The Origin of the Duck
Before producing feature-length films, Walt Disney’s studio produced cartoon short films which featured Mickey Mouse, his sweetheart Minnie Mouse, and all of their friends. Their “circle of friends,” started with Goofy, Pluto, and Donald Duck. Donald Duck officially made his debut on screen in the Silly Symphonies short “The Wise Little Hen,” which was released on June 9th, 1934. In honor of the fact that it was Donald Duck’s 86th birthday last Tuesday, June 9th 2020, I thought today we could explore Donald Duck’s history at the studio and what makes him such a beloved character.
Walt Disney came up with the idea for Donald Duck in the early 1930s at a point when his first character, Mickey Mouse—though still very popular overall—was at times also considered “a bit less sophisticated” by audiences. Walt began to feel that he needed a new character that, while unrefined, could be likable and funny as a result. Walt had just read a news article about an Australian cricketeer, Sir Donald Bradman, who made headlines for “being dismissed for a duck,” according to the India Times. In other words, he had struck out in one of his recent matches. Disney had also heard an audio recording of “Mary Had a Little Lamb,” recited by a radio impressionist named Clarence Nash. Disney observed the fact that Nash had a “peculiarly funny” voice. Nash later claimed that he had recited the poem in the voice of a goat, but Disney believed that the voice could also pass for a duck. Hence, the character of Donald Duck was born.
Before Donald appeared on the big screen in “The Wise Little Hen,” he was also acknowledged in the 1931 Disney storybook The Adventures of Mickey Mouse. Two months after his screen debut, he appeared in a black-and-white short called Orphans Benefit, which was the first short that depicted his “fighting pose,” or his “put up your dukes” pose—later one of his many trademarks—along with his unique voice and bombastic attitude. It wasn’t long before Donald began to outdo the popularity of Mickey Mouse at Disney, as audiences responded to these unique qualities. A few years after Clarence Nash was cast as the voice of Donald Duck, he was later asked to do the voice of Donald’s nephews, Huey, Dewey, and Louie, along with Donald’s sweetheart, Daisy Duck. Daisy originally appeared with Donald in the short Don Donald (1937), though her name at the time actually was Donna. Having voiced all these characters, Nash earned the nickname “Ducky” at the Disney Studios. Huey, Dewey, and Louis made their first appearance in the comic strip Donald's Nephews which was published on October 17th, 1937.
Donald’s original design at the time of “The Wise Little Hen,” and “Don Donald,” was very elongated and not entirely recognizable today. But he was redesigned for Moving Day (1936) to look shorter and more pleasant. “Don Donald,” also was the short that marked the beginning of solo “Donald Duck” cartoons, whereas the “Silly Symphonies,” featured all the classic Disney characters. Donald later made his feature length film debut in The Reluctant Dragon (1941), followed by Saludos Amigos (1943) and The Three Caballeros (1944) and Fun and Fancy Free (1947). Donald’s popularity with audiences inspired the animators at Disney to create characters that extended his family, including his uncles: Professor Ludwig Von Drake and Scrooge McDuck. Professor Ludwig Von Drake made his first appearance in the pilot episode of Disney’s NBC series Walt Disney’s Wonderful World of Color (1961-1969), which made him the first Disney character created exclusively for television. Scrooge McDuck made his first appearance in the 1967 featurette Scrooge McDuck and Money, which aired as a segment for the original Mickey Mouse Club (1955-1996) in 1967.
Clarence Nash continued to voice Donald Duck for a total of 61 years. The last times he voiced the beloved duck were in Disney’s Oscar-nominated holiday short Mickey’s Christmas Carol (1983) and in the CBS television special Donald Duck’s 50th Birthday, which aired on television in 1984. Nash passed away on February 20th, 1985 at the age of 80 due to leukemia. Before, however, he passed the “Donald voice” torch to Disney animator, Tony Anselmo whom Nash mentored for the last three years of his life. A lover of imitating voices, Anselmo received personal lessons from Nash on how to do the voice and he has now officially voiced the character for the past 35 years, beginning with the Disney Channel television special DTV (1986) and most recently with the DuckTales 2017 reboot and the Disney+ series Legend of the Three Caballeros (2019-present). Daniel Ross, however, voices the character in the Disney Junior series Mickey Mouse Mixed-Up Adventures (2017-present) and its spin-off series Chip n’ Dale’s Nutty Tales (2017-present).
Donald Duck has a very remarkable history at the Disney Studios. It’s hard to believe he’ll be 90 years old by 2024! He has evolved a great deal physically from the time he was first animated in early short films to what he looks like today, but vocally and personality-wise he is still the same irascible but lovable duck.
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