald appears as a character in many books, this list is limited only to books in which Donald is the central character. The vast majority of Donald books have been published by Whitman Publishing (later
Western Publishing) or one of its subsidiaries.
''Walt Disney's Donald Duck'' (1935), Donald's first published appearance
''Donald Duck Story Book'' (1937)
''Donald Duck Has His Ups and Downs'' (1937)
''Donald's Lucky Day'' (1939), adaptation of the cartoon short of the same name
''Donald Duck and His Cat Troubles'' (1948)
''Donald Duck in Bringing up the Boys'' (1948)
''Donald Duck's Kite'' (1949)
''Donald Duck's Lucky Day'' (1951), a Tell a Tale book
''Donald Duck and the Wishing Star'' (1952), a Cozy Corner book
''Full Speed Ahead'' (1953), a Tell a Tale book
''Donald Duck Goes to Disneyland'' (1955)
''Donald Duck in Help Wanted'' (1955)
''Donald Duck and the New Birdhouse'' (1956), a Tell a Tale book
''Donald Duck in Frontierland'' (1957), a Tell-a-tale book
''Donald Duck and the Lost Mesa Ranch'' (1966)
''Donald Duck: Board Book'' (1969), Western Publishing
''Donald Duck and the Super-Sticky Secret'' (1985), a Tell a Tale book
''Tom Sawyer's Island'' (1985), a Tell a Tale book
''Donald Duck Gets Fed Up'' (1940)
''Donald Duck Sees Stars'' (1941)
''Off the Beam'' (1943)
''Headed for Trouble'' (1943)
''Donald Duck and Ghost Morgan's Treasure'' (1946), based on the comic ''Donald Duck Finds Pirate Gold'' (1942)
''Donald Duck and the Green Serpent'' (1947), based on the comic ''The Terror on the River''
''Donald Duck Lays Down the Law'' (1948)
''Donald Duck in Volcano Alley'' (1949, 1973)
''Donald Duck's Toy Sailboat'' (1954), based on the cartoon short ''Chips Ahoy''
''Donald Duck and the Christmas Carol'' (1960)
''The Fabulous Diamond Fountain'' (1967)
''Luck of the Ducks'' (1969)
''Disneyland Parade with Donald Duck'' (1971)
''Donald Duck: Private Eye'' (1972)
''The Lost Jungle City'' (1975)
''The Great Kite Maker'' (1949)
''Donald's Toy Train'' (1950), based on cartoon short ''Out of Scale''
''Donald Duck's Adventure'' (1950), a Mickey Mouse Club book
''Donald Duck and Santa Clause'' (1952), a Mickey Mouse Club book
''Donald Duck and the Witch'' (1953)
''Donald Duck's Christmas Tree'' (1954, 1991), based on cartoon short ''Toy Tinkers''
''Donald Duck's Safety Book'' (1954)
''Donald Duck in Disneyland'' (1955)
''Donald Duck and the Mouseketeers'' (1956), a Mickey Mouse Club book
''Donald Duck and the Witch Next Door'' (1971)
''Donald Duck: Prize Driver'' (1974), a Mickey Mouse Club book
''America On Parade'' (1975)
''Donald Duck and the One Bear'' (1978), based on the fairy tale ''Goldilocks and the Three Bears''
''Instant Millionaire'' (1978)
''Where's Grandma?'' (1983), a Golden Stiff It book
''Donald Duck and the Big Dog'' (1986)
''Some Duck's Have All the Luck'' (1987)
''Donald Duck'' (1936)
D.C. Heath and Co. books
''Donald Duck and His Friends'' (1939), a Disney Health book
''Donald Duck and His Nephews'' (1939), a Disney Health book
''Donald Duck and the Magic Stick'' (1974)
''Donald Duck: Mountain Climber'' (1978)
''Donald Duck's Big Surprise'' (1982)
''Donald Duck Buys a House'' (1982)
Walt Disney Productions books
''The Donald Duck Book'' (1978), a Golden Shape book
''Baby Donald's Day at the Beach'' (2001)
''Baby Donald Makes a Snowfriend'' (2005)
Beyond Disney
Donald is the only popular film and television cartoon character to appear as a mascot for a major American university: a licensing agreement between Disney and the University of Oregon allows the school's sports teams to use Donald's image as its "Fighting Duck" mascot. In 1984, Donald Duck was named an honorary alumnus of the University of Oregon during his 50th birthday celebration. During a visit to the Eugene Airport, 3,000 to 4,000 fans gathered for the presentation of an academic cap and gown to Donald. Thousands of area residents signed a congratulatory scroll for Donald, and that document is now part of Disney's corporate archives.
In the 1940s, Donald was adopted as an unofficial mascot by Brazilian sports club Botafogo after Argentinean cartoonist Lorenzo Mollas, who was working in Brazil at the time, drew him with the club's soccer uniform. Mollas chose Donald because he complains and fights for his rights, like the club's managers at those years, and also because, being a duck, he does not lose his elegance while moving in the water (an allusion to rowing). He was eventually replaced so that the club would not have to pay royalties to Disney (Botafogo's current official mascot is "Manequinho", representing the Manneken Pis statue in front of the club's head office), but has since retained the status of unofficial mascot.
