HOME

TheInfoList



OR:

Donald Fauntleroy Duck is a cartoon character created by
The Walt Disney Company The Walt Disney Company, commonly known as Disney (), is an American multinational mass media and entertainment industry, entertainment conglomerate (company), conglomerate headquartered at the Walt Disney Studios (Burbank), Walt Disney Stud ...
. Donald is an
anthropomorphic Anthropomorphism is the attribution of human traits, emotions, or intentions to non-human entities. It is considered to be an innate tendency of human psychology. Personification is the related attribution of human form and characteristics t ...
white duck The domestic duck or domestic mallard (''Anas platyrhynchos domesticus'') is a subspecies of mallard that has been domesticated by humans and raised for meat, eggs, and down feathers. A few are also kept for show, as pets, or for their ornamenta ...
with a yellow-orange bill, legs, and feet. He typically wears a sailor shirt and cap with a
bow tie The bow tie is a type of necktie. A modern bow tie is tied using a common shoelace knot, which is also called the bow knot for that reason. It consists of a ribbon of fabric tied around the collar of a shirt in a symmetrical manner so that ...
. Donald is known for his semi-intelligible speech and his mischievous, temperamental, and pompous personality. Along with his friend Mickey Mouse, Donald was included in ''
TV Guide TV Guide is an American digital media company that provides television program TV listings, listings information as well as entertainment and television-related news. The company sold its print magazine division, TV Guide Magazine, TV Guide Mag ...
''s list of the 50 greatest cartoon characters of all time in 2002, and has earned a star on the
Hollywood Walk of Fame The Hollywood Walk of Fame is a historic landmark which consists of more than 2,700 five-pointed terrazzo and brass stars embedded in the sidewalks along 15 blocks of Hollywood Boulevard and three blocks of Vine Street in Hollywood, Calif ...
. He has appeared in more films than any other Disney character, and is the most published comic book character in the world outside of the superhero genre. Donald Duck appeared in comedic roles in animated cartoons. Donald's first theatrical appearance was in '' The Wise Little Hen'' (1934), but it was his second appearance in ''
Orphan's Benefit ''Orphan's Benefit'' (sic; original title) is an animated short film produced by Walt Disney Productions in black-and-white. It was first released in 1934 and was later remade in Technicolor in 1941 under the corrected title ''Orphans' Benefit''. ...
'' that same year that introduced him as a temperamental comic foil to Mickey Mouse. Throughout the next two decades, Donald appeared in over 150 theatrical films, several of which were recognized at the
Academy Awards The Academy Awards, better known as the Oscars, are awards for artistic and technical merit for the American and international film industry. The awards are regarded by many as the most prestigious, significant awards in the entertainment ind ...
. In the 1930s, he typically appeared as part of a comic trio with Mickey and
Goofy Goofy is a cartoon character created by The Walt Disney Company. He is a tall, anthropomorphic dog who typically wears a turtle neck and vest, with pants, shoes, white gloves, and a tall hat originally designed as a rumpled fedora. Goofy is a ...
and was given his own film series starting with '' Don Donald'' (1937). These films introduced Donald's love interest and permanent girlfriend Daisy Duck and often included his three nephews
Huey, Dewey, and Louie Huey, Dewey, and Louie are triplet cartoon characters created by storyboard artist (screenwriter) Carl Barks for The Walt Disney Company from an idea proposed by cartoonist Al Taliaferro and are the nephews of Donald Duck and the grand-nephe ...
. After the film ''
Chips Ahoy Chips Ahoy! is an American chocolate chip cookie brand, baked and marketed by Nabisco, a subsidiary of Mondelez International, that debuted in 1963. Chips Ahoy! cookies are available in different variations such as, original, reduced-fat, chunky, ...
'' (1956), Donald appeared primarily in educational films before eventually returning to theatrical animation in '' Mickey's Christmas Carol'' (1983). His last appearance in a theatrical film was in ''
Fantasia 2000 ''Fantasia 2000'' is a 1999 American animated musical anthology film produced by Walt Disney Feature Animation and released by Walt Disney Pictures. Produced by Roy E. Disney and Donald W. Ernst, it is the 38th Disney animated feature film a ...
'' (1999). However, since then Donald has appeared in direct-to-video features such as '' Mickey, Donald, Goofy: The Three Musketeers'' (2004), television series such as ''
Mickey Mouse Clubhouse ''Mickey Mouse Clubhouse'' is an American interactive computer-animated children's television series which aired from May 5, 2006, to November 6, 2016 on the Disney Channel. Produced by Disney Television Animation, it is the first computer-ani ...
'' (2006–2016), and video games such as '' QuackShot'' (1991) and the ''
Kingdom Hearts is a series of action role-playing games developed and published by Square Enix (originally by Square). It is a collaboration between Square Enix and The Walt Disney Company and is under the leadership of Tetsuya Nomura, a longtime Square E ...
'' series. In addition to animation, Donald is well known worldwide for his appearances in comics. Donald was most famously drawn by Al Taliaferro,
Carl Barks Carl Barks (March 27, 1901 – August 25, 2000) was an American cartoonist, author, and painter. He is best known for his work in Disney comic books, as the writer and artist of the first Donald Duck stories and as the creator of Scrooge McDuc ...
, and
Don Rosa Keno Don Hugo Rosa (), known simply as Don Rosa (born June 29, 1951), is an American comic book writer and illustrator known for his Disney comics stories about Scrooge McDuck, Donald Duck, and other characters which Carl Barks created for ...
. Barks, in particular, is credited for greatly expanding the " Donald Duck universe", the world in which Donald lives, and creating many additional characters such as Donald's rich uncle
Scrooge McDuck Scrooge McDuck is a cartoon character created in 1947 by Carl Barks for The Walt Disney Company. Appearing in Disney comics, Scrooge is a Scottish-American anthropomorphic Pekin duck. Like his nephew Donald Duck, he has a yellow-orange bil ...
. Donald has been a popular character in Europe, particularly in Nordic countries where his weekly magazine ' was the comics publication with the highest circulation from the 1950s to 2009. In
Italy Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical ...
, Donald is a major character in many comics, including a juvenile version named
Paperino Paperotto Donald Duck, a cartoon character created by the Walt Disney Company, is today the star of dozens of comic-book and comic-strip stories published each month (in certain parts of the world, each week) around the world. In many European countries, Dona ...
, and a superhero alter ego known as '' Paperinik'' (''Duck Avenger'' in the US and ''Superduck'' in the UK).


Characteristics


Voice

The character is known for possessing an only partly intelligible voice, developed by Donald's original performer, Clarence Nash. During an interview, Tony Anselmo revealed that “Most people believe that Donald’s voice is done squeezing air through the cheek, that is not true. I can’t reveal how it’s actually done, but it is definitely not done by squeezing air through the cheek. The Hanna Barbara character ‘Yakky Doodle’ is done that way. Donald Duck is not." Nash reputedly originally developed the voice as that of a "nervous baby goat" before Walt Disney interpreted it as sounding like a duck.


Personality

The character of Donald Duck is portrayed as a very impatient, immature, and arrogant duck with a pessimistic attitude and an insecure disposition. In addition, his two dominant personality traits are his fiery temper and his upbeat attitude to life. Many Donald shorts start with Donald in a happy mood, without a care in the world until something comes along and spoils his day. His rage is a great cause of suffering in his life. On multiple occasions, it has caused him to get in over his head and lose competitions. There are times when he fights to keep his temper in check, and he sometimes succeeds in doing so temporarily, but he always returns to his normal angry self in the end. Donald's aggressive nature has its advantages, however. While at times it is a hindrance, and even a handicap, it has also helped him in times of need. When faced with a threat of some kind, for example,
Pete Pete or Petes or ''variation'', may refer to: People * Pete (given name) * Pete (nickname) * Pete (surname) Fictional characters * Pete (Disney), a cartoon character in the ''Mickey Mouse'' universe * Pete the Pup (a.k.a. 'Petey'), a charact ...
's attempts to intimidate him, he is initially scared, but his fear is replaced by anger. As a result, instead of running away, he fights. In fact, his anger can make him powerful enough to defeat ghosts, much stronger individuals,
shark Sharks are a group of elasmobranch fish characterized by a cartilaginous skeleton, five to seven gill slits on the sides of the head, and pectoral fins that are not fused to the head. Modern sharks are classified within the clade Selachi ...
s,
mountain goat The mountain goat (''Oreamnos americanus''), also known as the Rocky Mountain goat, is a hoofed mammal endemic to mountainous areas of western North America. A subalpine to alpine species, it is a sure-footed climber commonly seen on cliffs a ...
s, giant kites, and even the forces of nature. Donald is something of a
prankster A prankster is a person who enjoys playing pranks. Prankster may also refer to: * Prankster (Charlton Comics) Peter Cannon, Thunderbolt is a fictional superhero character originally published by Charlton Comics. Publication history Charlton ...
, and as a result, he can sometimes come across as a bit of a bully, especially in the way he sometimes treats
Chip n' Dale Chip and Dale (also spelled Chip 'n' Dale) is a cartoon duo of anthropomorphic chipmunks created in 1943 by The Walt Disney Company. Concept The characters were first drawn by Bill Justice and introduced in the 1943 Pluto short '' Priva ...
and
Huey, Dewey and Louie Huey, Dewey, and Louie are triplet cartoon characters created by storyboard artist (screenwriter) Carl Barks for The Walt Disney Company from an idea proposed by cartoonist Al Taliaferro and are the nephews of Donald Duck and the grand-nephews ...
, his nephews. As the animator
Fred Spencer Fred Spencer (May 1, 1904 – November 11, 1938) was an American animator who worked at Walt Disney Productions. He was considered an authority on Donald Duck and wrote an influential analysis of the character. Career Spencer joined Walt D ...
has put it: However, with a few exceptions, there is seldom any harm in Donald's pranks. He almost never intends to hurt anyone, and when his pranks go too far, he is often apologetic. In ''
Truant Officer Donald ''Truant Officer Donald'' is an animated short film produced in Technicolor by Walt Disney Productions and released to theaters on August 1, 1941 by RKO Radio Pictures. The film was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Animated Short Film ...
'', for example, when he is tricked into believing he has accidentally killed Huey, Dewey, and Louie, he shows great regret, blaming himself. His nephews appear in the form of angels, and he willingly endures a kick by one of them—that is, of course, until he realizes he has been tricked, whereupon he promptly loses his temper. Donald is also a bit of a
poseur A poseur is someone who poses for effect, or behaves affectedly, who affects a particular attitude, character or manner to impress others, or who pretends to belong to a particular group.
. He likes to brag, especially about how skilled he is at something. He does, in fact, have many skills—he is something of a Jack-of-all-trades. Amongst other things, he is a talented fisher and a competent
hockey Hockey is a term used to denote a family of various types of both summer and winter team sports which originated on either an outdoor field, sheet of ice, or dry floor such as in a gymnasium. While these sports vary in specific rules, numbers o ...
player. However, his love of bragging often leads him to overestimate his abilities, so that when he sets out to make good on his boasts, he gets in over his head, usually to hilarious effect. Another of his personality traits is perseverance. Even though he can at times be a
slacker A slacker is someone who habitually avoids work or lacks work ethic. Origin According to different sources, the term ''slacker'' dates back to about 1790 or 1898. "Slacker" gained some recognition during the British Gezira Scheme in the earl ...
, and likes to say that his favorite place to be is in a
hammock A hammock (from Spanish , borrowed from Taíno and Arawak ) is a sling made of fabric, rope, or netting, suspended between two or more points, used for swinging, sleeping, or resting. It normally consists of one or more cloth panels, or a wove ...
, once he has committed to accomplishing something he goes for it 100 percent, sometimes resorting to extreme measures to reach his goal.


Phrases

Donald has a few memorable phrases that he occasionally comes out with in certain situations. For example, when he stumbles across other characters in the midst of planning some sort of retaliation or prank, or when things do not go as he had planned or do not work properly, he often says, "What's the big idea!?" When he gives up on something he is trying to do, or something he hopes will happen, he tends to say, "Aw, phooey!" When he confronts someone/something that is antagonizing or frustrating him, he tends to exclaim, "So!!" He greets his girlfriend Daisy, and occasionally others, with, "Hiya, toots!" And when he is very excited about something, he usually mutters, "Oh boy, oh boy, oh boy..." under his breath.


Health

There is a
running gag A running gag, or running joke, is a literary device that takes the form of an amusing joke or a comical reference and appears repeatedly throughout a work of literature or other form of storytelling. Though they are similar, catchphrases are n ...
in the Donald Duck comics about him being physically unhealthy and unmotivated to
exercise Exercise is a body activity that enhances or maintains physical fitness and overall health and wellness. It is performed for various reasons, to aid growth and improve strength, develop muscles and the cardiovascular system, hone athletic s ...
. Usually, some character close to Donald annoys him by saying he is being lazy and needs to get some exercise. But despite his apparent idleness, Donald proves that he is muscular. In the short film ''Sea Scouts'', Donald is traveling with his nephews in a boat when it is attacked by a shark. Donald makes several attempts to defeat the shark, each of which proves ineffective, but then finally triumphs and defeats the shark with a single well-placed punch. Additionally, as discussed below, Donald had a stint in the U.S. Army during
World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the World War II by country, vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great power ...
that culminated with him serving as a commando in the film '' Commando Duck'', and he was frequently away serving in the U.S. Navy in the television cartoon series ''
DuckTales ''DuckTales'' is an American animated television series produced by Disney Television Animation. The original cartoon series premiered on syndication and on Disney Channel on September 18, 1987 and ran for a total of 100 episodes over four ...
''.


