Sea Scouts (1939) (7:58)
Donald and his nephews go sailing. As usual, things go awry, and Donald struggles to keep the ship ashore. He gets additional encouragment when a lime-colored shark threatens to eat him.
Donald's Penguin (1939) (7:45)
I was well anticipating a Maltin intro sooner or later, and here it is! The critic and Treasures host warns modern audience of gunplay that is seen in certain cartoons from the '30s and '40s. Donald gets a package from the South Pole and inside, on ice, is a little penguin. Donald suspects that he eats the fish out of the fish tank, and he spanks him. But Donald was mistaken, and he tries to make it up to the penguin. But the penguin gives Donald reason to let loose his temper, and this is where the gunplay ensues. It's a funny short, and I think it might have been funnier not knowing about the gunplay.
The Autograph Hound (1939) (8:23)
Maltin introduces this short with some context, distinguishing caricatures from stereotyping within this short. This charming short has Donald in Hollywood, seeking autographs from famous celebrities. He sneaks into the set hitching a ride with Greta Garbo. Then he discovers the Holy Grail: Mickey Rooney's dressing room! The Mickster signs Donald's book and give him some free tormenting, as well! Then Donald comes across Sonja Henie, who skates her name into the ice. Donald turns red when Shirley Temple recognizes him. When word gets out that Donald is on set, all the stars in Hollywood stop what they're doing to get the Duck's autograph. With even a limited knowledge of some of the Hollywood stars of the late '30s, you'll get a kick out of the piece. It's quite funny. The video and audio here are just about perfect, too.
Officer Duck (1939) (7:34)
This last short gives a similar warning to "Donald's Penguin" regarding gunplay. But he also gives the not-so-cool advice to "watch everything he does and do just the opposite as you go through life"! When we run into Donald as Officer Duck, he's sleeping on the job. He's startled by a report to pick up Tiny Tom, dead or alive. Naturally, Tiny Tom's name is misleading; it's big Pete who hates "coppers." To arrest Tiny Tom, Donald disguises himself as a baby, with very amusing results. This short seems to take on a comic energy that places it above the earlier Donald Duck shorts.
VIDEO & AUDIO
All of the shorts and bonus features are presented in 1.33:1 fullscreen. The opening credits of some shorts are slightly bordered to preserve all the names. For the most part, picture quality was strong, in consideration of the age of these shorts.
Some of the oldest shorts suffer from some flickering and inconsistency in colors. This really just affects the first three shorts and even then, only a small portion on the right side of the screen for them. I imagine it may very well be unnoticeable to most eyes, and it's more likely due to the age of these films, and not a lack of remastering and restoring.
On the whole, compared to Mickey Mouse, Volume 2, these shorts weren't as remarkable-looking, but they are a little bit older. There was more grain and other signs of age, which is understandable. But while an artificially pristine image might betray the film's original look, I do wonder if some of these shorts should look a bit better.
The sound is limited and dated, but it is an adequate presentation. Of course with Donald, it's often an issue of trying to understand what he says, which is not always necessary to following the shorts. But, the dialogue is presented as clearly as it could be. There is a little bit of fading and distortion to some shorts, most notably on "Polar Trappers", but the soundtracks of the later shorts were more effective and pleasing.
BONUS FEATURES
The only stated bonus features on Disc 1 are two galleries. First is a Publicity and Memorabilia gallery which houses 27 stills of Donald Duck posters, advertisements, comics, and magazine covers. A number of them feature covers from Mickey Mouse Magazine, later known as Walt Disney's Comics and Stories, which chart the growing popularity of Donald. Most of these images, denoted by a microphone graphic, are joined by commentary from Leonard Maltin.
The Story and Background Art Gallery features pages on five Donald Duck shorts, each housing about a dozen sketches. The shorts covered here are Don Donald, Donald's Nephews, Sea Scouts, Mr. Duck Steps Out, and Donald's Vacation. On select images, Maltin provides background on characters in the world of Donald's shorts.
There is also an Easter egg, which can be accessed from the Bonus Features menu.
Easter Egg: Clip from The Reluctant Dragon (4:24)
In this excerpt from the 1941 Disney film, Robert Benchley stumbles into an orchestra room, where he is amused to see Clarence Nash and Florence Gill performing as Donald Duck and Clara Cluck. After the song, Benchley gets a lesson from Nash and wonders if he could voice a dragon.
Disc One's menus are simple but nice looking. They feature various poses of Donald against blue-gray backgrounds with diamonds. Like Walt Disney on the Front Lines, the menu music seems to be mixed a bit louder than the actual shorts. Music accompanies all but the short selection menus.
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REVIEW CONTENTS
Page 1: Disc 1 - Shorts, Audio & Video, and Bonus Features
Page 2: Disc 2 - Shorts, Audio & Video, Bonus Features, and Closing Thoughts |
