Donald Duck and the Disney Movie Club
One of the most popular cartoon characters of all-time is Donald Duck. Donald is a character in the Disney family and was first introduced as a follow up to Mickey Mouse. He appeared in his first cartoon on June 9th 1934. His initial cartoon was “The Wise Little Hen.” From there he went on to be featured in several supporting roles, before eventually landing his own cartoons.
Walt Disney first came up with the idea for Donald Duck when he heard Clarence Nash recite “Mary Had a Little Lamb” in a duck voice. Clarence Nash became the voice of Donald until 1983, when he trained Tony Anselmo to take over the voice. The voice of Donald Duck is perhaps his most prominent characteristic.
Donald was created in part because Disney felt that he had explored all of Mickey Mouse’s foibles and wanted an edgier cartoon character. He knew that he couldn’t display any negative traits in Mickey because he was the flagship of his franchise. However, a new character could become whatever he wanted. Donald has always been known as a character with an explosive temper and has been put in several hilarious situations as a result.
Donald was featured in a number of cartoons. During World War II, he was featured in eight different films depicting him in the Army. Disney used these films to entertain and to inspire patriotism. Subsequently, Donald became a more popular character than Mickey Mouse. The audience hadn’t outgrown Mickey completely, but they were looking for something new, and an ill-tempered, funny-voiced duck was it.
After the war, Donald was put into even more shorts and features. During this time, Disney introduced several of Donald’s loved ones. His nephews Huey, Dewey, and Louie were introduced during this period, as was his uncle, Ludwig von Drake. A popular spin-offs in recent decades was Duck Tales, which featured Donald leaving his nephews with their rich Uncle Scrooge McDuck. While Donald had a limited role in the series, his family still made up the bulk of the characters. Daisy Duck has been the love interest of Donald for many years also. She is another character that was made as a result of the Donald Duck success.
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