The Wise Little Hen

This is it. The first appearance of Donald Duck. In the short, Donald looks a little different than he does today. He was smaller and had a rounded bill instead of a flat one. Two things, however, have remained constant about Donald Duck: his sailor suit and his short temper.

A Walt Disney SILLY SYMPHONY Cartoon Short.

Worried about having enough food to feed her family come Wintertime, THE WISE LITTLE HEN decides to plant a field of corn. Her idle friends, Peter Pig & Donald Duck, decline to help with the planting or the harvesting - leaving the little chicken to plan her sweet revenge...

This is a very fine adaptation of the childhood story, with a strong, self-reliant title character (voiced by Florence Gill). But the reason this is a landmark cartoon is because it was the debut of the irascible, anti-social, temperamental, infuriating & utterly lovable Duck, a character so strong he would soon eclipse Mickey Mouse himself. With voice courtesy of the inimitable Clarence Nash, Donald would become one of the world's most popular personalities & a source of never-ending fascination for those who study anti-social behavior and its consequences.

Fate would not be so kind to Peter Pig. Although his debut was just as conspicuous as the Duck's, he lacked that certain intangible quality which would set him apart from the common swine. Hollywood can be a cruel place & Peter's attempts to build a movie career - he worked for a while as Porky Pig's stunt double - proved a failure. When last heard of, Peter Pig was living in a small apartment over a garage in Pomona, California.

The SILLY SYMPHONIES, which Walt Disney produced for a ten year period beginning in 1929, are among the most fascinating of all animated series. Unlike the Mickey Mouse cartoons in which action was paramount, with the Symphonies the action was made to fit the music. There was little plot in the early Symphonies, which featured lively inanimate objects and anthropomorphic plants & animals, all moving frantically to the soundtrack. Gradually, however, the Symphonies became the school where Walt's animators learned to work with color and began to experiment with plot, characterization & photographic special effects. The pages of Fable & Fairy Tale, Myth & Mother Goose were all mined to provide story lines and even Hollywood's musicals & celebrities were effectively spoofed. It was from this rich soil that Disney's feature-length animation was to spring. In 1939, with SNOW WHITE successfully behind him and PINOCCHIO & FANTASIA on the near horizon, Walt phased out the SILLY SYMPHONIES; they had run their course & served their purpose.

The last three days I've probably watched this thing 13 times. Not because I liked it, but because its highly addictive. Its one of those things that is so stupid, but at the same time so catchy you just can't not stop playing it.

What I kind of like about it is how every sound and every movement in this Disney short seems to be going alone in a tune, with verses and all. And the singing along with it... Argh. Its annoying, but its, well, catchy. Everything. Especially the little hen. God, its like a caressing nightmare.

This is Donalds first appearance ever yeah. He's basically a little tw*t, but yeah, compared to Peter Pig he's a bit funny.. and you can probably see why he got a second chance, and finally grew to be one of Disney's biggest characters. What is a bit interesting though is that he lives on a boat, so his costume for once makes a bit sense.

The little hen and her little slave chickens steals the show though. God I hope she never turns up ever again! Her presence in this 8 minute short is more than enough for a whole eternity. The horror!

While watching The Wise Little Hen, I had to keep reminding myself that this short was made in 1934. The animation has held up well over the years and is as good as anything you'll see. The colors paint a bright picture and the attention to detail is amazing. This film is also an important milestone as it marks the first appearance of Donald Duck, it remains one of his best films.

Unlike ducklings that hatch out of their eggs, the cartoon character Donald Duck evolved. The first version drawn by the Walt Disney staff appeared in England's Mickey Mouse Annual #3 comic book in 1931. In late 1933, Disney liked the looks of the duck so much he had the bird included in the June 1934 release of "The Wise Little Hen," the first time Donald Duck appeared on the movie screen. The cartoon's release date at Radio City Music Hall in New York City, June 7, 1934, is celebrated as Donald's official birthday. Three months preceding his movie debut, Donald, voiced by Clarence Nash, was on the radio as the wise-cracking duck alongside Mickey Mouse. The radio Donald was always interrupting the rodent, serving as a roadmap to his summer's cartoon character.

Walt personally took an interest with Donald after Nash's imitation bowled over the studio president. Disney rounded off the duck's personality after "The Wise Little Hen" by giving him the short temper he became notoriously-known. The first appearance of Donald in the animated cartoon differs from future looks, with his neck and beak much longer and his body fatter than later showings.

In the "The Wise Little Hen," Donald Duck played the lazy neighbor to the mother hen, who asks for his help in planting a field of corn for her chicks. Apparently Donald's allergic to work as he pretends to be laid up with a belly ache and can't help her. He's joined by Peter Pig, who's equally lazy, claiming he's sick and not able to work. When the corn is ready for picking, the two repeat their same excuse of being sick when the Hen asks them for assistance. The joke's eventually on the slackers, however, when the hen cooks an amazing assortment of corn recipes. The Duck and the Pig salivate when they see the feast, only to be handed a bottle of castor oil by the hen.