Customer Reviews

Walt Disney Treasures - The Chronological Donald, Volume One (1934 - 1941)

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This first phase in covering all of Donald Duck's cartoon shorts is no doubt going to be the most popular (and most extensive with future, multiple volumes) of any of the previous Walt Disney Treasures collections. It will probably be hard to find by the beginning of 2004. (A limited amount made is once again expected.)

Because Donald Duck appeared with other characters throughout the years, it's hard to tell how series host/compiler Leonard Maltin will categorize these. Donald was already appearing in Silly Symphony and Mickey Mouse cartoons starting in 1934--though this set starts in 1936 (with "Donald and Pluto"). You can catch the ones not included here (up to 1941) on the now hard-to-find Silly Symphonies/Mickey Mouse in B&W/MM in Living Color Vol. 1 Disney Treasures sets to fill in the gaps. Those shorts are:

1934--"The Wise Little Hen" (A Silly Symphony--and Donald's debut), "Orphan's Benefit", "The Dognapper" (both on MM in B&W).

1935--"Mickey's Service Station" (MM in B&W), "The Band Concert", "Mickey's Fire Brigade", "On Ice" (the last three on MM in Living Color Vol. 1).

1936--"Mickey's Polo Team", "Orphan's Picnic", "Mickey's Grand Opera", "Moving Day", "Alpine Climbers", "Mickey's Circus" (all on MM in Living Color Vol. 1).

1937--"Magician Mickey", "Moose Hunters", "Mickey's Amateurs", "Hawaiian Holiday", "Clock Cleaners", "Lonesome Ghosts" (all on MM in Living Color Vol. 1).

1938--"Boat Builders", "Mickey's Trailer", "The Whalers" (all on MM in Living Color Vol. 1).

1940--"Tugboat Mickey" (will be on upcoming MM in Living Color Vol. 2).

The only other ones between 1934-41 that aren't available yet on DVD are "Mother Goose Goes Hollywood" (a 1938 Silly Symphony where Donald has a cameo), and "The Volunteer Worker" (only a two-minute trailer from 1940 that probably won't be included in this collection). "The Nifty Nineties" (another Donald cameo) is already available on the Vault Disney 2-disc edition of "Pollyanna."

All the starring shorts (up to '41) with Donald Duck on this collection will be (year-by-year):

1936--"Donald and Pluto" (more or less his first starring short, only because he's billed before Pluto).

1937--"Don Donald" (the debut of Daisy Duck--"Donna" Duck in this short), "Modern Inventions" (technically Donald's first solo effort).

1938--"Donald's Ostrich (usually billed as Donald's first solo short), "Self-Control", "Donald's Better Self", "Donald's Nephews" (the debut of Huey, Dewey, and Louie), "Polar Trappers" (starring with Goofy), "Good Scouts", "The Fox Hunt", "Donald's Golf Game"

1939--"Donald's Lucky Day", "Hockey Champ", "Donald's Cousin Gus", "Beach Picnic", "Sea Scouts", "Donald's Penguin", "The Autograph Hound", "Officer Duck", "The Standard Parade"

1940--"The Riveter", "Donald's Dog Laundry", "Bill Posters", "Mr. Duck Steps Out", "Put-Put Troubles", "Donald's Vacation", "Window Cleaners", "Fire Chief", ("The Volunteer Worker" would have been next).

1941--"Timber", "Golden Eggs", "A Good Time for a Dime", "Early to Bed", "Truant Officer Donald", "Old MacDonald Duck", "Donald's Camera", "Chef Donald"

In future volumes of "The Chronological Donald", we can hopefully enjoy Donald's later, interesting shorts such as "Working for Peanuts" (the first Disney short in 3-D) and the ones made in the mid-50's using Cinemascope ("Grand Canyonscope", among others). Donald's WWII shorts will probably be incorporated into the upcoming "Disney on the Front Lines" Treasures collection. We'll have to wait and see how his appearances with Chip & Dale and his educational shorts ("Donald in Mathmagic Land", "How to Have an Accident" cartoons, "Steel and America", "Donald's Fire Survival Plan"--all late 50's/mid-60's) will be presented while covering his entire output. If they're not included here, then hopefully Leonard Maltin will compile an educational short Treasures collection in future years.