Donald's name and image are used on numerous commercial products, one example being Donald Duck brand orange juice, introduced by Citrus World in 1940.
Donald Duck was temporarily listed as a "hired" employee in the database of the United States Department of Housing and Urban Development as late as 1978. Given a $99,999 salary — more than double the $47,500 take federal civil servants were legally limited to be paid at the time — the name was unchallenged by a computer intended to catch government payroll fraud. Picked as one of thirty fictitious names by the Government Accounting Office, the use of it was a test to see if the payroll system of the HUD could be manipulated to defraud the government.
Donald Duck's head and neck, wearing a radio headset and wrapped in earphone wires with an expression of pain on his face and with crossed crutches below, was the nose art on Lieutenant Ted W. Lawson's B-25 Mitchell bomber, the Ruptured Duck, on the famous Doolittle Raid on Tokyo in 1942 .
In the 1950s, an early ''Mad Magazine'' parody of Mickey Mouse (called "Mickey Rodent", written by "Walt Dizzy") featured "Darnold Duck", whose quacky voice had to be "translated" for the readers, and who was shamed into finally wearing pants.
Although Donald's military service has most been recognized as him in the US Army from his wartime cartoons (and to a lesser extent having Donald in the US Navy from Duck Tales), Walt Disney had authorized Donald to be used as a mascot for the US Coast Guard. The Coast Guard image shows a fierce-looking Donald Duck dressed in a pirate's outfit, appearing vigilant against any potential threats to the coastal regions in the United States. This image is still often used on many Coast Guard bases and Coast Guard cutters today.
Donald Duck is referred to in the song "The Village Green Preservation Society" by The Kinks: "We are the Village Green Preservation Society/ God save Donald Duck, vaudeville and variety..." The reference is ironical, as the singer is lamenting the disappearance of perceived traditional English cultural artifacts.
Donald Duck makes a cameo appearance in the cartoon sequence in ''200 Motels'' (1971).
In Sweden, a comic book artist named Charlie Christensen got into a legal dispute with Disney when his creation Arne Anka looked similar to Donald Duck (albeit Arne is a pessimistic drunkard). However Charlie made a mockery of the legal action, and staged a fake death for his character, who then had plastic surgery performed and reappeared as Arne X with a more crow-like beak. He later purchased a strap-on duck beak from a novelty gift shop, pointing out that "If Disney are planning to give me any legal action all I have to do is remove my fake beak."
In 1991, the Disney Corporation sued the Israeli caricaturist Dudu Geva for copyright infringement, claiming his character "Donald Dach" in the story "Moby Duck" was a ripoff of Donald. The Courts found in their favor and forced Geva to pay for the legal expenses and remove his book from the shelves. More mildly, the character Howard The Duck's original design was modified to include pants allegedly due to pressure from Disney.
In 2005, Donald received his own star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame at 6840 Hollywood Blvd joining other fictional characters such as Mickey Mouse, Bugs Bunny, Woody Woodpecker, The Simpsons, Winnie the Pooh, Kermit the Frog, Big Bird, Godzilla and Snow White.
Donald's fame has led Disney to license the character for a number of video games, such as the ''Kingdom Hearts'' series, where Donald is the court magician of Disney Castle. He accompanies Goofy and a young boy named Sora on a quest to find King Mickey Mouse, defeat the Heartless and Nobodies, and put an end to the evil Xehanort and Organization XIII. He is voiced by Tony Anselmo in the English version and Kōichi Yamadera in the Japanese version.
Italian Power Metal Band Trick or Treat have a song called "Like Donald Duck" in their debut album "Evil Needs Candy Too" (2006).
Asteroid 12410 was named after Donald Duck.
