Poster

Donald's Diary

A Donald Duck Cartoon

Release Date : March 5, 1954

Running Time : 7:13

Synopsis

Donald finds out what happens when his dreams come true and he finally gets married to Daisy.

Characters

Donald Duck
Daisy Duck
Huey, Dewey and Louie

Credits

Director
Jack Kinney
Animation
John Sibley
Ken O'Brien
Harry Holt
Edwin Aardal
Backgrounds
Ralph Hullet
Effects Animation
Dan MacManus
Layout
Bruce Bushman
Story
Brice Mack
Dick Kinney
Music
Edward Plumb

Inside Jokes

In one scene, Donald is seen carving his and Daisy's initials into a tree. The camera pulls back and we see where all of Daisy's previous boyfriends have done the same on the opposite side of the tree. The names of some of the old boyfriends are names of the animators.
A sign on a pawnshop door reads "Uncle Ray's Loans." This might be a rather crossed reference to Walt's early days when his brother Ray and Uncle Robert loaned him money to get started with Laugh-O-Grams and the "Alice" series.

Bloopers

Watch the end when Daisy first wakes Donald up. Daisy is wearing her blue dress, after Donald screams and crashes through the wall, Daisy has apparently changed into her red dress!

Video

United States
Starring Donald and Daisy
Mickey Mouse and Donald Duck Cartoon Collections Volume 2
Germany
That's Donald
Hier ist Donald
France
Donald Vedette de Television
Italy
Io Paperino
Paperino Piume Guai e Simpatia
Da Disney con Amore

CED

United States
Disney Cartoon Parade Volume 4

Laserdiscs

Mickey Mouse and Donald Duck Cartoon Collections Volume 1
Starring Donald and Daisy / Starring Pluto and Fifi
Japan
Hello! Donald
Starring Donald and Daisy
This is Your Life Donald Duck

DVD

United States
Disney Treasures : Wave 8 : The Chronological Donald Volume 4
Classic Cartoon Favorites : Volume 10 : Best Pals : Donald and Daisy
Canada
Classic Cartoon Favorites : Volume 11 : Best Pals : Donald and Daisy

Television

The Ink and Paint Club: Episode 46: Disney Dreams
Mickey's Mouse Tracks: Episode 1
Donald's Quack Attack: Episode 39

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

Comments

From Taylor Kerekes : This was a wonderful short, and did a great job of being good and interesting. One part that liked was Donald and Daisy sitting at the dinner table, looking at each other lovingly. I think Daisy looked prettier in her red dress than in her blue dress. The narrator had a good voice while telling the story. I dislike the part when Donald opens Daisy door, someone squirts water at him.
From Danny Paulson : One of the all time best of Donald Duck. A Ten! Geared more to adults than kids...the story of Daisy "catching her man" and marrying Donald and Donald's nightmare of married life really begins! A great parody/spook/satire on married life.
From Kenneth : This is a great short. But, since this short was directed by Jack Kinney, It's not very hard to Imagine Goofy in place of Donald here. Donald does seem somewhat out of place here as a harried husband and Regular suburbanite, Kind of like Just about any Goofy Cartoon from the 50's. Jack Hannah was probably doing another project so he couldn't direct this cartoon. Also Donald's Last cartoons (How to Have an Accident at Work, Donald in Mathemagic Land, The Litterbug, Steel and America, Donald's Fire Survival Plan) seem to follow a Goofy-esque Mold too, But by then, Jack Hannah left Disney to go work for Walter Lantz (thus Ranger Willoughby). I especially like the end of this short.
From Candy : I love this cartoon. It's one of the last Donald Duck cartoons they made at the Studio. In this last cartoon, Donald finally marries Daisy. It's similar to an old Mickey Mouse cartoon where he dreams that he marries Minnie and they have a ton of kids. As a woman, I find it kind of funny that both of these cartoons portray marriage from the man's point of view, not from the woman's. There's a scene where Donald tries to sneak out of the house and Daisy grabs him by the neck and puts him in the stocks so he will do the dishes. He goes to read his paper and she takes his chair and tells him to take out the garbage. I don't know of any man alive who enjoys taking out the garbage. It's very interesting that Donald's experience of a bad marriage with Daisy involves being forced to do the housework like a slave. Who was the one who traditionally did all the housework? The wife, of course. When the man has to do the work he doesn't like it. He feels like he's being treated like a slave. But it's perfectly okay for him to expect his wife to do it. After all, housework is woman's work, isn't it? Yeah, I'm being sarcastic. This cartoon illustrates the classic double standard. Men were expected to go to work and women were expected to do housework and take care of the kids. There was a distinct division of labor.

I also liked the more adult-oriented humor of the cartoon. In one scene, Daisy notices that her engagement ring has made her finger turn green, a sign that it is a cheap ring. I didn't understand this part until I asked my mother about it. It's not something that a kid would understand. I was a teenager when I first saw the cartoon, and I didn't understand it then, either. Maybe teenage girls in the 50s would understand this joke. There's other grown-up jokes in it, like a group of sailors waving good-bye to Daisy as she leaves the church after her wedding. This was kind of racy for a Disney cartoon. It suggested that Daisy had been promiscuous in her youth. Daisy Duck had been a loose woman! How did that scene get past Walt?

From Baruch Weiss : I first saw this short on a home video called "Starring Donald and Daisy." Out of the 3 cartoons on that video this one was my favorite because of the music.

From Trae Robinson : Daisy's voice sounded really different in this cartoon. She sounds like one of those classic movie actresses. This is also her last appearance and Huey, Dewey and Louie's last appearance.
From Alexander Komar : The Disney staff mentioned on the tree are X (Xavier Atencio), Sib (John Sibley), Jack (Jack Kinney or Jack Hannah), Fred (Fred Moore), Nick (Nick George), Ed (Edward Plumb or Ed Aardal), Dan (Dan MacManus), Bruce (Bruce Bushman), Hugh (Hugh Hennesy), Al (Al Bertino or Al Dempster), and Harry (Harry Holt)

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