KEY CREW BEHIND THE STAR: Walt Disney; Clarence Nash (voice); Jack Hannah, Jack King (directors); Carl Barks (storyman, comic book writer/artist).

CAREER HIGH: THE BAND CONCERT (1935) where he upstaged Mickey Mouse and started on the road to super stardom.

Donald is perhaps the most versatile of all the Disney characters. Throughout his long career, he has been employed in a variety of different jobs from sailor to homeowner. His wide range of emotions has offered animators wonderful possibilities not available for most Disney performers.

Donald is vain, cocky and boastful and always loves to tease other characters. If the tables get turned, he flies into an uncontrollable rage and becomes his own worst enemy. Although he will attempt to use cunning to achieve his goals, these attempts usually backfire with disastrous results.

Despite his fits of unintelligible anger, Donald always remained a sympathetic character. He was an adult who acted like a child. He operated in a world similar to our own. The only noticeable exception being that his world was often populated with animals who behaved like humans. Donald went to work, brought flowers and candy to his girl friend, and mowed his lawn.

While Daffy Duck could appear in a pond and be frightened by the approach of a befuddled hunter, the opening of hunting season filled Donald with excitement because he was not the prey but the hunter. The wonders of animation allowed Donald to contort into physically unusual positions, but he was never taken to the physical extremes of other non-Disney animated animals.

Clarence "Ducky" Nash, the original voice for the quarrelsome Duck, once stated that unlike Mickey Mouse, Donald Duck would not be a good candidate for a fan club. Said Nash, "he's too full of mischief and might not set too good an example for some children."

However, it is that mischief that made him loved from the start. In a 1935 article for the New York Evening Journal, critic Gilbert Seldes proclaimed that Donald was "a new character who surpasses Mickey Mouse himself." That same year, the New York Times devoted a serious editorial to the fact that the irascible Duck might replace Mickey Mouse in the hearts of the world.

That fear was certainly well founded as Mickey Mouse became more and more sanitized when he became a symbol for the Walt Disney Company. Donald Duck was unfettered by such restraints and his frequent bursts of ill temper, violence and selfishness made the world laugh.

DONALD'S ORIGINS

Donald's first screen appearance was in the Silly Symphony THE WISE LITTLE HEN (1934). It was based on a still popular children's fable which recounted the disappointments of a hen seeking assistance to plant her corn. Donald's purpose was to simply be an amusing prop in the story, like his now forgotten companion, Peter Pig.

This Donald would be barely recognizable by today's audiences. The early Donald Duck with his long bill and stick legs was funny but not likable. Gradually over the years, Donald became shorter and rounder on the theory that a chubby figure is cuter and more likable. His eyes became more expressive, his bill shorter and his head larger in order to provide a wider range of subtle expressions. But even in his first film, he sported the same sailor suit and unforgettable quack that have been his trademark for over half a century.

The unforgettable quack was supplied by Clarence Nash, whose contribution to the Duck's personality was enormous. "I sat in on some of the story meetings and made some suggestions based on all the things I had discovered I could make Donald do," recalled Nash. Originally, Nash had developed a baby billy-goat bleat by age 13 and had used that voice in theatrical presentations. It was that bleat that became the famous Duck voice when Walt Disney heard the sound and thought it perfect for Donald. (Nash also supplied the voice to Herman the Duck on the Burns and Allen radio show of the 1940s.) Nash put the left side of his tongue against his upper left molars, formed a pocket high in his left cheek, opened his mouth, and Donald Duck talked.

Audience reaction to Donald's first role was so positive that the Duck appeared in a Mickey Mouse short entitled ORPHAN'S BENEFIT (1934). The gag centered on Donald trying to recite the poem "Mary Had a Little Lamb" to a theater full of raucous mouse orphans. Once again, audience reaction confirmed that Disney had a new star.

