The Rescuers Down Under

Region 2 : Italy

The Rescuers Down Under

Television

The Ink and Paint Club : #42 : Goin' to the Zoo

Mickey's Mouse Tracks : Episode 6

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 Ryan : This is one of my favorite Donald shorts. It demonstrates how Donald can be as a parent (in this case to a baby kangaroo named Joey). After Donald signs a paper to adopt Joey, Joey drags Donald home. One part I find humorous is where Donald slips into his bear rug and fools Joey into believing that he is being attacked by a bear. Joey runs after the "bear" and starts pouncing on it. Other problems Donald has with the baby include the part when the baby eats some jam and Donald has to give him a bath. At the end, however, the adoption agency phones Donald and tells him that he should take a nap. Donald certainly is ready to take a nap after all that.

From Candy : I have always loved this cartoon for the great animation and the spunky character of Joey the kangaroo. I have always wondered about one scene in the cartoon. It almost looks like something has been edited out of it, but I can't be sure about it. There's a part in the cartoon where Joey is eating jam and Donald gets the phone call from the adoption agency telling him to give him a bath. The very next scene shows Joey standing in the corner, shaking his head "no" at Donald and giving him an angry look. It almost seems like there was another scene before this one, because we don't see how Joey got in the corner. He's mad at Donald, but the scene before this doesn't explain why he would be mad at him. So it seems like there was another scene before the one where he's shown standing in the corner. But it's not like I KNOW for sure that there was a scene that was cut out. There are many other cartoons that we know have been censored and edited for political reasons. I know that some cartoons have been edited because I've seen them on the Disney Channel back in the 80s when most of them weren't edited. If you've seen them in their original form you'd know if they've been cut. But there are some cartoons that have been edited long ago, and so few people have seen them in their original form. I'm just wondering if this cartoon, Daddy Duck, had another scene in it that has been edited out long ago and is now lost. I could be totally wrong about this. Maybe there's no edited scene. It just seems like there's something missing here. There's no transition scene from Donald talking on the phone to Joey standing in the corner. How did he get in the corner, and why is he there? It seems like there should be a scene before this one but it's not there. I bet something has been cut out, and it's been cut out a long time ago. I wonder if any Disney buffs out there know anything about it. Is there a missing scene or am I getting too wrapped up in details?

Donald Duck decides to adopt a baby this time around, but after given simple reminders, he is given a kangaroo named Joey. Once Joey sees who adopted him, he jumps on top of Donald and gives him a couple of kisses. Little did Donald know how much responsibility (and frustration) he had to take on. Of course we will never know if this kangaroo had any relation to those used in the 1935 classic "Mickey's Kangaroo."

Donald hops with Joey very briefly, and after holding hands, Donald has to hang on for dear life as Joey hops vigorously back to Donald's house. Immediately Donald is greeted by the first of several phone calls from the adoption center, double-checking to make sure Joey got home safely. Afterwhich, Donald begins to get angry when seeing the kangaroo hop like crazy on Donald's bed. Once Joey hops off, there was no stopping him as he runs over Donald twice and crashes into a glass of grape jam. Donald tells him no, and Joey imitates; notice the gag of jam being used as lipstick here.

Another phone call instructs Donald to give Joey a bath, but is hung up on when he tries to ask a question. At first, Joey refuses to take a bath, but wastes no time jumping into the pouch Donald is wearing. Still, Joey insists on not wanting a bath and does everything he could to not touch the water, frustrating Donald in the process. Finally, Joey's tail gets in the water, but his feet remain above water, so Donald plays "This Little Piggy" with Joey, and after the part where "the piggie stayed home", he tries dunking Joey into the water only to end up all wet himself, with Joey returning to Donald's pouch.

The next phone call tells Donald to dry Joey thoroughly. Meanwhile, Joey continues to hop through the house and even rug-to-rug, even in the most slippery conditions. At one point, Joey slid inside the mouth of a bearskin rug, causing him to immediately rush back into Donald's pouch, hiding for his life. So, Donald entertains Joey by pretending that he is fighting the bear. He swings the bearskin rug around and begins to fight. Unexpectedly, Donald decides to venture inside the rug, pretending that the bear ate him up, but in reality he used the rug as a bear costume. Joey is scared stiff at this point, but he then puts fear aside by grabbing a hot metal stick from a burning fireplace, with the intention of saving Donald. (Typical child psychology, eh?) Donald laughs hysterically but gets poked in the behind with the hot stick and gets clobbered continuously by Joey's feet and later a baseball bat.

After Donald answers the last phone call (with a bit of a roar), Joey slings a huge loveseat at him and Donald flies airborne out of his bear costume and into the rocking crib, originally set for Joey. The adoption center tells Donald to take a rest - and even though he angrily responds, Joey comes to Donald's side and hugs and kisses Donald, cheering him up as the cartoon closes.

Hey...good thing I am not ready for fatherhood just yet!

-- Tom Wilkins

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