"Donald! Duck!" Opps. Too late. --"Mad" magazine
Growing up in the late forties and early fifties as I did, the Donald Duck cartoons from 1947-1950 are probably the very ones my dad and I saw when he took me to the theater on Saturday mornings for the weekly kiddie shows. I remember there would always be an adventure serial, some kind of comedy short--something along the lines of the Three Stooges--and about 800 cartoons. OK, to be honest I'm not sure if it was here that I first met Disney's Donald Duck and Mickey Mouse or not, because it seems like WB's Looney Tunes and Merrie Melodies dominated the shows I watched more so than anything from Disney. Yet I'm sure there must have been some of the Duck and the Mouse in there somewhere, too, and in any event this third two-disc tin of Donald Ducks brings back memories of those old days.
I wish I could say I liked the Duck and his pals as much today as I once did, though. Unfortunately, I'm afraid he hasn't aged as well for me as WB's Road Runner, Bugs, Daffy, and the gang. Still, the Disney artwork alone is enough for any adult to enjoy, especially in this third volume of short features, dating as I say from the late forties to early 1950. Most of them are beautiful to behold.
As in the first couple of "Walt Disney Treasures" Duck boxes, each of the two discs in this set contains a number of cartoons, thirty in this case, at six-to-eight minutes apiece. Plus each disc contains various additional bonuses. Some of these cartoons have appeared before in other Donald Duck collections, true, but this is still a lot of Duck for the buck.
Disc one begins with "Straight Shooters," "Sleepy Time Donald," "Donald's Dilemma," "Crazy With the Heat," "Bootle Beetle," "Wide Open Spaces," and "Chip an' Dale" from 1947. Maybe the most unusual item here is "Sleepy Time Donald," with Clarence Nash as usual doing the famous voice. In what is probably the most risqué of Disney cartoons, Donald starts sleepwalking during the dead of night and walks right in through Daisy's bedroom window. Humoring him, Daisy walks with Donald around the city without waking him up. However, probably my favorites among this first set are "Donald's Dilemma," narrated by Daisy, in which Donald becomes an egotistical singing star and sets up a situation more mature than most of the other cartoons; and "Bootle Beetle," which is quite the sweetest and most attractive short on either disc.
Next come "Drip Dippy Donald," "Daddy Duck," "Donald's Dream Voice," "The Trial of Donald Duck," "Inferior Decorator," and "Soup's On" from 1948. The best of these for me was "Donald's Dream Voice," in which Donald is trying to sell brushes door to door but can't because nobody can understand a word he's saying. So, he takes some Ajax Voice Pills, which make him sound like actor Ronald Colman. The pills work for a time, but then.... Oh, dear.
After that, in a special section called "From the Vault" we get "Clown of the Jungle" (1947), "Three for Breakfast," and "Tea for Two Hundred" (1948). Leonard Maltin provides a special introduction to these three films because the folks at Disney want him to remind us that some of Donald's activities exhibited "inappropriate behavior," and the studio doesn't want kids emulating Donald's antics. Fair enough. Can you imagine what Disney might say today if they had produced some of the Looney Tunes cartoons?
Disc two starts with "Sea Salts," "Winter Storage," "Honey Harvester," "All in a Nutshell," "The Greener Yard," "Slide, Donald, Slide," and "Toy Tinkers," all from 1949. The big winners for me here are "Sea Salts," a delightful and beautifully animated selection, and "The Greener Yard," where we find the bootle beetles back, as much fun as ever. Otherwise, we get a lot of Chip an' Dale among these entries.
Following those, we find "Lion Around," "Crazy Over Daisy," "Trailer Horn," "Hook, Lion and Sinker," and "Out on a Limb" from 1950. Here, there are several encounters between Donald and nephews and a pesky mountain lion. As always, the background art can be more captivating than the action.
Things conclude with two more selections from in "From the Vault," again with Maltin's dire warning that these cartoons were made in another era and might contain material offensive to today's parents and children. These cartoons are "Donald's Happy Birthday" (1949) and "Bee at the Beach" (1950). They are not among the stronger entries in the field for artwork or story, but they reflect the frenetic behavior of its hero to a proper degree.
