''Donald Duck's 50th Birthday'' is a

television special A television special (often TV special, or rarely television spectacular) is a standalone television show which may also temporarily interrupt episodic programming normally scheduled for a given time slot. Some specials provide a full range of en ...

broadcast on November 13, 1984 on

CBS CBS Broadcasting Inc., commonly shortened to CBS (an abbreviation of its original name, Columbia Broadcasting System), is an American commercial broadcast television and radio network serving as the flagship property of the CBS Entertainme ...

. As the title suggests, it was produced to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the

Donald Duck Donald Fauntleroy Duck is a cartoon character created by the Walt Disney Company. Donald is an Anthropomorphism, anthropomorphic white duck with a yellow-orange bill, legs, and feet. He typically wears a sailor suit, sailor shirt and cap with ...

character, who first appeared in the

Walt Disney Walter Elias Disney ( ; December 5, 1901December 15, 1966) was an American animator, film producer, voice actor, and entrepreneur. A pioneer of the Golden age of American animation, American animation industry, he introduced several develop ...

short ''

The Wise Little Hen ''The Wise Little Hen'' is a 1934 Walt Disney produced ''Silly Symphonies'' animated short film, based on the fable ''The Little Red Hen.'' The film features the debut of Donald Duck, dancing to "The Sailor's Hornpipe". Donald and his friend Pet ...

'' in 1934. Donald is shown in both animated and live costumed form, interacting with emcee

Dick Van Dyke Richard Wayne Van Dyke (born December 13, 1925) is an American actor, entertainer and comedian. Dick Van Dyke on screen and stage, His work spans screen and stage, and List of awards and nominations received by Dick Van Dyke, his awards includ ...

and other cast members. The film not only shows Donald's life, but also depicts an extensive international tour that Donald went on in 1984. Various celebrities of the day send Donald birthday greetings, including Ed Asner,

Andy Warhol Andy Warhol (;''Random House Webster's Unabridged Dictionary''"Warhol" born Andrew Warhola Jr.; August 6, 1928 – February 22, 1987) was an American visual artist, film director and producer. A leading figure in the pop art movement, Warhol ...

Donna Summer Donna Adrian Gaines (December 31, 1948May 17, 2012), known professionally as Donna Summer, was an American singer and songwriter. She gained prominence during the disco era of the 1970s and became known as the "Queen of Disco", while her music ...

and the ''

Star Wars ''Star Wars'' is an American epic film, epic space opera media franchise created by George Lucas, which began with the Star Wars (film), eponymous 1977 film and Cultural impact of Star Wars, quickly became a worldwide popular culture, pop cu ...

'' droids. The tour culminates in a parade in Donald's honor at

Disneyland Disneyland is a amusement park, theme park at the Disneyland Resort in Anaheim, California. 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, ...

. This was the last time

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

voiced Donald Duck before his death a year later. It was rebroadcast on

Disney Channel Disney Channel is an American pay television television channel, channel that serves as the flagship (broadcasting), flagship property of Disney Branded Television, a unit of the Disney Entertainment business segment of the Walt Disney Company ...

Europe on November 13, 2004 to celebrate the 20th anniversary of the special plus at the end of the special, it has the sign: "Walt Disney 1901–1966 Clarence Nash 1904–1985".

Features

* ''

'' characters

R2-D2 R2-D2 () or Artoo-Detoo is a fictional robot character in the ''Star Wars'' franchise created by George Lucas. He has appeared in ten of the eleven theatrical ''Star Wars'' films to date, including every film in the " Skywalker Saga", which inclu ...

and

C-3PO C-3PO () or See-Threepio is a humanoid robot character in the ''Star Wars'' franchise. He is a protocol droid (Star Wars), droid designed to assist in etiquette and translation, and is fluent in over six million forms of communication. The chara ...

explain that clarity of speech are qualities that are vital to future languages and that those who do not possess such qualities are doomed. They then add that there are exceptions to that rule, case in point, Donald's famed speech impediment, created by Clarence Nash, which they claim they know very well. C-3PO closes out this scene by saying, "Happy birthday, Mr. Duck. And Mr. Nash". * Acclaimed artist

is shown finishing and hanging, '' The New Spirit'' a painting that was created for Donald's golden jubilee. * There several scenes with Walt Disney, one with Donald Duck hiding under Disney's desk blotter despite the pleas of Disney to meet the people that had come to see him (from a ''

'' episode entitled " The Plausible Impossible"), another with Donald demonstrating the techniques of animation and sound effects and a third with Donald as a puppet with Disney was receiving a

Master of Arts A Master of Arts ( or ''Artium Magister''; abbreviated MA or AM) is the holder of a master's degree awarded by universities in many countries. The degree is usually contrasted with that of Master of Science. Those admitted to the degree have ...

