Donald's Dinner Date

    A Donald Duck Cartoon

    Release Date : September 18, 1999

    Synopsis

    Donald must restrain his temper on a dinner date with Daisy, even though the incompetent Goofy is their waiter.

    Characters

    Goofy
    Donald Duck
    Daisy Duck

    Credits

    Bloopers

    When Goofy spins the table, the steak is clearly in front of Daisy when it stops, but is in Donald's place in the return scene. Also, when the gag with Goofy holding the huge pile of plates ends (without the plates falling) he is shown with only a pile of four or five plates. What happened to the rest of them?

    DVD

    United States
    Disney Treasures : Wave 8 : The Chronological Donald Volume 4

    Television

    Mickey Mouse Works: Season 2 - Episode 2
    House of Mouse: Season 2 - Episode 2

    Technical Specification

    Comments

    From Patrick Malone : I could have been impressed by this short if it hadn't been a matter of having seen it all before. Donald has to try to hold his temper in order to go out with Daisy. But nothing new is developed as far as either Donald or Daisy's personality is concerned. And even the ending is predictable if you're familiar with some of the classic shorts such as Cured Duck.

    But in the end one wonders if this is actually a Donald short as Goofy gets most of the better gags (although none are actually too funny) and all that is left for Donald and Daisy to do is react. If their reaction is the point of this short, and supposed to be the main running gag ... well, like I said at the start, we've been there before.

    From J. D. Weil : The premise of this short is laid out right off the bat. Daisy won't go out with Donald until he can control his temper. 'Nuff said. We know what's going to happen especially when Goofy's the waiter at the restaurant they got to, but surprise it's Daisy that blows her top first, then Donald.

    I've always felt that Daisy had more potential as a comedienne than Minnie (as an example, I point to Donald's Dilemma and Sleepy Time Donald) but in this this short the possilbilties are wasted. This cartoon needed a director in the order of Jack King to balance Daisy's impatience with Donald's angst. As for Goofy, well I don't know how King would have directed Goofy as he never made a Goofy short, but Jack Kinney would have supberb with Goofy's slapstick antics. So this cartoon should have started out with some decent direction and a pair of Jacks.

    From Juan F. Lara : At first this short was about Donald trying to keep his temper. Then midway the short switched to Daisy about to lose her temper while Donald was having a good time. A short with the roles reversed between the Ducks could've been a good short. But here the shift in focus was abrupt and without any setup, like the makers only then decided to switch to Daisy.

    I didn't care for Toon City's style of animation. The characters looked like they didn't have any mass. I especially felt this way about Donald's and Daisy's fits at the end, where they looked like blotches smeared on the background.

    They also reused some music from Donald's Shell Shots. (Music that I've grown to dislike over time.) This music, the animation, and sudden shift in focus all made this short seem very sloppy.

    From Lee Suggs : This short is based on a 1945 Classic short called Cured Duck. In that short Donald destroys Daisy's door (in his usual fit of rage) and she refuses to go out with him unless he gets control of his temper. He does this through a mail-order anger management course. Donald's interaction with the recorded course is quite amsusing. Here they take the same premise, but skip the course and have Donald prove himself on a date. (You think the Ducks and the Mice would get tried of dating after about 70 years!) The Classic Short was one of the best of the Donald shorts, this short falls far short of it. I think the main problem is the pacing. The short seems to be a series of unconnected episodes, with Goofy (as a waiter) trying to tie them together. It just doesn't happen, and the whole short feels like an idea that isn't working. Some nice gags for Goofy, but overall a below average short.
    From Baruch Weiss : This short has a strong connection with the 1945 classic Cured Duck. Maybe the staff will do a cartoon with Donald taking an anger management class.

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