''Soup's On'' is a 1948 Donald Duck

animated Animation is a method by which still figures are manipulated to appear as moving images. In traditional animation, images are drawn or painted by hand on transparent celluloid sheets to be photographed and exhibited on film. Today, most ani ...

short film A short film is any motion picture that is short enough in running time not to be considered a feature film. The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences defines a short film as "an original motion picture that has a running time of 40 minutes ...

directed by

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 ...

, produced in

Technicolor Technicolor is a series of Color motion picture film, color motion picture processes, the first version dating back to 1916, and followed by improved versions over several decades. Definitive Technicolor movies using three black and white films ...

Walt Disney Productions 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 ...

and released to theaters by

RKO Radio Pictures RKO Radio Pictures Inc., commonly known as RKO Pictures or simply RKO, was an American film production and distribution company, one of the "Big Five" film studios of Hollywood's Golden Age. The business was formed after the Keith-Albee-Orph ...

. In the short, Donald cooks a turkey dinner for his nephews Huey, Dewey and Louie, but when they come to the table with dirty hands, he punishes them by sending them to bed. The nephews escalate the battle, and when Donald is knocked unconscious, they trick him into thinking that he has died and become an

angel In various theistic religious traditions an angel is a supernatural spiritual being who serves God. Abrahamic religions often depict angels as benevolent celestial intermediaries between God (or Heaven) and humanity. Other roles inclu ...

. While Donald's relationship with his nephews Huey, Dewey and Louie had deepened significantly by 1948 in Carl Barks' Duck comics, the nephews of the cartoons are still the identical mischievous troublemakers that they were when first introduced ten years earlier. The ''Encyclopedia of Walt Disney's Animated Characters'' spotlights this short as a particularly potent example of the nephews' malicious behavior:

Plot

Donald Duck is preparing a turkey dinner, while his nephews play

Apaches The Apache () are a group of culturally related Native American tribes in the Southwestern United States, which include the Chiricahua, Jicarilla, Lipan, Mescalero, Mimbreño, Ndendahe (Bedonkohe or Mogollon and Nednhi or Carrizaleño an ...

. When he calls his nephews in for dinner, they start fighting over the turkey. Donald orders the dirty ducks to take a bath, and they try to trick him by running the water. But Donald spots that Louie's hand is still dirty, and he sends them to their room. The ducks pretend to cry themselves to sleep, making Donald feel guilty. When he comes upstairs to tell them they're forgiven, they trick him into snapping his fingers on a mousetrap, and they grab the food and run. Donald chases his nephews out the door, but as he rounds a curve, he falls off a cliff and narrowly misses being hit by a boulder. When he regains consciousness, the nephews have dressed Donald up as an angel, and are pretending to be crying over his 'squashed' body. He gives them a tearful goodbye, and they rush home to eat. When Donald tries to fly, he hits the ground and realizes that it was a joke. When he gets home and finds his nephews feasting on the turkey, the "angel" Donald turns into a devil in a fit of rage, and chases them out of the house and across the countryside.

Voice cast

Clarence Nash Clarence Charles "Ducky" Nash (December 7, 1904 – February 20, 1985) was an American voice actor. He was best known as the original voice of the Disney cartoon character Donald Duck. He was born in the rural community of Watonga, Oklahoma, and ...

as Donald Duck, Huey, Dewey, and Louie

Music

As the cartoon begins, Donald sings a chorus of "

Zip-a-Dee-Doo-Dah "Zip-a-Dee-Doo-Dah" is a song composed by Allie Wrubel with lyrics by Ray Gilbert for the Disney 1946 live action and animated movie ''Song of the South'', sung by James Baskett. For "Zip-a-Dee-Doo-Dah", the film won the Academy Award for Best O ...

", a song from Disney's 1946 film '' Song of the South''.

Television

* ''

Walt Disney's Wonderful World of Color The Walt Disney Company has produced an anthology television series since 1954 under several titles and formats. The program's current title, ''The Wonderful World of Disney'', was used from 1969 to 1979 and again from 1991 to the present. The pr ...

'', episode #8.11: "Kids is Kids" * ''

Good Morning, Mickey! ''Good Morning, Mickey!'' is an American animated television series produced by Walt Disney Television Animation. It was first aired on April 18, 1983 when Disney Channel was launched. It was one of the Disney Channel's first original programs, a ...

'', episode #32 * ''

Mickey's Mouse Tracks ''Mickey's Mouse Tracks'' is an American animated television series on The Disney Channel which ran from 1992 to 1995, and featured Disney cartoons and animated short films, dating from before the advent of The Disney Channel. A similar show was ...

'', episode #64 * ''

Donald's Quack Attack ''Donald's Quack Attack'' is an American animated television series which ran on The Disney Channel and was later rerun on Toon Disney. It premiered on November 2, 1992,''The Disney Channel Magazine'', Vol. 10, no. 5, October/November 1992: p ...

'', episode #69 * '' The Ink and Paint Club'', episode #1.51: "Triple Trouble"

Home media

The short was released on December 11, 2007 on '' Walt Disney Treasures: The Chronological Donald, Volume Three: 1947-1950''. Additional release include: * ''Kids is Kids Starring Donald Duck'' (VHS) * ''Huey, Dewey and Louie's Greatest Hits'' (VHS) * '' Walt Disney's Funny Factory, Vol. 4: Huey, Dewey, and Louie'' (DVD)

References

{{Donald Duck 1948 animated films 1948 films Donald Duck short films 1940s Disney animated short films Films directed by Jack Hannah Films produced by Walt Disney Films scored by Oliver Wallace 1940s English-language films