Donald Duck

> One of the greatest satisfactions in our work here at the studio is the warm relationship that exists within our cartoon family. Mickey, Pluto, Goofy, and the whole gang have always been a lot of fun to work with. But like many large families, we have a problem child. You're right, it's Donald Duck.
>
> Walt Disney, Donald's Award

**Donald Duck** (or simply referred to as “**The Duck**”) is an animated character created by Walt Disney as the best friend and rival of Mickey Mouse. Making his screen debut in *The Wise Little Hen* on June 9, 1934, Donald is characterized as a pompous, showboating duck wearing a sailor suit, cap and a bow tie. Along with his semi-unintelligible voice (as famously created by his original voice actor, Clarence "Ducky" Nash), Donald’s most dominant trait is his short temper, which is predominantly expressed through explosive outbursts and fits of quacking and squawking. Much of Donald’s anger stems from his exceptionally bad luck, though his misfortunes are often the karmic result of his own arrogance and greed.

Donald garnered acclaim as early as his second appearance, *Orphan's Benefit*, and quickly became a mainstay in Disney’s short films thereafter. His foibles endeared him to audiences, who found the duck's attitude and struggles to be both relatable and entertaining. Animators and artists were also fond of Donald Duck's stories, as the character was allowed to exhibit more negative traits that could not be bestowed upon Mickey or the happy-go-lucky Goofy. Beginning with 1937’s *Don Donald*, Donald earned his own series of cartoons, which would introduce such recurring characters as his girlfriend Daisy Duck, and his nephews Huey, Dewey, and Louie.

Having starred in over 190 films, Donald has appeared in more theatrical films than any other Disney character. Several of his cartoons were honored by the Academy Awards, while other notable accolades include a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame and cemented footprints at the Chinese Theatre. Part of Donald's widespread popularity can be attributed to his long-running comic book series under the supervision of such renowned artists as Ted Osborne, Al Taliaferro, Carl Barks, and Don Rosa. These stories depict Donald as living in the city of Duckburg, and have been enjoyed by generations of readers on a global scale.

## Background

According to Don Rosa's timeline, Donald Duck was born in 1920. 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.

### Personality

> Like "a Western hero," Mickey is straightforward, good-natured, and modest. Donald is greedy, conceited, sneaky, and hot-tempered.
>
> The Walt Disney Family Museum’s analysis on Donald Duck.

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 explosive temper. When angered, Donald will 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 that come with said rudeness. For example, Donald finds enjoyment in bullying, pranking, and humiliating 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—at his core—a warm and loving character. When not dealing with a problem, Donald can be quite jovial and friendly, and he usually tries his hardest to keep his temper under control for the sake of his own contentment, as well as those around him. Additionally, Donald shares a very loving relationship with Huey, Dewey, and Louie, and treats them as his own children, despite their rivalries. The triplets 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 Donald, instead of yelling at his nephews, he stays sadly silent, humiliated, and defeated, while Daisy comforts him. When truly faced with wrongs of his actions, Donald will accept them and find the strength to bring himself to face his mistakes head-on. 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 out of holiday fatigue, he was visibly horrified by his actions and spent the remainder of the short willingly paying recompense.

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 a temper of her own. What Donald sometimes lacks in confidence, he makes up for with perseverance. His aggressive nature can act as a double-edged sword; while at times a hindrance 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, 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. He sometimes portrays qualities of a bruiser, being quick to fight his adversaries.

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 another.

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 sarcastically squawks when burdened by another character. "Aw, phooey!" is usually exclaimed as a sign of either apathy or defeat. "So!" is Donald's usual declaration when confronting someone (or something) antagonizing him. When excited, Donald will often shout, "Oh boy, oh boy, oh boy!"

### Voice

> Donald, I can't understand a word ya say.
>
> Mickey, Mickey, Donald, Goofy: The Three Musketeers

Donald's voice is one of the most iconic and identifiable voices in all of animation. His form of speech would be duplicated for other characters such as his girlfriend, Daisy Duck, and his nephews, Huey, Dewey, and Louie. However, over the years, these characters (particularly Daisy Duck) were given more distinct voices of their own, most likely to keep Donald's voice a unique aspect to his character.

As a running gag in most of Donald's appearances, primarily in animation, the other characters around him (especially Mickey) have difficulties understanding Donald, especially when he's upset or in a panic. This often results in Donald's frustration.

Donald's voice was originated and performed by Vaudevillian performer Clarence "Ducky" Nash for over 50 years in more than 155 cartoon shorts from *The Wise Little Hen* in 1934 through to *Mickey's Christmas Carol* in 1983, which was Nash's last film as Donald. Clarence also provided Donald's voice in several episodes of Walt Disney's "Disneyland" television shows, every episode of the original *Mickey Mouse Club* from 1955 to 1959, educational films, military training films, 78 and 45 rpm records, radio shows, and television commercials for Donald Duck orange juice and other brand food products. *Mickey's Christmas Carol* did not mark his final performance as the duck, as Nash would continue to provide Donald's voice in *Donald Duck's 50th Birthday* in 1984 and other miscellaneous material until his death in 1985. It was largely Donald's unique and semi-intelligible speech that would cement his image into audiences' minds and help fuel both Donald and Nash's rises to stardom.

