Donald Duck

> *"Aw Phooey!"*
>
>

*- Donald Duck*

Donald Duck is a protagonist and a member of The New Action Squad.

## Character Information

### Personality

Short-tempered, jealous, proud, heroic, aggressive, cynical, selfish (sometimes), selfless, loyal, family-orientated, fun-loving, determined, daring, insecure, pessimistic, impulsive, stubborn, adventurous, friendly, caring, protective, fatherly

### Goal

To protect the universe from evil/to support and defend Daisy.

### Nicknames

Donald Fauntleroy Duck (Full name)
The duck
Peaking Duck (Referred to by Minako Aino)

## **BIOGRAPHY**

According to the cartoon, *Donald Gets Drafted* (1942), Donald's full name is **Donald Fauntleroy Duck** (his middle name appears to be a reference to his sailor hat, which was a common accessory for "Little Lord Fauntleroy" suits). The *Quack Pack* episode "All Hands on Duck", the *Legend of the Three Caballeros* episode "Sheldgoose Square Dance" and Disney's website also stated his full name as Donald Fauntleroy Duck. Donald's birthday is officially recognized as June 9, 1934, the day his debut film was released, but in *The Three Caballeros* (and its subsequent spin-off, his birthday is given as simply "Friday the 13th", while in *Donald's Happy Birthday*, it is elaborated to be March 13th.

Although not shown chronologically, Donald's most youthful appearance was a flashback to when he was a hatchling, featured in the animated TV special "This is Your Life, Donald Duck" and the comic book story of the same name. In both the animation and the comic, presented by Jiminy Cricket, Donald was shown hatching from his egg and throwing one of his famous tantrums simultaneously, making the losing his temper his first-ever action as a living creature. Only in the comic, it is shown that Donald got his hat from a sailor when he was a baby when his grandmother took him for his first visit to Duckburg.

Outside of Duckberg, he is also a member of The New Action Squad serving as a party member and a sorcerer alongside Trafalgar and Twilight Sparkle.

## **APPEARANCE**

Donald Duck is an anthropomorphic duck. Normally depicted wearing a sailor shirt, cap, and a bow tie—but no trousers at all.

## **PERSONALITY**

Donald has been described as a "problem child" by Walt Disney. True to this, he is a rather albeit humorously controversial character in nature, with his most famous personality trait being his uncontrollable explosive temper. When Donald loses it he would pitch a fit of quacking and bouncing in place while flaunting his fists, usually as a threat to whomever (or *what*ever) caused him his latest annoyance. He is also arrogant and can be quite the show-off, especially when he is skilled at something. This has a tendency to get him into trouble, however, as he often gets in over his head. Much of Donald's comedy comes from his exaggerated rudeness and the repercussions he gets. For example, Donald finds enjoyment in bullying and has been known to prank and humiliate others for his own amusement. What he can not tolerate, however, is his victims fighting back against him—as such, these battles often lead to Donald's humiliation.

In contrast to these negative traits, Donald is really a warm and loving character down to his core. When not dealing with a problem, Donald can be quite jovial and friendly, and he usually tries to keep his temper under control for the sake of his relaxation and contentment. Additionally, Donald shares a very loving relationship with Huey, Dewey, and Louie, and treats them as his own children, despite their rivalries. They obviously love their "Unca Donald" with a particular scene in the first episode of *DuckTales* showcasing them having a heartfelt goodbye moment as Donald prepares to leave for the navy. Donald also has shown signs of humility, most notably in *Mickey's Once Upon a Christmas*, when Huey, Dewey, and Louie's pranks ruin Christmas for him and the whole family. When the tree falls on him, instead of yelling at his nephews, he stays sadly silent, humiliated, and defeated, while Daisy comforts him. When truly faced with the fact that his actions are wrong, Donald will accept it and although he may at times despair and be depressed over it, in the end, he always finds the strength to bring himself to face his mistakes head-on and do everything he could to fix it, allowing him to always redeem himself in the end. One of the most prominent displays of this was in *Mickey's Twice Upon a Christmas*, where after vandalizing the Mousey Mall's Christmas display, despite earlier having been angry over the repeated singing of *We Wish You A Merry Christmas*, he was visibly horrified and clearly felt guilty and this only intensified after Daisy and his nephews sadly left him in disgust and he was thrown out of the mall and berated for his lack of Christmas spirit by a police officer, after which despite being at first greatly remorseful and depressed, up to the point that he could not face Daisy and his nephews in a restaurant containing his favorite hot chocolate, he was able to repent for his actions in the end; happily singing the song he once despised so heavily with all his heart and coaching the crew singing the song personally.

