Donald Duck

Donald Duck is an animated cartoon and comic-book character from Walt Disney Productions. Donald is a white anthropomorphic duck with yellow-orange bill, legs, and feet. He usually wears a sailor shirt and cap — but no pants (except when he goes swimming).

Donald's famous voice, one of the most identifiable voices in all of animation, was until 1985 performed by voice actor Clarence "Ducky" Nash. Nash came from the rural community of Watonga, Oklahoma, and due to his voice acting rose far above his economic milieu. It was largely this semi-intelligible speech that would cement Donald's image into audiences' minds and help fuel both Donald's and Clarence's rise to stardom.

According to the cartoon Donald Gets Drafted (1942), Donald's full name is Donald Fauntleroy Duck (his middle name appears to be a reference to his sailor hat, which was a common accessory for Fauntleroy suits). Disney's website also states his name as Donald Fauntleroy Duck. Donald's birthday is [http://psc.disney.go.com/guestservices/8703.html#8703 officially recognized as June 9, 1934, the day his debut film was released, but in The Three Caballeros, his birthday is given as simply "Friday the 13th." In Donald's Happy Birthday (short) it has his birthday as the 13th of March.

Although usually easygoing, Donald's most famous trait is his short and often explosive temper. He is also sometimes portrayed as more crafty and cynical than other characters such as Goofy or Mickey.

Donald in animation

Early appearances

Donald first appeared in the Silly Symphonies cartoon The Wise Little Hen on June 9, 1934 (though he is mentioned in a 1931 Disney storybook). Donald's appearance in the cartoon, as created by animator Dick Lundy, is similar to his modern look — the feather and beak colors are the same, as is the blue sailor shirt and hat — but his features are more elongated, his body plumper, and his feet bigger. Donald's personality is not developed either; in the short, he only fills the role of the unhelpful friend from the original story.

Bert Gillett, director of The Wise Little Hen, brought Donald back in his Mickey Mouse cartoon, The Orphan's Benefit on August 11, 1934. Donald is one of a number of characters who are giving performances in a benefit for Mickey's Orphans. Donald's act is to recite the poems Mary Had a Little Lamb and Little Boy Blue, but every time he tries, the mischievous orphans eat his specially made pie, leading the duck to fly into a squawking fit of anger. This explosive personality would remain with Donald for decades to come.

Donald continued to be a hit with audiences. The character began appearing in most Mickey Mouse cartoons as a regular member of the ensemble with Mickey, Minnie, Goofy, and Pluto. Cartoons from this period, such as the 1935 cartoon The Band Concert — in which Donald repeatedly disrupts the Mickey Mouse Orchestra's rendition of The William Tell Overture by playing Turkey in the Straw — are regularly hailed by critics as exemplary films and classics of animation. Animator Ben Sharpsteen also minted the classic Mickey, Donald, and Goofy comedy in 1935, with the cartoon Mickey's Service Station.

Donald was redesigned in 1936 to be a bit fuller, rounder, and cuter. He also began starring in solo cartoons, the first of which was the January 9, 1937 Ben Sharpsteen cartoon, Don Donald. This short also introduced Donald's long-time love interest, Daisy Duck (here called Donna Duck). Donald's nephews, Huey, Dewey and Louie, would make their first animated appearance a year later in the April 15, 1938 film, Donald's Nephews, directed by Jack King (they had been earlier introduced in the Donald Duck comic strip by Al Taliaferro, see below).

Wartime Donald

During World War II, film audiences were looking for brasher, edgier cartoon characters. It is no coincidence that the same era that saw the birth and rise of Bugs Bunny also saw Donald Duck's popularity soar. By 1949, Donald had surpassed Mickey Mouse as Disney's most popular character. Before 1941, Donald Duck had appeared in about 50 cartoons. Between 1941 and 1965, Donald would star in over 100.

