WALT DISNEY TREASURES Vol.3, featuring Donald Duck on the cover (2008).
© Walt Disney Co.

Mania Grade: B+
Title: Walt Disney Treasures Volume 3: Donald Duck
Rated: G
Writer: Various
Director: Jack Hannah, Jack King
Distributor: Walt Disney Home Entertainment
Extras: "The Many Faces of Donald Duck", "Sculpting Donald", Still Frame Galleries, Easter Eggs

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WALT DISNEY TREASURES Volume 3: Donald Duck

The Disney Treasures Collections have been a huge boon to fans of classic animation. This is the third set in the Chronological Donald Duck series. This series is presenting every Donald Duck short in Chronological order. The third volume presents 30 new shorts from the years 1947 – 1950. Donald may not be the face of the Disney company like Mickey Mouse is, but he’s without a doubt their funniest characters as proven in these slapstick adventures. 

The cartoons have all been digitally mastered and look and sound as good as the day they first appeared in theaters. Director Jack Hannah is one of the real unsung heroes of golden age animation. You don’t frequently hear his name mentioned in the same breath as guys like Tex Avery, The Fleischers, or Chuck Jones, but Hannah was every bit the genius that they were. He had an impeccable sense of comedic timing and a biting sense of humor. As lovable as Donald was, he could be quite mean, especially to his nephews (Huey, Dewey, and Louie) and to the chipmunks, Chip & Dale. But Donald usually got his comeuppance in the end.

As with the other sets, film critic and historian, Leonard Maltin provides and introduction to the set which leads off with “Straight Shooters” finding Donald running a crooked shooting gallery carnival game as his nephews try to outsmart him to win some candy.

In “Sleepy Time Donald”, Donald is walking in his sleep but that doesn’t stop him from heading over to Daisy’s house for their date. Daisy has to guide Donald through one obstacle after another on their midnight time on the town date.

“Chip an’ Dale” isn’t the first appearance of the Chipmunks but it is the first in which they are referred to by name. This cartoon was nominated for an Academy Award for best short subject in 1948. Donald needs firewood and ends up chopping down the chipmunk’s home. But Chip & Dale are not going to give up without a fight. Fantastic short!

“Toy Tinkers” also features the Chipmunks and is one of those classic Disney Christmas cartoons that you just don’t see anymore. Chip & Dale notice all of the nuts and other treats that Donald had out for Christmas and they scheme to get their hands on them. This was also an Oscar-nominated short.

There are five cartoons that are not in the regular menu but instead are found in “From the Vault” An introduction from Maltin explains that these shorts could be offensive to some people and that you have to consider the time period in which they were produced. This is a case of Disney being FAR too politically correct. I’d hazard to guess that you might not have even noticed the “offensive scenes” had Maltin not warned you about them. These include scenes such as Donald and his nephews smoking cigars in “Donald’s Happy Birthday”; Donald firing a machine gun at an annoying bird in “Clown of the Jungle”; and a group of picnic crashing ants that are adorned like an African tribe in “Tea for 200”. Pretty tame stuff by today’s standards. 

If there is one disappointment to this third volume it’s the lack of extras compared to the first couple of sets. There are two featurettes: “The Many Faces of Donald Duck” which is a retrospective of Donald’s career with comments by several animation historians and “Sculpting Donald” an interview with current Disney Sculptor, Rubin Procopio. There are ten Easter eggs to be found on the two discs, each showing a different opening to the old Mickey Mouse Club show that featured Donald getting an unlucky surprise every time he hit the gong at the end of the theme. As with all the Disney Treasures sets, it comes in a collectible tin with a numbered certificate of authenticity. This set is limited to 50,000 copies. A couple of more extras would have moved this up to an A grade.