Donald Duck is the second most famous Disney character after Mickey Mouse, alongside Goofy, and appeared in over 150 short films throughout the 1930s, 40s, 50s and 60s. In 2024, he will be appearing in reruns of the shorts on the Disney Channel, as well as in Ducktailthe Kingdom Hearts games, and more.
Disney is celebrating the Duck's birthday with the usual merchandise sales and theme park mayhem, but the best gift for fans is an all-new short film. DIY DuckDonald in 1961 Person throwing away trashThe director is Mark Henn, a veteran who was part of Disney's hand-drawn animation team for 25 years and continued to transition to 3DCG. DIY Duck The work has all the makings of a classic Donald short story, beginning with a mundane problem of everyday life that puts the character in a comical predicament.
Donald has always been my favorite cartoon character. Falling between the more wholesome Disney guys and the softer, more ecstatic Warner Brothers cast of Tex Avery and Chuck Jones, Donald was just… a guy trying to learn how the world works and get by. He was a bit of a hothead, but he was solution-oriented. He wanted to make money, but he wasn't a Scrooge McDuck. His curiosity and passion for life allowed Disney to feature him in PSAs from time to time. Donald wanted to learn, and we wanted to learn with him. Let's dig into his greatest adventures. Donald goes to Mass Magic Landjust to remind myself once a year that math matters.
These days, Donald is almost a relic, relegated to a supporting role behind Mickey on the rare occasions that Disney has approved one of its mascots for use in media. And that's a shame. DIY Duck is a great reminder. Today's more sophisticated cartoons are often fantastical and unrealistic, even when they speak to nuanced human experiences. So it's kind of nice to have a modern, simple, yet stylish cartoon about fixing a crack in a wall. That's something I, as Donald, absolutely hate. It's a nice look back at the past. DIY Duck The show also pays homage to Donald's classic angry voice with archival clips of Clarence “Ducky” Nash, who voiced the character for 50 years.
Disney maintains a hand-drawn department, but it is primarily stunt work. DIY Disney And last year Studio History He was responsible for creating the framework for the 3DCG work and the short film. During a visit to Walt Disney Animation in 2014, Big Hero 6I was lucky enough to watch Henn draw the cartoons by hand, which will later be painted over and rendered with the finished CG art. It remains to be seen whether Disney will make a hand-drawn feature film, or even more Donald shorts, but by keeping Henn and his team on board, Disney has implicitly understood the soul of the medium, whether it's bringing a 3D character to life or reviving the legacy as a tribute. Here's hoping this isn't the last we see of Donald from Disney. Next 60 years.