Friendly rivalry with Mickey Mouse

Throughout his appearances, Donald has shown that he is jealous of Mickey and wants his job as Disney's greatest star, similar to the rivalry between
Bugs Bunny Bugs Bunny is an animated cartoon character created in the late 1930s by Leon Schlesinger Productions (later Warner Bros. Cartoons) and voiced originally by Mel Blanc. Bugs is best known for his starring roles in the ''Looney Tunes'' and ''Mer ...
and
Daffy Duck Daffy Duck is an animated cartoon character created for Leon Schlesinger Productions by animators Tex Avery and Bob Clampett. Styled as an anthropomorphic black duck, he has appeared in cartoon series such as ''Looney Tunes'' and ''Merrie Melo ...
. In most Disney theatrical cartoons, Mickey and Donald are shown as friends and have little to no rivalry (exceptions being '' The Band Concert,'' ''
Magician Mickey ''Magician Mickey'' is a 1937 Walt Disney Mickey Mouse cartoon, originally released to theaters on February 6, 1937. This was the 92nd Mickey Mouse short to be released, and the third for that year. Mickey puts on a magic show, but is interrupte ...
'' and near the end of ''
Symphony Hour ''Symphony Hour'' is a 1942 American animated short film produced by Walt Disney Animation Studios, Walt Disney Productions and released by RKO Pictures, RKO Radio Pictures. The cartoon depicts Mickey Mouse conducting a symphony orchestra sponsor ...
, ''which were due to Donald's antagonistic schemes). However, by the time ''
The Mickey Mouse Club ''The Mickey Mouse Club'' is an American variety television show that aired intermittently from 1955 to 1996 and returned to social media in 2017. Created by Walt Disney and produced by Walt Disney Productions, the program was first televised f ...
'' aired on television (after Bugs vs. Daffy cartoons such as the "hunting trilogy" of ''
Rabbit Fire ''Rabbit Fire'' is a 1951 ''Looney Tunes'' cartoon starring Bugs Bunny, Daffy Duck, and Elmer Fudd. Directed by Chuck Jones and written by Michael Maltese, the cartoon is the first in Jones' "hunting trilogy"—the other two cartoons following ...
'', '' Rabbit Seasoning'', and '' Duck! Rabbit, Duck!''), it was shown that Donald always wanted the spotlight. One animated short that rivaled the Mickey Mouse March song showed Huey, Dewey, and Louie as
Boy Scout A Scout (in some countries a Boy Scout, Girl Scout, or Pathfinder) is a child, usually 10–18 years of age, participating in the worldwide Scouting movement. Because of the large age and development span, many Scouting associations have split ...
s and Donald as their
Scoutmaster A Scout leader or Scouter generally refers to the trained adult leader of a Scout unit. The terms used vary from country to country, over time, and with the type of unit. Roles There are many different roles a leader can fulfill depending on t ...
at a cliff near a remote forest and Donald leads them in a song mirroring the Mouseketeers theme "D-O-N-A-L-D D-U-C-K! Donald Duck!" The rivalry has caused Donald some problems, for example in a 1988 TV special, where Mickey is cursed by a sorcerer to become unnoticed, the world believes Mickey to be kidnapped. Donald Duck is then arrested for the
kidnapping In criminal law, kidnapping is the unlawful confinement of a person against their will, often including transportation/ asportation. The asportation and abduction element is typically but not necessarily conducted by means of force or fear: the ...
of Mickey, as he is considered to be the chief suspect, due to their feud. However, Donald did later get the charges dismissed, due to lack of evidence.
Walt Disney Walter Elias Disney (; December 5, 1901December 15, 1966) was an American animator, film producer and entrepreneur. A pioneer of the American animation industry, he introduced several developments in the production of cartoons. As a film p ...
, in his '' Wonderful World of Color'', would sometimes make reference to the rivalry. Walt, one time, had presented Donald with a gigantic
birthday cake A birthday cake is a cake eaten as part of a birthday celebration. Birthday cakes are often layer cakes with frosting served with small lit candles on top representing the celebrant's age. Variations include cupcakes, cake pops, pastries, ...
and commented how it was "even bigger than Mickey's", which pleased Donald. The clip was rebroadcast in November 1984 during a TV special honoring Donald's 50th birthday, with Dick Van Dyke substituting for Walt. The rivalry between Mickey and Donald was shown in the 2001-2003 television series ''
Disney's House of Mouse ''Disney's House of Mouse'' (or simply ''House of Mouse'') is an American Animation, animated television series produced by Walt Disney Television Animation that originally aired for three seasons on ABC and Toon Disney from January 13, 2001, to ...
''. It was shown that Donald wanted to be the club's founder and wanted to change the name from ''House of Mouse'' to ''House of Duck'', which is obvious in the episodes "The Stolen Cartoons" and "Timon and Pumbaa". In the episode "Everybody Loves Mickey", Donald's jealousy is explored and even joins sides with Mortimer Mouse. However, Donald has a change of heart when Daisy reminds Donald how Mickey has always been there to support him. Since then, Donald accepted that Mickey was the founder and worked with Mickey as a partner to make the club profitable and successful.


Enemies

Donald has numerous enemies, who range from comical foil to annoying nemesis: Chip 'n' Dale,
Pete Pete or Petes or ''variation'', may refer to: People * Pete (given name) * Pete (nickname) * Pete (surname) Fictional characters * Pete (Disney), a cartoon character in the ''Mickey Mouse'' universe * Pete the Pup (a.k.a. 'Petey'), a charact ...
,
Humphrey the Bear Humphrey the Bear is a cartoon character created in 1950 at Walt Disney Animation Studios. He first appeared in the 1950 Goofy cartoon ''Hold That Pose'', in which Goofy tried to take his picture. After that he appeared in four classic Donald D ...
, Spike the Bee, Mountain Lion Louie, Bootle Beetle, Witch Hazel (in ''Trick or Treat''),
Aracuan Bird This list of Donald Duck universe characters focuses on Disney cartoon and comics characters who typically appear with Donald Duck and Scrooge McDuck, but are not related to them. For relatives of Donald and Scrooge, see Duck family (Disney) or ...
and Baby Shelby (in '' Mickey Mouse Works''). During the
Second World War World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the World War II by country, vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great power ...
, Donald was often set against
Adolf Hitler Adolf Hitler (; 20 April 188930 April 1945) was an Austrian-born German politician who was dictator of Nazi Germany, Germany from 1933 until Death of Adolf Hitler, his death in 1945. Adolf Hitler's rise to power, He rose to power as the le ...
. In the comics, he is often harassed or on the run from the
Beagle Boys The Beagle Boys are a group of cartoon characters created in 1951 by Carl Barks for the Donald Duck universe. They are a family clan of organized criminals who constantly try to rob Scrooge McDuck. Their introduction and first appearance was in ...
,
Magica De Spell Magica De Spell (''magica'' being the feminine of ''magico'', ) is a cartoon character created in 1961 by Carl Barks for the Duck universe. An Italian sorceress, she constantly attempts to steal Scrooge McDuck's Number One Dime, which she belie ...
,
Gladstone Gander Gladstone Gander is a cartoon character created in 1948 by The Walt Disney Company. He is an anthropomorphic gander (male goose) who possesses exceptional good luck that grants him anything he desires as well as protecting him from any harm. T ...
and Mr. Jones. In the video game '' Donald Duck: Goin' Quackers'', he saves Daisy from Merlock. The Italian-produced comic '' PKNA – Paperinik New Adventures'' stars Donald Duck as '' Paperinik'', or ''Duck Avenger'', in his battles against new alien enemies: Evronian Empire, founded by emperor Evron.


Origin

Voice performer Clarence Nash auditioned for Walt Disney Studios when he learned that Disney was looking for people to create animal sounds for his cartoons. Disney was particularly impressed with Nash's duck imitation and chose him to voice the new character. Disney came up with Donald's iconic attributes including his short temper and his sailor suit (based on ducks and sailors both being associated with water). While
Dick Huemer Richard Huemer (January 2, 1898 – November 30, 1979) was an American animator in the Golden Age of Animation. Career While as an artist-illustrator living in the Bronx, New York City, Huemer first began his career in animation at the Raou ...
and
Art Babbit Arthur Harold Babitsky (October 8, 1907 – March 4, 1992), better known as Art Babbitt, was an American animator, best known for his work at Walt Disney Animation Studios. He received over 80 awards as an animation director and animator, and ...
were the first to animate Donald, Dick Lundy is credited for developing him as a character. On April 29, 1934, five days before '' The Wise Little Hen's'' first theatrical release, bandleader Raymond Paige performed the score to the cartoon on his ''California Melodies'' program for the Los Angeles AM radio station KHJ. The main vocals were performed by a trio, the Three Rhythm Kings. Clarence Nash and Florence Gill performed the character voices for this radio treatment, with Nash performing both Donald Duck and Peter Pig, making it the first time the public heard Nash's duck voice.


Animation


Early development

Donald Duck's first film appearance was in the 1934 cartoon '' The Wise Little Hen'', which was part of the '' Silly Symphonies'' series of theatrical cartoon shorts. The film's given release date of June 9 is officially recognized by the Walt Disney Company as Donald's birthday, though historian
J.B. Kaufman J.B. Kaufman is a film historian and author who specializes in Disney animation history and silent films. His books include ''The Fairest One of All'', ''Pinocchio: The Making of the Disney Epic'', and ''Walt Disney's Mickey Mouse''. He is the consu ...
, consultant of
The Walt Disney Family Museum The Walt Disney Family Museum (WDFM) is an American museum that features the life and legacy of Walt Disney. The museum is located in The Presidio of San Francisco, part of the Golden Gate National Recreation Area in San Francisco. The museum r ...
, discovered in recent years that ''The Wise Little Hen'' was first shown on May 3, 1934 at the Carthay Circle Theater for a benefit program, while its official debut was on June 7 at the
Radio City Music Hall Radio City Music Hall is an entertainment venue and theater at 1260 Avenue of the Americas, within Rockefeller Center, in the Midtown Manhattan neighborhood of New York City. Nicknamed "The Showplace of the Nation", it is the headquarters for th ...
. Donald's appearance in the cartoon, as created by animator Dick Lundy, is similar to his modern look – the feather and beak colors are the same, as are the blue sailor shirt and hat – but his features are more elongated, his body plumper, his feet smaller, and his sclerae white. Donald's personality is not developed either; in the short, he only fills the role of the unhelpful friend from the original story.
Burt Gillett Burton F. Gillett (October 15, 1891 – December 28, 1971) was a director of animated films. He is noted for his Silly Symphonies work for Disney, particularly the 1932 short film ''Flowers and Trees'' and the 1933 short film ''Three Little Pigs' ...
brought Donald back in a 1934 Mickey Mouse cartoon, ''
Orphans' Benefit ''Orphan's Benefit'' (sic; original title) is an animated short film produced by Walt Disney Productions in black-and-white. It was first released in 1934 and was later remade in Technicolor in 1941 under the corrected title ''Orphans' Benefit''. ...
''. Donald is one of a number of characters who are giving performances in a benefit for Mickey's Orphans. Donald's act is to recite the poems ''
Mary Had a Little Lamb "Mary Had a Little Lamb" is an English language nursery rhyme of nineteenth-century American origin, first published by American writer Sarah Josepha Hale in 1830. It has a Roud Folk Song Index number of 7622. Background The nursery rhyme was ...
'' and '' Little Boy Blue'', but every time he tries, the mischievous orphans heckle him, leading the duck to fly into a squawking fit of anger. This explosive personality would remain with Donald for decades to come. Donald continued to be a hit with audiences. The character began appearing regularly in most Mickey Mouse cartoons. Cartoons from this period, such as the cartoon '' The Band Concert'' (1935) – in which Donald repeatedly disrupts the Mickey Mouse Orchestra's rendition of '' The William Tell Overture'' by playing '' Turkey in the Straw'' – are regularly noted by critics as exemplary films and classics of animation. Animator Ben Sharpsteen also created the classic Mickey, Donald, and Goofy comedy in 1935, with the cartoon ''Mickey's Service Station''. In 1936, Donald was redesigned to be a bit fuller, rounder, and cuter, beginning with the cartoon '' Moving Day''. He also began starring in solo cartoons, the first of which was Ben Sharpsteen's 1937 cartoon, '' Don Donald''. This short also introduced a love interest of Donald's, ''Donna Duck'', who evolved into Daisy Duck. Donald's nephews,
Huey, Dewey and Louie Huey, Dewey, and Louie are triplet cartoon characters created by storyboard artist (screenwriter) Carl Barks for The Walt Disney Company from an idea proposed by cartoonist Al Taliaferro and are the nephews of Donald Duck and the grand-nephews ...
, would make their first animated appearance a year later in the 1938 film, ''
Donald's Nephews ''Donald's Nephews'' (1938) is a Donald Duck animated cartoon which features Donald being visited by his three nephews, Huey, Dewey, and Louie. This cartoon is Huey, Dewey, and Louie's first appearance in animation. Al Taliaferro, the artist fo ...
'', directed by Jack King (they had been earlier introduced in the ''Donald Duck'' comic strip by Al Taliaferro, see below). By 1938, most polls showed that Donald was more popular than Mickey Mouse.


