One of the final panels we attended on Sunday afternoon at this year’s D23: The Ultimate Disney Fan Event was entitled “Donald Duck’s 90th Quacktacular.” Below you can find my recap of this very fun presentation celebrating everyone’s favorite furious fowl.
The panel began with a montage video of Disney Cast Members and Walt Disney himself talking about what makes Donald great, followed by host Jenny Lorenzo (from Victor & Valentino) taking the stage.
Then two representatives from the Walt Disney Animation Research Library appeared to talk about Donald’s history. The character’s first appearance on screen was in the short “The Wise Little Hen” in June of 1934 although his in-universe birthday is different, as depicted in the 1949 short “Donald’s Happy Birthday.” We saw animation art from “The Wise Little Hen” and Donald’s second appearance in “Orphan’s Benefit” (also 1934), which got a shot-for-shot remake in 1941.
Donald’s early starring roles further established his character. He would eventually star in more short films than Mickey Mouse. We were also shown rarely seen Donald sketches from Disney shorts that were never actually produced.
Carl Barks is credited as fleshing out Donald and his family via his creations like Uncle Scrooge McDuck. We also learned about Donald’s wartime shorts, which served as morale boosters during World War II, along with the features Saludos Amigos and The Three Caballeros.
Donald’s nemeses include his nephews Huey, Dewey, and Louie and the chipmunks Chip n’ Dale. His girlfriend Daisy made her first appearance in “Mr. Duck Steps Out,” and Donald’s appearances extended to television, where he sometimes starred alongside Walt Disney himself.
Clarence “Ducky” Nash voiced Donald Duck until “Mickey’s Christmas Carol” in 1983, and then Tony Anselmo took over beginning with “The Prince and the Pauper” in 1990. We also learned about animation restoration when it comes to the classic Donald shorts.
They revealed during the panel that the short “Donald’s Off Day” from 1944 has been newly restored and we then became the first audience who got to see the finished product. After that, they played the much more recent Donald short “D.I.Y. Duck,” which was created using archival audio of Clarence Nash. Ddirector Mark Henn, voice actor Tony Anselmo, and producer Dorothy McKim took the stage to talk about the project.
Henn said production on “D.I.Y. Duck” took longer than expected because they had to pause to work on another recent animated Disney short, “Once Upon a Studio.” We heard a voice message from Clarence Nash’s daughter thanking everyone and wishing Donald a happy 90th birthday, and then McKim talked about finding Nash’s archival “efforts” from the recording studio to use as Donald’s voice in the film.
Anselmo concluded the panel by talking about carrying on the voice of Donald after Nash’s death.
And lastly, the audience was invited to join the panel participants in singing “Happy Birthday” to Donald Duck, and the duck of the hour himself made a surprise appearance on stage to close out the presentation.
For much more coverage from D23 2024, be sure to check right back here at Laughing Place.