Poster

Up a Tree

A Donald Duck Cartoon

Release Date : September 3, 1955

Running Time : 6:29

Synopsis

Chip 'n' Dale once again try to save their tree home from lumberjack Donald. Donald, in return, shows us how many ways he can fall of the side of a tree.

Characters

Donald Duck
Chip 'n' Dale

Credits

Director
Jack Hannah
Animation
Bob Carlson
Al Coe
Volus Jones
Bill Justice
Backgrounds
Claude Coats
Effects Animation
Dan MacManus
Layout
Yale Gracey
Story
Milt Schaffer
Dick Kinney
Music
Oliver Wallace

Video

United States
Cartoon Classics : First Series : Volume 1 : Chip 'n' Dale with Donald Duck
Germany
Die Abenteuer von A-Hörnchen und B-Hörnchen
Donald Duck Geht Nach Wildwest
France
Tic et Tac
Les Aventures de Tic et Tac
Italy
Paperino nel Far West
Le Avventure di Cip e Ciop

CED

United States
Cartoon Classics - Chip 'n' Dale

Laserdiscs

Chip n' Dale with Donald Duck
The Adventures of Chip 'n' Dale
Japan
Donald Duck : A Star is Born
Donald Duck Goes West

DVD

United States
Disney Treasures : Wave 8 : The Chronological Donald Volume 4
Germany
Chip 'n' Chap : Volume 1 : Lusitige Streiche
France
Tout le Monde aime Tic & Tac Volume 1
Sweden
Piff & Puff : Volume 1 : Galen i Piff och Puff
United Kingdom
Chip 'n' Dale : Volume 1 : Here Comes Trouble

Television

Mickey's Mouse Tracks: Episode 20
Donald's Quack Attack: Episode 58
Walt Disney Presents: Adventures of Chip 'n' Dale
House of Mouse: Season 3 - Episode 11

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 Tom Wilkins : Donald never seems to win against Chip 'n' Dale, so this time he tries some northern California luck by playing the lumberjack. As he climbs up his first tree - the one the Chip 'n' Dale are residing in, the chipmunks are awakened by being spiked by Donald's sharp cleats. Dale lets Chip know that something is up outside and Chip gets clubbed with the wooden handle of Donald's saw. With Chip busy, Dale looks up to see Donald climbing the tree and exclaims, "It's a duck...with a big fanny!" Certainly this was one of the cutest lines I could remember from any Disney cartoon. Chip looks up and gets greeted with sawdust when seeing Donald sawing the top of the tree. He imitates what is happening outside to Dale, and Dale, with despair written all over his face, packs up his nuts and immediately looks to head for new shelter, but Chip stands up for the two of them and tells Dale, "We're not moving...he is!" Thus, Chip defies gravity by walking straight up the tree and immediately detaches Donald's rubber strap, and down the hatch he goes.

Donald tries again to climb the tree, only causing minor injury to Chip when he steps in the hole, then consequently on him. Dale adds more insult by clubbing Chip when he meant to nail Donald's foot. However, Chip alertly lifts the rubber strap up, causing Donald to saw that off - and again, down he goes. This time, he was saved by a short branch until one of the two drop an acorn, causing Donald to fall as the branch breaks. Somehow he lands with his feet arched, but as they flatten to the ground, Donald suffers intense pain by holding his right foot and did not help himself in any way by using that foot to kick the tree after that. What was he thinking?

Donald persisted by using a chain strap the next time around, hoping to get the job done. Again, Chip was one step ahead, lifting the strap above the cut just as Donald was yelling "Timber!" So down he went with the top of the tree burying him. Through all of this, he still had no idea that Chip 'n' Dale were totally behind this until he picked up a side root (shaped as a phone) and heard the commotion the chipmunks were having by mocking Donald's maneuvers. Once Donald figured this out by taking a peek in the chipmunks' hole, this really meant war.

This time, Donald decides to saw their home in half, but brilliant legwork by the chipmunks prevented the job from being done. Dale tells Chip to put the sawblade through the open crack, sending Donald to a smoother ride down to the ground, yet unappreciative of imitating onionskin paper in the process. Infuriated by this, Donald role-plays Paul Bunyan and chops the tree down, but not all the way. Somehow, super-inhumane chipmunk strength brings the tree upright, but Dale, in his usually clumsy manner, leans on the side and causes the tree to go down, but again not all the way.

I uncovered a very interesting blooper in this scene. The floor is hollow with no median all through the film, but after the second time the tree falls, notice how Chip 'n' Dale are holding up the tree with their arms and pushing with their legs. This happens just before Donald decides to take the tree out of its misery by pounding it down, but again, Dale does the honors by ever-so-slightly pounding the tree, causing it to finally snap. Needless to say, Donald finally got his log.

But Chip 'n' Dale were not going to let their home be destroyed by an unforgiving sawmill. As Donald rides the log down to the mill, Chip 'n' Dale take a quick skyride over to one of the curves, and about halfway to the mill, they take a hammer, pull apart a nail and cause a very unwelcomed detour. Somehow Donald manages to get off the log and into his car, with the log subsequently rubbernecking. The chipmunks pull apart a rock, and as it rolls, it hits the front of the log, immediately transforming the car into a vehicular log holder.

As Chip 'n' Dale are laughing hysterically at the pranks, Donald is suffering his high-speed nightmare chase with the log. After going through a mine, the log comes out with the front holding dynamite. Running for his life, Donald makes it to his house, clears everything away from its path as it goes through the front door and out the back. Little did Donald know that the log was about to be slingshoted back to his house. When one of the chipmunks informed Donald that the log was about to target his house, Donald tried to shove the house over, but the other chipmunk moved the dynamite to the other side of the log. (The dynamite was again in the front moving forward.) The house had absolutely no chance as it exploded into four sets of burnt toothpicks upon contact, imitating a similar end result of Dragon Around from a year and a half earlier.

A bummed, dejected, and motionless Donald could only hear the words of Chip 'n' Dale on his shoulder exclaim, "Aw, that's too bad...we're so sorry!" They obviously meant to do it by their closing reaction.

From Ad : I recently saw this short on the Disney channel in the U.K with a small cut in the soundtrack. Dale just said "it's a duck" without saying "with a big fanny". This cut was probably made because in the U.K "fanny" is a slang term for a certain part of a lady's anatomy.
From Dan : In terms of spectacular action and funny gags this short should rank as one of Disney's most entertaining ones as it is very fast moving and undoubtedly funny. However, I have always thought of the ending of this short as extremely cruel. Chip an Dale have always had the tendency to be unappealing because of their cruelty. The ending disturbed me when I saw this short as a small child and I still find the cruelty in its dark humor repelling.
From Baruch Weiss : I own this cartoon along with 6 others on videocassette on the first volume of "Cartoon Classics" released in the early 1980's. I mentioned in a previous comment that I'm not crazy for them except for the last one Out of Scale, but this one wasn't too bad, but the end where both chipmunks stand on Donald's shoulder and say "Aw that's to bad, we're so sorry" (rather then their old dialogue like "He's a big baboon of an ape come on and take a look" "Oh boy I sure took care of him and was his face red", etc.) after his house was destroyed was really cruel. Poor Donald, the most popular character in the Disney canon hardly wins the day unlike Bugs Bunny who usually wins the day!
From J. P. Hope : That's Donald! Always falling out of trees! I especially like it when the fallen tree sends Donald's house flying and Donald's house explodes, much to Donald's sadness.
From Trae Robinson : This cartoon was featured in a episode of "House of Mouse" about Chip and Dale in full screen.

Submit Your Comments

(Note: you must be logged in to submit comments)

Referenced Comments