Poster

The Eyes Have It

A Donald Duck Cartoon

Release Date : March 30, 1945

Running Time : 7:25

Synopsis

Donald learns hypnotism from a book and uses it on Pluto to make him believe he is a variety of animals, including one that bites back.

Characters

Pluto
Donald Duck

Credits

Director
Jack Hannah
Animation
Bob Carlson
Hugh Fraser
Don Patterson
John F. Reed
Backgrounds
Thelma Witmer
Layout
Yale Gracey
Story
Bill Berg
Ralph Wright
Music
Paul J. Smith

Video

Germany
Happy Birthday, Donald!
Donald 50 Verrückte Jahre
France
Bon Anniversaire Donald
Italy
I 50 Anni Folli di Paperino

Laserdiscs

Japan
Donald's Birthday Bash
Donald Duck's 50 Crazy Years

DVD

United States
Disney Treasures : Wave 5 : The Chronological Donald Volume 2
Return from Witch Mountain
Germany
Disney Treasures : Wave 5 : The Chronological Donald Volume 2

Television

Mickey's Mouse Tracks: Episode 3
Donald's Quack Attack: Episode 28

Technical Specification

Color Type: Technicolor
Animation Type: Standard animation
Sound Mix: Mono
Aspect Ratio: 1.37 : 1
Negative Format: 35mm
Print Format: 35mm
Cinematographic Process: Spherical
Original Language: English

Released by RKO Radio Pictures, Inc.

Comments

From Ryan Kilpatrick at The Disney Film Project : I talked the other day about how fun it was to see Donald Duck angry. It’s what I’ve come to expect from a Donald short. The Eyes Have It does not feature this aspect of Donald, and it suffers for that.

Fortunately, there is enough fun in the short to make up for a lackluster Donald. While this has been labeled a Donald short, Pluto really steals the show in this one. Pluto is convinced by Donald to act like different animals, because of Donald’s hypnosis glasses. Seeing Donald put the whammy on Pluto is quite funny.

The animation of Pluto as the different animals makes the short fun. He starts off as a mouse, with his ears curling up to make “mouse ears” and sniffing around the floor. The work of the animators to take Pluto’s familiar form and still make it into something that is recognizable as a mouse is very inventive. Not just the physical characteristics, but the movements and attitude match as well.

A highlight of the entire short is when Donald turns Pluto into a chicken. Pluto takes to the henhouse with no difficulty, sitting and gabbing with the girls. The mere sight of Pluto sitting in a nest with the other hens is hilarious. It’s a definite improvement over the turtle that occurs right before that.

The ending comes with Pluto turned into a lion right as he’s about to face off with a rooster. It backfires on Donald, of course, as Pluto chases him throughout the yard and the house. Pluto thinking he’s a lion leads to a lot of destruction, reminiscent of the old Mickey and Pluto short where Pluto would destroy everything in the end by chasing a cat.

I think that’s the biggest issue with this short – it feels more like something that should be a Mickey and Pluto short, not a Donald Duck cartoon. At the time, Donald was more popular than Mickey, but from a story standpoint, it would have made more sense to have the main mouse. Still, just the animation work of seeing Pluto morph into different forms makes The Eyes Have It worth watching.

From Thad Komorowski : Very funny cartoon with Donald and Pluto. The scenes with Pluto (thinking he's a lion) chasing Donald has a very catchy music score, very similar to the Columbia theatrical cartoons at the time, IMO.
From Greedo : I think the image of Pluto eating those crackers is the best.
From Ryan : I find this to be an entertaining Donald cartoon. Donald has just received a pair of hypnotism goggles and plans to use them on Pluto. One gag I enjoy is when Donald hypnotizes Pluto into thinking he is a mouse and Pluto goes into the kitchen and eats the cheese. The sequence in the chicken house is funny too.
From Baruch Weiss : I find this to be an entertaining Donald cartoon as well. Donald uses hypnotism on Pluto and convinces him he is a mouse, turtle, chicken and finally a lion! I enjoyed this cartoon and I liked the ending where Pluto wakes up Donald, shows his smile after which Donald (thinking it is the lion) runs like crazy off into the distance.
From J. P. Hope : I like this short because of the part where Pluto (thinking he's a chicken) chases the worm through the garden and kicks Donald's flowers and angers Donald, the part where the rooster gets irritated by the noises coming from the henhouse and yells" QUIET!", but to no avail, and the part where Pluto (thinking he's a lion) ends up on the warpath against Donald duck and scares Donald out of his wits!

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