Growing up in the late forties and early fifties as I did, the Donald Duck cartoons from 1947-1950 are probably the very ones my dad and I saw when he took me to the theater on Saturday mornings for the weekly kiddie shows. I remember there would always be an adventure serial, some kind of comedy short--something along the lines of the Three Stooges--and about 800 cartoons. OK, to be honest I'm not sure if it was here that I first met Disney's Donald Duck and Mickey Mouse or not, because it seems like WB's Looney Tunes and Merrie Melodies dominated the shows I watched more so than anything from Disney. Yet I'm sure there must have been some of the Duck and the Mouse in there somewhere, too, and in any event this third two-disc tin of Donald Ducks brings back memories of those old days.
I wish I could say I liked the Duck and his pals as much today as I once did, though. Unfortunately, I'm afraid he hasn't aged as well for me as WB's Road Runner, Bugs, Daffy, and the gang. Still, the Disney artwork alone is enough for any adult to enjoy, especially in this third volume of short features, dating as I say from the late forties to early 1950. Most of them are beautiful to behold.
As in the first couple of "Walt Disney Treasures" Duck boxes, each of the two discs in this set contains a number of cartoons, thirty in this case, at six-to-eight minutes apiece. Plus each disc contains various additional bonuses. Some of these cartoons have appeared before in other Donald Duck collections, true, but this is still a lot of Duck for the buck.
Disc one begins with "Straight Shooters," "Sleepy Time Donald," "Donald's Dilemma," "Crazy With the Heat," "Bootle Beetle," "Wide Open Spaces," and "Chip an' Dale" from 1947. Maybe the most unusual item here is "Sleepy Time Donald," with Clarence Nash as usual doing the famous voice. In what is probably the most risqué of Disney cartoons, Donald starts sleepwalking during the dead of night and walks right in through Daisy's bedroom window. Humoring him, Daisy walks with Donald around the city without waking him up. However, probably my favorites among this first set are "Donald's Dilemma," narrated by Daisy, in which Donald becomes an egotistical singing star and sets up a situation more mature than most of the other cartoons; and "Bootle Beetle," which is quite the sweetest and most attractive short on either disc.
Next come "Drip Dippy Donald," "Daddy Duck," "Donald's Dream Voice," "The Trial of Donald Duck," "Inferior Decorator," and "Soup's On" from 1948. The best of these for me was "Donald's Dream Voice," in which Donald is trying to sell brushes door to door but can't because nobody can understand a word he's saying. So, he takes some Ajax Voice Pills, which make him sound like actor Ronald Colman. The pills work for a time, but then.... Oh, dear.
After that, in a special section called "From the Vault" we get "Clown of the Jungle" (1947), "Three for Breakfast," and "Tea for Two Hundred" (1948). Leonard Maltin provides a special introduction to these three films because the folks at Disney want him to remind us that some of Donald's activities exhibited "inappropriate behavior," and the studio doesn't want kids emulating Donald's antics. Fair enough. Can you imagine what Disney might say today if they had produced some of the Looney Tunes cartoons?
Disc two starts with "Sea Salts," "Winter Storage," "Honey Harvester," "All in a Nutshell," "The Greener Yard," "Slide, Donald, Slide," and "Toy Tinkers," all from 1949. The big winners for me here are "Sea Salts," a delightful and beautifully animated selection, and "The Greener Yard," where we find the bootle beetles back, as much fun as ever. Otherwise, we get a lot of Chip an' Dale among these entries.
Following those, we find "Lion Around," "Crazy Over Daisy," "Trailer Horn," "Hook, Lion and Sinker," and "Out on a Limb" from 1950. Here, there are several encounters between Donald and nephews and a pesky mountain lion. As always, the background art can be more captivating than the action.
Things conclude with two more selections from in "From the Vault," again with Maltin's dire warning that these cartoons were made in another era and might contain material offensive to today's parents and children. These cartoons are "Donald's Happy Birthday" (1949) and "Bee at the Beach" (1950). They are not among the stronger entries in the field for artwork or story, but they reflect the frenetic behavior of its hero to a proper degree.
