Allo Donald!

***Allo Donald*** is an article illustrated by Eddy Ryssack, and whose writer is at present unknown. It mentions Donald Duck and Mickey Mouse as well as Saint Donald, the first in-universe mention of said historical figure.

Although structured like a special issue of *Allo Junior Woodchucks!*, a recurring feature in the *Journal de Mickey* around this time, this article broke the fourth wall heavily, as its main feature referred to the circumstances of Donald Duck's creation as a fictional character. It celebrated the 40th anniversary of Donald Duck's introduction in France in 1935.

*Allo Donald!* was followed up in the issue of *Le Journal de Mickey* in question by *The Famous Donalds*, a historical feature told in an in-universe style about various ancestors and historical namesakes of Donald. It is likely that the writer of *Allo Donald!* is also responsible for *The Famous Donalds*.

## Description

### *Donald Was Born On The Radio*

Recounting the circumstances of Donald Duck's creation, this is the first wholly out-of-universe part of *Allo Donald!*. It correctly states that Donald Duck did not actually debut in *The Wise Little Hen* but rather in a radio show where "Donald the Duck" was featured alongside Mickey Mouse. This little-known production, whose status as Donald's true debut confirmed by David Gerstein, is rarely cited as the first appearance of Donald Duck.

### *The Names of Donald*

This second article entry to give readers the various names of Donald Duck in foreign translation, citing his Spanish and Protuguese name, his Arabic name, his Italian name, his Swedish name, his Finnish name, and finally his Danish and Norwegian name. Although primarily serving to convey real-world info, the article also has an implied in-universe setting, as it states that Donald's talents as a comic actor are what owes him this worldwide popularity.

### Nameles

A small entry contains a copy of a stamp of the Republic of San Marino depicting Donald. Again, the stamp truly exists and this is the main point of the feature, but the caption is still written as though Donald were a real person.

### *His 67 Birthdays*

The first fully-fictional entry, *His 67 Birthdays* claims that Donald has oddly eaten 67 birthday cakes since his introduction in France 40 years since. The answer to this conundrum? Having been born on a Friday the 13th, Donald makes a habit of celebrating his birthday on any Friday the 13th, rather than on his actual date of birth; and there are sometimes several Fridays the 13th in the span of a single year.

### *Saint Donald*

A brief overview of the life of Saint Donald, the earliest namesake of the duck in blue that the authors of the article have been able to locate. Saint Donald's life is further expanded upon in *The Famous Donalds*, where a depiction of him as an anthropomorphic duck can be seen. As such, the entry can just as easily be in-universe as out-of-universe.

### *Express-Fable*

A short fable written especially for the occasion, it seems a nonsensical bit of poetry about the necessity for Donald to acquire a donkey in the winter until the "punchline" to what was actually an elaborate (and untranslatable) bit of wordplay: the morality drawn from the 'fable' sounds exactly like the French phrase for “Happy birthday!”.

## Behind the scenes

This article was only ever published in July of 1975 in France in *Le Journal de Mickey* #1205. It has never been reprinted.