In this classic Jack King-directed Donald Duck cartoon, Donald is a truant officer who spies his nephews luxuriating in a pond when they should be at school — or so he thinks. He artfully nabs each of them — one by net, one by stick, and one by carefully shot toilet plunger — but, as …
See more
When humorist Robert Benchley decides that Kenneth Grahame’s book The Reluctant Dragon would make a great film, without a shred of reluctance he decided to visit the The Walt Disney Studios lot in Burbank, California to sell Walt on the idea. At least that’s the story portrayed in the 1941 Disney movie version of The …
See more
In 1941’s A Good Time for a Dime, Donald Duck proves that money can’t buy happiness. In fact, a few little coins turn out to be the source of much misery when Donald visits a penny arcade. (Perhaps he would have had more luck at Disneyland’s penny arcade, but that was still a decade and …
See more
It seems a simple enough task. Baggageman Goofy has to load a large trunk on the 5:15 p.m. train. But nothing is ever as simple as it should be for the Goof, and when it turns out that the trunk in question belongs to a magician, well, you can imagine the mayhem that ensues. Goofy …
See more
It makes no difference who you are, you’ve probably heard the song, “When You Wish Upon a Star,” which shined particularly brightly on this day in 1941 when it won the Academy Award® for Best Song. In addition to Best Song, Pinocchio won the Oscar for Best Score, composed by Paul Smith and Leigh Harline. …
See more
The Mickey Mouse cartoon short The Little Whirlwind first blew into theaters on this day in 1941. Through the magic of Disney animation, anything tangible, or intangible, can have a personality, and in this featurette it is a whirlwind… a small mass of air rotating circularly. This little whirlwind may not have eyes or any …
See more
What town wouldn’t feel safe with a fire chief that’s confident, cool, calm, and collected? That isn’t the case in the Donald Duck cartoon short Fire Chief, released on this day in 1940. With Donald in the role, it would be enough to have any town seeing red. Matters are only complicated with the presence …
See more
Take note that on this day in 1940 the animated musical extravaganza Fantasia held its world premiere at the Broadway Theatre in New York. Not resting on his laurels after the success of Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs, Walt Disney decided to create “an entirely new form of entertainment,” as music critic, composer, author, …
See more
When Mr. Mouse Takes a Trip opens, we see Mickey at a train depot, at the Burbank, California home of the Disney Studios. The happy-go-lucky mouse is ready to board a train with his pup pal, Pluto, until the conductor, that dastardly Pete, literally kicks the duo to the ground, proclaiming, “No dogs allowed!” Sneaking …
See more
In Window Cleaners, the 26th of 128 Donald Duck cartoon shorts, Donald learns that cleaning the windows of a skyscraper can be a real “pane.” If it’s not Pluto who is causing him misery, it’s a pesky bee. This would not be the last time a bee would play nemesis to Donald. By 1948 the …
See more