Wartime

During
World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the World War II by country, vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great power ...
, Donald appeared in several animated
propaganda film A propaganda film is a film that involves some form of propaganda. Propaganda films spread and promote certain ideas that are usually religious, political, or cultural in nature. A propaganda film is made with the intent that the viewer will a ...
s, including the 1943 '' Der Fuehrer's Face''. In this cartoon, Donald plays a worker in an artillery factory in "Nutzi Land" (
Nazi Germany Nazi Germany (lit. "National Socialist State"), ' (lit. "Nazi State") for short; also ' (lit. "National Socialist Germany") (officially known as the German Reich from 1933 until 1943, and the Greater German Reich from 1943 to 1945) was ...
). He struggles with long working hours, very small food rations, and having to
salute A salute is usually a formal hand gesture or other action used to display respect in military situations. Salutes are primarily associated with the military and law enforcement, but many civilian organizations, such as Girl Guides, Boy Sco ...
every time he sees a picture of the
Führer ( ; , spelled or ''Fuhrer'' when the umlaut is not available) is a German word meaning " leader" or " guide". As a political title, it is strongly associated with the Nazi dictator Adolf Hitler. Nazi Germany cultivated the ("leader princi ...
(
Adolf Hitler Adolf Hitler (; 20 April 188930 April 1945) was an Austrian-born German politician who was dictator of Nazi Germany, Germany from 1933 until Death of Adolf Hitler, his death in 1945. Adolf Hitler's rise to power, He rose to power as the le ...
). These pictures appear in many places, such as on the assembly line in which he is screwing in the detonators of various sizes of shells. In the end, he becomes little more than a small part in a faceless machine with no choice but to obey until he falls, suffering a nervous breakdown. Then Donald wakes up to find that his experience was, in fact, a dream. At the end of the short, Donald looks to the Statue of Liberty and the American flag with renewed appreciation. ''Der Fuehrer's Face'' won the 1942
Academy Award for Animated Short Film The Academy Award for Best Animated Short Film is an award given by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS) as part of the annual Academy Awards, or Oscars, since the 5th Academy Awards (with different names), covering the year ...
. ''Der Fuehrer's Face'' was also the first of two animated short films to be set during the War to win an Oscar, the other being
Tom and Jerry ''Tom and Jerry'' is an American animated media franchise and series of comedy short films created in 1940 by William Hanna and Joseph Barbera. Best known for its 161 theatrical short films by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer, the series centers on the ...
's short film, ''
The Yankee Doodle Mouse ''The Yankee Doodle Mouse'' is a 1943 American one-reel animated cartoon in Technicolor. It is the eleventh ''Tom and Jerry'' short produced by Fred Quimby, and directed by William Hanna and Joseph Barbera, with musical supervision by Scott ...
''. Other shorts from this period include a six film mini-series that follows Donald's life in the U.S. Army from his drafting to his experiences in basic training under Sergeant
Pete Pete or Petes or ''variation'', may refer to: People * Pete (given name) * Pete (nickname) * Pete (surname) Fictional characters * Pete (Disney), a cartoon character in the ''Mickey Mouse'' universe * Pete the Pup (a.k.a. 'Petey'), a charact ...
to his first actual mission as a
commando 40_Commando.html" ;"title="Royal Marines from 40 Commando">Royal Marines from 40 Commando on patrol in the Sangin area of Afghanistan are pictured A commando is a combatant, or operative of an elite light infantry or special operations forc ...
having to sabotage a Japanese air base. Titles in the series include: *''
Donald Gets Drafted ''Donald Gets Drafted'' is a 1942 American animated short film produced by Walt Disney Productions and released by RKO Radio Pictures. The cartoon has Donald Duck being drafted into the U. S. Army during World War II and follows his introduction ...
'' (May 1, 1942) (shown in his Selective Service Draft Card close-up, we learn Donald's full name: Donald Fauntleroy Duck) *''
The Vanishing Private ''The Vanishing Private'' is a 1942 animated cartoon by the Walt Disney Studios, starring Donald Duck in the World War II years. Plot Donald Duck is doing some camouflage painting on a cannon with yellow, green, and red stripes and black dots ...
'' (September 25, 1942) *'' Sky Trooper'' (November 8, 1942) *''
Fall Out Fall In ''Fall Out Fall In'' is a Walt Disney cartoon starring Donald Duck. It was released on April 23, 1943, by RKO Radio Pictures. The film's title incorporates two military commands: "fall in," meaning to create an organized formation of soldiers, a ...
'' (April 23, 1943) *''
The Old Army Game ''The Old Army Game'' is a 1943 World War II cartoon starring Donald Duck that was produced by Walt Disney and distributed by RKO Radio Pictures. Plot Pete is inspecting a camp and goes through the cabins to see all of the soldiers sleeping. H ...
'' (November 5, 1943) *'' Commando Duck'' (June 2, 1944) Thanks in part to these films, Donald graced the nose artwork of virtually every type of World War II Allied combat aircraft, from the L-4 Grasshopper to the
B-29 Superfortress The Boeing B-29 Superfortress is an American four-engined propeller-driven heavy bomber, designed by Boeing and flown primarily by the United States during World War II and the Korean War. Named in allusion to its predecessor, the B-17 ...
. Donald also appears as a mascot—such as in the
United States Army Air Forces The United States Army Air Forces (USAAF or AAF) was the major land-based aerial warfare service component of the United States Army and ''de facto'' aerial warfare service branch of the United States during and immediately after World War II ...
'
309th Fighter Squadron The 309th Fighter Squadron (309 FS) is part of the 56th Operations Group at Luke Air Force Base, Arizona. It operates the F-16 Fighting Falcon aircraft conducting advanced fighter training. Mission The 309th FS ("Wild Ducks", Tailband: Bl ...
and the
U.S. Coast Guard Auxiliary The United States Coast Guard Auxiliary (USCGA, USCGAUX, CGAux, or USCG Aux) is the civilian uniformed volunteer component of the United States Coast Guard. Congress established the military organization, unit on 23 June 1939, as the United Sta ...
, which showed Donald as a fierce-looking pirate ready to defend the American coast from invaders. Donald also appeared as a mascot emblem for the
415th Fighter Squadron The 415th Special Operations Squadron is a United States Air Force unit. It is assigned to the 58th Operations Group at Kirtland Air Force Base, New Mexico. The 415th Night Fighter Squadron was formed in February 1943, and it carried out missi ...
;
438th Fighter Squadron 438th may refer to: *438th Air Expeditionary Advisory Group (438 AEAG), assigned to the 438th Air Expeditionary Wing of USAFCENT, stationed at Kabul Airport, Afghanistan *438th Air Expeditionary Group, provisional unit assigned to United States Air ...
; 479th Bombardment Squadron; and
531st Bombardment Squadron The 531st Bombardment Squadron was a unit of the US Air Force, first activated during World War II. After training as a heavy bomber unit in the United States, it moved to the Southwest Pacific Theater, entering combat in May 1943, flying comba ...
. He also appeared as the mascot for the
Fire Department A fire department (American English American English, sometimes called United States English or U.S. English, is the set of varieties of the English language native to the United States. English is the most widely spoken language in th ...
at
Marine Corps Air Station El Toro Marine Corps Air Station El Toro was a United States Marine Corps Air Station located next to the community of El Toro, near Irvine, California. Before it was decommissioned in 1999, it was the home of Marine Corps Aviation on the West Coast. ...
, as well as the Army Air Forces (now currently the
United States Air Force The United States Air Force (USAF) is the air service branch of the United States Armed Forces, and is one of the eight uniformed services of the United States. Originally created on 1 August 1907, as a part of the United States Army S ...
) 319 Aircraft Maintenance Unit at
Luke Air Force Base Luke Air Force Base is a United States Air Force base in Maricopa County, Arizona, United States., effective 20 December 2007 It is located west of the central business district of Glendale, and west of Phoenix. Luke AFB is a major train ...
where he is seen wearing an old-style pilot's uniform with a board with a nail in it in one hand, and a lightning bolt in the other hand. Donald's most famous appearance, however, was on the North American Aviation B-25B Mitchell medium bomber (S/N 40-2261) piloted by Lt. Ted W. Lawson of the 95th Bombardment Squadron, USAAF. The aircraft, named the "Ruptured Duck" and carrying a picture of Donald's face above a pair of crossed crutches, was one of sixteen B-25Bs which took off from the aircraft carrier USS ''Hornet'' to bomb Tokyo on April 18, 1942 during the
Doolittle Raid The Doolittle Raid, also known as the Tokyo Raid, was an air raid on 18 April 1942 by the United States on the Japanese capital Tokyo and other places on Honshu during World War II. It was the first American air operation to strike the Japan ...
. The mission was led by Lieutenant Colonel (later General)
Jimmy Doolittle James Harold Doolittle (December 14, 1896 – September 27, 1993) was an American military general and aviation pioneer who received the Medal of Honor for his daring raid on Japan during World War II. He also made early coast-to-coast flights ...
. Like most of the aircraft that participated in the mission, the Ruptured Duck was unable to reach its assigned landing field in China following the raid and ended up ditching off the coast near Shangchow, China. The Ruptured Duck's pilot survived, with the loss of a leg, and later wrote about the Doolittle Raid in the book, later to be the 1944 movie, ''
Thirty Seconds Over Tokyo ''Thirty Seconds Over Tokyo'' is a 1944 American war film produced by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer. The screenplay by Dalton Trumbo is based on the 1943 book of the same name by Captain Ted W. Lawson. Lawson was a pilot on the historic Doolittle Raid, ...
''. During World War II, Disney cartoons were not allowed to be imported into
Occupied Europe German-occupied Europe refers to the sovereign countries of Europe which were wholly or partly occupied and civil-occupied (including puppet governments) by the military forces and the government of Nazi Germany at various times between 1939 ...
owing to their propagandistic content. Since this lost Disney revenue, he decided to create a new audience for his films in South America. He decided to make a trip through various Latin American countries with his assistants, and use their experiences and impressions to create two feature-length animation films. The first was '' Saludos Amigos'' (1942), which consisted of four short segments, two of them with Donald Duck. In the first, he meets his parrot pal José Carioca. The second film was ''
The Three Caballeros ''The Three Caballeros'' is a 1944 American live-action/animated musical anthology film produced by Walt Disney and released by RKO Radio Pictures. The film premiered in Mexico City on December 21, 1944. It was released in the United States on ...
'' (1944), in which he meets his rooster friend
Panchito Panchito is a diminutive of the name Pancho, which in turn is a diminutive of the name Francisco. It may refer to: *Panchito Alba, stage name of Filipino actor Alfonso Tagle Sr. * Panchito Pistoles, Disney cartoon character *Francisco Velázquez ...
. Several decades after the war, on account of the fact that Donald was never officially separated from service in either his animated shorts or his comic strips, as part of Donald's 50th Birthday celebrations during the 25th Annual
Torrance, California Torrance is a city in the Los Angeles metropolitan area located in Los Angeles County, California, United States. The city is part of what is known as the South Bay region of the metropolitan area. Torrance has of beachfront on the Pacific Oc ...
Armed Forces Day Many nations around the world observe some kind of Armed Forces Day to honor their military forces. This day is not to be confused with Veterans Day or Memorial Day. Africa Egypt In Egypt, Armed Forces Day is celebrated on 6 Octobe ...
Parade, the U.S. Army retired Donald Duck from active duty as a "Buck Sergeant" (i.e. "Buck Sergeant Duck").


Post-war

Many of Donald's films made after the war recast the duck as the brunt of some other character's pestering. Donald is seen repeatedly attacked, harassed, and ridiculed by his nephews, by the
chipmunk Chipmunks are small, striped rodents of the family Sciuridae. Chipmunks are found in North America, with the exception of the Siberian chipmunk which is found primarily in Asia. Taxonomy and systematics Chipmunks may be classified either as ...
s Chip 'n' Dale, or by other characters such as
Humphrey the Bear Humphrey the Bear is a cartoon character created in 1950 at Walt Disney Animation Studios. He first appeared in the 1950 Goofy cartoon ''Hold That Pose'', in which Goofy tried to take his picture. After that he appeared in four classic Donald D ...
,
Spike the Bee This list of Donald Duck universe characters focuses on Disney cartoon and comics characters who typically appear with Donald Duck and Scrooge McDuck, but are not related to them. For relatives of Donald and Scrooge, see Duck family (Disney) or ...
,
Bootle Beetle ''Bootle Beetle'' is a 1947 animated short film featuring Donald Duck. It was released by Walt Disney Productions. Plot A rare breed insect, the Bootle beetle, tells the story of how, as a child, he left the forest and came across a monster, D ...
, the
Aracuan Bird This list of Donald Duck universe characters focuses on Disney cartoon and comics characters who typically appear with Donald Duck and Scrooge McDuck, but are not related to them. For relatives of Donald and Scrooge, see Duck family (Disney) or ...
, Louie the Mountain Lion, or a colony of ants. In effect, much like
Bugs Bunny Bugs Bunny is an animated cartoon character created in the late 1930s by Leon Schlesinger Productions (later Warner Bros. Cartoons) and voiced originally by Mel Blanc. Bugs is best known for his starring roles in the ''Looney Tunes'' and ''Mer ...
cartoons from
Warner Bros Warner Bros. Entertainment Inc. (commonly known as Warner Bros. or abbreviated as WB) is an American Film studio, film and entertainment studio headquartered at the Warner Bros. Studios, Burbank, Warner Bros. Studios complex in Burbank, Califo ...
. the Disney artists had reversed the classic screwball scenario perfected by
Walter Lantz Walter Lantz (April 27, 1899 – March 22, 1994) was an American cartoonist, animator, producer and director best known for founding Walter Lantz Productions and creating Woody Woodpecker. Biography Early years and start in animation Lantz ...
and others in which the main character is the ''instigator'' of these harassing behaviors, rather than the butt of them. The post-war Donald also starred in educational films, such as '' Donald in Mathmagic Land'' and ''
How to Have an Accident at Work ''How to Have an Accident at Work'' is a 1959 animated short educational film featuring Donald Duck. It was released by Walt Disney Productions. Plot Donald Duck is very careful at home, but at work that is a different issue as he has multipl ...
'' (both 1959), and made cameos in various Disney projects, such as '' The Reluctant Dragon'' (1941) and the ''
Disneyland Disneyland is a theme park in Anaheim, California. Opened in 1955, it was the first theme park opened by The Walt Disney Company and the only one designed and constructed under the direct supervision of Walt Disney. Disney initially envisi ...
'' television show (1959). For this latter show, Donald's uncles
Ludwig von Drake Professor Ludwig Von Drake is a cartoon character created in 1961 by The Walt Disney Company. He is the paternal uncle of Donald Duck. He was first introduced as the presenter (and singer of " The Spectrum Song") in the cartoon ''An Adventure in ...
(1961) and
Scrooge McDuck Scrooge McDuck is a cartoon character created in 1947 by Carl Barks for The Walt Disney Company. Appearing in Disney comics, Scrooge is a Scottish-American anthropomorphic Pekin duck. Like his nephew Donald Duck, he has a yellow-orange bil ...
(1967) were then created in animation. In ''
Who Framed Roger Rabbit ''Who Framed Roger Rabbit'' is a 1988 American Live-action animated film, live-action/animated comedy film, comedy mystery film directed by Robert Zemeckis, produced by Frank Marshall (filmmaker), Frank Marshall and Robert Watts, and loosely ad ...
'' (1988), Donald has a piano duel scene with his
Warner Brothers Warner Bros. Entertainment Inc. (commonly known as Warner Bros. or abbreviated as WB) is an American Film studio, film and entertainment studio headquartered at the Warner Bros. Studios, Burbank, Warner Bros. Studios complex in Burbank, Califo ...
counterpart
Daffy Duck Daffy Duck is an animated cartoon character created for Leon Schlesinger Productions by animators Tex Avery and Bob Clampett. Styled as an anthropomorphic black duck, he has appeared in cartoon series such as ''Looney Tunes'' and ''Merrie Melo ...
voiced by
Mel Blanc Melvin Jerome Blanc (born Blank ; May 30, 1908July 10, 1989) was an American voice actor and radio personality whose career spanned over 60 years. During the Golden Age of Radio, he provided character voices and vocal sound effects for comedy ra ...
. Donald has since appeared in several different television shows and (short) animated movies. He played roles in ''
The Prince and the Pauper ''The Prince and the Pauper'' is a novel by American author Mark Twain. It was first published in 1881 in Canada, before its 1882 publication in the United States. The novel represents Twain's first attempt at historical fiction. Set in 1547, ...
'' (1990) and made a
cameo appearance A cameo role, also called a cameo appearance and often shortened to just cameo (), is a brief appearance of a well-known person in a work of the performing arts. These roles are generally small, many of them non-speaking ones, and are commonly ei ...
in ''
A Goofy Movie ''A Goofy Movie'' is a 1995 American animated musical comedy- adventure film produced by Disney MovieToons and Walt Disney Television Animation. Directed by Kevin Lima, the film is based on The Disney Afternoon television series '' Goof Tr ...
'' (1995). Donald had a rather small part in the animated television series ''
DuckTales ''DuckTales'' is an American animated television series produced by Disney Television Animation. The original cartoon series premiered on syndication and on Disney Channel on September 18, 1987 and ran for a total of 100 episodes over four ...
''. There, Donald joins the U.S. Navy and leaves his nephews Huey, Dewey, and Louie with their
Uncle Scrooge ''Uncle Scrooge'' (stylized as ''Uncle $crooge'') is a Disney comic book series starring Scrooge McDuck ("the richest duck in the world"), his nephew Donald Duck, and grandnephews Huey, Dewey, and Louie, and revolving around their adventures in ...
, who then has to take care of them. Donald's role in the overall series was fairly limited, as he only ended up appearing in a handful of episodes when home on leave. Some of the stories in the series were loosely based on the comics by
Carl Barks Carl Barks (March 27, 1901 – August 25, 2000) was an American cartoonist, author, and painter. He is best known for his work in Disney comic books, as the writer and artist of the first Donald Duck stories and as the creator of Scrooge McDuc ...
. Donald made some cameo appearances in ''
Bonkers Bonkers is an informal British term that means "crazy" or "insane." It may also refer to: Television * ''Bonkers'' (American TV series), a 1993–1994 animated series * ''Bonkers'' (British TV series), 2007 comedy * ''Bonkers!'', a 1979 Brit ...
'', before getting his own television show '' Quack Pack''. This series featured a modernized Duck family. Donald was no longer wearing his sailor suit and hat, but a Hawaiian shirt. Huey, Dewey, and Louie now are teenagers, with distinct clothing, voices, and personalities. Daisy Duck has lost her pink dress and bow and has a new haircut. No other family members, besides Ludwig von Drake, appear in ''Quack Pack'', and all other Duckburg citizens are humans and not dogs. He made a comeback as the star of the "Noah's Ark" segment of ''
Fantasia 2000 ''Fantasia 2000'' is a 1999 American animated musical anthology film produced by Walt Disney Feature Animation and released by Walt Disney Pictures. Produced by Roy E. Disney and Donald W. Ernst, it is the 38th Disney animated feature film a ...
'' (1999), as first mate to Noah. Donald musters the animals to the Ark and attempts to control them. He tragically believes that Daisy has been lost, while she believes the same of him, but they are reunited at the end. All this to
Edward Elgar Sir Edward William Elgar, 1st Baronet, (; 2 June 1857 – 23 February 1934) was an English composer, many of whose works have entered the British and international classical concert repertoire. Among his best-known compositions are orchestr ...
's '' Pomp and Circumstance'' Marches 1–4. In an alternate opening for the Disney film '' Chicken Little'' (2005), Donald would have made a cameo appearance as "Ducky Lucky". This scene can be found on the ''Chicken Little'' DVD. Donald also played an important role in '' Mickey Mouse Works'' and ''
House of Mouse ''Disney's House of Mouse'' (or simply ''House of Mouse'') is an American animated television series produced by Walt Disney Television Animation that originally aired for three seasons on ABC and Toon Disney from January 13, 2001, to its final ...
''. In the latter show, he is the co-owner of Mickey's nightclub. He is part of the ensemble cast of characters in the TV show ''
Mickey Mouse Clubhouse ''Mickey Mouse Clubhouse'' is an American interactive computer-animated children's television series which aired from May 5, 2006, to November 6, 2016 on the Disney Channel. Produced by Disney Television Animation, it is the first computer-ani ...
'' as well. He also appears in the new 3-minute '' Mickey Mouse'' TV shorts for Disney Channel. Donald also appears in the ''
DuckTales ''DuckTales'' is an American animated television series produced by Disney Television Animation. The original cartoon series premiered on syndication and on Disney Channel on September 18, 1987 and ran for a total of 100 episodes over four ...
'' reboot, in which he is a main character as opposed to his minor role in the original cartoon. The series depicts him as having once been Scrooge's partner in adventure along with his sister Della. However, ten years prior to the series' beginning, Della went missing, leading to Donald and Scrooge going their separate ways and not speaking to each other throughout that time. In the present, Donald reluctantly brings Della's sons and his legal charges, the triplets, to Scrooge's mansion so he can babysit them while Donald attends a job interview, though he still has not forgiven Scrooge for their past history. Donald is temporarily hired by Scrooge's rival Flintheart Glomgold and ends up at the city of Atlantis, where Scrooge has also brought the boys. After some initial conflict Scrooge offers to let them stay with him in his mansion. Donald owns a boat in the series, which is relocated to Scrooge's pool at the conclusion of the series premiere. Later in the series, it is revealed that Donald's anger is the result of a fear that no one can understand him, though with the help of an anger management counselor and while taking care of Huey, Dewey, Louie, he was able to channel it into protective instinct.


