"A Donald Duck Cartoon"

Release Date August 10, 1945

Synopsis

Donald's over-active imagination is inspired by scary stories on the radio and in books.

Characters

Donald Duck

Salesman

Dopey Dave

Paddy the Cop (H. U. Hennesy)

Colleen

Leslie J. Clarke

J. Harold King

Credits

Director : Jack Kinney

Animation

Andy Engman

John Sibley

Hal King

Milt Kahl

Story

Virgil Partch

Dick Shaw

Layout : Don DaGradi

Background : Nino Carbe

Music : Oliver Wallace

Inside Jokes

H. U. Hennesy is a play on the name of Disney artist Hugh Hennesy. J. Harold King most likely refers to director Jack King. Leslie J. Clarke is a play on the name of Disney artist Les Clarke.

Cut Scenes

Scenes where Donald is threatened with a knife and the cop is threatened with an axe have been cut.

Videos

United States

Cartoon Classics : First Series : Volume 3 : Scary Tales

Cartoon Classics : Second Series : Volume 13 : Donald's Scary Tales

Germany

Lachkonzert in Entenhausen

Italy

Paperino e i Racconti Misteriosi

Laserdisc

United States

Scary Tales

Donald's Scary Tales / Halloween Haunts

Japan

Scary Tales

Disney Cartoon Festival 4

Television

The Ink and Paint Club : #45 : More Donald

Donald's Quack Attack : Episode 5

Technical Specifications

Color Type : Technicolor

Animation type : Standard

Sound mix : Mono

Aspect ration : 1.37 : 1

Negative format : 35mm

Print format : 35mm

Cinematographic process : Spherical

Original language : English

Released by RKO Radio Pictures, Inc.

Comments

From Elizabeth Penrose : Like "Hockey Homicide" and other shorts from this year and later, this shows a Warner Brothers-style of gags: hard-edged and going for the punchline. This short isn't as effective as "Homicide." Donald's passive character -- he's almost a punching-bag for the detective -- goes against everything we know about him. Compared to the fast-moving, vivid characters that pop out of his book, he's dull and faint.

From Ryan : This is absolutely one of my favorite Donald Duck shorts. I enjoy all the humorous scene with those odd-looking characters. As Elizabeth Penrose pointed out, it seems similar to a Warner Brothers cartoon for some reason.

From Ted : Probably the most surreal Disney cartoon ever!! Rapid pacing and full of goofy details you catch with repeated viewings. By the way, the character voices on the radio sequence are supplied by an uncredited Doodles Weaver. The detective is played by Billy Bletcher, better known for his characters Big Bad Wolf, and Black Pete.

From Jennifer : Am I the only one, or does the character Colleen seem like maybe she was the 'original' Jessica Simpson?

From Baruch Weiss : I first saw this Cartoon on "Donald's Scary Tales." I now have it on "The Chronoligical Donald: Volume 2" where Leonard Maltin explains that the title is a play on the phrase "Goose Pimples." In fact, look at the title card and you'll see the word "Goose" crossed out and "Duck" in place of it! Anyway, this sure was a scary short for Disney. As mentioned before it's similar to a Warner Bros. Cartoon and I agree!

From Trae Robinson : This is the only cartoon where Donald doesn't lose his temper. In this cartoon, Donald seemed rather scared than angry. That's not the Donald we know.

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