Several of Donald's shorts during the war were propaganda films, most notably Der Fuehrer's Face, released on January 1, 1943. In it, Donald plays a worker in an artillery factory in "Nutzi Land" (Nazi Germany). He struggles with long working hours, very small food rations, and having to salute every time he sees a picture of the Führer (Adolf Hitler). These pictures appear in many places, such as on the assembly line in which he is screwing in the detonators of various sizes of shells. In the end he becomes little more than a small part in a faceless machine with no choice but to obey till he falls, suffering a nervous breakdown. Then Donald wakes up to find that his experience was in fact a nightmare. At the end of the short Donald looks to the Statue of Liberty and the American flag with renewed appreciation. Der Fuehrer's Face won the 1943 Academy Award for Animated Short Film.

Other notable shorts from this period include the so-called Army shorts, six films that follow Donald's life in the US Army from his drafting to his life at boot camp under sergeant Pete to his first actual mission as a commando having to sabotage a Japanese air base. Titles in the series include:

Donald Gets Drafted - (May 1, 1942).
The Vanishing Private - (September 25, 1942).
Sky Trooper - (November 6, 1942).
Fall Out Fall In - (April 23, 1943).
The Old Army Game - (November 5, 1943).
Commando Duck - (June 2, 1944).

Donald Gets Drafted also featured Donald having a physical examination before joining the army. According to it Donald has flat feet and is unable to distinguish between the colors green and blue, which is a type of color blindness. Also in this cartoon sergeant Pete comments on Donald's lack of discipline.

It is also noteworthy that thanks to these films, Donald graced the nose artwork of virtually every type of WWII Allied combat aircraft, from the L-4 Grasshopper to the B-29 Superfortress.

Donald also appears as a mascot-such as in the Army Air Corps 309th Fighter Sq and the U.S Coast Guard Auxiliary"Corsair Fleet" {For Reference only}

Post-war animation

Many of Donald's films made after the war recast the duck as the brunt of some other character's pestering. Donald is repeatedly attacked, harassed, and ridiculed by his nephews, by the chipmunks Chip 'n Dale, or by other one-shot characters such as Humphrey the Bear, Buzz the Bee, Bootle Beetle, the Aracuan Bird, Louie the Mountain Lion or a colony of ants. In effect, the Disney artists had reversed the classic screwball scenario perfected by Walter Lantz and others in which the main character is the instigator of these harassing behaviors, rather than the butt of them. However, by turning the tables, Donald's aggressors come off to some as sadistic or cruel, and some critics have found the films unfunny as a result.

The post-war Donald also starred in educational films, such as Donald in Mathmagic Land (1959), and made cameos in various Disney projects, such as The Reluctant Dragon (1941) and the Disneyland television show (1959).

Since Clarence Nash's death in 1985, Donald's voice has been provided by Tony Anselmo, who was mentored by Nash.

Donald in comics

''Main article: Donald Duck in comics

While Donald's cartoons enjoy vast popularity in the United States and around the world, his weekly and monthly comic books enjoy their greatest popularity in many European countries, most in Norway and Finland, but many other countries are right behind - most notably Denmark, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands, and Sweden. Most of them are produced and published by the Italian branch of the Walt Disney Company in Italy and by Egmont in Denmark, Norway, Finland and Sweden.

According to the Inducks, which is a database about Disney comics worldwide, American, Italian and Danish stories have been reprinted in the following countries. In most of them, publications continue: Australia, Austria, Belgium, Brazil, Bulgaria, China, Colombia, Czech Republic, Denmark (Faroe Islands), Egypt, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Guyana, Hungary, Iceland, India, Indonesia, Israel, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, the Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Russia, Saudi Arabia, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, Thailand, Turkey, the United Kingdom, USA, former Yugoslavia.

Early development

Though a 1931 Disney publication called Mickey Mouse Annual mentioned a character named Donald Duck, the character's first appearance in comic-strip format was a newspaper cartoon that was based on the short The Wise Little Hen and published in 1934. For the next few years, Donald made a few more appearances in Disney-themed strips, and by 1936, he had grown to be one of the most popular characters in the Silly Symphonies comic strip. Ted Osborne was the primary writer of these strips, with Al Taliaferro as his artist. Osborne and Taliaferro also introduced several members of Donald's supporting cast, including his nephews, Huey, Dewey, and Louie.