Voice actors

Donald's first voice was performed by Clarence Nash, who voiced him for 50 years. Nash voiced Donald for the last time in '' Mickey's Christmas Carol'' (1983), making Donald the only character in the film to be voiced by his original voice actor. He did, however, continue to provide Donald's voice for commercials, promos, and other miscellaneous material until he died in 1985. Since Nash died, Donald's voice has been performed by Disney animator,
Tony Anselmo Tony Anselmo (born February 18, 1960) is an American voice actor and animator. He has been the official character voice of Donald Duck since 1985 following the death of the original voice actor, Clarence Nash. He has also provided voices for Do ...
, who was mentored by Nash for the role. Anselmo's first performance as Donald is heard in a 1986 '' D-TV'' special, '' D-TV Valentine'' on
The Disney Channel Disney Channel, sometimes known as simply Disney, is an American pay television channel that serves as the flagship property of Disney Branded Television, a unit of the Disney General Entertainment Content division of The Walt Disney Compa ...
, and in his first feature film, ''
Who Framed Roger Rabbit ''Who Framed Roger Rabbit'' is a 1988 American Live-action animated film, live-action/animated comedy film, comedy mystery film directed by Robert Zemeckis, produced by Frank Marshall (filmmaker), Frank Marshall and Robert Watts, and loosely ad ...
'', in 1988. Walt Disney insisted on character consistency, and integrity. However there were instances in which other actors would voice Disney characters for various smaller films, recordings, theme parks and other projects. Accuracy and consistency became an issue. In 1988, Imagineer Les Perkins convinced
Jeffrey Katzenberg Jeffrey Katzenberg (; born December 21, 1950) is an American filmmaker, animator, and media proprietor. He became well known for his tenure as chairman of Walt Disney Studios from 1984 to 1994. After departing Disney, he was a co-founder and ...
and Roy E. Disney to approved the creation the department of Disney Character Voices to insure continuation of character integrity, consistency, and quality in recording methods. Roy named one official voice for all Walt Disney legacy characters. Tony Anselmo was approved by Roy E. Disney as Disney's official voice of Donald Duck. For the TV series '' Mickey and the Roadster Racers'', later named ''Mickey Mouse Mixed-Up Adventures'', Donald was voiced by voice actor
Daniel Ross Daniel Ross may refer to: * Daniel Ross (actor) (born 1980), American actor, voice actor, and producer * Daniel Ross (philosopher) (born 1970), Australian philosopher and filmmaker * Daniel Ross (marine surveyor) (1780–1849), president of the Bomb ...
, while Anselmo continues as the official voice of Donald on all other Disney projects, ''
DuckTales ''DuckTales'' is an American animated television series produced by Disney Television Animation. The original cartoon series premiered on syndication and on Disney Channel on September 18, 1987 and ran for a total of 100 episodes over four ...
'', ''Mickey Mouse'' shorts, ''
Legend of the Three Caballeros ''Legend of the Three Caballeros'' is an animated television series based on the 1944 animated Disney film '' The Three Caballeros'' and features the characters Donald Duck, José Carioca and Panchito Pistoles. It was first released in 2018 in ...
'', ''
Kingdom Hearts III is a 2019 action role-playing game developed and published by Square Enix for the PlayStation 4, Xbox One, Microsoft Windows and Nintendo Switch. It is the twelfth installment in the '' Kingdom Hearts'' series, and serves as a conclusion of t ...
'', Disney Parks, attractions, and consumer products. In the 2017 reboot of ''
DuckTales ''DuckTales'' is an American animated television series produced by Disney Television Animation. The original cartoon series premiered on syndication and on Disney Channel on September 18, 1987 and ran for a total of 100 episodes over four ...
'', a young Donald was voiced by
Russi Taylor Russi Taylor (May 4, 1944 – July 26, 2019) was an American voice actress. She is best remembered as the official voice of Minnie Mouse from 1986 to 2019, and was notably married to voice actor Wayne Allwine, the voice of Mickey Mouse, until h ...
in the episode, "Last Christmas!", using the same voice that she used for Huey, Dewey, and Louie in various Disney media. After Taylor's death in 2019, she was replaced by Cristina Vee in the episode, "The First Adventure!". An alternate version of Donald's voice was provided by
Don Cheadle Donald Frank Cheadle Jr. (; born November 29, 1964) is an American actor. He is the recipient of  multiple accolades, including two Grammy Awards, a Tony Award, two Golden Globe Awards and two Screen Actors Guild Awards. He has also earned no ...
in the episode "The Shadow War!", after he takes a pill that makes his voice more intelligible. This voice returned in the episode, "Quack Pack!".


Comics

While Donald's cartoons continue to be shown in the United States and around the world, his weekly and monthly comic books enjoy their highest profile in many European countries, especially Italy, Sweden, Denmark, Norway, Finland and Iceland, but also Germany, the Netherlands, and Greece. Most of them are produced and published by the Italian branch of the
Walt Disney Company The Walt Disney Company, commonly known as Disney (), is an American multinational mass media and entertainment conglomerate headquartered at the Walt Disney Studios complex in Burbank, California. Disney was originally founded on October 1 ...
in Italy (
Disney Italy The Walt Disney Company Italia S.r.l. (formerly called The Walt Disney Company Italia S.p.A.) is The Walt Disney Company's Italian division and one of The Walt Disney Company's European divisions. The company was founded on 8 May 1938 as Creazio ...
) and by
Egmont Egmont may refer to: * Egmont Group, a media corporation founded and rooted in Copenhagen, Denmark * Egmond family (often spelled "Egmont"), an influential Dutch family, lords of the town of Egmond ** Lamoral, Count of Egmont (1522–1568), the bes ...
in Denmark, Norway, Finland and Sweden. In Germany, the comics are published by Ehapa which has since become part of the Egmont empire. Donald comics have also been produced in The Netherlands and France. Donald also has been appeared in Japanese comics published by Kodansha and
Tokyopop Tokyopop (styled TOKYOPOP; formerly known as Mixx Entertainment) is an American distributor, licensor and publisher of anime, manga, manhwa and Western manga-style works. The German publishing division produces German translations of licensed J ...
. According to the
Inducks The International Network of Disney Universe Comic Knowers and SourcesFrom Inducks lecture
held at ...
, which is a database about Disney comics worldwide, American, Italian and Danish stories have been reprinted in the following countries. In most of them, publications still continue: Australia, Austria, Argentina, Belgium, Brazil, Bulgaria, Canada, China, Colombia, Croatia, Czech Republic, Denmark (
Faroe Islands The Faroe Islands ( ), or simply the Faroes ( fo, Føroyar ; da, Færøerne ), are a North Atlantic archipelago, island group and an autonomous territory of the Danish Realm, Kingdom of Denmark. They are located north-northwest of Scotlan ...
), Egypt, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Guyana, Hungary, Iceland, India, Indonesia, Israel, Italy, Japan, Latvia, Lithuania, Mexico, the Netherlands, Norway, Philippines, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Russia, Saudi Arabia, Slovakia, Spain, Sweden, Thailand, Turkey, the United Kingdom, the United States, and the former Yugoslavia.


Early development

The character's first appearance in comic strip format was the 1934 ''Silly Symphony'' comic strip sequence based on the short ''The Wise Little Hen''. For the next few years, Donald made a few more appearances in Disney-themed strips, and by 1936, he had grown to be one of the main characters in the ''Silly Symphony'' strip. Ted Osborne was the primary writer of these strips, with Al Taliaferro as his artist. Osborne and Taliaferro also introduced several members of Donald's supporting cast, including his nephews,
Huey, Dewey, and Louie Huey, Dewey, and Louie are triplet cartoon characters created by storyboard artist (screenwriter) Carl Barks for The Walt Disney Company from an idea proposed by cartoonist Al Taliaferro and are the nephews of Donald Duck and the grand-nephe ...
. In 1937, an Italian publisher named
Mondadori Arnoldo Mondadori Editore () is the biggest publishing company in Italy. History The company was founded in 1907 in Ostiglia by 18-year-old Arnoldo Mondadori who began his publishing career with the publication of the magazine ''Luce!''. In ...
created the first Donald Duck story intended specifically for
comic book A comic book, also called comicbook, comic magazine or (in the United Kingdom and Ireland) simply comic, is a publication that consists of comics art in the form of sequential juxtaposed panel (comics), panels that represent individual scenes. ...
s. The eighteen-page story, written by
Federico Pedrocchi Federico Pedrocchi (1 May 1907 – 20 January 1945) was an Italian comic book artist and writer. He sometimes used the pen name Costanzo Federici. He founded the magazine ''Paperino e altre avventure'' (''Donald Duck and Other Adventures'') in 1937 ...
, is the first to feature Donald as an adventurer rather than simply a comedic character.
Fleetway Fleetway Publications was a magazine publishing company based in London. It was founded in 1959 when the Mirror Group acquired the Amalgamated Press, then based at Fleetway House, Farringdon Street, London. It was one of the companies that mer ...
in England also began publishing comic book stories featuring the duck.


Developments under Taliaferro

A daily ''Donald Duck'' comic strip drawn by Taliaferro and written by
Bob Karp Robert Louis Karp (1911–1975) was an American comics writer. He began working for the Walt Disney Company in the 1930s, and from 1938 to 1974, he wrote the scripts for the daily ''Donald Duck'' newspaper strips which were illustrated by Al Tal ...
began running in the United States on February 2, 1938; the Sunday strip began the following year. Taliaferro and Karp created an even larger cast of characters for Donald's world. He got a new St. Bernard named Bolivar, and
his family ''His Family'' is a novel by Ernest Poole published in 1917 about the life of a New York widower and his three daughters in the 1910s. It received the first Pulitzer Prize for the Novel in 1918. Plot introduction ''His Family'' tells the story of ...
grew to include cousin Gus Goose and grandmother Elvira Coot. Donald's new rival girlfriends were
Donna Donna may refer to the short form of the honorific ''nobildonna'', the female form of Don (honorific) in Italian. People * Donna (given name); includes name origin and list of people and characters with the name * Roberto Di Donna (born 1968), I ...
and Daisy Duck. Taliaferro also gave Donald his very own automobile, a 1934 Belchfire Runabout, in a 1938 story, which is often nicknamed by Donald's "313" car plate in the comic incarnation of Donald's world.


