Behind the Shorts
- Tidbits and Trivia:
- Donald and Pluto (1936) is
credited as a Mickey Mouse short, although Mickey does not appear in it.
Pluto co-stars in four additional shorts on this set: Beach Picnic
(1939), Donald’s Dog Laundry (1940), Put-Put Troubles
(1940) and Window Cleaners (1940).
- Making her film debut in Don Donald (1937),
Daisy Duck is billed (no pun intended) as ‘Donna Duck’. She also appears
here in Mr. Duck Steps Out (1940) and A Good Time for a Dime
(1941).
- Don Donald was also the
first official Donald short, and, with its Latin American setting, was a
precursor to his two South American features, Saludos Amigos and
The Three Caballeros.
- Donald’s nephews Huey, Dewey and Louie first appeared
in the Donald Duck comic strip in 1937, followed by their big screen
debut in Donald’s Nephews (1938). They also co-star in the
following seven shorts included on this set: Good Scouts, Donald’s
Golf Game (both 1938), Hockey Champ, Sea Scouts (both 1939),
Mr. Duck Steps Out, Fire Chief (1940) and Truant
Officer Donald (1941).
- All in the family: Nash not only provided the voice
of Donald in all the shorts on this set, but also those for Daisy, Huey,
Dewey and Louie as well.
- Three of these shorts are billed as “Donald & Goofy�?
shorts: Polar Trappers, The Fox Hunt (both 1938) and
Billposters (1940).
- This Fox Hunt was a remake of an earlier,
black and white Silly Symphony from 1931.
- Another of Donald’s many relatives made his debut in
Donald’s Cousin Gus (1939). Alas, the gluttonous goose did not
prove as popular and was never seen again on film, although he became a
favorite in the Donald Duck comics.
- Pun alert: The friend who sends Donald’s Penguin
(1939) to him is named Admiral Bird.
- The Autograph Hound (1939)
is filled to the brim with caricatures of such Hollywood heavyweights of
the 1930s as Greta Garbo, Mickey Rooney, Sonja Henie, Shirley Temple,
Clark Gable, Charlie McCarthy, Katherine Hepburn, Bette Davis and the
Brothers Marx and Ritz.
- Continuing his stretch as the Disney baddie of
the time, Pete appears as the antagonist in three of these shorts:
Officer Duck (1939), The Riveter (1940) and Timber
(1941).
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