Donald's next appearance was in the first full color Mickey Mouse cartoon, THE BAND CONCERT (1935). Donald's playing of "Turkey in the Straw" on a fife disrupts Mickey's attempts to conduct an outdoor concert rendition of the "William Tell Overture." Even the force of a tornado fails to dim Donald's impertinent spirit.

Also released in 1935 was MICKEY'S SERVICE STATION which established the format for the Duck's appearances until he was given his own series. The format was simple but effective: Donald would join Mickey and Goofy on some project like building a ship, trying to service a car, hunt a moose or clean a clock. The story would split into separate sections showcasing the individual misadventures of each character. These situations provided ample opportunity for Donald's ill temper to further aggravate the problem and served as counterpoint to the more subdued frustrations of Mickey and Goofy.

"We began to have an awful hard time finding stories for Mickey," commented Disney director Jack Hannah who was working as a storyman at the time. "The Duck was very versatile to work with -- it was easy to find a situation for him. Donald could be anything. He had every emotion a human being had. He could be cute, mischievous, go from warm to cool at any moment. You could half kill him and he'd come right back. He instigated trouble. Not mean, but he always saw a chance to have fun at other people's expense. That was the essence of his personality, that and his temper. He'd start out looking like he just stepped out of Sunday school, and he'd try so hard to be good, but then he'd get tempted."

DONALD STEPS OUT

Noticing the growing popularity of the Duck, Disney decided to turn out short cartoons that would feature Donald. The first solo Donald cartoon was DON DONALD (1937). It also introduced Donald's long time flame, Daisy Duck. (Though in this first appearance she also spoke in "duck speak.") It was directed by Ben Sharpsteen. He had been directing a large number of the Mickey/Donald/Goofy shorts. He would continue to direct Duck shorts co-starring a variety of Disney characters such as THE FOX HUNT (co-starring Goofy) and POLAR TRAPPERS (co-starring Pluto).

To help direct the series, Disney hired Jack King from New York. King was a more than competent animation director who had previously worked for Warner Brothers and he easily adapted to the Disney style. MODERN INVENTIONS (1937) was the first of King's Donald Duck cartoons.

Donald's brashness made him quite popular during World War II when the U.S., itself, was becoming pretty brash. It was the work of Disney director Jack Kinney, best known for his Goofy shorts, that won Donald his only Oscar. DER FUEHRER'S FACE (1942) was a strong propaganda cartoon where Donald dreamed he was a good hardworking Nazi in Germany. The dream was so frightening that Donald awoke and gratefully kissed a model of the Statue of Liberty.

Donald's wartime popularity was often called into service as a visual aid. In 1940, he had been drafted to promote the Community Chest charities in a three minute short called THE VOLUNTEER WORKER and to help out the Canadian government in 1942 with DONALD'S DECISION. In the U.S., he starred in THE NEW SPIRIT (1942), perhaps one of the most famous of Disney's educational cartoons. It was commissioned by the Treasury Department to inform wartime citizens of the importance of paying their taxes. (A revised version, THE SPIRIT OF '43 was released the following year.)

DISNEY'S "DUCK MEN"

The wartime Donald Duck cartoons were largely the result of the story team of Jack Hannah and Carl Barks. Perhaps more than anyone else, these two shaped the image of Donald Duck as he is known to audiences today. They supplied the stories for cartoons like DONALD GETS DRAFTED (1942), SKY TROOPER (1942), FALL OUT FALL IN (1943), THE OLD ARMY GAME (1943) and COMMANDO DUCK (1944). These cartoons often dealt with Donald as a private who was usually being harassed by Sergeant Black Pete. These cartoons poked good natured fun at the military experience and found instant acceptance by audiences familiar with the situtations. In FALL OUT FALL IN, poor Donald, after a wearying march, has trouble setting up his tent and after a frustrating battle gets to sleep just in time to "fall in" for another day's march. SKY TROOPER had Donald trying to parachute and ending up with KP duty.