Developments under Barks

In 1942,
Western Publishing Western Publishing, also known as Western Printing and Lithographing Company, was a Racine, Wisconsin, firm responsible for publishing the Little Golden Books. Its Golden Books Family Entertainment division also produced children's books and ...
began creating original comic book stories about Donald and other Disney characters. Bob Karp worked on the earliest of these, a story called "
Donald Duck Finds Pirate Gold "Donald Duck Finds Pirate Gold" is a Disney comics story starring Donald Duck that was originally printed in ''Four Color'' #9 (the first ''Four Color'' issue titled "Donald Duck") in October 1942. The script was by Bob Karp and illustrated by ...
". The new publisher meant new illustrators, however,
Carl Barks Carl Barks (March 27, 1901 – August 25, 2000) was an American cartoonist, author, and painter. He is best known for his work in Disney comic books, as the writer and artist of the first Donald Duck stories and as the creator of Scrooge McDuc ...
and
Jack Hannah John Frederick Hannah (January 5, 1913 – June 11, 1994) was an American animator, writer and director of animated shorts. Biography Hannah was born on January 5, 1913, in Nogales, Arizona. He moved to Los Angeles in 1931 to study at the Art ...
would later repeat the
treasure hunting Treasure hunter is the physical search for treasure. For example, treasure hunters try to find sunken shipwrecks and retrieve artifacts with market value. This industry is generally fueled by the market for antiquities. The practice of treasure ...
theme in many more stories. Barks soon took over the major development of the duck as both writer and illustrator. Under his pen, Donald became more adventurous, less temperamental and more eloquent.
Pete Pete or Petes or ''variation'', may refer to: People * Pete (given name) * Pete (nickname) * Pete (surname) Fictional characters * Pete (Disney), a cartoon character in the ''Mickey Mouse'' universe * Pete the Pup (a.k.a. 'Petey'), a charact ...
was the only other major character from the ''Mickey Mouse'' comic strip to feature in Barks' new Donald Duck universe. Barks placed Donald in the city of
Duckburg The Donald Duck universe is a fictional shared universe which is the setting of stories involving Disney cartoon character Donald Duck, as well as Daisy Duck, Huey, Dewey, and Louie, Scrooge McDuck, and many other characters. Life in the Dona ...
, creating a host of supporting players, including
Neighbor Jones This list of Donald Duck universe characters focuses on Disney cartoon and comics characters who typically appear with Donald Duck and Scrooge McDuck, but are not related to them. For relatives of Donald and Scrooge, see Duck family (Disney) or ...
(1944), Uncle
Scrooge McDuck Scrooge McDuck is a cartoon character created in 1947 by Carl Barks for The Walt Disney Company. Appearing in Disney comics, Scrooge is a Scottish-American anthropomorphic Pekin duck. Like his nephew Donald Duck, he has a yellow-orange bil ...
(1947),
Gladstone Gander Gladstone Gander is a cartoon character created in 1948 by The Walt Disney Company. He is an anthropomorphic gander (male goose) who possesses exceptional good luck that grants him anything he desires as well as protecting him from any harm. T ...
(1948),
the Beagle Boys The Beagle Boys are a group of cartoon characters created in 1951 by Carl Barks for the Donald Duck universe. They are a family clan of Organized crime, organized criminals who constantly try to rob Scrooge McDuck. Their introduction and first a ...
(1951),
Gyro Gearloose Gyro Gearloose is a cartoon character created in 1952 by Carl Barks for Disney comics. An anthropomorphic chicken, he is part of the Donald Duck universe, appearing in comic book stories as a friend of Donald Duck, Scrooge McDuck, and anyone wh ...
(1952), April, May and June (1953), Flintheart Glomgold (1956),
Magica de Spell Magica De Spell (''magica'' being the feminine of ''magico'', ) is a cartoon character created in 1961 by Carl Barks for the Duck universe. An Italian sorceress, she constantly attempts to steal Scrooge McDuck's Number One Dime, which she belie ...
(1961), and John D. Rockerduck (1961). Many of Taliaferro's characters made the move to Barks' world as well, including Huey, Dewey, and Louie. Barks placed Donald in both domestic and adventure scenarios, and Uncle Scrooge became one of his favorite characters to pair up with Donald. Scrooge's profile increased, and by 1952, the character had a comic book of his own. At this point, Barks concentrated his major efforts on the Scrooge stories, and Donald's appearances became more focused on comedy or he was recast as Scrooge's helper, following his rich uncle around the globe.


Further developments

Dozens of writers continued to utilize Donald in their stories around the world. For example, the Disney Studio artists, who made comics directly for the European market. Two of them, Dick Kinney (1917–1985) and Al Hubbard (1915–1984) created Donald's cousin Fethry Duck. The American artists Vic Lockman and
Tony Strobl Anthony Joseph Strobl ( ; May 12, 1915 – December 29, 1991) was an American comics artist and animator. He was born in Cleveland, Ohio and attended Cleveland School of Art from 1933–37, with Jerry Siegel and Joe Shuster, who actually got ...
(1915–1991), who were working directly for the American comic books, created Moby Duck. Strobl was one of the most productive Disney artists of all time and drew many stories which Barks wrote and sketched after his retirement. In the 1990s and early 2000s, these scripts were re-drawn in a style closer to Barks' own by Dutch artist Daan Jippes. Italian publisher Mondadori created many of the stories that were published throughout Europe. They also introduced numerous new characters who are today well known in Europe. One example is Donald Duck's alter ego, a superhero called Paperinik in Italian, created in 1969 by Guido Martina (1906–1991) and Giovan Battista Carpi (1927–1999). Giorgio Cavazzano and Carlo Chendi created ''Umperio Bogarto'', a detective whose name is an obvious parody on Humphrey Bogart. They also created O.K Quack, an extraterrestrial Duck who landed on earth in a spaceship in the shape of a coin. He, however, lost his spaceship and befriended Scrooge, and now is allowed to search through his money bin time after time, looking for his ship. Romano Scarpa (1927–2005), who was a very important and influential Italian Disney artist, created Brigitta McBridge, a female Duck who is madly in love with Scrooge. Her affections are never answered by him, though, but she keeps trying. Scarpa also came up with
Dickie Duck This list of Donald Duck universe characters focuses on Disney cartoon and comics characters who typically appear with Donald Duck and Scrooge McDuck, but are not related to them. For relatives of Donald and Scrooge, see Duck family (Disney) or ...
, the granddaughter of
Glittering Goldie This list of Donald Duck universe characters focuses on Disney cartoon and comics characters who typically appear with Donald Duck and Scrooge McDuck, but are not related to them. For relatives of Donald and Scrooge, see Duck family (Disney) or ...
(Scrooge's possible love interest from his days in the Klondike) and Kildare Coot, a nephew of
Grandma Duck The Duck family is a fictional family of cartoon ducks related to Disney character Donald Duck. The family is also related to the Coot, Goose, and Gander families, as well as the Scottish Clan McDuck. Besides Donald, the best-known members of t ...
. Italian artist
Corrado Mastantuono Corrado Mastantuono (born 20 December 1962) is an Italian comic book artist. Born in Rome, Mastantuono worked in the animation field until 1989, and then started to work for the Italian magazine ''L'Eternauta''. He subsequently worked on Disney c ...
created Bum Bum Ghigno, a cynical, grumpy and not too good-looking Duck who teams up with Donald and Gyro a lot. The American artist William Van Horn also introduced a new character: Rumpus McFowl, an old and rather corpulent Duck with a giant appetite and laziness, who is first said to be a cousin of Scrooge. Only later, Scrooge reveals to his nephews Rumpus is actually his half-brother. Later, Rumpus also finds out. Working for the Danish editor Egmont, artist Daniel Branca (1951–2005) and scriptwriters Paul Halas and Charlie Martin created Sonny Seagull, an orphan who befriends Huey, Dewey and Louie, and his rival, Mr. Phelps. One of the most productive Duck artists used to be
Victor Arriagada Rios Vicar, a pseudonym for Víctor José Arriagada Ríos (April 16, 1934 – January 3, 2012), was a Chilean cartoonist, known for his prolific career drawing Disney comics. Biography While studying art and theatre, Vicar started his illustrat ...
, (deceased 2012) better known under the name Vicar. He had his own studio where he and his assistants drew the stories sent in by Egmont. With writer/editors Stefan and Unn Printz-Påhlson, Vicar created the character Oona, a prehistoric duck princess who traveled to modern Duckburg by using Gyro's time machine. She stayed and is still seen in occasional modern stories. The best known Duck artist of this time is American
Don Rosa Keno Don Hugo Rosa (), known simply as Don Rosa (born June 29, 1951), is an American comic book writer and illustrator known for his Disney comics stories about Scrooge McDuck, Donald Duck, and other characters which Carl Barks created for ...
. He started doing Disney comics in 1987 for the American publisher Gladstone. He later worked briefly for the Dutch editors but moved to work directly for Egmont soon afterwards. His stories contain many direct references to stories by Carl Barks, and he also wrote and illustrated a 12-part series of stories about the life of Scrooge McDuck, which won him two
Eisner Award The Will Eisner Comic Industry Awards, commonly shortened to the Eisner Awards, are prizes given for creative achievement in American comic books, sometimes referred to as the comics industry's equivalent of the Academy Awards. They are named in ...
s. Other important artists who have worked with Donald are Freddy Milton and Daan Jippes, who made 18 ten-pagers which experts claim, were very difficult to separate from Barks' own work from the late 1940s. Japanese artist Shiro Amano worked with Donald on the graphic novel ''
Kingdom Hearts is a series of action role-playing games developed and published by Square Enix (originally by Square). It is a collaboration between Square Enix and The Walt Disney Company and is under the leadership of Tetsuya Nomura, a longtime Square E ...
'' based on the Disney-
Square Enix is a Japanese multinational holding company, production enterprise and entertainment conglomerate, best known for its ''Final Fantasy'', ''Dragon Quest'', '' Star Ocean'' and ''Kingdom Hearts'' role-playing video game franchises, among numerou ...
video game.


Nordic countries

Donald Duck is known in Nordic countries as ''Kalle Anka'' in Sweden,Pilcher, Tim and Brad Brooks. (Foreword: Dave Gibbons). ''The Essential Guide to World Comics''. '' Collins and Brown''. 2005. p 244. ''Anders And'' in Denmark, ''Andrés Önd'' in Iceland, ''Donald Duck'' in Norway, and ''Aku Ankka'' in Finland. In the mid-1930s,
Robert S. Hartman Robert Schirokauer Hartman (January 27, 1910 – September 20, 1973) was a German-American logician and philosopher. His primary field of study was scientific axiology (the science of value) and he is known as its original theorist. His axi ...
, a German who served as a representative of Walt Disney, visited Sweden to supervise the merchandise distribution of Sagokonst (The Art of Fables). Hartman found a studio called L'Ateljé Dekoratör, which produced illustrated cards that were published by Sagokonst. Since the Disney characters on the cards appeared to be exactly 'on-model', Hartman asked the studio to create a local version of the English-language '' Mickey Mouse Weekly''. In 1937 L'Ateljé Dekoratör began publishing '' Musse Pigg Tidningen'' (''Mickey Mouse Magazine''), which had high production values and spanned 23 issues; most of the magazine's content came from local producers, while some material consisted of reprints from ''Mickey Mouse Weekly''. The comic anthology ended in 1938. Hartman helped Disney establish offices in all Nordic countries before he left Disney in 1941. Donald became the most successful of the Disney characters in the Nordic countries, and Nordic peoples recognise him better than Mickey Mouse. '' Kalle Anka & C:o'', Donald's first dedicated Swedish anthology, started in September 1948. In 2001 the Finnish Post Office issued a stamp set to commemorate the 50th anniversary of Donald's presence in Finland. By 2005 around one out of every four Norwegians read the Norwegian edition ''Donald Duck & Co.'' per week, translating to around 1.3 million regular readers. During the same year, every week 434,000 Swedes read ''Kalle Anka & Co''. By 2005 in Finland the Donald Duck anthology ''Aku Ankka'' sold 270,000 copies per issue. Tim Pilcher and Brad Books, authors of ''The Essential Guide to World Comics'', described the Donald anthologies as "the Scandinavian equivalent of the UK's ''
Beano Beano may refer to: Arts and entertainment * Beano, another name for the American version of Bingo, a game of chance * Beano, a character on the American television sitcom ''Out of This World'' * ''The Beano'', a British children's comic featuri ...
'' or ''
Dandy A dandy is a man who places particular importance upon physical appearance, refined language, and leisurely hobbies, pursued with the appearance of nonchalance. A dandy could be a self-made man who strove to imitate an aristocratic lifestyle des ...
'', a comic that generations have grown up with, from grandparents to grandchildren". Hannu Raittila, an author, says that Finnish people recognize an aspect of themselves in Donald; Raittila cites that Donald attempts to retrieve himself from "all manner of unexpected and unreasonable scrapes using only his wits and the slim resources he can put his hands on, all of which meshes nicely with the popular image of Finland as driftwood in the crosscurrents of world politics". Finnish voters placing
protest vote A protest vote (also called a blank, null, spoiled, or "none of the above" vote) is a vote cast in an election to demonstrate dissatisfaction with the choice of candidates or the current political system. Protest voting takes a variety of forms a ...
s typically write "Donald Duck" as the candidate. In Sweden voters often voted for Donald Duck or the Donald Duck Party as a nonexistent candidate until a 2006 change in voting laws, which prohibited voting for nonexistent candidates. In a twenty-year span, Donald won enough votes to be, in theory, Sweden's ninth-most popular political organization. In 1985, Donald received 291 votes in an election for the
Parliament of Sweden The Riksdag (, ; also sv, riksdagen or ''Sveriges riksdag'' ) is the legislature and the supreme decision-making body of Sweden. Since 1971, the Riksdag has been a unicameral legislature with 349 members (), elected proportionally and s ...
. By 1978, within Finland, there was a debate over the morality of Donald Duck. Matti Holopainen jokingly criticized Donald for living with Daisy while not being married to her, for not wearing trousers, and for, in the words of the '' Library Journal'', being "too
bourgeois The bourgeoisie ( , ) is a social class, equivalent to the middle or upper middle class. They are distinguished from, and traditionally contrasted with, the proletariat by their affluence, and their great cultural and financial capital. Th ...
". Some observers from Finland from the same time period supported Donald, referring to him as a "genuine proletarian ... forced to sell his labor at slave rates to make a living". The ''Library Journal'' said it was revealed that, since 1950, Donald had secretly been married to Daisy. An annual Christmas special in Norway, Denmark, Finland and Sweden is '' From All of Us to All of You'', in Norway and Sweden with a title of ''Donald Duck and His Friends Celebrate Christmas''. Segments include ''
Ferdinand the Bull Ferdinand is a Germanic name composed of the elements "protection", "peace" (PIE "to love, to make peace") or alternatively "journey, travel", Proto-Germanic , abstract noun from root "to fare, travel" (PIE , "to lead, pass over"), and "co ...
'', a short with Chip 'n' Dale, a segment from ''
Lady and the Tramp ''Lady and the Tramp'' is a 1955 American animated musical romance film produced by Walt Disney and released by Buena Vista Film Distribution. The 15th Disney animated feature film, it was directed by Clyde Geronimi, Wilfred Jackson, and Ha ...
'', a sneak preview of a coming Disney movie and concludes with
Jiminy Cricket Jiminy Cricket is the The Walt Disney Company, Disney version of the "Talking Cricket" (Italian language, Italian: ''Il Grillo Parlante''), a fictional character created by Italian writer Carlo Collodi for his 1883 children's book ''The Adventu ...
performing "When You Wish Upon a Star". To many people watching this special is a tradition as important as having a Christmas tree.


