Don's Fountain of Youth

What a clever idea. Donald, fed up with his nephew's lack of anything but reading comic books, decides to teach them a lesson. When he come upon a fountain that was mistaken for the fountain of youth. He convinces the boys that he is getting younger and younger, until he is an egg (which he steals from a female alligator). But eventually the alligator wants to get into the act. From here on it gets to be the same old chase thing.

While on vacation in Florida, Donald Duck fools his nephews into thinking he's turned into a baby due to having stepped in a fountain of youth. It's a great premise, but then this short makes a complete U-turn and spends most of it's time with Donald and the boys being chased by a crocodile. Eventually the film runs out of steam and ends very abruptly. Donald's done better.

Donald is taking his three nephews with him on vacation. However, once they arrive in Florida, the boys have no interest in anything other than reading comic books. So, Donald decides to teach them a lesson. He pretends that he drank from the Fountain of Youth and soon he begins acting like a baby. But this isn't enough and soon he places an alligator egg on the ground and the boys think he 'youthed' all the way back to his egg days! Unfortunately, the mother gator isn't thrilled with this plan...so what's next?

This is an enjoyable cartoon with a novel plot. However, it also sports some very poor animation--particularly the backgrounds. While it's not as bad an many late 50s cartoons with super-minimalistic art, it is an obvious step below the great animation the studio was doing just a few short years earlier. Still, second-tier Disney still ain't bad....and the cartoon is definitely funny.

Donald and the nephews are touring in Florida, but the youngsters have their noses stuck in a comic book. So when Donald comes across a pond with a sign noting that Ponce de Leon thought it was the fountain of youth, he convinces the ducklings that it is the fountain of youth and now he is a baby.... and then that he is an egg he has stolen from an alligator. Who wants her baby back.

The Donald Duck cartoons may have starred the fellow in the sailor suit, but everyone gets his or her time on screen and a good gag or three. Here, it's the alligator who gets the last laugh.

I'm a relatively new fan of good, old Donald Duck. After working at Disney World two years ago, I realized that he is by far my favorite cartoon character of all time. Therefore, I'm not much of a Donald aficionado as the guys who previously commented here, but this is a great Donald cartoon! His skirmish with the crocodile absolutely cracked me up, and the crocodile's line at the end is priceless. Plus, I enjoyed seeing the time period this cartoon takes place in, as Donald had to pour water in his old-timer car. My Dad has a 1928 Ford Model A so it's kind of neat to see something like that duplicated in a cartoon. Great cartoon, may not be a classic to some, but I enjoyed it a lot!

My IMDB rating: 9/10