The story team of Hannah and Barks also produced classic Donald stories that were not related to the military experience. THE PLASTICS INVENTOR (1944) had Donald following a radio program's instructions on how to make an airplane out of plastic. Unfortunately, a rain storm melts the plane once it is airborne.

In 1942, he and Hannah had been approached to draw an original Donald Duck comic book story. Western Publishing wanted to stop using reprints of the Donald Duck comic strip and create some original stories. Working evenings and on weekends, the two men produced "Donald Duck Finds Pirate Gold," based on a feature film project that at one time was designed for Mickey Mouse. The comic was a success and the original printing is a much valued collector's item today.

However, with the shift to war films, Carl Barks reportedly lost interest in his work at the studio. He left with the intention of starting a chicken ranch. When Western Publishing discovered that Barks had left the studio, he was contacted about supplying ten page Donald Duck stories for the comic book, WALT DISNEY'S COMIC AND STORIES. Barks accepted and continued to write and draw Donald Duck stories for a variety of comic books.

During this time, he was responsible for the creation of many key characters in the Donald Duck universe like the villainous Beagle Boys, the super rich Uncle Scrooge and Magica de Spell, the sorceress. In addition, Barks developed the personalities of Huey, Dewey and Louie and created the Junior Woodchucks.

Not limited by Clarence Nash's vocalizations, Barks made Donald more articulate and heroic. Barks adventure story concepts were the basis for the now popular DUCK TALES TV series. Barks retired from comic book work in 1966 and his work has been frequently reprinted. In recent years, he has had a lucrative career doing paintings of the Duck family.

For nearly five years, Jack Hannah and his story partner Carl Barks submitted stories for the Donald Duck series of shorts. When Barks left to pursue a successful career as a writer and artist of Donald Duck comic books stories, Hannah was moved over to directing the Donald Duck cartoons. Hannah's first assignment was DONALD'S DAY OFF (1944). His directorial signature was so strong that within three years, Hannah became the sole Duck director.

HANNAH'S DUCK

The film image of Donald Duck that is most familiar to modern fans is the work of Jack Hannah. Under Hannah's guidance many of Donald's well known supporting cast made their first and most memorable appearances. These characters included Chip 'n' Dale, Humphrey the Bear, Bootle Beetle and Buzz Buzz the Bee. Six of Hannah's Donald Duck cartoons were nominated for Academy Awards including the memorable TRICK OR TREAT (1952) where Donald must battle unsuccessfully against his nephews and a real witch over a closet loaded with Halloween goodies.

There were many classic Donald Duck cartoons directed by Jack Hannah. His previous experience as a storyman on the Duck cartoons helped him shape and edit stories before they went to animation resulting in stronger cartoons. Many of the memorable Hannah Donald cartoons featured the Duck interacting with a number of outstanding supporting characters. Often times these co-stars were extremely tiny.

"We did go to smaller characters with the Duck because it would make it funnier when the situation backfired on him," said director Hannah. "Just having Donald and his nephews made it difficult to come up with story ideas after awhile. You couldn't use much dialogue because you wouldn't be able to understand it."

Donald's tiniest trouble makers were insects! For example, Buzz Buzz the bee was one of Donald's regular frustrations. When Donald irritates him on the beach, Buzz Buzz sends the Duck into shark infested waters in BEE AT THE BEACH (1950). Bootle Beetle, another small insect, was also often in conflict with the Duck. In SEA SALTS (1949) Bootle is shipwrecked with Donald who cheats when he divides the remaining provisions.

Donald's most popular small co-stars were probably Chip 'n' Dale, the chipmunks. They troubled Donald many times especially when he played with small objects like a remote controlled plane (TEST PILOT DONALDY, 1951), or a miniature train (OUT OF SCALE, 1951) or a model ship (CHIPS AHOY, 1956). The Chipmunks also appeared in the only 3-D Donald Duck short, WORKING FOR PEANUTS (1953). They steal peanuts from Dolores, the zoo elephant, and then must deal with the wrath of zoo attendant Donald. The short was later refilmed in regular format after the 3-D craze died.