One would think that with all this wide output and popularity, Donald Duck would have been the Walt Disney Company mascot (perhaps he's still clamoring for the job ;) ).

The other Disney Treasures released this December '03: "Disney on the Front Lines" (WWII animated shorts and propaganda films), "Mickey Mouse in Living Color 2" (completing Mickey's color cartoons), "Walt's Tomorrowland" (will include Ward Kimball's "Man in Space" series).

Lastly, a personal thanks to Leonard Maltin for championing the releases of these vital parts of American film so people can enjoy them again or discover them for the first time.

Oh, man, what a GREAT dvd set. Say what you want about Disney being an Evil Empire, but they know how to put together these sets. My daughter and I laughed our heads off through the first disc and are making our way through the 2nd.
Donald IS Disney's best character, because, well, he's one of us, just trying to make his way through the world and dealing, or trying his best to deal, with life's usual b.s.
The quality of these cartoons is incredible considering they came out 60 to 70 years ago. The colors are so vivid they verge on the brink of hurting your eyes.
The big drawback however is Leonard Maltin's sermonizing about gunplay and stereotyping... all the unPC stuff. I feel like he thinks morons are watching these cartoons. He keeps giving the "that was what was done then, but we would never consider doing it now". Ok, Leonard, once is enough, thanks. The lowpoint is "Donald's Penguin" in which we're told that the penguin did not get hurt except when Donald gave it a spanking. It's a flipping CARTOON! Makes me realize how uptight we are as a society these days. I don't think you'd find Warner Bros. apologizing for their cartoons (at least I hope they don't).

So, buy this... but skip over Maltin's mewlings.

I have always been a huge fan of animation, particularly the golden age of animation of the 30's and 40's. It's high time sets like these started coming out. While Disney was never as cutting edge and sarcastic as Warner Bros., these older cartoons have a definite edge in them that you don't get in today's Disney animation.

(...)

Included in this set are two of Donald's Oscar Nominated cartoons including:

"Good Scouts" in which Donald acts as scoutmaster for his three nephews for a nature hike through the wilderness. Story by Carl Barks.

"Truant Office Donald" Donald is responsible for making sure his nephews get to school when they attempt to play hookey. Story by Carl Barks.

Among the other great shorts are"

"Donalds Nephews" Donald's first encounter with his three "angel" nephews, who proceed to destroy his home. Donald turns to the book "Modern Child Training" for help. Story by Barks!

"Donald's Ostrich" Donald is the announcer of the Wahoo train station dealing with a troublesome piece of cargo : an ostrich. This was Donald's first short recieving top billing.

"Donald's Golf Game" A great short in which Donald needs silence to concentrate on his golf game, but his nephews (who have been pressed into duty as caddies) have other plans, including a bag full of trick clubs.

"Donald's Vacation" Donald decides to vacation in the great outdoors, but the denizens of the great outdoors are less than co-operative. More Barks!

"Hockey Champ" Donald "the Hockey Champion of Duck Swamp" plays a game of hockey with his nephews. Barks!

And much more. I cannot praise this set any higher, if you are a fan of Donald, Disney, or the golden age of animation, this set is for you!

Finally the waiting is (almost) over!, in December we are going able to get this wonderful collection.

A congratulation to Leonard Maltin because he can persuade Disney Company to release those "Treasures" unedited... by the way, those sets (including all those in the past two waves) are for collector and animation buffs, it's somehow irritating find reviews from parents that are angry against the Goofy collection because that included "No Smoking" and "tomorrow we diet"... it's because those bad reviews (and complains in the Disney Consumer service) that WD company had not released, until now, "Fantasia" uncensored and "Song of the South".... if you think that those uncensored shorts are offensive, please buy any of the direct-to-video sequels that WDC releases from time to time...