For all his bravado, Donald is secretly insecure about himself. He takes offense to those who cannot understand his voice and is notoriously envious of Mickey Mouse's popularity. Donald's bad luck also plays a part in his low self-esteem, as he sometimes sees himself as a failure due to his frequent mishaps. Donald tends to hide this with a boisterous veneer, though he has confided in Daisy about his inhibition on occasion. Daisy is also one of the very few Disney characters capable of pacifying Donald's psychotic temper even though she has ironically lost hers with him on occasion. What Donald sometimes lacks in confidence, he makes up for with perseverance. His aggressive nature can act as a double-edged sword; while it at times is a hindrance and even a handicap for him, it has also helped him in times of need. When faced with a threat of some kind, Donald may get frightened and even intimidated (mostly by his nemesis Pete whom he's usually able to defeat), but rather than getting scared, he gets mad and has taken up fights with ghosts, sharks, mountain goats and even the forces of nature and has usually won. In fact, many shorts and cartoons have shown a significant increase in his physical strength and fighting prowess when pushed far enough.

Donald is often portrayed as having great difficulty holding down a job, and can be described as a typical "jack of all trades, master of none". His attempts at these professions often go comically wrong, with Donald causing one calamity after the other which he sometimes able to overcome due to his sheer skill, determination, or courage.

Donald has a few memorable phrases that he occasionally comes out within given situations. "What's the big idea?" is a common one, which Donald usually says when stumbling across other characters in the midst of planning some sort of retaliation or prank, and sometimes when certain things do not go as planned or do not work properly. "Aw, phooey!" is another memorable saying Donald makes, usually after giving up on a particular action or event. "So!" is Donald's usual declaration when confronting someone (or something) antagonizing him. Another popular phrase Donald says, in particular to Daisy, is "Hiya, toots!". "Oh boy, oh boy, oh boy!" is yet another common phrase Donald uses, usually muttered to himself when he's very excited about something.

## **TRIVIA**

* In the Disney Studios, Donald is often referred to as "**The Duck"**.
* Walt Disney himself referred to Donald Duck as "the problem child" of Disney.
* Appearing in over 150 theatrically released films and shorts, Donald has the record for most theatrical appearances for a Disney character and he is the most published non-superhero comic book character in the world.
* A duck skeleton that looks like Donald can be seen in *James and the Giant Peach*.
* A float that looks exactly like Donald Duck appears in the Safety Smart in the Water episode from the *Timon and Pumbaa's Wild About Safety* series.
* In the *Kingdom Hearts* series, Donald has the highest Magic stat in every game he is a playable/party character in, going as far as surpassing Xemnas, leader of Organization XIII and Nobody of Xehanort, in *358/2 Days*, in which they are both playable.
* Strangely, aside from the first game and *358/2 Days*, Donald has only been shown to use the four basic spells (Thunder, Fire, Blizzard, and Cure). Though it showed in the series that he is responsible for transforming the gang into underwater creatures and supernatural monsters.
* Thunder may be Donald's signature spell, as in each game, it is either the first spell we see him use or the first attack he knows by default (with the exception of *358/2 Days*, where he using and learning it first is optional). In Chain of Memories and its remake he even tries to cast it on a member of Organization XIII in one of the first cutscenes of the game.
* When in the universe based on *The Lion King*, Donald becomes a flying animal called "Bird Donald". This is strange considering that Donald is technically a bird, to begin with.
* Though Donald has black eyes, they sometimes appear to be blue in 2-D artwork or in his 3D models and artworks, such as his *Kingdom Hearts III* artwork. Donald's eyes could possibly really be blue, as when Pete had a close up in *Mickey, Donald, Goofy: The Three Musketeers*, he had brown irises.
* There is a common urban legend stating that Donald Duck comics were banned in Finland just because the character does not wear pants.
* Donald Duck is the only popular film and TV cartoon character to appear as a mascot for the sports team of a major American university, namely, the Ducks at the University of Oregon.
* Donald's name and image are also used in numerous commercial products, one example being Donald Duck Orange Juice, introduced by Citrus World in 1940.
* Disney Studios once received an Army draft notice on behalf of Donald Duck.
* He resembles a species of duck called Crested Duck.
* Though he does not appear in that series, Donald was mentioned at least twice in *Darkwing Duck*. In "Film Flam", when Drake Mallard refuses to believe something Gosalyn is telling him, he sarcastically remarks "Yeah right, and I'm Donald... Duck?" Also, in "A Star is Scorned", when Darkwing and Gosalyn arrive at the studio, the security guard thinks that Darkwing is Donald, saying he didn't recognize him without his sailor suit. Later, when trying to get back into the studio, Darkwing and Gosalyn manage to get in disguised as Donald and Louie, respectively.
* In the comic universe, Donald is the first descendant of the three main Duck families (Duck, Coot, and McDuck), a trait shared only by his sister and his nephews.
* In the DuckTales reboot, Donald was a member of the Junior Woodchucks with his sister but he was expelled because of his tantrums.
* To mark Donald’s 50th anniversary, 50 Peking ducks followed the costumed character around Disneyland.
* Osamu Tezuka (known as "The Godfather of Manga") was a huge fan of the Donald Duck and Scrooge McDucks comics by Carl Barks. Every Christmas, Tezuka would annually send Barks Christmas Cards and letters featuring his characters (such as Astro Boy, Kimba/Leo, and Unico). One Holiday card featured Astro Boy hugging Donald Duck.