From Taylor Kerekes : This short's pretty
good. Although it isn't one of my favorites, I find it not-so-boring. This
is what happens in the short: In a cabin in the woods, Donald is dressed
in a chef's apron and hat. He is singing "Zip-a-dee-doo-dah!" into the kitchen
to check on the dinner. In the oven, the chicken is pipin' hot and lookin'
delicious! Donald tastes the soup and it's also delicious, then he leaves.
Meanwhile, outside in the woods, Donald's nephews are playing Indians. One
of the nephews shoots an arrow with a boxing glove and it hits the other
nephews into a mud puddle and that one nephew joins the party. On the porch,
Donald rings a triangle in order to call the boys that it's dinnertime. Then
the nephews cry out "Food!" and they zoom in on Donald, into the cabin, and
start fighting over the chicken. Donald stops them and tells them that they're
dirty and then orders to march straight to the bathroom and wash off. (Parents
and gaurdians often complain that their children eat like pigs. Now that's
not nice to say about the children. They don't eat like pigs, they just look
like pigs.) As the nephews trudge away from the table, Donald growls, forcing
the nephews to speed up to the bathroom. They wash off at a sink, in a shower,
and even use a towel! Then they race downstairs and all ready for dinner.
As Donald serves his nephews their dinner, he notices that one nephew's hand
is still dirty! Donald grabs his nephew's hand shouting "What?!" then says
"So..." and chases them up to their room and locks them in.
As Donald starts down the stairs, he slips on a toy wagon which rolls him
down the stairs and into the fireplace, covering him in soot. Meanwhile,
Donald's nephews start to cook up a plan, and I don't blame them. After all,
they went upstairs without their supper. But Donald didn't go without his.
That's his reward for being a permed parent. When he hears his nephews whining
upstairs, he tells them to shut up, then takes a bite of his chicken leg.
Then he realizes that without his nephews, he's pretty lonely. Then he thinks
that he's on vacation. (Maybe he's on vacation, but my parents are working.
And Donald's nephews are working on him.) Anyway, when the nephews hear him
coming up the stairs, they turn of the light. Donald comes in and turns it
back on and sees 3 lumps in the bed. And thinking they're his nephews, he
rubs them and a mousetrap snaps on his hand! He cries out, "YEEOOW!!" and
snaps the trap off...
From Baruch Weiss : Was it just me that noticed
that Donald's theme was used for the opening of this short and Goofy's closing
theme was used at the closing of this short?
From Candy : This is one of my favorite Donald
Duck cartoons. There is a suggestion that the story takes place on Thanksgiving.
The nephews are playing indians, Donald is making turkey, and he says at
one point in the cartoon that they're on vacation. Donald was usually presented
as an unreasonable authority figure in the cartoons, and he is kind of
unreasonable in this one. He doesn't put up with much. He orders the nephews
angrily to go wash up, and he stands over them with his arms folded, watching
them as they drag themselves up to the bathroom. But they get back at him
by pretending to wash up and they only do a halfway job of it. When Donald
sees that they still have mud on their hands, he chases them upstairs and
locks them in their room. So he's punishing them by sending them to their
room without their dinner. It's not just that they didn't wash up like he
told them to; he was mad because they thought they could fool with him. I
thought this was an interesting comment on how some parents deal with their
kids. Donald was the impatient, quick-tempered type who couldn't deal with
any kind of opposition from kids.
But the nephews are resourceful, and they get back at him again. They make
Donald think that he has died in an accident and they dress him up like an
angel. All the cartoons symbolized a character dying by depicting him as
an angel. I know that this was just a symbol, but it seemed to present the
idea that people turned into angels when they died. Films have also presented
this idea, like the Christmas classic It's a Wonderful Life. I remember seeing
another cartoon that was similar to this one, a Herman and Katnip cartoon
where the mouse dresses the cat like an angel and tells him that he has died.
I haven't seen that cartoon in years. Anyway, this Donald cartoon was funny
because it showed how Donald and his nephews got on each other's nerves and
the kinds of things they did to each other.
From Nikita : I remember seeing this short
when I was just a two year old! When the nephews came in and Donald roared
for them to wash their hands, they took off upstairs like a shot, and then
it was SO funny when he chased them outside and that boulder fell down next
to him. Then the nephews get this "awesome plan" to dress him up like an
angel and make him think he's dead by taking a pillow, brooms, and his shirt
to look like his body. lol Then Donald's like, "Uh-oh!" and he really does
think he's dead, but it's when he tries to fly with his "angel wings" and
then he falls down and finds out it was all just a trick. And of course,
Huey, Dewey and Louie are back home chowing down, and then the door slams
open and, "Hey! Unca Donald's here!" I give this short a 10 all the way!
From Mattias Jardeby : This has to be the
absolute best cartoon ever made.
Every detail is so wery thought out, the sound effects are dead-on and the
story is absolutely brilliant.
And of course, it has that mean quality that I like...
Perfection.
From Kendra : Call me crazy, but this cartoon
makes me cry. I haven't seen it in years, but just thinking of it makes me
cry. As other people have mentioned, Huey, Dewey and Louie are sent to bed
without their supper, so to get back at Donald, they trick him into thinking
that he is dead. It could just be me, but I find this entire sequence in
which Donald thinks that he is dead, incredibly somber.
Donald is completely convinced that he is shuffling off this mortal coil,
and he kisses each of his nephews goodbye and pats them on the head. Huey
gives him a harp to play in heaven, and another unseen nephew hoists Donald
up in the air. Donald waves and says, "Goodbye forever..." sorrowfully as
the boys run off. Donald is left alone, and plays a sad little tune on his
harp while wiping tears out of his eyes. It's just so sad to think that he
actually thinks that he has passed on and that he's never going to see his
nephews again, and that he's crying about it.
Maybe I'm just a soft-hearted ninny. *sniffle* 10 out of 10
From Trae Robinson : I noticed this cartoon is very similar to "Donald's Off Day" where Huey, Dewey and Louie play a practical joke on Donald thinking there's something wrong with him. I'll never forget the part where Donald rides down the stairs on their toy wagon and crashes into the fireplace. I also think this a Thanksgiving episode because Donald prepares a nice dinner.
From Dino Cencia : Another great short of Donald and his nephews. I think that this is a Thanksgiving short cause Donald prepares a nice dinner like Thanksgiving. And this short will be on Chronological Donald Volume 3 coming on December 11, 2007. Yay! The short years will be from 1947 through 1950. One other thing, this DVD should be 1947 through like the end of Donald's last cartoon or something. My favorite part was when Donald stormed into the house and takes the appreance of the devil. And chases the nephews into the woods as the cartoon ends. Great Donald short that I really love and enjoy it. 1000 out of 1000.
