First Television Showing First television showing : February 26, 2000

Synopsis

A technologically behind-the-times Donald is coerced by Daisy into buying a computer, or be labeled a "dweeb."

Characters

Donald Duck (Voice : Tony Anselmo)

Daisy Duck (Voice : Tress McNeille)

Mickey Mouse (cameo) (Voice : Wayne Allwine)

Goofy (cameo) (Voice : Bill Farmer)

Credits

Directors

Tony Craig

Roberts Gannaway

Writer : Henry Gilroy

Story Editor : Henry Gilroy

Television

Mickey Mouse Works : Season 2 : Episode 11

House of Mouse : "Dining Goofy"

Comments

From Patrick Malone : For everyone who has ever attempted to set up their own computer system. Donald finally catches up with the times and gets one so he can send Daisy an e-mail. It almost plays like a Goofy "How to" short; maybe that's what they had in mind at the beginning. It was great fun watching Donald unpack and try to assemble his system (including a surprise "mouse" which got a big laugh from me!) It was also good to see Microsoft get a gentle ribbing as Donald's "Doors 2000" operating system takes most of the day to boot up.

However, the highlight of the show was when Donald, taking a cue from the earlier Disney feature film "Tron", gets sucked into the computer itself and we are treated to a computer animated Doanld sequence. As expensive as it must have been to create, I wish it had lasted a bit longer. It seemed that just as soon as it was getting good, it was over. (Inside Joke : Note the names of the files in the computer : They are all names of Disney Animated Features such as "101 Dalmatians" and "Cinderella.") But it was such a surprise to see for what is supposed to be pedestrian Saturday morning cartooning.

And BTW ... how did Daisy's website get over a million hits in less than 5 minutes?

From J. D. Weil : Were you like this when you were a novice with a computer? In this one I could sympathize with the Duck. I've been mine for two years and still haven't figured it all out.

From Juan F. Lara : Computers are hard to set up. Downloading takes a very long time. Those gags feel like they're as old as rotary phones nowadays, and the makers resorted to their overused trademark of sounding off lists of stuff associated with the gags. A large part of this short was a drag.

But the short had plenty of highlights worth looking out for. I thought that it was an interesting detail that Donald had such antiquitated furnishings. Maybe because he's too impatient with changing things and so he settles for keeping his stuff the way they are. The ribbing he got over being a dweeb was funny. The short also had many good throwaway gags like the "Doors 2000" logo, the hands on the computer clock and Mickey Mouse's cameo. The cameo I REALLY liked though was by the "Song of the South" characters.

And I really loved the computer-animated scene. Donald's animation was outstanding. Since Donald's not a human the computer animation for him could be exagerrated and energetic. A big contrast with the atrophied characters in most computer animated TV shows. The options menu was hilarious. And it looked like Donald got sucked into the account of some Disney fanboy, as one window had a folder for each official feature.

From Lee Suggs : This is a very clever short. Daisy observes that Donald is stuck in the 19th century while everyone else has entered the 21st. She says she doesn't want such a dweeb as a boyfriend, and he better get a computer and e-mail her, or she's looking for a new boyfriend. Donald's attempt to buy and install a computer is hilarious. There is a great cameo by Mickey Mouse and best of all Donald gets sucked into the computer and is computer animated for awhile. (Check out the picture that Donald finally e-mails Daisy, its priceless.) A very fun short, it even has a happy ending.

From Mike : I saw the short on Disney's House of Mouse and it was quite funny when I heard the computer talking to Donald Duck calling his name "Dowold" It's funny that way.

From Rohan : This cartoon makes for animated computer hilarity. Donald is called "Dowold."

From Coyote : Oh dear.

After watching this I'd wonder whether disney would have turned in his grave. This is pure Microsoft propaganda and lacks a natural sense of humour which is based on materialism. I couldn't laugh about this post modern piece of crap. Also the animation quality is lacking, and I just don't understand the other viewers here. It looks worse than disney's 1920's movies. Sorry people, but it just isn't obvious this world has been contaminated with standardized computer crap like this.

From Baruch Weiss : While I am normally not a fan of these later day cartoons, I did not mind this one too much. As Patrick said in his comments up above it is like a how to cartoon only without Goofy. My Mom would enjoy this cartoon as she is a beginner at computers. The funniest part was where Donald inputs his name for voice recognition and the computer mispronounces his name and says "Dowold". One time I had a program on my old computer called simple text and it mispronounced my name. What is more, it even mispronounced "Reluctant Dragon" and instead said "Relooctant Draygon" Moreover, my siblings and I got a kick out of this, it mispronounced Spongebob and said "Spong eh bobe"! Anyway, as I stated above, I did not mind this short too much. In fact, it would be funny if the folks at the Disney studios did a cartoon starring Donald, where he has trouble with an Iphone!

From Dino Cencia : This is one of my favorite Donald Duck shorts. My favorite part in the short is when Donald gets sucked into the computer and he's animated. When Donald is animated, it reminds me the Playstation game called "Donald Duck Going Quackers." And in the computer Donald running and the arrow is chasing him poking him. Another part I like in this short is when the speaker calls Donald name Dowald. And at the ending when Donald Duck's website picture got a million hits, Daisy says "Look at you! What a dweeb!" Donald groans. Daisy: "But you're my dweeb." And she kisses him and Donald's happy. Then the speaker says "And you're my dweeb too, Dowald." Great Donald Duck and Daisy Duck cartoon. I give it a 100.

Referenced Comments

Modern Inventions (1937)

I have seen "computer.don" and would like to
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