Take A Look at Disney

9/3/14

Classic Shorts Showcase: Donald's Nephews








Hello  & welcome back to  A Look at Disney and  Classic Shorts  Showcase.  And today, we are taking a look at the  first animated appearance of  Huey, Dewey, & Louie.  The triplets were originally  created for the Silly Symphonies comic strips, where they were sent to live with their uncle after landing their father in the hospital,  in this short, however it is not stated as to why their mother is sending them to Donald.   With that out of the way, let's  see what these troublemakers have in store for their Uncle Donald.



The Plot


Donald's  sister, Dumbella  sends her boys to visit her little angels to spend the day with Donald but things  don't  go so well as the boys cause trouble as they  arrive on tricycles playing polo  and  starting  causing  all sorts  of mayhem.






Donald  finds a book  on Modern  Child Training (keep in mind that this short came out in 1938, so  the book would be outta day  now).    And uses the book  to try to  take care of the boys  such as using music but that doesn't work. 




Then  Donald  tries  to use  food  but  the boys  fight  over  the meal  and  the  final  page  in the book  says to arouse  sympathy and Donald accepts this and tries it but  the boys once again trick him and give him a piece of pie filled with hot mustard.





Donald  finally loses  his  temper  and starts  tearing the book  apart  after seeing this quote.



After all, little children are only angels without wings


Donald  goes  into one  of his famous  explosive  rages  and tears the book to shreds.   That's one of the things I liked about this short because when I thought Donald was about to lose it at the dinner scene, when the boys gave him the pie,  he kept his cool  and he kept his cool throughout  most of the short and  it wasn't until the last quote that he saw that sent him over the edge. And honestly, he had every right to lose his temper because the boys were brats.  Granted,  Donald vs.  his nephews  went on to become  a famous set up for Donald shorts but the odd thing  is  most  of the shorts like that I recall usually put  Donald in the antagonistic role and had you rooting for the boys whereas here in this short,  the boys were clearly the antagonists and the short wanted you to sympathize with Donald.   However,   that isn't  always the case but  sometimes   the  Donald Vs. Nephews shorts would also  give you reasons to root for either side



Characters 


Donald Duck voiced by Clarence "Ducky" Nash












I felt   bad  for Donald in this short  as  he was going through Hell and back with what his  nephews put him through and he really tried to keep  his cool  and be a good uncle  to them and when he finally  lost  it,  he had  every right to be  angry.



Huey,  Dewey, &  Louie  voiced  by Clarence "Ducky"  Nash












The boys were  pretty close to being complete monsters  in this short with how they treated their uncle.  They were just cruel. And   if  I were Donald,  I would've snapped faster than he  had. I still liked  them   but  I must  admit  that  I didn't  find them as entertaining  as I do in their later appearances.



My  Final Thoughts

At best,  this short is just okay.   It's  not bad but I don't really feel a need to return to it.  I enjoyed it but it's not the best short using Donald Vs. Nephews.  It was a good first introduction for these characters and I'm glad to have seen it but that's really the only thing that I have gotten out of it.   

No comments:

Post a Comment