Humphrey the Bear, who lived in Brownstone National Park, was bigger than Donald and barely as intelligent. Whether he was trying to steal Donald's honey (BEEZY BEAR, 1955), or hibernate at Donald's home (BEARLY ASLEEP, 1955) or just hide from hunters (RUGGED BEAR, 1953), he was less a threat than Donald's smaller foils.

DONALD GOES TO TV AND SCHOOL

The last theatrical Donald Duck short that was part of the series was CHIPS AHOY, in 1956, directed by Hannah. The expense of making short cartoons had grown prohibitive in the 1950s and when production ceased on those efforts, Donald Duck moved over to television. He appeared in numerous episodes of Disney's TV series. These were frequently collections of classic Donald cartoons with a bit of new animation (often directed by Hannah) to connect them. Donald was also a regular on THE MICKEY MOUSE CLUB. Not only did he have the key role of hitting the Mickey Mouse gong in the credits, but his shorts would turn up as the Mousekartoon.

Donald was too versatile and valuable a character to leave in the limbo reserved for unused animated characters, or to remain an occasional star of television. Following up on his earlier successes during the War years in training films, Disney had Donald become a star of educational films.

He was redesigned into a slimmer, trimmer Duck echoing the stylization of many popular cartoon stars of the Fifties. Important information was presented to an audience as a reluctant Donald learned along with the audience in such films as HOW TO HAVE AN ACCIDENT AT HOME (1956), DONALD DUCK IN MATHMAGICLAND (1959), HOW TO HAVE AN ACCIDENT AT WORK (1959), DONALD AND THE WHEEL (1961), THE LITTERBUG (1961) and his final film before he "retired" DONALD'S FIRE SURVIVAL PLAN (1966). These films are still used in schools today.

Donald returned to the big screen in 1983. He was called back into service along with many other Disney classic characters for the new featurette entitled MICKEY'S CHRISTMAS CAROL. In this re-telling of the famous Charles Dickens' story, Donald was cast as the nephew of Uncle Scrooge. 1984 saw a year long celebration of the Duck's 50th birthday. As part of that celebration, Donald put his web prints in cement outside Mann's Chinese Theater during May 1984. Clarence Nash jetted all over the world for special events and tributes. Nash died in 1985, shortly after the celebration ended.

Even more recently, Donald has kept busy in featured roles in a number of productions. DUCK TALES (1987) has Donald show up on occasion to talk with his nephews and rich Uncle Scrooge. In the 1988 blockbuster WHO FRAMED ROGER RABBIT?, he teamed with Daffy Duck in a classic piano duel. 1989 found him attending the Oscar telecast with Mickey, Minnie and Daisy.

DONALD'S FEATURES

More than any other Disney character, Donald was also a feature player. The Duck appeared in five Disney animated features (not counting the recent WHO FRAMED ROGER RABBIT), more than any other Disney Superstar. His first appearance is a short sequence in THE RELUCTANT DRAGON (1941) where he tries to explain animation to Robert Benchley.

However Donald became a true feature star via SALUDOS AMIGOS (1943). The feature was a wartime "good neighbor" film encouraged by the U.S. government to increase goodwill between the Americas (North, Central and South). It is merely a series of short subjects tied together with live action footage shot by Disney and his crew. For Donald's sequence, he visits various sites in South America. Donald's problems with a llama at Lake Titicaca, are some of the best remembered moments.

The film proved so overwhelmingly successful that Disney had to rush into production a sort of sequel, THE THREE CABALLEROS (1945). Donald returned along with Jose Carioca, a green parrot, and a new character, Panchito, a Mexican rooster. In CABALLEROS, Donald is the central character and "host." This film featured some extensive use of animated characters interacting with live actors. In fact one of the advertising banners read "See Donald Make Love to a Real Woman."