Germany

Donald Duck-themed comics sell an average of 250,000 copies each week in Germany, mostly published in the kids' weekly ''
Micky Maus ''Micky Maus'' is a German comics magazine containing Disney comics. It has been published since 1951 by Egmont Ehapa. History The magazine was originally published monthly, but supplemented with occasional special issues containing longer s ...
'' and the monthlies ''Donald Duck Special'' (for adults) and ''
Lustiges Taschenbuch The Donald Duck pocket books are a series of paperback-sized publications published in various European countries, featuring Disney comics. Production Background The ''pocket books'' were originally published irregularly (about 6 times a year) ...
''. ''
The Wall Street Journal ''The Wall Street Journal'' is an American business-focused, international daily newspaper based in New York City, with international editions also available in Chinese and Japanese. The ''Journal'', along with its Asian editions, is published ...
'' called Donald Duck "The Jerry Lewis of Germany", a reference to American star
Jerry Lewis Jerry Lewis (born Joseph Levitch; March 16, 1926 – August 20, 2017) was an American comedian, actor, singer, filmmaker and humanitarian. As his contributions to comedy and charity made him a global figure in pop culture, Lewis was nickn ...
' popularity in France."Why Donald Duck Is the Jerry Lewis of Germany"
Susan Bernofsky, ''The Wall Street Journal'', May 23, 2009
Donald's dialogue in German comics tends to be more sophisticated and philosophical, he "quotes from German literature, speaks in grammatically complex sentences and is prone to philosophical musings, while the stories often take a more political tone than their American counterparts", features especially associated with Erika Fuchs's German translations of the comics created by ''The Good Duck Artist''
Carl Barks Carl Barks (March 27, 1901 – August 25, 2000) was an American cartoonist, author, and painter. He is best known for his work in Disney comic books, as the writer and artist of the first Donald Duck stories and as the creator of Scrooge McDuc ...
. Christian Pfeiler – former president of D.O.N.A.L.D., a German acronym which stands for "German Organization for Non-commercial Followers of Pure Donaldism" – says Donald is appreciated in Germany because "almost everyone can identify with him. He has strengths and weaknesses; he lacks polish but is also very cultured and well-read." It is through this
everyman The everyman is a stock character of fiction. An ordinary and humble character, the everyman is generally a protagonist whose benign conduct fosters the audience's identification with them. Origin The term ''everyman'' was used as early as ...
persona that Donald is able to voice philosophical truths about German society that appeal to both children and adults. Donald's writers and illustrators Carl Barks,
Don Rosa Keno Don Hugo Rosa (), known simply as Don Rosa (born June 29, 1951), is an American comic book writer and illustrator known for his Disney comics stories about Scrooge McDuck, Donald Duck, and other characters which Carl Barks created for ...
and Ub Iwerks are well known in Germany and have their own
fan club A fans club is an organized group of fans, generally of a celebrity. Most fans clubs are run by fans who devote considerable time and resources to support them. There are also "official" fan clubs that are run by someone associated with the p ...
s.


Italy

In Italy, new stories about Donald Duck (named Paolino Paperino) and Scrooge McDuck are hosted in the kids' weekly ''
Topolino ''Topolino'' (from the Italian name for Mickey Mouse) is an Italian digest-sized comic series featuring Disney comics. The series has had a long running history, first appearing in 1932 as a comics magazine. It is currently published by Pa ...
'' and the monthly ''Paperino''. While ''Paperino'' is written by many authors, he still maintains several characteristics. He is mostly an everyman, but the fierce, harsh temper he has in the American comic appears to be diluted into a meek, weaker personality, prone to comical fits of rage that are mostly subdued by the realization of its impotence. His frustration at Gladstone's luck is comically enhanced: in the Italian comics, Donald is chronically unlucky, unable to do or get anything right, with Gladstone taking advantage of his superiority or taking genuine pity of his unlucky cousin and trying several plans to grant him some better luck, always failing. However, the constant search for an outlet to vent his frustration led the Italian rendition of Donald Duck to seek his catharsis in several ways: in the sixties, vexed by Scrooge's antics and Gladstone's luck, he reinvented himself as '' Paperinik'', the ''Duck Avenger'' (as he came to be known outside Italy), an anti-hero at first, a self-assured, well-adjusted, brilliant hero in later stories, no longer bound by the self-doubt and the mockery Donald is constantly subjected. '' Duck Avenger'' is referred to the character ''Dorellik'' (parody of Diabolik) performed by Johnny Dorelli, Italian actor and crooner, in the Anglo-Italian movie
Arriva Dorellik ''How to Kill 400 Duponts'' ( it, Arrriva Dorellik) is a 1967 Italian comedy film directed by Steno. The main character of the film, Dorellik, is a parody of the comic series ''Diabolik''. The character was created in the late 60s for several ske ...
(''How To Kill 400 Duponts''). Further along the years, he fashioned for himself the additional identities of ''QQ7'', a bumbling secret agent protecting Scrooge's riches and ''
DoubleDuck Donald Duck, a cartoon character created by the Walt Disney Company, is today the star of dozens of comic-book and comic-strip stories published each month (in certain parts of the world, each week) around the world. In many European countries, Don ...
'', a more confident and suave secret agent, in the mold of
James Bond The ''James Bond'' series focuses on a fictional Secret Intelligence Service, British Secret Service agent created in 1953 by writer Ian Fleming, who featured him in twelve novels and two short-story collections. Since Fleming's death in 19 ...
, a more equilibrate mold of the heroic Duck Avenger and the tricky QQ7, often accompanied by the beautiful spy ''Kay K''. Donald's "secret identies" are hosted in the main ''Topolino'' comics, but also in several themed comics, like the now-defunct ''Paperinik'', '' PKNA'', ''PK^2'' and the current ''Paperinik AppGrade'', the latter hosting reprints and new stories as well. Paperinik / Duck Avenger also appeared in the video games '' PK: Out of the Shadows'', ''PK: Phantom Duck'', and ''The Duckforce Rises''. Having several full lives to live does not hamper Donald's ability to live adventures on his own: he still lives adventures with his uncle Scrooge and his nephews (often acting as a reluctant bumbler, a ballast to the enthusiasm of his nephews and the wanderlust of his uncle), and he lived a star-crossed love story with a princess from another planet, ''Reginella''. Despite Reginella leaving a deep trace in Donald's heart, he is still depicted as extremely faithful to Daisy, with a small hiccup deriving by Daisy Duck having a secret identity on her own ( Paperinika), with Paperinik and Paperinika, both unaware of their secret identities, cultivating a permanent status of belligerent tension. He also keeps a cheerful rivalry with his neighbour ''
Bum Bum Ghigno This list of Donald Duck universe characters focuses on Disney cartoon and comics characters who typically appear with Donald Duck and Scrooge McDuck, but are not related to them. For relatives of Donald and Scrooge, see Duck family (Disney) o ...
'', more a bumbler and a nuisance than he is, but still a good person at heart. The Italian rendition of Donald Duck seldom, if ever, goes by his first name, having everyone, including his nephews, Daisy and Uncle Scrooge, address him as ''Paperino'' (his Italian surname). He also appears in the Topolino comics depicting his childhood, called ''
Paperino Paperotto Donald Duck, a cartoon character created by the Walt Disney Company, is today the star of dozens of comic-book and comic-strip stories published each month (in certain parts of the world, each week) around the world. In many European countries, Dona ...
'' ( en, Donald Duckling), which were first produced in Italy in 1998. He lives in the fictional town, Quack Town with Grandma Duck and Billy Goat.


Disney theme parks

Donald Duck has played a major role in many Disney theme parks over the years. He has actually been seen in more attractions and shows at the parks than Mickey Mouse has. He has appeared over the years in such attractions as
Animagique Animagique was a live show at Walt Disney Studios Park in France, housed in Studios 3, at the entrance of Toon Studio. The show closed on January 31, 2016, to become the Animagique Theater building for ''Mickey and the Magician'' which began on J ...
,
Mickey Mouse Revue The Mickey Mouse Revue was an indoor audio-animatronic stage show in the Fantasyland areas of the Magic Kingdom and Tokyo Disneyland theme parks. It was one of the three original opening day attractions in the Magic Kingdom's Fantasyland in 1971, ...
,
Mickey's PhilharMagic ''Mickey's PhilharMagic'' is a 4D film attraction found at several Disney theme parks around the world, including Magic Kingdom theme park at the Walt Disney World Resort, Hong Kong Disneyland, Tokyo Disneyland, Disneyland Park (Paris), and D ...
, Disneyland: The First 50 Magical Years,
Gran Fiesta Tour Starring the Three Caballeros Gran Fiesta Tour Starring The Three Caballeros is a musical dark boat ride housed within the pyramid-shaped Mexico Pavilion, at the Epcot theme park at the Walt Disney World Resort in Florida. It was the first World Showcase attraction to fea ...
and the updated version of "
It's a Small World "It's a Small World" is a water-based boat ride located in the Fantasyland area at various Disney theme parks worldwide, including Disneyland Park in Anaheim, California; Magic Kingdom at Walt Disney World Resort in Bay Lake, Florida; Tokyo ...
". He also is seen in the parks as a meet-and-greet character.


Children's books

Donald has been a frequent character in children's books beginning in 1935. Most of these books were published by Whitman Publishing, later called Western Publishing, or one of its subsidiaries. The following is a list of children's books in which Donald is the central character. This does not include comic books or activity books such as coloring books.


Whitman/Western books

*''Walt Disney's Donald Duck'' (1935), first published appearance *''Donald Duck Story Book'' (1937) *''Donald Duck Has His Ups and Downs'' (1937) *''Donald's Lucky Day'' (1939), adaptation of the cartoon short of the same name *''Donald Duck and His Cat Troubles'' (1948) *''Bringing up the Boys'' (1948) *''Donald Duck's Kite'' (1949) *''Donald Duck and the Wishing Star'' (1952), a Cozy Corner book *''Donald Duck Goes to Disneyland'' (1955) *''Help Wanted'' (1955) *''Donald Duck and the Lost Mesa Ranch'' (1966) *''Donald Duck: Board Book'' (1969) ;Better Little Books *''Donald Duck Gets Fed Up'' (1940) *''Donald Duck Sees Stars'' (1941) *''Off the Beam'' (1943) *''Headed for Trouble'' (1943) *''Donald Duck and Ghost Morgan's Treasure'' (1946), based on ''
Donald Duck Finds Pirate Gold "Donald Duck Finds Pirate Gold" is a Disney comics story starring Donald Duck that was originally printed in ''Four Color'' #9 (the first ''Four Color'' issue titled "Donald Duck") in October 1942. The script was by Bob Karp and illustrated by ...
'' (1942) *''Donald Duck and the Green Serpent'' (1947), based on the comic '' The Terror of the River!!'' (1946) *''Donald Duck Lays Down the Law'' (1948) *''Donald Duck in Volcano Valley'' (1949) ;
Little Golden Books Little Golden Books is a series of children's books, published since 1942. '' The Poky Little Puppy'', the eighth release in the series, is the top-selling children's book of all time in the United States.. Many other Little Golden Books have ...
*''The Great Kite Maker'' (1949) *''Donald's Toy Train'' (1950), based on cartoon short ''Out of Scale'' *''Donald Duck's Adventure'' (1950), a Mickey Mouse Club book *''Donald Duck and Santa Claus'' (1952), a Mickey Mouse Club book *''Donald Duck and the Witch'' (1953) *''Donald Duck's Toy Sailboat'' (1954), based on the cartoon short ''Chips Ahoy'' *''Donald Duck's Christmas Tree'' (1954, 1991), based on cartoon short '' Toy Tinkers'' *''Donald Duck's Safety Book'' (1954) *''Donald Duck in Disneyland'' (1955) *''Donald Duck and the Mouseketeers'' (1956), a Mickey Mouse Club book *''Donald Duck and the Christmas Carol'' (1960) *''Donald Duck and the Witch Next Door'' (1971) *''Disneyland Parade with Donald Duck'' (1971) *''Donald Duck: Private Eye'' (1972) *''Donald Duck: Prize Driver'' (1974), a Mickey Mouse Club book *''America On Parade'' (1975) *''Donald Duck and the One Bear'' (1978), based on the fairy tale ''
Goldilocks and the Three Bears "Goldilocks and the Three Bears" (originally titled "The Story of the Three Bears") is a 19th-century English fairy tale of which three versions exist. The original version of the tale tells of an obscene old woman who enters the forest home ...
'' *''Instant Millionaire'' (1978) *''Where's Grandma?'' (1983), a Golden Stiff It book *''Donald Duck and the Big Dog'' (1986) *''Some Ducks Have All the Luck'' (1987) ;Tell-a-Tale Books *''Donald Duck's Lucky Day'' (1951) *''Full Speed Ahead'' (1953) *''Donald Duck and the New Birdhouse'' (1956) *''Donald Duck in Frontierland'' (1957) *''Donald Duck and the Super-Sticky Secret'' (1985) *''Tom Sawyer's Island'' (1985) ;Little Big Books *''The Fabulous Diamond Fountain'' (1967) *''Luck of the Ducks'' (1969) *''Donald Duck in Volcano Valley'' (1973), reprinting of 1949 Better Little Book *''The Lost Jungle City'' (1975)


Grosset and Dunlap books

*''Donald Duck'' (1936)


D.C. Heath and Co. books

*''Donald Duck and His Friends'' (1939), a Disney Health book *''Donald Duck and His Nephews'' (1939), a Disney Health book


Random House books

*''Donald Duck and the Magic Stick'' (1974) *''Donald Duck: Mountain Climber'' (1978) *''Donald Duck's Big Surprise'' (1982) *''Donald Duck Buys a House'' (1982)