INFORMATION ABOUT WALT DISNEY TREAURES WAVE 4

Take this as a rumor, but the following are probably the sets for the next year

-Mickey Mouse in Black and White Volume II

-Assortment Set (to include BEN AND ME and DONALD IN MATHMAGIC LAND)
-Mickey Mouse Club
-The Complete Pluto

(courtesy of dcap3 from the animationshow forum ;) )

It's a shame that the "Chronological Donald" vol. 2 is not presented in this future wave.... i would be change the "Assortment Set" for another Donald volume, only time will tell... also, where is "Silly Simphonies Vol. 2"?

Ah, Donald- the lovable cartoon duck who always seems to get the short end of the stick. Finally he gets what he deserves- a Treasures release just for him! Here we find Donald's hillarious shorts from 1936 to 1941 in all their unedited glory, plus his 1934 debut, The Wise Little Hen. However, there are two small problems (Aw, phooey!). First, there is a bit of a drought of bonus features- just one featurette and a few Easter Eggs. But that will most likely be made up for on the next volume. Secondly, Leonard Maltin pops up with an un-PC warning- er, introduction- anytime there is anything even mildly offensive in the short to follow. How politically correct does Disney have to be? However, these two little annoyances shouldn't keep you from purchasing this wonderful collection of early Donald shorts.

Oh, that's very, very cool! ~ Donald Duck

These DVDs feature the first 35 shorts where Donald Duck was the lead character; plus his very first cartoon "The Wise Little Hen", where he played second fiddle to the title character. Prior to and concurrent with his own cartoon series, Donald appeared as a supporting character in Mickey Mouse cartoons. None of those cartoons are included. But the cartoons that are here are terrific. Some of them are better than others, of course, but all of them are good. There are three Easter Eggs (that I know of). To access them, just highlight the pictures of Donald in the bonus features sections and hit "enter". There is a clip from "The Reluctant Dragon" of Clarance Nash and Florence Gill recording a duet as Donald Duck and Clara Cluck. There is another clip from "The Reluctant Dragon", where Donald Duck shows how a cartoon is made. And there is a brief Donald Duck short called "The Volunteer Worker", which was made to encourage people to give to charity. This is a terrific package that will appeal to fans of vintage cartoons.

I agree with the other fine comments about this Donald Duck collection. These are some of the funniest and best cartoons ever. Orchids to whoever put the whole uncensored collection on DVD. (Onions to whoever censored "The Martins and the Coys" from "Make Mine Music"!)

My favorite feature of this DVD is "Play All," which you can select from the menu, and every cartoon is played one after another. This probably seems unimportant, and is a feature taken for granted, but try watching a DVD collection where you watch one short subject and then the DVD returns to the main menu every time (e.g., The first season of "Green Acres") -- how annoying!!

Now, if we can get a collector's edition of "Make Mine Music" including "The Martins and the Coys," I'll be happy!! (Are you listening, Disney?)

If you liked The Chronological Doanld, Volume One. There is a big suprise for you. On December 6th of 2005 a new DVD full of Donald Duck shorts will be realesed. The new volume is called The Chronological Donald, Volume Two. The new Donalde Volume will be the fifteenth is the Walt Disney Treasures series. The DVD will contain all Donald Duck shorts 1942 to 1948. This DVD is covering the following years from 1941. I hope you get a chance to preorder or order it when it is ready. I hope everbody who buys it will enjoy it. I will buy it also. I loved the first volume. Enjoy!

It is interesting to know what will be released in Wave 4, but these are reviews for the Chronological Donald. Anyhow the following will actually comprise Wave 4, scheduled to be released December 2004:

Mickey Mouse in Black and White Vol.2
Mickey Mouse Club
True Life Adventures
The Complete Pluto

Thanks for reading, and the wait is on for the next wave. But enjoy the great Wave 3 first, since we had to wait so long for those!!

These releases from Disney are great. I can now show my kids the history of Disney and let them see Disney was around before The Little Mermaid. Hopefully Disney will keep them coming since the will probably never air again this is the only way to watch them.