Walt
Disney posters and fine-art prints starring everybody's favorite
duck Donald Duck
In the 1942 short
Donald Gets Drafted, Donald's full name is Donald
Fauntleroy Duck. Donald's birthday is officially
recognized as June 9, 1934[2], the day his debut film, The Wise
Little Hen, was released. However, in The Three Caballeros
(1944), his birthday is given as simply "Friday the 13th", which
is in reference to the bad luck he experiences in almost all his
cartoon appearances. Donald's Happy Birthday (short) gives his
birthday as 13 March.
Donald's voice, one of the most identifiable voices in all of
animation, was performed by voice actor Clarence "Ducky" Nash up
to 1983. 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.
Wartime Donald
During
World War II, film audiences were looking for brasher,
edgier cartoon characters. It is no coincidence that the same
era that saw the birth and rise of Bugs Bunny also saw Donald
Duck's popularity soar. By 1949, Donald had surpassed Mickey
Mouse as Disney's most popular character. Before 1941, Donald
Duck had appeared in about 50 cartoons. Between 1941 and 1965,
Donald would star in over 100.
Donald in Der Fuehrer's Face
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 nightmare. 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 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 6, 1942).
* Der Fuehrer's Face - (January 1, 1943).
* Fall Out Fall In - (April 23, 1943).
* The Old Army Game - (November 5, 1943).
* Home Defense - (November 26, 1943).
* Commando Duck - (June 2, 1944).
It is also noteworthy that
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.