Disney cast Clarence “Ducky” Nash as the voice of Donald Duck when he first developed the character, making his screen debut in the short The Wise Little Hen (1934). Disney became intrigued with Nash’s “peculiarly funny” voice as he listened to him on the radio recite the poem “Mary Had a Little Lamb.” Nash claimed that he read the poem with the voice of a baby goat. Disney, however, believed it sounded more like a duck, and Donald was soon born.
Nash voiced the irascible, but humorous and lovable duck for 51 years, until his death on February 20th, 1985. When it finally came time for the Disney Studios to find a successor to voice the duck, they cast Tony Anselmo as Donald Duck. Anselmo’s birthday is February 18, so in tribute to the fact that that’s today date, I thought we could explore Anselmo’s career.
Tony Anselmo saw Disney’s Mary Poppins (1964) in theaters when he was four years old, and it was that film that inspired him to become an artist. Although he studied art all throughout his childhood, around the time of his high school career, he also discovered that he could imitate voices and that he liked to imitate his art teachers as well as celebrities. While beginning to take nighttime art classes at local colleges in Sunnyvale, California, he joined the local theatre, and he even began corresponding with a few of Walt Disney’s Nine Old Men, including Ollie Johnston, who advised Anselmo to learn quick sketch, life drawing, acting and design.
Anselmo later learned all that and more when he was invited to attend CalArts, the arts school founded by Walt Disney in 1961. The head of the Character Animation Department at the school was Jack Hannah, the director of the Donald Duck unit under Walt Disney. After just two years at CalArts, Anselmo was invited to transfer to the Walt Disney Studios.
It wasn’t long after his transfer to the studio that Anselmo met and befriended Clarence “Ducky” Nash. Anselmo began learning from Nash how to create Donald Duck’s voice because that was one he didn’t know how to do. Nash had sadly been diagnosed with leukemia at the time and was looking for a successor, which Anselmo initially did not know. He later said “I think, in hindsight one of the reasons why Clarence spent so much time working with me on Donald’s voice and personality before mentioning his plans for succession is that he wanted to make absolutely sure I would do that legacy justice with loyalty before telling me.” It look him a long time perfect Donald’s voice, but ultimately he perfected it just in time to make his “Donald” debut in the television program DTV Valentine which aired on Valentine’s Day 1986.
That same year, Anslemo also worked as both a Key Assistant Animator and a Voice Actor in The Great Mouse Detective (1986), voicing one of Professor Ratigan’s thugs. Just the year prior, he made his animation debut as an Assistant Animator on The Black Cauldron (1985). Anselmo continues to voice Donald Duck today in all of his appearances for the Disney Studios, most recently in the Disney Junior series Mickey Mouse (2021-present) and in the short film Once Upon a Studio (2023). He briefly voiced Donald’s nephews, Huey, Dewey, and Louie in the Disney series House of Mouse (2001-2003), and Donald’s sweetheart Daisy in the television special Down and Out with Donald Duck in 1987.
Besides his acting talents, Anselmo is also credited for doing character animation on many beloved characters including: Princess Jasmine in Aladdin (1992), Young Simba in The Lion King (1994), and Flit the Hummingbird in Pocahontas (1995). He received a well-deserved Disney Legend Award in 2009. Looking at his remarkable career, it’s clear that Tony Anselmo has made Walt Disney (the man and the company) proud.
