DONALD'S DIARY chronicles his meeting with Daisy...and
his
descent into the horrors of matrimony.
Daisy gives a terrific performance in what would prove to be
her
final significant role in a Disney cartoon. Huey, Dewey &
Louie
play her little brothers this time around, not Donald's
nephews.
Careful watching of the film shows that Donald & Daisy finally
met
in the Japanese Tea Garden of San Francisco's Golden Gate
Park.
Clarence Nash provides the voice for the male Ducks, but
the
entries to the Diary are read with a Ronald Colman-style
sophistication, a nice touch.
Walt Disney (1901-1966) was always intrigued by pictures
&
drawings. As a lad in Marceline, Missouri, he sketched
farm
animals on scraps of paper; later, as an ambulance driver
in
France during the First World War, he drew comic figures on
the
sides of his vehicle. Back in Kansas City, along with artist
Ub
Iwerks, Walt developed a primitive animation studio that
provided
animated commercials and tiny cartoons for the local movie
theaters. Always the innovator, his ALICE IN CARTOONLAND
series broke ground in placing a live figure in a cartoon
universe.
Business reversals sent Disney & Iwerks to Hollywood in
1923,
where Walt's older brother Roy became his lifelong business
manager & counselor. When a mildly successful series with
Oswald The Lucky Rabbit was snatched away by the distributor,
the character of Mickey Mouse sprung into Walt's imagination,
ensuring Disney's immortality. The happy arrival of sound
technology made Mickey's screen debut, STEAMBOAT WILLIE
(1928), a tremendous audience success with its use of
synchronized music. The SILLY SYMPHONIES soon appeared,
and
Walt's growing crew of marvelously talented animators were
quickly conquering new territory with full color, illusions of
depth
and radical advancements in personality development, an arena
in
which Walt's genius was unbeatable. Mickey's feisty, naughty
behavior had captured millions of fans, but he was soon to
be
joined by other animated companions: temperamental Donald
Duck, intellectually-challenged Goofy and energetic Pluto. All
this
was in preparation for Walt's grandest dream - feature
length
animated films. Against a blizzard of doomsayers, Walt
persevered and over the next decades delighted children of
all
ages with the adventures of Snow White, Pinocchio, Dumbo,
Bambi & Peter Pan. Walt never forgot that his fortunes were
all
started by a mouse, or that childlike simplicity of message
and
lots of hard work always pay off.
company.
Advertise on IMDb.
License our content.
