Happy Birthday, Mr. Duck

Today is the official birthday of that wacky quack-up, Donald Duck. To celebrate, here's part of a profile of Donald I wrote for the Disney Standard Character Guidebook, which I had the honor of writing. It's used by Disney Consumer Products and Disney Licensees (Hallmark, Mattel, etc.) in creating art and stories and toys and just about anything involving Mickey and his pals—Minnie, Goofy, Pluto, let's not forget the all-too-often-forgetten Daisy, and of course the birthday boy himself—the most well-known and beloved collection of characters in the world.

Hey Kids! No School Tomorrow!

A little known footnote of the Disney theatrical roster, feature- or featurette-length compilations of cartoon shorts were a way to repackage the cartoons and satisfy the demand for Mickey and his pals. Thanksgiving weekend of course means four days of no school so it’s naturally prime time to pack movie theaters full of kiddies. In 1953, when this Thanksgiving cartoonarama were released, the Disney theatrical animated short was on its last legs and the following year Disney entered series television with a regular showcase for his animation. Cartoon compilations like this was another way to showcase classic cartoons while giving theatres the opportunity to tap into the matinee audience, which of course expanded past Saturday afternoon during the Thanksgiving school break. This particular poster offers its own pleasures with that wonderful art—definitely something to be thankful for.