"Donald! Duck!" Opps. Too late. --"Mad" magazine
Growing up in the late forties and early fifties as I did, the Donald Duck cartoons from 1947-1950 are probably the very ones my dad and I saw when he took me to the theater on Saturday mornings for the weekly kiddie shows. I remember there would always be an adventure serial, some kind of comedy short--something along the lines of the Three Stooges--and about 800 cartoons. OK, to be honest I'm not sure if it was here that I first met Disney's Donald Duck and Mickey Mouse or not, because it seems like WB's Looney Tunes and Merrie Melodies dominated the shows I watched more so than anything from Disney. Yet I'm sure there must have been some of the Duck and the Mouse in there somewhere, too, and in any event this third two-disc tin of Donald Ducks brings back memories of those old days.
I wish I could say I liked the Duck and his pals as much today as I once did, though. Unfortunately, I'm afraid he hasn't aged as well for me as WB's Road Runner, Bugs, Daffy, and the gang. Still, the Disney artwork alone is enough for any adult to enjoy, especially in this third volume of short features, dating as I say from the late forties to early 1950. Most of them are beautiful to behold.
As in the first couple of "Walt Disney Treasures" Duck boxes, each of the two discs in this set contains a number of cartoons, thirty in this case, at six-to-eight minutes apiece. Plus each disc contains various additional bonuses. Some of these cartoons have appeared before in other Donald Duck collections, true, but this is still a lot of Duck for the buck.
Disc one begins with "Straight Shooters," "Sleepy Time Donald," "Donald's Dilemma," "Crazy With the Heat," "Bootle Beetle," "Wide Open Spaces," and "Chip an' Dale" from 1947. Maybe the most unusual item here is "Sleepy Time Donald," with Clarence Nash as usual doing the famous voice. In what is probably the most risqué of Disney cartoons, Donald starts sleepwalking during the dead of night and walks right in through Daisy's bedroom window. Humoring him, Daisy walks with Donald around the city without waking him up. However, probably my favorites among this first set are "Donald's Dilemma," narrated by Daisy, in which Donald becomes an egotistical singing star and sets up a situation more mature than most of the other cartoons; and "Bootle Beetle," which is quite the sweetest and most attractive short on either disc.
Next come "Drip Dippy Donald," "Daddy Duck," "Donald's Dream Voice," "The Trial of Donald Duck," "Inferior Decorator," and "Soup's On" from 1948. The best of these for me was "Donald's Dream Voice," in which Donald is trying to sell brushes door to door but can't because nobody can understand a word he's saying. So, he takes some Ajax Voice Pills, which make him sound like actor Ronald Colman. The pills work for a time, but then.... Oh, dear.
After that, in a special section called "From the Vault" we get "Clown of the Jungle" (1947), "Three for Breakfast," and "Tea for Two Hundred" (1948). Leonard Maltin provides a special introduction to these three films because the folks at Disney want him to remind us that some of Donald's activities exhibited "inappropriate behavior," and the studio doesn't want kids emulating Donald's antics. Fair enough. Can you imagine what Disney might say today if they had produced some of the Looney Tunes cartoons?
Disc two starts with "Sea Salts," "Winter Storage," "Honey Harvester," "All in a Nutshell," "The Greener Yard," "Slide, Donald, Slide," and "Toy Tinkers," all from 1949. The big winners for me here are "Sea Salts," a delightful and beautifully animated selection, and "The Greener Yard," where we find the bootle beetles back, as much fun as ever. Otherwise, we get a lot of Chip an' Dale among these entries.
Following those, we find "Lion Around," "Crazy Over Daisy," "Trailer Horn," "Hook, Lion and Sinker," and "Out on a Limb" from 1950. Here, there are several encounters between Donald and nephews and a pesky mountain lion. As always, the background art can be more captivating than the action.
Things conclude with two more selections from in "From the Vault," again with Maltin's dire warning that these cartoons were made in another era and might contain material offensive to today's parents and children. These cartoons are "Donald's Happy Birthday" (1949) and "Bee at the Beach" (1950). They are not among the stronger entries in the field for artwork or story, but they reflect the frenetic behavior of its hero to a proper degree.