Walt Disney Productions books

*''The Donald Duck Book'' (1978), a Golden Shape book


Grolier/Scholastic books

*''Baby Donald's Day at the Beach'' (2001) *''Baby Donald Makes a Snowfriend'' (2005)


Beyond Disney

*Donald is the only significant film and television cartoon character to appear as a
mascot A mascot is any human, animal, or object thought to bring luck, or anything used to represent a group with a common public identity, such as a school, professional sports team, society, military unit, or brand name. Mascots are also used as fic ...
for a major American university: a licensing agreement between Disney and the
University of Oregon The University of Oregon (UO, U of O or Oregon) is a public research university in Eugene, Oregon. Founded in 1876, the institution is well known for its strong ties to the sports apparel and marketing firm Nike, Inc, and its co-founder, billion ...
allows the school's sports teams to use Donald's image as its " Fighting Duck" mascot. In 1984, Donald Duck was named an honorary alumnus of the University of Oregon during his 50th birthday celebration. During a visit to the
Eugene Airport Eugene Airport , also known as Mahlon Sweet Field, is a public airport 7 miles (11 km) northwest of Eugene, in Lane County, Oregon, United States. Owned and operated by the city of Eugene, it is the fifth-largest airport in the Pacific Nort ...
, 3,000 to 4,000 fans gathered for the presentation of an academic cap and gown to Donald. Thousands of area residents signed a congratulatory scroll for Donald, and that document is now part of Disney's corporate archives. *Donald was one of the few celebrities mentioned in the original version of the song Hooray for Hollywood, which was first featured in the 1937 film
Hollywood Hotel The Hollywood Hotel was a famous hotel, society venue of early Hollywood, and landmark, formerly located at 6811 Hollywood Boulevard, on the north side, extending from Highland Avenue to Orchid Avenue, in central Hollywood, Los Angeles, Califor ...
, released only 3 years after Donald's first appearance. While later versions of the song would change lyrics, the line mentioning Donald was always kept. *In the 1940s, Donald was adopted as the mascot of Brazilian sports club
Botafogo Botafogo (local/standard alternative Brazilian Portuguese pronunciation: ) is a beachfront neighborhood (''bairro'') in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. It is a mostly upper middle class and small commerce community, and is located between the hills of M ...
after Argentinean cartoonist Lorenzo Mollas, who was working in Brazil at the time, drew him with the club's soccer uniform. Mollas chose Donald because he complains and fights for his rights, like the club's managers at those years, and also because, being a duck, he does not lose his elegance while moving in the water (an allusion to
rowing Rowing is the act of propelling a human-powered watercraft using the sweeping motions of oars to displace water and generate reactional propulsion. Rowing is functionally similar to paddling, but rowing requires oars to be mechanically at ...
). He was eventually replaced so that the club would not have to pay royalties to Disney (Botafogo's current official mascot is ''Manequinho'', a boy who represents the
Manneken Pis ''Manneken Pis'' (; ) is a landmark bronze fountain sculpture in central Brussels, Belgium, depicting a puer mingens; a naked little boy urinating into the fountain's basin. Though its existence is attested as early as the 15th century, it ...
statue in front of the club's head office), but has since retained the status of unofficial mascot. *Donald's name and image are used on numerous commercial products, one example being Donald Duck brand
orange juice Orange juice is a liquid extract of the orange tree fruit, produced by squeezing or reaming oranges. It comes in several different varieties, including blood orange, navel oranges, valencia orange, clementine, and tangerine. As well as var ...
, introduced by Citrus World in 1940. *Donald Duck was temporarily listed as a "hired" employee in the database of the
United States Department of Housing and Urban Development The United States Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) is one of the executive departments of the U.S. federal government. It administers federal housing and urban development laws. It is headed by the Secretary of Housing and U ...
as late as 1978. Given a $99,999 salary – more than double the $47,500 take federal civil servants were legally limited to be paid at the time – the name was unchallenged by a computer intended to catch government payroll fraud. Picked as one of thirty fictitious names by the Government Accounting Office, the use of it was a test to see if the payroll system of the HUD could be manipulated to defraud the government. *Donald Duck's head and neck, wearing a radio headset and wrapped in earphone wires with an expression of pain on his face and with crossed crutches below, was the nose art on Lieutenant
Ted W. Lawson Major Ted William Lawson (March 7, 1917 – January 19, 1992) was an American officer in the United States Army Air Forces, who is known as the author of ''Thirty Seconds Over Tokyo'', a memoir of his participation in the Doolittle Raid on Toky ...
's
B-25 Mitchell The North American B-25 Mitchell is an American medium bomber that was introduced in 1941 and named in honor of Major General William "Billy" Mitchell, a pioneer of U.S. military aviation. Used by many Allied air forces, the B-25 served in ...
bomber, the Ruptured Duck, on the famous
Doolittle Raid The Doolittle Raid, also known as the Tokyo Raid, was an air raid on 18 April 1942 by the United States on the Japanese capital Tokyo and other places on Honshu during World War II. It was the first American air operation to strike the Japan ...
on Tokyo in 1942. *In the 1950s, an early ''
Mad Magazine Mad, mad, or MAD may refer to: Geography * Mad (village), a village in the Dunajská Streda District of Slovakia * Mád, a village in Hungary * Adolfo Suárez Madrid–Barajas Airport, by IATA airport code * Mad River (disambiguation), several ...
'' parody of Mickey Mouse (called "Mickey Rodent", written by "Walt Dizzy") featured "Darnold Duck", whose quacky voice had to be "translated" for the readers, and who was shamed into finally wearing pants. *Although Donald's military service during his wartime cartoons has mostly been in the U.S. Army (and to a lesser extent in the U.S. Navy in ''DuckTales''), Walt Disney authorized Donald to be used as a mascot for the U.S. Coast Guard. The Coast Guard image shows a fierce-looking Donald Duck dressed in a pirate's outfit, appearing vigilant against any potential threats to the coastal regions in the United States. This image is often used on Coast Guard bases and
Coast Guard cutter United States Coast Guard Cutter is the term used by the U.S. Coast Guard for its commissioned vessels. They are or greater in length and have a permanently assigned crew with accommodations aboard. They carry the ship prefix USCGC. History ...
s. *Donald Duck is referred to in the song "The Village Green Preservation Society" by
The Kinks The Kinks were an English rock band formed in Muswell Hill, north London, in 1963 by brothers Ray and Dave Davies. They are regarded as one of the most influential rock bands of the 1960s. The band emerged during the height of British rhyt ...
: "We are the Village Green Preservation Society/ God save Donald Duck, vaudeville, and variety..." The reference is ironical, as the singer is lamenting the disappearance of perceived traditional English cultural artifacts. *Donald Duck makes a cameo appearance in the
cartoon A cartoon is a type of visual art that is typically drawn, frequently animated, in an unrealistic or semi-realistic style. The specific meaning has evolved over time, but the modern usage usually refers to either: an image or series of imag ...
sequence in ''
200 Motels ''200 Motels'' is a 1971 surrealist musical film written and directed by Frank Zappa and Tony Palmer, and featuring music by Zappa. An international co-production of United States and the United Kingdom, the film stars the Mothers of Invention, T ...
'' (1971). *During the late 1970s, Donald had his first and only disco song named "Macho Duck", available as part of the '' Mickey Mouse Disco'' children's album. *In Sweden, a comic book artist named Charlie Christensen got into a legal dispute with Disney when his creation Arne Anka looked similar to Donald Duck (albeit Arne is a pessimistic drunkard). However, Charlie made a mockery of the legal action and staged a fake death for his character, which then had plastic surgery performed and reappeared as Arne X with a more corvine beak. He later purchased a strap-on duck beak from a novelty gift shop, pointing out that "If Disney is planning to give me any legal action; all I have to do is remove my fake beak." *Donald Duck is a constant source of irritation for the eponymous hero of '' Donald Duk'' (1991), a coming-of-age novel by Frank Chin set in San Francisco's Chinatown. *In 1991, the Disney Corporation sued the Israeli caricaturist Dudu Geva for
copyright infringement Copyright infringement (at times referred to as piracy) is the use of works protected by copyright without permission for a usage where such permission is required, thereby infringing certain exclusive rights granted to the copyright holder, ...
, claiming his character "Donald Dach" in the story "Moby Duck" was a rip-off of Donald. The Courts found in their favor and forced Geva to pay for the legal expenses and remove his book from the shelves. More mildly, the character
Howard the Duck Howard the Duck is a fictional character appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. The character was created by writer Steve Gerber and artist Val Mayerik. Howard the Duck first appeared in ''Adventure into Fear'' #19 (cover-d ...
's original design was modified to include pants allegedly due to pressure from Disney. *In 2005, Donald received his own star on the
Hollywood Walk of Fame The Hollywood Walk of Fame is a historic landmark which consists of more than 2,700 five-pointed terrazzo and brass stars embedded in the sidewalks along 15 blocks of Hollywood Boulevard and three blocks of Vine Street in Hollywood, Calif ...
at 6840 Hollywood Blvd joining other fictional characters such as Mickey Mouse,
Bugs Bunny Bugs Bunny is an animated cartoon character created in the late 1930s by Leon Schlesinger Productions (later Warner Bros. Cartoons) and voiced originally by Mel Blanc. Bugs is best known for his starring roles in the ''Looney Tunes'' and ''Mer ...
,
Woody Woodpecker Woody Woodpecker is an animated character that appeared in theatrical short films produced by the Walter Lantz Productions, Walter Lantz Studio and distributed by Universal Pictures, Universal Studios between 1940 and 1972. Woody, an anthropom ...
,
The Simpsons ''The Simpsons'' is an American animated sitcom created by Matt Groening for the Fox Broadcasting Company. The series is a satirical depiction of American life, epitomized by the Simpson family, which consists of Homer Simpson, Homer, Marge ...
, Winnie the Pooh,
Kermit the Frog Kermit the Frog is a Muppet character created and originally performed by Jim Henson. Introduced in 1955, Kermit serves as the everyman protagonist of numerous Muppet productions, most notably '' Sesame Street'' and '' The Muppet Show'', as ...
,
Big Bird Big Bird is a The Muppets, Muppet character designed by Jim Henson and built by Kermit Love for the long-running children's television show ''Sesame Street''. An eight-foot two-inch (249 cm) tall bright yellow Anthropomorphism, anthropomo ...
,
Godzilla is a fictional monster, or '' kaiju'', originating from a series of Japanese films. The character first appeared in the 1954 film '' Godzilla'' and became a worldwide pop culture icon, appearing in various media, including 32 films produ ...
and
Snow White "Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs" is a 19th-century German fairy tale that is today known widely across the Western world. The Brothers Grimm published it in 1812 in the first edition of their collection ''Grimms' Fairy Tales'' and numbered as ...
. *Donald's fame has led Disney to license the character for a number of video games, such as the ''
Kingdom Hearts is a series of action role-playing games developed and published by Square Enix (originally by Square). It is a collaboration between Square Enix and The Walt Disney Company and is under the leadership of Tetsuya Nomura, a longtime Square E ...
'' series, where Donald is the court magician of Disney Castle. He accompanies Goofy and a young boy named Sora on a quest to find King Mickey Mouse, defeat the Heartless and Nobodies, and put an end to the evil
Xehanort is a fictional character and the central antagonist of the ''Kingdom Hearts'' game franchise by Square Enix. He is the main antagonist of the Dark Seeker Saga, the first phase in the ''Kingdom Hearts'' series. He was introduced as the original fo ...
and
Organization XIII is a fictional group of characters featured in Square Enix and Disney Interactive Studios' ''Kingdom Hearts'' video game series. The group comprises thirteen beings including Xemnas and his twelve followers. The concept of the Organization was o ...
. He is voiced by
Tony Anselmo Tony Anselmo (born February 18, 1960) is an American voice actor and animator. He has been the official character voice of Donald Duck since 1985 following the death of the original voice actor, Clarence Nash. He has also provided voices for Do ...
in the English version and
Kōichi Yamadera is a Japanese actor, voice actor, narrator and singer from Shiogama, Miyagi Prefecture. He graduated from Tohoku Gakuin University's economics school and is currently affiliated with Across Entertainment. Before that, he was affiliated with th ...
in the Japanese version. *Italian
power metal Power metal is a subgenre of heavy metal combining characteristics of traditional heavy metal with speed metal, often within symphonic context. Generally, power metal is characterized by a faster, lighter, and more uplifting sound, in contra ...
band Trick or Treat have a song called "Like Donald Duck" in their debut album ''Evil Needs Candy Too'' (2006). *In Italy, the city of
Prato Prato ( , ) is a city and ''comune'' in Tuscany, Italy, the capital of the Province of Prato. The city lies in the north east of Tuscany, at the foot of Monte Retaia, elevation , the last peak in the Calvana chain. With more than 200,000 ...
in Tuscany has a locale named ''Paperino'', or ''Little Duck'', after Donald Duck's Italian moniker. * Asteroid 12410 was named after Donald Duck. *In the
2016 US presidential election The 2016 United States presidential election was the 58th quadrennial presidential election, held on Tuesday, November 8, 2016. The Republican ticket of businessman Donald Trump and Indiana governor Mike Pence defeated the Democratic ticket o ...
, according to Donna Brazile, DNC chair, who quotes Charlie Baker, the use of a protester in a Donald Duck costume was approved by Hillary Clinton's campaign to bring attention to Donald Trump's "ducking the release of his taxes".