Donald's final theatrical role at Disney was with his standard co-stars, Mickey and Goofy. The trio appeared in FUN AND FANCY FREE (1947). Half of the feature starred the team in a slightly hip version of "Jack and the Beanstalk," narrated by Edgar Bergen with interruptions by Charlie McCarthy. The second half of the feature told the tale of BONGO as narrated and sung by Dinah Shore.

His final Disney feature appearance was in MELODY TIME (1948). Similar to his earlier feature ventures, Donald is seen in only a sequence of the film, "Blame It On the Samba." For this bit he is re-united with his friend Jose (Joe) Carioca as they dance to the music of Ethel Smith.

DONALD'S CO-STARS

As mentioned earlier, Donald's career began as a co-star to the Wise Little Hen and later moved up to sharing the screen with Mickey, Goofy, Pluto and other stars. However the Duck soon was surrounded by his own supporting cast. His first solo film, DON DONALD (1937) had introduced the world to Daisy Duck. In 1938, DONALD'S NEPHEWS introduced Huey, Dewey and Louie to the film world. (They were first seen in a 1937 Donald Duck comic strip.) Supposedly just sent on a short visit, the nephews quickly became frequent residents not only because they presented more springboards for stories, but because they brought stability to an increasingly domesticated Donald.

CHIP 'N' DALE (1947) introduced Donald to two of his best foils. These pesky, lovable, determined, innocent chipmunks eventually developed their own series of shorts. 1947 also saw the debut of Bootle Beetle one of Donald's bothersome bugs. Buzz Buzz the Bee first stung Donald in INFERIOR DECORATOR (1948). Continually confused and frustrated Humphrey the Bear first bumped into Donald in RUGGED BEAR (1953). He also went on to star in his own shorts with the park ranger, J. Audubon Woodlore.

MOONLIGHTING

When it comes to extracurricular activities, few superstars are as active as Donald. His image has been placed on almost every product imaginable. He even sports his own drink, Donald Duck Orange Juice. At one time there was even Donald Duck rice, Donald Duck bread, Donald Duck macaroni and Donald Duck straws! There's even a firm that issues an expensive line of limited edition, fine art lithographs featuring the Duck. Even at over $600 each they usually sell out before the printing!

1936 saw Donald debut in the Sunday comics' page. He got a daily strip in 1938. The artwork was supplied by Al Taliaferro who originated several key characters like Grandma Duck. Those strips appeared in over 200 papers by the early 1960s. The strips were discontinued by the studio in 1989.

He's been a standard in comic books since the late '30s. A publisher is currently producing deluxe hardcover collections of classic Duck comic book stories, done by ex-storyman Carl Barks exclusively for collectors. The new line of Disney comics, for the first time actually published by Disney, features the dynamic Duck in a number of titles.

SUPERSTAR QUALITY

Donald's recognition as a cartoon superstar is secure. He appears on more total feet of film than any other classic Disney character and his comic book career eclipsed Mickey Mouse's many years ago. His animated cartoons still bring joy to his old fans and to new generations who quickly discover why Donald is still the best animal quacker of them all.

CREATOR QUOTES

"I never really got any great salary at Disney, but the greatest payment for me was that this character became known all over the world." - Clarence Nash, the original voice of Donald Duck

"We had to pantomime pretty well in the drawing what the Duck was thinking or doing because if you were trying to do a gag or line of dialog, you were in trouble using just that voice." - Jack Hannah, director

"Donald Duck is a lovable twerp who never could stay out of trouble... and he usually brought it on himself." - Jack Hannah, director

"The bane of my life was getting anybody to understand the Duck." - Jack Hannah, director

"Who gets stuck with all that bad luck? No one, but Donald Duck." - Donald Duck theme song, lyrics by Oliver Wallace

"MODERN INVENTIONS - I think that that was the picture where the man in Canada laughed so hard he left his crutches behind him when he left the theater." - Clarence Nash, original voice of Donald Duck