Back in 1939, when Donald Duck tried to get into fictional “Hollywood Studios” in the cartoon short The Autograph Hound, he was met by a cruel and unreasonable security guard, whom he consistently had to outwit during his hunt for autographs of the biggest stars of the day. Amongst the Hollywood stars and starlets he …
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With an emphatic “hi-ho,” Captain Donald keeps time for his nephews, Huey, Duey, and Louie, as they paddle aboard a little brown schooner in Sea Scouts, a Donald Duck short released on this day in 1939. As any Donald Duck fan worth his weight in feathers knows, it isn’t long before something — and just …
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At the start of Donald’s Cousin Gus, which premiered on this day in 1939, Donald is just sitting down to a large feast when he’s disrupted by a loud knock at his door. There, standing on his porch in a bowtie and top hat is Donald’s cousin, Gus Goose. Gus even has a note from …
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Lighter than air, Donald Duck glides along the icy surface of a winter pond on a pair of ice skates. Suddenly, his regal performance of “duck lake” is put to a halt when his pesky nephews show up to play hockey. Donald pulls out a trophy that he happens to have on hand. It reads: …
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On this day in 1939, the beautiful Silly Symphony The Ugly Duckling swam into theaters, and although released early in Disney’s history, this was not Disney’s first version of the classic Hans Christian Andersen story. In the 1981 television special, Disney Animation: The Illusion of Life, Frank Thomas explained, “In 1931 we made the first …
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Something goofy happened on this day in 1939, when, after appearing in Mickey Mouse cartoon shorts, Goofy finally starred in his own cartoon, Goofy and Wilbur. Co-starring was a non-verbal grasshopper, Wilbur, and some other incidental critters, and although Pinto Colvig was the original creator of Goofy’s voice and trademark laugh, in Goofy and Wilbur …
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Disney’s successful Silly Symphony, 1933’s Three Little Pigs, led to three little sequels. The third, The Practical Pig, first danced onto screens on this day in 1939. When the pig who built the wolf-proof house is working on his latest practical invention, a lie detector, the other two pigs laugh and make sport of the …
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“Once upon a time in sunny Spain, there was a little bull and his name was Ferdinand. All the other little bulls he lived with would run and jump and butt their heads together, but not Ferdinand. He had his favorite spot out in the pasture under a cork tree, and he would sit just …
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On this day at the Biltmore Hotel in Los Angeles, California, the 11th annual Academy Awards® were held. And while neither Walt Disney nor his first film Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs had been nominated the previous year, on this date in 1939 Walt managed to walk away with much more than just a …
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On this day in 1939 it was Friday the 13th, giving an element of reality to the Donald Duck cartoon short Donald’s Lucky Day, which was released on this day that year. This time, Donald portrays a messenger who is instructed to deliver a ticking package to 1313 13th Street by midnight. With the seed …
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