Appearances


Selected short films

*'' The Wise Little Hen'' (1934) *''
Orphan's Benefit ''Orphan's Benefit'' (sic; original title) is an animated short film produced by Walt Disney Productions in black-and-white. It was first released in 1934 and was later remade in Technicolor in 1941 under the corrected title ''Orphans' Benefit''. ...
'' (1934) *'' The Band Concert'' (1935) *'' Donald and Pluto'' (1936) *'' Don Donald'' (1937) *'' Clock Cleaners'' (1937) *''
Modern Inventions ''Modern Inventions'' is a 1937 American comic science fiction animated short film produced by Walt Disney Productions and released by United Artists. The cartoon follows Donald Duck as he tours the fictional Museum of Modern Marvels. It was dir ...
'' (1937) *'' Donald's Better Self'' (1938) *''
Good Scouts ''Good Scouts'' is a 1938 American animated short film produced by Walt Disney Productions and released by RKO Radio Pictures. The cartoon follows Donald Duck leading his nephews Huey, Dewey, and Louie on a scouting trip through the wilderness ...
'' (1938) *''
Donald's Penguin 'Donald's Penguin' is a Donald Duck animated Technicolor short film by Walt Disney Productions and directed by Jack King, which was originally released on May 16, 1939, by RKO Radio Pictures. The story was written by Carl Barks. Plot Donald Du ...
'' (1939) *'' The Autograph Hound'' (1939) *'' Mr. Duck Steps Out'' (1940) *'' Window Cleaners'' (1940) *''
Truant Officer Donald ''Truant Officer Donald'' is an animated short film produced in Technicolor by Walt Disney Productions and released to theaters on August 1, 1941 by RKO Radio Pictures. The film was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Animated Short Film ...
'' (1941) *'' The New Spirit'' (1942) *''
Donald's Snow Fight ''Donald's Snow Fight'' is an animated short film featuring classic cartoon character Donald Duck in a snowball fight with his nephews Huey, Dewey and Louie. It was released in 1942 by Walt Disney Productions. Plot Donald goes out to play with a ...
'' (1942) *'' Bellboy Donald'' (1942) *''
Donald Gets Drafted ''Donald Gets Drafted'' is a 1942 American animated short film produced by Walt Disney Productions and released by RKO Radio Pictures. The cartoon has Donald Duck being drafted into the U. S. Army during World War II and follows his introduction ...
'' (1942) *'' Der Fuehrer's Face'' (1943) *'' The Clock Watcher'' (1945) *'' Donald's Crime'' (1945) *'' Chip an' Dale'' (1947) *'' Straight Shooters'' (1947) *'' Inferior Decorator'' (1948) *'' Slide, Donald, Slide'' (1949) *''
Tea for Two Hundred ''Tea for Two Hundred'' is a 1948 American animated short film directed by Jack Hannah. Part of the ''Donald Duck'' film series, the film was produced in Technicolor by Walt Disney Productions and released to theaters by RKO Radio Pictures on Dec ...
'' (1948) *'' Toy Tinkers'' (1949) *''
Bee at the Beach ''Bee at the Beach'' is a 1950 animated short film featuring Donald Duck. It was released by Walt Disney Productions The Walt Disney Company, commonly known as Disney (), is an American multinational mass media and entertainment cong ...
'' (1950) *''
Bee on Guard ''Bee on Guard'' is a 1951 animated short film featuring Donald Duck. It was released by Walt Disney Productions. Plot Donald Duck is tending his garden when he spot bees. Deciding to raid the hive for honey, he follows them. Unfortunately, ...
'' (1951) *'' Let's Stick Together'' (1952) *'' Rugged Bear'' (1953) *'' Grand Canyonscope'' (1954) *'' No Hunting'' (1955) *'' Donald in Mathmagic Land'' (1959) *'' Mickey's Christmas Carol'' (1983)


Feature-length films

*'' The Reluctant Dragon'' (1941) *'' Saludos Amigos'' (1942) *''
The Three Caballeros ''The Three Caballeros'' is a 1944 American live-action/animated musical anthology film produced by Walt Disney and released by RKO Radio Pictures. The film premiered in Mexico City on December 21, 1944. It was released in the United States on ...
'' (1944) *'' Fun and Fancy Free'' (1947) *'' Melody Time'' (1948) *'' Donald Duck's 50th Birthday'' (1984) – TV *''
Who Framed Roger Rabbit ''Who Framed Roger Rabbit'' is a 1988 American Live-action animated film, live-action/animated comedy film, comedy mystery film directed by Robert Zemeckis, produced by Frank Marshall (filmmaker), Frank Marshall and Robert Watts, and loosely ad ...
'' (1988) – Cameo *''
Mickey's 60th Birthday ''Mickey's 60th Birthday'' is a 1988 American live-action/animated television special broadcast on '' The Magical World of Disney'' on November 13, 1988 on NBC. As the title suggests, it was produced for the 60th anniversary of the Mickey Mous ...
'' (1988) – TV *''
A Goofy Movie ''A Goofy Movie'' is a 1995 American animated musical comedy- adventure film produced by Disney MovieToons and Walt Disney Television Animation. Directed by Kevin Lima, the film is based on The Disney Afternoon television series '' Goof Tr ...
'' (1995) – Cameo *''
Mickey's Once Upon a Christmas ''Mickey's Once Upon a Christmas'' is a 1999 American animated Christmas anthology comedy fantasy film produced by Walt Disney Television Animation. The film includes three features: ''Donald Duck: Stuck on Christmas'' (featuring Donald Duck, ...
'' (1999) DVD *''
Fantasia 2000 ''Fantasia 2000'' is a 1999 American animated musical anthology film produced by Walt Disney Feature Animation and released by Walt Disney Pictures. Produced by Roy E. Disney and Donald W. Ernst, it is the 38th Disney animated feature film a ...
'' (1999) *'' Mickey's Magical Christmas: Snowed in at the House of Mouse'' (2001) DVD *''
Mickey's House of Villains ''Mickey's House of Villains'' (also known as ''House of Mouse: The Villains'') is a 2002 American direct-to-video animated comedy-horror film produced by Walt Disney Television Animation. It is based on the animated television series, '' House ...
'' (2002) DVD *''
The Lion King 1½ ''The Lion King 1½'' (also known as ''The Lion King 3: Hakuna Matata'', or ''The Lion King III: Hakuna Matata'') is a 2004 American animated direct-to-video musical comedy film produced by the Australian branch of Disneytoon Studios and release ...
'' (2004) DVD – Silhouetted cameo *'' Mickey's Twice Upon a Christmas'' (2004) DVD *'' Mickey, Donald, Goofy: The Three Musketeers'' (2004) DVD


Television series

*''
DuckTales ''DuckTales'' is an American animated television series produced by Disney Television Animation. The original cartoon series premiered on syndication and on Disney Channel on September 18, 1987 and ran for a total of 100 episodes over four ...
'' (1987–1990, as recurring character) *'' Donald Duck Presents'' (compilation of earlier shorts) *'' Donald's Quack Attack'' (compilation of earlier shorts) *''
Bonkers Bonkers is an informal British term that means "crazy" or "insane." It may also refer to: Television * ''Bonkers'' (American TV series), a 1993–1994 animated series * ''Bonkers'' (British TV series), 2007 comedy * ''Bonkers!'', a 1979 Brit ...
'' (1993–1995, cameo) *'' Quack Pack'' (1996–1997) *'' Mickey Mouse Works'' (1999–2000) *''
House of Mouse ''Disney's House of Mouse'' (or simply ''House of Mouse'') is an American animated television series produced by Walt Disney Television Animation that originally aired for three seasons on ABC and Toon Disney from January 13, 2001, to its final ...
'' (2001–2003) *''
Mickey Mouse Clubhouse ''Mickey Mouse Clubhouse'' is an American interactive computer-animated children's television series which aired from May 5, 2006, to November 6, 2016 on the Disney Channel. Produced by Disney Television Animation, it is the first computer-ani ...
'' (2006–2016) *'' Mickey Mouse'' (2013–2019) *'' Mickey and the Roadster Racers/Mickey Mouse Mixed-Up Adventures'' (2017–2021) *''
DuckTales ''DuckTales'' is an American animated television series produced by Disney Television Animation. The original cartoon series premiered on syndication and on Disney Channel on September 18, 1987 and ran for a total of 100 episodes over four ...
'' (2017–2021) *''
Legend of the Three Caballeros ''Legend of the Three Caballeros'' is an animated television series based on the 1944 animated Disney film '' The Three Caballeros'' and features the characters Donald Duck, José Carioca and Panchito Pistoles. It was first released in 2018 in ...
'' (2018) *'' Mickey Go Local'' (2019) *'' The Wonderful World of Mickey Mouse'' (2020-present) *''Mickey Mouse Funhouse'' (2021-present)


Video games

*''Mickey Mouse Club House'' *''Donald Duck's Speedboat'' (cancelled) (1983) *'' Donald Duck's Playground'' (1984) *''Donald's Alphabet Chase'' (1988) *''Donald The Hero'' (1988) *'' The Lucky Dime Caper Starring Donald Duck'' (1991) *'' Quackshot'' (1991) *'' World of Illusion Starring Mickey Mouse and Donald Duck'' (1992) *'' Deep Duck Trouble Starring Donald Duck'' (1993) *''Donald Duck no Mahō no Bōshi'' (1995) *'' Disney's Magical Quest 3 starring Mickey & Donald'' (1995) *'' Donald in Maui Mallard'' (1995) *'' Donald Duck: Goin' Quackers'' (2000) *'' Mickey's Speedway USA'' (2000) *''
Kingdom Hearts is a series of action role-playing games developed and published by Square Enix (originally by Square). It is a collaboration between Square Enix and The Walt Disney Company and is under the leadership of Tetsuya Nomura, a longtime Square E ...
'' (2002) *'' Disney Golf'' (2002) *'' Disney's PK: Out of the Shadows'' (2002) *'' Kingdom Hearts Final Mix'' (2002) *'' Toontown Online'' (2003) *'' Kingdom Hearts: Chain of Memories'' (2004) *''
Kingdom Hearts II is a 2005 action role-playing game developed and published by Square Enix in collaboration with Buena Vista Games for the PlayStation 2 video game console. The game is a sequel to '' Kingdom Hearts'', and like the original game, combines c ...
'' (2005) *''Donald Duck Quest'' (2006) *'' Kingdom Hearts II Final Mix'' (2007) *'' Kingdom Hearts Re:Chain of Memories'' (2007) *''Duckburg P.D.: Donald on Duty'' (2007) *''Donald Duck Quest Deluxe'' (2007) *'' Disney Think Fast'' (2008) *''Donald Duck Chaos of the Road'' (2008) *''Phantom Duck'' (2008) *''
Kingdom Hearts coded ''Kingdom Hearts Coded'' is an episodic action role-playing puzzle video game developed and published by Square Enix, in collaboration with Disney Interactive Studios, for mobile phones. ''Coded'' was a Japan-only release announced at the 2007 ...
'' (2008–2010) *''
Kingdom Hearts 358/2 Days (subtitle read as "Three-Five-Eight Days over Two") is an action role-playing video game developed by h.a.n.d. and Square Enix (in collaboration with Disney Interactive Studios) for the Nintendo DS. It is the fifth installment in the '' King ...
'' (2009) *''
Kingdom Hearts Birth by Sleep is an action role-playing video game developed and published by Square Enix in collaboration with Disney Interactive Studios for the PlayStation Portable, serving as the sixth installment in the '' Kingdom Hearts'' series. The game was re ...
'' (2010) *'' Kingdom Hearts Re:coded'' (2010) *'' Epic Mickey'' (2010) *'' Kingdom Hearts 3D: Dream Drop Distance'' (2012) *'' Epic Mickey 2: The Power of Two'' (2012) *'' Disney Infinity 2.0'' (2014) *''
Kingdom Hearts III is a 2019 action role-playing game developed and published by Square Enix for the PlayStation 4, Xbox One, Microsoft Windows and Nintendo Switch. It is the twelfth installment in the '' Kingdom Hearts'' series, and serves as a conclusion of t ...
'' (2019) *'' Kingdom Hearts: Melody of Memory'' (2020) * ''Disney Illusion Island'' *'' Kingdom Hearts IV'' (TBA)


Notable illustrators

*
Carl Barks Carl Barks (March 27, 1901 – August 25, 2000) was an American cartoonist, author, and painter. He is best known for his work in Disney comic books, as the writer and artist of the first Donald Duck stories and as the creator of Scrooge McDuc ...
* Luciano Bottaro * Daniel Branca * Giovan Battista Carpi * Giorgio Cavazzano *
Mau Heymans Mau Heymans (born April 14, 1961, Veldhoven) is a Dutch Disney comics artist and writer. He started his career in 1987. He is primarily an illustrator and also wrote some stories with Kirsten de Graaf. Heyman does Scrooge McDuck universe comics ...
* William Van Horn * Daan Jippes *
Don Rosa Keno Don Hugo Rosa (), known simply as Don Rosa (born June 29, 1951), is an American comic book writer and illustrator known for his Disney comics stories about Scrooge McDuck, Donald Duck, and other characters which Carl Barks created for ...
* Marco Rota * Romano Scarpa *
Tony Strobl Anthony Joseph Strobl ( ; May 12, 1915 – December 29, 1991) was an American comics artist and animator. He was born in Cleveland, Ohio and attended Cleveland School of Art from 1933–37, with Jerry Siegel and Joe Shuster, who actually got ...
* Al Taliaferro *
Vicar A vicar (; Latin: '' vicarius'') is a representative, deputy or substitute; anyone acting "in the person of" or agent for a superior (compare "vicarious" in the sense of "at second hand"). Linguistically, ''vicar'' is cognate with the English pr ...
*
Tetsuya Nomura is a Japanese video game artist, designer and director working for Square Enix (formerly Square). He designed characters for the '' Final Fantasy'' series, debuting with ''Final Fantasy VI'' and continuing with various later installments. Ad ...
* Shiro Amano *
Kari Korhonen Kari Korhonen (born 1973) is a Finnish cartoonist known for his stories about Donald Duck. Korhonen has been drawing Disney comics for the Danish publisher Egmont Group since 1993, where he is most known for his work on Donald Duck stories and ...


See also

* Walt Disney's World War II propaganda production *'' How to Read Donald Duck''


References


Sources

* Content in this article was copied fro
Donald Duck
at The Disney Wiki, which is licensed under th
Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0 (Unported) (CC-BY-SA 3.0) license


Further reading

* * * *Piepenbring, Dan (2019).
he Book That Exposed the Cynical Politics of Donald Duck
The New Yorker ''The New Yorker'' is an American weekly magazine featuring journalism, commentary, criticism, essays, fiction, satire, cartoons, and poetry. Founded as a weekly in 1925, the magazine is published 47 times annually, with five of these issue ...
. *


External links

*
Donald Duck
on
IMDb IMDb (an abbreviation of Internet Movie Database) is an online database of information related to films, television series, home videos, video games, and streaming content online – including cast, production crew and personal biographies, p ...

Donald Duck
at '' Don Markstein's Toonopedia''
Archived
from the original on April 10, 2016. *

at
Creators Syndicate Creators Syndicate (also known as Creators) is an American independent distributor of comic strips and syndicated columns to daily newspapers, websites, and other digital outlets. When founded in 1987, Creators Syndicate became one of the few suc ...
{{Authority control Disney animated characters Donald Duck Animated film series Anthropomorphic ducks Comedy film characters Clan McDuck Disney animated birds Disney comics characters Disney core universe characters Fictional anthropomorphic characters Fictional characters from Calisota Fictional sailors Fictional sea captains Fictional twins Fictional United States Army personnel Fictional United States Navy personnel Fictional World War II veterans Film characters introduced in 1934 Film series introduced in 1934 Magazine mascots Male characters in comics Male characters in animation Male characters in advertising Mascots introduced in 1934