Growing up in the late forties and early fifties as I did, the Donald Duck cartoons from 1947-1950 are probably the very ones my dad and I saw when he took me to the theater on Saturday mornings for the weekly kiddie shows. I remember there would always be an adventure serial, some kind of comedy short--something along the lines of the Three Stooges--and about 800 cartoons. OK, to be honest I'm not sure if it was here that I first met Disney's Donald Duck and Mickey Mouse or not, because it seems like WB's Looney Tunes and Merrie Melodies dominated the shows I watched more so than anything from Disney. Yet I'm sure there must have been some of the Duck and the Mouse in there somewhere, too, and in any event this third two-disc tin of Donald Ducks brings back memories of those old days.
I wish I could say I liked the Duck and his pals as much today as I once did, though. Unfortunately, I'm afraid he hasn't aged as well for me as WB's Road Runner, Bugs, Daffy, and the gang. Still, the Disney artwork alone is enough for any adult to enjoy, especially in this third volume of short features, dating as I say from the late forties to early 1950. Most of them are beautiful to behold.
As in the first couple of "Walt Disney Treasures" Duck boxes, each of the two discs in this set contains a number of cartoons, thirty in this case, at six-to-eight minutes apiece. Plus each disc contains various additional bonuses. Some of these cartoons have appeared before in other Donald Duck collections, true, but this is still a lot of Duck for the buck.
Disc one begins with "Straight Shooters," "Sleepy Time Donald," "Donald's Dilemma," "Crazy With the Heat," "Bootle Beetle," "Wide Open Spaces," and "Chip an' Dale" from 1947. Maybe the most unusual item here is "Sleepy Time Donald," with Clarence Nash as usual doing the famous voice. In what is probably the most risqué of Disney cartoons, Donald starts sleepwalking during the dead of night and walks right in through Daisy's bedroom window. Humoring him, Daisy walks with Donald around the city without waking him up. However, probably my favorites among this first set are "Donald's Dilemma," narrated by Daisy, in which Donald becomes an egotistical singing star and sets up a situation more mature than most of the other cartoons; and "Bootle Beetle," which is quite the sweetest and most attractive short on either disc.
Next come "Drip Dippy Donald," "Daddy Duck," "Donald's Dream Voice," "The Trial of Donald Duck," "Inferior Decorator," and "Soup's On" from 1948. The best of these for me was "Donald's Dream Voice," in which Donald is trying to sell brushes door to door but can't because nobody can understand a word he's saying. So, he takes some Ajax Voice Pills, which make him sound like actor Ronald Colman. The pills work for a time, but then.... Oh, dear.
After that, in a special section called "From the Vault" we get "Clown of the Jungle" (1947), "Three for Breakfast," and "Tea for Two Hundred" (1948). Leonard Maltin provides a special introduction to these three films because the folks at Disney want him to remind us that some of Donald's activities exhibited "inappropriate behavior," and the studio doesn't want kids emulating Donald's antics. Fair enough. Can you imagine what Disney might say today if they had produced some of the Looney Tunes cartoons?
Disc two starts with "Sea Salts," "Winter Storage," "Honey Harvester," "All in a Nutshell," "The Greener Yard," "Slide, Donald, Slide," and "Toy Tinkers," all from 1949. The big winners for me here are "Sea Salts," a delightful and beautifully animated selection, and "The Greener Yard," where we find the bootle beetles back, as much fun as ever. Otherwise, we get a lot of Chip an' Dale among these entries.
Following those, we find "Lion Around," "Crazy Over Daisy," "Trailer Horn," "Hook, Lion and Sinker," and "Out on a Limb" from 1950. Here, there are several encounters between Donald and nephews and a pesky mountain lion. As always, the background art can be more captivating than the action.
Things conclude with two more selections from in "From the Vault," again with Maltin's dire warning that these cartoons were made in another era and might contain material offensive to today's parents and children. These cartoons are "Donald's Happy Birthday" (1949) and "Bee at the Beach" (1950). They are not among the stronger entries in the field for artwork or story, but they reflect the frenetic behavior of its hero to a proper degree.
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