Donald Duck proved such a popular character that after other character’s short productions had shut down Donald soldiered on. This ducky collection collects the final shorts that our short-tempered waterfowl starred in from 1951 till 1961.
Who knew that a duck that you couldn’t understand and that wore a sailor’s suit would prove to be so popular? In fact, the old bit during the credits of the Mickey Mouse Club, with Donald shouting his name over Mickey’s, might be truer than we were led to believe.
It certainly seemed that Walt knew something like this since the short factories for the other Disney characters shut down, but Donald’s kept chugging along into the 1960s.
This latest edition of the popular Walt Disney Treasures line collects the final shorts of everyone’s favorite duck. This edition also features some fun shorts with nephews Huey, Dewy, and Louie as well as some chipmunk sized thorns in Donald’s side, Child and Dale.
This set contains one of my all time favorite Donald shorts, Trick or Treat (1952), in which Witch Hazel (voiced by cartoon legend June Foray) helps Huey, Dewey, and Louie in getting a treat from Unca’ Donald instead of a trick. In fact, I’ve been singing that blasted song all day long today, rather addicting.
“Trick or Treat, Trick of Treat, Trick or Treat on Halloween….” Where was I? What is also fantastic about this set is that Donald’s cinemascope cartoons, Grand Canyonscope (1954), No Hunting (1955), Bearly Asleep (1954), Beezy Bear (1954), Chips Ahoy (1956), and How to have an Accident in the Home (1956), are presented in their original aspect ratios and enhanced for 16x9 televisions. All of the shorts involving the hyperactive duck are fantastic and some are making their DVD debuts.
The majority of these shorts are in fullscreen, but as I said before those that were shot in cinemascope are presented in their original aspect ratios (2.35:1) and are enhanced for 16x9 televisions.
Special features include introductions by film critic/Disney historian Leonard Maltin on each disc (each around 3 minutes). Disc one has the 12 minute “Donald goes to Press” that looks at the character’s foray into comics. The 10 minute “The Unseen Donald Duck” has animator Eric Goldberg performing a story pitch for an unproduced Donald cartoon. There’s also a commentary by Maltin and animation historian Jerry Beck on Working for Peanuts (1953). Peanuts was originally show in 3-D but it’s presented flat here.
Disc two has one hour of ten of Disney’s Mouseworks cartoons that were produced in 1999 to reflect the attitude of the older shorts found on these discs. Beck and Maltin also provide a commentary for Grand Canyonscope. The collection is housed in a tin that includes a poster reproduction and a certificate of authenticity.
It’s always good to go out on top and Donald performs smashingly on this release. Some grand special features make this a must own for fans of the histrionic quacker. Walt Disney Treasures only continues the fine collection. It’s too bad that it’s the last one; you’ll enjoy them enough that you’ll be squawking for more.
Walt Disney Treasures: The Chronological Donald, Vol. 4 - 1951-1961 (Collector's Tin) is now available at Amazon . As of yet, there is not a release date for the UK. Visit the DVD database for more information.
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