Appearances
Short films
Feature-length films
''The Reluctant Dragon'' (1941)
''Saludos Amigos'' (1942)
''The Three Caballeros'' (1944)
''Fun and Fancy Free'' (1947)
''Melody Time'' (1948)
''Donald Duck in Mathmagic Land'' (1959)
''Mickey's Christmas Carol'' (1983)
''Who Framed Roger Rabbit'' (1988)
''Mickey's 60th Birthday'' (1988) TV
''The Prince and the Pauper'' (1990)
''A Goofy Movie'' (1995)
''Fantasia 2000'' (2000)
''Mickey's Once Upon a Christmas'' (1999) V
''Mickey's Magical Christmas: Snowed in at the House of Mouse'' (2001) V
''Mickey's House of Villains'' (2002) V
''Mickey's PhilharMagic'' (2003) Theme Park
''Mickey's Twice Upon a Christmas'' (2004) V
''Mickey, Donald, Goofy: The Three Musketeers'' (2004) V
Television series
''DuckTales'' (1987–1990, as recurring guest)
''Donald Duck Presents'' (compilation of classic Disney shorts)
''Donald's Quack Attack'' (compilation of classic Disney shorts)
''Bonkers'' (1993–1995, cameo)
''Quack Pack'' (1996–1997)
''Mickey Mouse Works'' (1999–2000)
''House of Mouse'' (2001–2003)
''Mickey Mouse Clubhouse'' (2006)
Video games
''Donald Duck's Speedboat'' (cancelled) (1983)
''Donald Duck's Playground'' (1984)
''Donald's Alphabet Chase'' (1988)
''Donald The Hero'' (1988)
''Quackshot'' (1991)
''The Lucky Dime Caper starring Donald Duck'' (1991)
''World of Illusion Starring Mickey Mouse and Donald Duck'' (1992)
''Deep Duck Trouble Starring Donald Duck'' (1993)
''Donald Duck no Mahô no Bôshi'' (1995)
''Disney's Magical Quest 3 Starring Mickey and Donald'' (1995, 2005)
''Maui Mallard in Cold Shadow'' (1996)
''Donald Duck: Goin' Quackers'' (2000)
''Mickey's Speedway USA'' (2000)
''Toontown Online'' (2002)
''Disney Golf'' (2002)
''Disney's PK: Out of the Shadows'' (2002)
''Kingdom Hearts'' (2002)
''Kingdom Hearts Final Mix'' (2002)
''Kingdom Hearts: Chain of Memories'' (2004)
''Kingdom Hearts II'' (2005)
''Donald Duck Quest'' (2006)
''Kingdom Hearts II Final Mix+'' (2007)
''Duckburg P.D.: Donald on Duty'' (2007)
''Donald Duck Quest Deluxe'' (2007)
''Kingdom Hearts: RE:Chain of Memories'' (2007)
''Disney TH!NK Fast: The Ultimate Trivia Showdown'' (2008)
''Donald Duck Chaos of the Road'' (2008)
''Phantom Duck'' (2008)
''Kingdom Hearts coded'' (2008, 2009)
''Kingdom Hearts 358/2 Days'' (2009)
''Kingdom Hearts Birth by Sleep'' (2010)
''Kingdom Hearts Re:coded'' (2011)
''Epic Mickey'' (2010)
Famous illustrators
Carl Barks
Luciano Bottaro
Daniel Branca
Giovan Battista Carpi
Giorgio Cavazzano
Mau Heymans
Bas Heymans
William Van Horn
Daan Jippes
Don Rosa
Marco Rota
Romano Scarpa
Tony Strobl
Al Taliaferro
Vicar
Tetsuya Nomura
Shiro Amano
Kari Korhonen
Further reading
Walt Disney Productions, ''Walt Disney's Donald Duck: 50 Years of Happy Frustration'', Courage Books, May 1990 ISBN 978-0-89471-530-3.
References
External links
Donald Duck at Toonopedia
Donald Duck's family tree
Donald Duck shorts anthology
Category:Animated film series
Category:Characters in Disney package films
Category:Dell Comics titles
Category:Disney comics characters
Category:Disney Comics titles
Category:Donald Duck universe characters
Category:Fictional anthropomorphic characters
Category:Fictional characters introduced in 1934
Category:Fictional ducks
Category:Fictional sailors
Category:Gemstone Comics titles
Category:Gladstone Comics titles
Category:Gold Key Comics titles
Category:Kingdom Hearts characters
Category:Mickey Mouse universe characters
ar:بطوط
bo:གདང་ཡ་ཙེ།
bs:Paja Patak
br:Donald Duck
bg:Доналд Дък
ca:Ànec Donald
cs:Kačer Donald
da:Anders And
de:Donald Duck
et:Piilupart Donald
el:Ντόναλντ Ντακ
es:Pato Donald
eo:Donaldo Anaso
fa:دانلد داک
fo:Dunnaldur Dunna
fr:Donald Duck
fy:Donald Duck
gu:ડોનાલ્ડ ડક
ko:도널드 덕
hi:डोनाल्ड डक
hr:Paško Patak
id:Donal Bebek
is:Andrés Önd
it:Paperino
he:דונלד דאק
jv:Donal Bèbèk
kn:ಡೊನಾಲ್ಡ್ ಡಕ್
ka:დონალდ დაკი
la:Donaldus Anas
lv:Donalds Daks
lb:Donald Duck
lt:Antulis Donaldas
lmo:Àned Donald
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mk:Пајо Паторот
ml:ഡൊണാൾഡ് ഡക്ക്
ms:Donald Duck
nl:Donald Duck (personage)
ja:ドナルドダック
no:Donald Duck
nn:Donald Duck
oc:Donald Duck
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pl:Kaczor Donald
pt:Pato Donald
ro:Donald Duck
qu:Donald Patu
ru:Дональд Дак
se:Vulle Vuojaš
simple:Donald Duck
sr:Паја Патак
fi:Aku Ankka
sv:Kalle Anka
te:డోనాల్డ్ డక్
th:โดนัลด์ ดั๊ก
tr:Donald Duck
uk:Дональд Дак
vi:Vịt Donald
zh:唐老鸭