(the joke being that it was in fact ''Donald'' who received the degree). * ''

The Mickey Mouse Club ''The Mickey Mouse Club'' is an American variety television show that aired intermittently from 1955 to 1996 and briefly returned to social media in 2017. Created by Walt Disney and produced by Walt Disney Productions, the program was first te ...

'' theme is shown with Disney characters to illustrate Donald's innate jealousy to

Mickey Mouse Mickey Mouse is an American cartoon character co-created in 1928 by Walt Disney and Ub Iwerks. The longtime icon and mascot of the Walt Disney Company, Mickey is an anthropomorphic mouse who typically wears red shorts, large shoes, and white ...

having his own television show. Dick Van Dyke states that Donald "never let anyone forget it". * There is a film clip with

Daisy Duck Daisy Duck is an American cartoon character created by the Walt Disney Company. She is an Anthropomorphism, anthropomorphic white duck that has large eyelashes and ruffled tail feathers around her lowest region to suggest a skirt. She is often s ...

baking a cake for Donald featuring the 1980 Donald Duck song "Going Quackers" with various Donald Duck and other Disney character toys doing a dance number using

stop motion Stop-motion (also known as stop frame animation) is an animated filmmaking and special effects technique in which objects are physically manipulated in small increments between individually photographed frames so that they will appear to exh ...

animation as well as reverse acting.

1984 birthday tour

In 1984, Donald Duck (in live form) went on an international tour through Europe, Japan and parts of the United States. Some of these stops on his tour actual stage performances attended by other (live)

Disney The Walt Disney Company, commonly referred to as simply Disney, is an American multinational mass media and entertainment industry, entertainment conglomerate (company), conglomerate headquartered at the Walt Disney Studios (Burbank), Walt Di ...

characters. Donald's arrival at airports (on his own plane depicting Donald in flight on the tailfin) was met with colossal crowds that kept getting bigger. There were also several parades for Donald, and not just at the Disney theme parks. In one, Donald sat in a

staff car A staff car is a vehicle used by a senior military military officer, officer, and is part of their country's White fleet (UK military vehicles), white fleet. The term is most often used in relation to the United Kingdom where they were first us ...

in his

military uniform A military uniform is a standardised clothing, dress worn by members of the armed forces and Paramilitary, paramilitaries of various nations. Military dress and styles have gone through significant changes over the centuries, from colourful ...

and was promoted to the rank of

sergeant Sergeant (Sgt) is a Military rank, rank in use by the armed forces of many countries. It is also a police rank in some police services. The alternative spelling, ''serjeant'', is used in The Rifles and in other units that draw their heritage f ...

. This scene was also when he was discharged from the

US Army The United States Army (USA) is the primary land service branch of the United States Department of Defense. It is designated as the Army of the United States in the United States Constitution.Article II, section 2, clause 1 of the United Stat ...

. Donald is also shown having his footprints cast in cement at

Grauman's Chinese Theatre Grauman's Chinese Theatre, known as the Chinese colloquially and officially billed as TCL Chinese Theatre for sponsorship reasons, is a movie palace on the Hollywood Walk of Fame in the Hollywood neighborhood of Los Angeles, California, Unite ...

in May 1984. In the film, Donald's tour is shown with music as well as dialogue, assumedly added later by

Cast

... Host * Edward Asner ... Himself * Bruce Jenner ... Himself *

Cloris Leachman Cloris Leachman (April 30, 1926 – January 27, 2021) was an American actress and comedian whose career spanned nearly eight decades. She received many accolades including 22 Primetime Emmy nominations and won eight, tying Julia Louis-Dreyfus ...

... Herself *

Kenny Rogers Kenneth Ray Rogers (born Kenneth Donald Rogers) (August 21, 1938 – March 20, 2020) was an American singer and songwriter. He was inducted into the Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum, Country Music Hall of Fame in 2013. Rogers was particul ...

... Himself *

... Herself *

... Himself *

Henry Winkler Henry Franklin Winkler (born October 30, 1945) is an American actor, producer, director, and author. Widely known as Arthur "Fonzie" Fonzarelli on the sitcom ''Happy Days'' (1974–1984), Winkler has distinguished himself as a character acto ...

... Himself *

John Ritter Johnathan Southworth Ritter (September 17, 1948 – September 11, 2003) was an American comedian and actor. He was a son of the singing cowboy star Tex Ritter and the father of actors Jason Ritter, Jason and Tyler Ritter. He is best known for ...