In 1937, an Italian publisher named Mondadori created the first Donald Duck story intended specifically for comic books. The eighteen-page story, written by Federico Pedrocchi, is the first to feature Donald as an adventurer rather than simply a comedic character. Fleetway in England also began publishing comic-book stories featuring the duck.

Developments under Taliaferro

A daily Donald Duck comic strip drawn by Taliaferro and written by Bob Karp began running in the United States on February 2 1938; the Sunday strip began the following year. Taliaferro and Karp created an even larger cast of characters for Donald's world. He got a new St. Bernard named Bolivar, and his family grew to include cousin Gus Goose and grandmother Elvira Coot. Donald's new rival girlfriends were Donna and Daisy Duck. Taliaferro also gave Donald his very own automobile, a 1934 Belchfire Runabout, in a 1938 story.

Developments under Barks

In 1942, Western Publishing began creating original comic-book stories about Donald and other Disney characters. Bob Karp worked on the earliest of these, a story called "Donald Duck Finds Pirate Gold". The new publisher meant new illustrators, however: Carl Barks and Jack Hannah. Barks would later repeat the treasure-hunting theme in many more stories.

Barks soon took over the major development of the comic-book version of the duck as both writer and illustrator. Under his pen, the comic version of Donald diverged even further from his animated counterpart, becoming more adventurous, less temperamental, and more eloquent. Black Pete was the only other major character from the Mickey Mouse comic strip to feature prominently in Barks' new Donald Duck universe.

Barks placed Donald in the city of Duckburg, which Barks populated with a host of supporting players, including Gladstone Gander (1948), Gyro Gearloose, and Uncle Scrooge McDuck (1947). Many of Taliaferro's characters made the move to Barks' world as well, including Huey, Dewey, and Louie. Barks placed Donald in both domestic and adventure scenarios, and Uncle Scrooge became one of his favorite characters to pair up with Donald. Scrooge's popularity grew, and by 1952, the character had a comic book of his own. At this point, Barks concentrated his major efforts on the Scrooge stories, and Donald's appearances became more focused on comedy or he was recast as Scrooge's reluctant helper, following his rich uncle around the globe.

Further developments

Dozens of writers continued to utilize Donald in their stories around the world. Italian publisher Mondadori created many of the stories that were published throughout Europe. They also introduced numerous new characters who are today well known in Europe. One example is Donald Duck's alter-ego, a superhero called Paperinik in Italian, created by Guido Martina and Giovan Battista Carpi.

Beyond Disney

Donald Duck is the only popular film and television cartoon character to appear as a mascot for the sports team of a major American university, namely, the Oregon Ducks at the University of Oregon.

Donald's name and image are also used on numerous commercial products, one example being Donald Duck brand orange juice, introduced by Citrus World in 1940. Donald's fame has also led Disney to license the character for a number of video games. He plays a major role in the video game series Kingdom Hearts, for example, where he is depicted as a short-tempered, powerful magician on a quest to find King Mickey Mouse. This version of Donald, like the protagonist Sora, undergoes several transformations, including an octopus style merman, a mummy, an African bird with his coloring and head, and an armored virtual rendition.

In 1991 the Disney Corporation sued the Israeli Caricaturist Dudu Geva for copyright infringement, claiming his character "Donald Dach" in the story "Moby Duck" was a ripoff of Donald. ^* The Courts found in their favor and forced Geva to pay for the legal expenses and remove his book from the shelves. More mildly, the character Howard The Duck's original design was modified to include pants allegedly due to pressure from Disney.

In Sweden a comic book artist named Charlie Christensen got into a legal dispute with Disney when his creation Arne Anka looked similar to Donald Duck (albeit Arne is a pessimistic drunkard). However Charlie made a mockery of the legal action, and staged a fake death for his character, who then had plastic surgery performed and reappeared as Arne X with a more crow-like beak. He later purchased a strap-on duck beak from a novelty gift shop, pointing out that "If Disney are planning to give me any legal action all I have to do is remove my fake beak."

In 2004, Donald received his very own star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame joining other fictional characters such as Mickey Mouse, Bugs Bunny, Woody Woodpecker, The Simpsons, Winnie the Pooh, Kermit the Frog, Godzilla and Snow White.