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Tuesday, November 25, 2008

Film Bad Duck

Posted by on Tue, Nov 25, 2008 at 12:18 PM

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I re-watch Warner Brothers' cartoons pretty frequently, and my favorite Disney cartoons are the old Donald Duck ones, because they at least keep some of the hair-trigger temper of the Warner Brothers cartoons. So when we got a copy of The Chronological Donald Volume Four: 1951-1961 in the mail, I figured I'd take it home and watch it.

400_lmaltin_080121_et.jpgFirst thing you see when you watch this DVD? Leonard Maltin. I fucking hate Leonard Maltin. I hate his shitty warmed-over film historian bullshit, I hate his canned enthusiasm for whatever project will pay him to show up, I hate his nasal know-it-all voice. I'd rather be forced to read an entire year of Harry Knowles' reviews than read a single Leonard Maltin review. Anyway, Leonard Maltin talks about how Donald Duck is very special because even after they stopped making Mickey Mouse cartoons and Goofy cartoons, they kept making Donald Duck cartoons.

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Great! Fuck you and thanks, Leonard Maltin! So, finally, after Leonard Maltin putting the cartoons in their proper bullshit historical perspective, I watched the goddamned Donald Duck shorts. And you know what? Donald Duck shorts, like many other things from the 1950s, suck. Here is the plot of all these cartoons: Donald Duck lives in a boring house in the suburbs. He wants something. He tricks someone into doing something for him. The person gets mad, and tries to fuck with Donald Duck, but Donald Duck gets the upper hand. The end.

In one cartoon, Donald Duck fucks with a retarded bee because he decides he wants some honey. In another, he tricks Chip 'n Dale into shoveling his snowy driveway. A lot of the time, he wears an ugly brown hat. This video is total proof that the 1950s were the most awful time in American history. All everyone did, apparently, was take care of their yard and go on day-trips into the country. The worst part of these two DVDs—even worse than Beardy McManchild's commentary—is the fact that the studio moved Donald Duck to the suburbs and set him out on these petty, dull adventures. Much like everyone in America in the 1950's, Donald Duck is a smug, suburban bully in all these shorts. I half expected him to have an affair and a midlife crisis somewhere in here. These are perhaps the most monotonous cartoons that Disney ever created. And that's saying a whole lot.

 

Comments (20) RSS

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1
The Looney Toons Golden Collections are great. You can easily find them used cheap on Amazon Marketplace.
Posted by elswinger on November 25, 2008 at 12:24 PM
2
This is why I love Warner Bros. cartoons so much.

Mickey Mouse: "We will bring progress and modernity into your life and you will thank us for it."

Bugs Bunny: "Leave me the fuck alone."
Posted by Joe M on November 25, 2008 at 12:32 PM
3
"...the 1950's were the most awful time in American history." Amen brother!
Posted by Vince on November 25, 2008 at 12:34 PM
4
No love for the author of "Of Mice And Magic"? Though yeah, his voice is annoying.
Posted by --MC on November 25, 2008 at 12:37 PM
5
Yes, Leonard Maltin is annoying and his intro there probably wasn't revealing, but in general he does know lots about the history of animation.
Posted by stinkbug on November 25, 2008 at 12:45 PM
6
What are you talking about? That bee one is classic.

I like how you describe Donald as a kind of potential animated Rabbit Angstrom, though. They just don't show all the scalded babies and histrionic affairs.

Someone should really get on that.
Posted by Matthew on November 25, 2008 at 12:46 PM
7
The best, or maybe only good, Donald Duck cartoons are when Huey, Dewey, and Louie fuck him over. Bullies getting their comeuppance never gets old.
Posted by keshmeshi on November 25, 2008 at 12:48 PM
8
There is a deep dark secret, known to only a select few. The secret is this:

By and large, and with only a few exceptions, Disney animated shorts SUCK. Gorgeously animated, gorgeously preserved, but they just plain SUCK.

Except for WHO KILLED COCK ROBIN, and assorted others, of course. But the Disney shorts are just so bloody bland. I'd trade most of Disney's output for any "duck season/rabbit exchange" from Warner Bros.

