Screen Shots
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Title Cards
"A Mickey Mouse Cartoon"
Synopsis
- Donald is supervising the ill-behaved orphans at Mickey's picnic and sticks to his task, even when the brats steal the food and give the duck a bee sandwich.
Characters
Credits
- Director : Ben Sharpsteen
- Animation
Videos
- United States
- Italy
Laserdiscs
- United States
DVD
- Disney Treasures : Mickey Mouse in Living Color
- Region 1 : United States
- Region 2 : France
- Region 2 : Germany
- Region 2 : Italy
- Region 2 : Sweden
- Region 2 : United Kingdom
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Region 1 : United States
- Cartoon Classics Favorites : Starring Mickey
Television
- The Ink and Paint Club : #14 : Early Donald
- Mickey's Mouse Tracks : Episode 37
- Donald's Quack Attack : Episode 9
Technical Specifications
- Color Type Technicolor
- Animation type Standard
- Sound mix Mono
- Aspect ratio 1.37 : 1
- Negative format 35mm
- Print format 35mm
- Cinematographic process Spherical
- Original language English
Released by United Artists Pictures
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From Jerry Edwards : I find little interesting in a bunch of kids being bratty. Just a continuation of the 1934 "Orphan's Benefit."
From Ryan : This short was kind of funny, but it did get a bit out of hand when the orphans kept giving Donald a hard time. How come they didn't do any of that stuff to Mickey? They were so sweet and gentle with Mickey, yet were bratty little creeps with Donald.
From Baruch Weiss : This isn't one of my favorite Mickey cartoons but I like watching it from time to time. The music is nicely done though. Like 'Orphans Benefit' it says in the opening titles "A Walt Disney Mickey Mouse" but the film focuses on Donald while Mickey is hardly in it. There is a scene where Mickey bumps into a tree causing all the orphans to fall on him. After that Mickey does not appear in the rest of the short; the cartoon focuses on Donald and the orphans.
From Dino Cencia : This short is really funny! My favorite part is when the bees were chasing Donald into a log and one orphan pushed a big rock to the end of the log to trap Donald and the bees and Donald is getting stung in the log. It would be funny if Huey, Dewey and Louie were in this short with the orphans, and then they be playing more tricks with Donald. I give this a 80.
Referenced Comments
- Mickey's Polo Team (1936)
- Orphans' Benefit (1941)
The plot is really just a setup for the gags, similar to the way the Fab Three shorts tend to be – Mickey and Donald have a job to do, and in the course of doing so, hilarity ensues. This time, it’s taking orphans for a picnic in the country. Not sure why Goofy misses out on this one, but be happy we get Donald along for the ride.
Gags here are really similar to that of Orphan’s Benefit, and in that way, you could consider this a sequel to that short. Just like before, the orphans are all designed to look like Mickey. And, like before, they take pleasure in antagonizing Donald Duck.
You can see the way this short will go from the very beginning. While the orphans are all packed into a truck, driven by Mickey, Donald is standing on top of the truck. It’s an appropriate spot for the person who will be the star of the show.
The remainder of the short is mainly composed of Donald trying to keep the orphans from stealing the picnic food, and failing miserably. There are some very creative gags, such as the orphans shooting arrows into the food and reeling it in, or swinging a rope swing down to steal a piece of cake right out of Donald’s hands.
Since Donald is taking center stage here, it’s the first time we’ve really seen the potential for a full Donald Duck short or series of shorts. His performances in On Ice or Mickey’s Service Station were very promising, but this is where you can see how Donald could carry a short on his own. His frustration and futile attempts to thwart the orphans are hilarious.
The ending gag of bees chasing Donald is well trod territory, but there’s a new twist, as the orphans stick a bee in a sandwich that Donald eats. Seeing the bee twist Donald around from the inside out is quite the sight to see.
Orphan’s Picnic is notable to me because it really seems like a passing of the baton. This is where we see Donald Duck emerging as Disney’s top cartoon star, and Mickey begins to fade more into the corporate symbol he is today. Even though he has a brief moment in the short, it’s not very funny, and honestly seems out of place next to Donald’s tirades. This is what I would point to if someone asked when Mickey stopped being the same.
From 411314 : Yes, definitely more of a Donald Duck toon then Mickey Mouse despite what it says at the beginning. This one made me feel so sorry for poor Donald! Those little orphans that look like Mickey are really cute, but they're also really mean!
From Mac : In this era Disney still only has two cartoon series: Silly Symphonies and Mickey Mouse Cartoons, but it's now clear to see that Mickey Mouse himself will not necessarily be the main character in a short that bears his name.
Still this cartoon is a good vehicle for Donald. My favourite gag is when the orphans first apologise to Donald – he immediately throws down the stick he was going to beat them with and picks up a bigger one!! I also enjoy the brief Mickey scene – it's not funny, but Mickey comes across as such a nice guy in this scene that I can't help but like him. It also provides a great contrast to how the orphans treat their two guardians.