... Himself *

Anthony Daniels Anthony Daniels ( ; born 21 February 1946) is an English actor and mime artist, best known for playing in 11 ''Star Wars'' films. He is the only actor to have either appeared in or been involved with all theatrical films in the series, and h ...

...

* Kenny Baker ...

...

/ Himself * John Harlan ... Announcer

Muppet performers

Jim Henson James Maury Henson (September 24, 1936 – May 16, 1990) was an American puppeteer, animator, actor, and filmmaker who achieved worldwide notability as the creator of the Muppets. Henson was also well known for creating ''Fraggle Rock'' ( ...

Kermit the Frog Kermit the Frog is a Muppet character created in 1955 and originally performed by Jim Henson. An anthropomorphic green frog, Kermit is the pragmatic everyman protagonist of numerous Muppet productions, most notably as the showrunner and host o ...

* Richard Hunt as Scooter Also featured is

in several clips (Disney himself having died in 1966).

Featured clips

* ''

'' (1934) * '' The Band Concert'' (1935) * '' Don Donald'' (1937) * '' Lonesome Ghosts'' (1937) * '' Donald's Nephews'' (1938) * '' Donald's Golf Game'' (1938, shown in French) * '' Donald's Better Self'' (1938, shown in Japanese) * '' The Autograph Hound'' (1939) * '' The Riveter'' (1940) * '' Mr. Duck Steps Out'' (1940) * '' Window Cleaners'' (1940) * '' The Reluctant Dragon'' (1941) * '' Old Mac Donald Duck'' (1941) * ''

Der Fuehrer's Face ''Der Fuehrer's Face'' (originally titled ''Donald Duck in Nutziland'' or ''A Nightmare in Nutziland'') is an American animated anti-Nazi propaganda short film produced by Walt Disney Productions, created in 1942 and released on January 1, 1943 ...

'' (1942) * '' Donald Gets Drafted'' (1942) * '' Bellboy Donald'' (1942) * ''

Saludos Amigos ''Saludos Amigos'' (Spanish for "Greetings, Friends") is a 1942 American live-action/animated anthology film produced by Walt Disney and released by RKO Radio Pictures. Set in Latin America, it is made up of four different segments; Donald Duck ...

'' (1942) * ''

The Three Caballeros ''The Three Caballeros'' is a 1944 American live-action and animated musical propaganda 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 ...

'' (1944) * '' Commando Duck'' (1944) * '' Donald's Crime'' (1945, shown in Spanish) * ''

Fun and Fancy Free ''Fun and Fancy Free'' is a 1947 American animated musical fantasy anthology film produced by Walt Disney and Ben Sharpsteen and released on September 27, 1947, by RKO Radio Pictures. The film is a compilation of two stories: ''Bongo'', narrate ...

'' (1947) * '' Donald's Dream Voice'' (1948) * '' Bee at the Beach'' (1950) * '' Canvas Back Duck'' (1953) * '' Donald's Diary'' (1954) * "

" (1955) * "Disneyland: A Day in the Life of Donald Duck (#2.18)" (1956) * "Disneyland: The Plausible Impossible (#3.8)" (1956) * '' Donald in Mathmagic Land'' (1959) * "Disneyland: Inside Donald Duck (#8.6)" (1961) * '' Mickey's Christmas Carol'' (1983, shown in Swedish)

Soundtrack

* "Happy, Happy Birthday to You (Donald Duck Version)" by Michael Silversher & Patty Silversher (1984) * "Going Quackers" (1980) * "Can You Quack Like Donald Duck?" by Michael Silversher & Patty Silversher (1984) * " Tutti Frutti" by

Little Richard Richard Wayne Penniman (December 5, 1932 – May 9, 2020), known professionally as Little Richard, was an American singer, pianist, and songwriter. He was an influential figure in popular music and culture for seven decades. Described as the "Ar ...

(1955) * "The Army's Not the Army Anymore" (first shown in the 1942 short '' Donald Gets Drafted'') * "Donald Duck Theme" by the Disney chorus ''Happy, Happy Birthday to You (Donald Duck Version)'' was released on the ''Splashdance'' LP and cassette. ''Splashdance'' has since been re-released on

compact disc The compact disc (CD) is a Digital media, digital optical disc data storage format co-developed by Philips and Sony to store and play digital audio recordings. It employs the Compact Disc Digital Audio (CD-DA) standard and was capable of hol ...

Notes

References

External links

* * {{usurped,
''Donald Duck's 50th Birthday'' at lucasfan.com
} 1980s American television specials 1984 television specials 1984 in American television CBS television specials Donald Duck films Works with live action and animation Films scored by Paul Smith (composer) Films scored by John Debney