Disneyland announcer Jack Wagner voiced Donald in live shows, such as Disney On Ice, in the 1980s.

Since 1985, Tony Anselmo is the current official voice of Donald. An animator for Disney, Anselmo befriended Nash during his early time with the company and was mentored by him on Donald's voice. Nash trained Anselmo with the intention of having Anselmo replace him as the voice of Donald Duck, as Nash had leukemia, which Anselmo was unaware of. He took over the role following Nash's death. Anselmo was later approved by the Disney Character Voice Department, which was created in 1988 by Roy E. Disney to ensure the consistency of Disney classic characters, allowing only one official voice per character. He has voiced Donald in various Disney products and media featuring the character, including television, feature films, theme parks, video games, Disney cruise lines, and consumer products.

In *Mickey and the Roadster Racers/Mickey Mouse Mouse Mixed-Up Adventures* and its spin-off series *Chip n' Dale's Nutty Tales* and *Mickey Mouse: Hot Diggity Dog Tales*, and the specials *Mickey's Tale of Two Witches* and *Mickey and Minnie Wish Upon a Christmas*, Donald was voiced by Daniel Ross.

In *Chip 'n' Dale: Park Life*, Donald's non-speaking vocal effects were supplied by Sylvain Caruso, the official French dub voice of the character since 1989.

Donald's unique and semi-intelligible voice was the focus of the short *Donald's Dream Voice*, where the detest for the duck's voice prompts him to purchase pills capable of temporarily enhancing his vocal cords incredibly. Leslie Denison provided the sophisticated, suave voice that these pills would give him. A similar instance occurred in the *DuckTales* episode "The Shadow War!", in which Donald's artificially intelligible voice was provided by Don Cheadle. Cheadle reprised the role in the episode "Quack Pack!". In the Christmas episode "Last Christmas!" from the same series, a time-traveling sequence shows a young Donald, voiced by Russi Taylor, using the same voice she used for Huey, Dewey, and Louie. Dominic Lewis provides his singing voice in the episode "Louie's Eleven!" in an uncredited role. In "The First Adventure!", Cristina Vee replaces Russi Taylor as the voice of young Donald after the latter's death.

## Trivia

* When speaking of Donald, the artists at Walt Disney Animation Studios rarely called the character by name, instead referring to him as “**The Duck**”. The moniker was regularly used by Walt Disney during interviews and discussions about Donald.
	+ Donald did call himself "the Duck" in the *Roadster Racers/Mixed-Up Adventures* series.
* 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.
* Though Donald has black irises, 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 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.
* In "Moonvasion!" and "Where's Funny?," Donald displays the ability to perfectly imitate others. In said episodes, he imitates Mickey and Funny the Funhouse respectively.
* Donald's name and image are used in numerous commercial products, one example being Donald Duck Orange Juice, introduced by Citrus World in 1940.
* Donald 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.
* To mark Donald’s 50th anniversary, 50 Pekin ducks followed the costumed character around Disneyland.
* Donald originally had a brief cameo in an alternate opening for the 2005 film Chicken Little (film) as Ducky Lucky. The scene can be found on the DVD of the actual movie.
* Osamu Tezuka (known as "The Godfather of Manga") was a huge fan of the Donald Duck and Scrooge McDuck's 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.[3]
* Donald’s voice can be heard on a television in *Prep & Landing*.
* In *The Muppet Show* episode guest-starring Petula Clark, there was a character named Ronald Duck, whose name is a spoof of Donald Duck.
* In Italian version, Donald was renamed "Paperino", which comes from "Papero", the Italian word for "Duck".
* Storyboard artists for *The Owl House* attempted to have Donald cameo as a background character, but were vetoed by Disney's Standard & Practices team.
* While his voice is duck-like, there have been he has spoken in different styles by different voice actors which include Paul Frees in the *Disneyland* anthology episode "Your Host, Donald Duck" and Don Cheadle in the *Ducktales* reboot.

## Gallery

**Donald** in **Mickey Mouse Clubhouse****Donald** in **Kingdom Hearts****Donald** in **Kingdom Hearts II****Donald** in **Kingdom Hearts III**
## References

1. ↑ Walt Disney Rare BBC TV Interview Broadcasted 6th July 1959
2. ↑ Donald Duck's 50th anniversary article
3. ↑ Korkis, Jim (June 5, 2013). The REAL Lost Mickey Mouse Cartoons (Article).
4. ↑ [1]
5. ↑ *The Hockey Champ*
6. ↑ *Magician Mickey*
7. ↑ *Out on a Limb*
8. ↑ *The Flying Squirrel*
9. ↑ *The New Neighbor*
10. ↑ *Cured Duck*
11. ↑ "Donald's Dinner Date"
12. ↑ "The House of the Lucky Gander!"
13. ↑ If it Quacks like a Duck, it Must be Tony Anselmo: The Only Animator to have Voiced the Character He Animated.
14. ↑ The Classic Character Voice Departament: A Welcome Sound.
15. ↑ Mickey in the Post-War Era By Charles Solomon
16. ↑ https://d23.com/five-fascinating-facts-disney-legend-charlie-ridgway/
17. ↑ [2]