Posted by Roscoe on November 25, 2008 at 1:04 PM
9
Fucking Leonard Maltin! I have the Disney set with the World War II cartoons in it, including the uproarious "Der Fuerher's Face". It would be perfect except for the fact that you have to sit through an introduction which consists of Leonard flapping his bearded pie hole about how things were different in World War II and we were fighting the Nazis and that's why it was OK to make this cartoon then but it wouldn't be OK to make it now. After watching this I thought that there would be nothing finer than watching Leonard get repeatedly mouth-fucked in his bearded flapping pie-hole by a gang of horny bikers.
Posted by Wile E. Quixote on November 25, 2008 at 1:05 PM
10
It's interesting to track the angles Disney worked during the different decades. By the time Dorfman wrote the flawed but heartfelt "Reading Donald Duck" in 1971 Chile, he'd seen enough to get pretty weirded out.
Posted by tomasyalba on November 25, 2008 at 1:05 PM
11
Disney cartoons were only ever interesting when loaded with racism or propaganda. For a healthy dose of both, check this guy out.
Posted by T on November 25, 2008 at 1:09 PM
12
Sun Records & Miles Davis were both doing great things in the 50's.
Posted by Raven on November 25, 2008 at 1:14 PM
13
Those shorts sound like such bullshit, Walt should have been ashamed. During the war, Donald got DRAFTED, for the love of gosh!
Posted by iflurry on November 25, 2008 at 1:19 PM
14
I agree with Raven. There was a lot of good music, movies, and books produced in the 50s.
Posted by elswinger on November 25, 2008 at 2:16 PM
15
@7:

Donald always gets fucked over, no matter what! That's what Donald Duck cartoons are ABOUT! Donald, in his oh-so-familiar douchebaggery, getting fucked by the universe! Over and over! That's why they have ALWAYS BEEN MY FAVORITE! Even as a young child, I appreciated cosmic justice.

Disney cartoons are for thinkers. Fuck Warner Brothers. >:-/
Posted by violet_dagrinder on November 25, 2008 at 3:52 PM
16
You know why everyone did that in the 50's? Because the 30's and 40's SUCKED and the entire country was wrapped up in it, so when they popped out the other side, all they wanted was some peace and quiet. That and all their atomic guilt.

What, you thought Donald Duck was a fucking beatnik?
Posted by john on November 25, 2008 at 4:17 PM
17
I don;t post much here at the Slog, yet I want to point folks to something which is common knowledge. Most of the animation during the fifties of Warner Brothers, and Disney were okay, Disney to me is what is wrong with animation today. Most is bland, boring, cheap, and uninteresting to look at. The format or tricks as they were called, aren't even close today. Gone are the inventive styles, iconic characters, etc. Things now are run on executives hips, no one gets to be creative in their approaches, and subsequently the form has suffered a great deal.. For Leonard Maltin to wax poetically about that time is baseless IMO. Everyone knows what era of great animation was, Warner Brothers kicked their butts hands down, and wiped up the remaining entrails with the insanity that was created. Donald was a watered down version of his angst self, I'm pretty sure Walt Disney had a hand in controlling what the animators could and couldn't do.

I suggest people check out John Kricfalusi's blog. I think his understanding is greatly under appreciated in this day in age. He knows a great deal about the Disney formula, I totally agree with his points especially now considering how watered down, and controlled the animation has become.


http://johnkstuff.blogspot.com/
Posted by psorhb08 on November 25, 2008 at 5:29 PM
18
The Disney tin sets are really for completists -- for the animation dorks who want to see all of it, good and bad, to better understand the full spectrum of animation history.

Yeah, the later shorts are not so hot -- what do you expect? Shorts died, what on earth would make you think that the later ones would be pure gold? The Disney company in particular had bigger & better things going on -- their best artists and animators had all their energy channeled into feature-length animation, a growing number of live-action works, the new weekly Disneyland television show, and of course Disneyland. So, yeah, the shorts were kinda cruddy.

But here's the thing: us Disney dorks still want to see them. It's part of the full picture. It's a reflection of the time. It's interesting to understand that right when the Disney company was outputting their very best work, there was still some mediocrity getting put out there -- Walt was distracted, no longer cared, had a new toy or three.

It's fascinating (to me) to see exactly *how* the quality of the shorts degraded -- in particular, I love the way the art got reduced into the minimalist lines that were becoming the new look of the day and not-so-coincidentally also saved a few bucks. It's a design aesthetic I genuinely love.

It sounds like you're not the audience for the tin sets. As you know, you're not missing much, and you're absolutely justified in raising a stink about your disappointment. But I would miss the tin sets if they weren't being produced, and I guess I feel the need to stick up for the stuff I find interesting.

Re: Leonard Maltin. Yeah, he's weirdly cheerful about all things Disney. Yeah, I get tired of seeing him attached to damn near every piece of historic Disney product. But the man's passion is absolutely genuine -- I have some friends who know him socially, and he really and truly is just a big ol' Disney nut. He's not just doing it for the dollars.
More...
Posted by Humuhumu on November 25, 2008 at 10:11 PM
19
@17, I would hold John K's opinions in higher regard if he wasn't such a skeevy fucking borderline pedophile.
Posted by laterite on November 26, 2008 at 2:25 AM
20
Pants.
Posted by beelzebufo on November 26, 2008 at 4:51 PM

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