Grand Canyonscope

A Walt Disney DONALD DUCK Cartoon.

The Little Ranger enjoys his job as guide at the Grand Canyon, until tourist Donald and a ferocious Mountain Lion give him a really bad day...

This enjoyable little comedy doubtless got its name as it was one of Disney's first releases in Cinemascope. It also marked the final appearance in a Disney cartoon of the Mountain Lion, who retired to a cave in California's Hollywood Hills. Clarence "Ducky" Nash provided the voice for Donald; Bill Thompson did the honors for Ranger J. Audubon Woodlore.

Walt Disney (1901-1966) was always intrigued by 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 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 simplicity of message and lots of hard work always pay off.

Donald Duck and Disney are always entertaining, and while Grand Canyonscope is not as grand as it could've been(my view of course) it is entertaining at least. The middle of the short does drag for my tastes with the pace sagging and the gags fewer and not as funny, and while Donald is still a charismatic character with some amusing moments his personality isn't really played to its strengths, mainly because the story is quite routine and thin on the ground. I also agree that Grand Canyonscope has the kind of humour that is more suited to Goofy. However Grand Canyonscope is not bad, far from it. The animation is bright and colourful and the Cinemascope excellent. The music is jaunty and beautifully orchestrated, merging wonderfully also with every expression and gag. The gags are well timed generally and funny, the beginning and end working better than the middle. Woodlore is a dynamic and fun character, I did like that he had more of a focus, I just wished that Donald was used stronger. Grand Canyonscope is interesting for that it is a Woodlore and Donald short that doesn't feature Humphrey, which people will consider either a blessing or like a cake missing an ingredient. The mountain lion is a good replacement and works well with the other two. Clarence Nash and Bill Thompson are both great, not much of a surprise they always are. In conclusion, interesting short if not quite one of my favourites. 7/10 Bethany Cox

This Donald Duck short starts with some nice laughs. Donald Duck is in the Grand Canyon and a tourguide must stop him from doing some crazy stuff. The part in the middle is very boring, where Donald and the tourguide meet a lion. In the end we have a few laughs again and that is about it.

This 6 minute and 51 second cartoon starring Donald Duck can be found on the first disc of the 2-dvd set of "20,000 Leaques under the Sea". As the first Disney animated short shot in Cinemascope to compliment their first movie to be shot the same way, this has Donald Duck being a pain in the backside to a hapless grand canyon tour guide. And for what it is, is pretty good. Although I think that it might have been edited to make it more P.C. which would be a shame as changing scenes only taints the heritage that we could gain in seeing the original version. As such, I can't give this a great score.

My Grade: C+

Donald Duck is a tourist visiting the Grand Canyon who gives the tour's guide fits due to his continuous shenanigans including an encounter with an ill-tempered old lion.

This cartoon short is diverting enough in its goofy slapstick fashion only really I wonder if it really needed Donald Duck as its lead at all. In fact, this one seems better suited to Goofy himself to me as really there's no point here where we see Donald Duck's temper rise, which is usually said character's most entertaining aspect. Honestly most any character could have probably fit into the role which makes one wonder if they just didn't pick a popular character's name out of an hat to use for this one.