DVD : Walt Disney Treasures: The Chronological Donald, Vol. 4 - 1951-1961 (Collector's Tin)

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starring: James MacDonald, Clarence Nash
directed by: Jack Hannah

: Walt Disney Treasures: The Chronological Donald, Vol. 4 - 1951-1961 (Collector's Tin)

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Aspect Ratio: 1.33:1
Audience Rating: NR (Not Rated)
Binding: DVD
EAN: 0786936768268
Format: Animated, Color, DVD-Video, NTSC
Label: Walt Disney Video
Manufacturer: Walt Disney Video
Number Of Items: 2
Publisher: Walt Disney Video
Region Code: 1
Release Date: November 11, 2008
Running Time: 6 minutes
Sales Rank: 150
Studio: Walt Disney Video



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Editorial Review:

Album Description:
In this final volume, our chronicle of Donald's solo-starring shorts wraps up with some of his rarely seen, feather ruffling adventures from 1951 through 1961. And, for the first time on DVD, Donald's CinemaScope cartoons are presented in their original widescreen format. This collection of classics includes two of Donald's Academy Awardr nominated Best Shorts -- "Rugged Bear" (1953) and "No Hunting" (1955); a retrospective of Donald's career in comic books; and a storyboard presentation for an unproduced Donald Duck cartoon pitched by famed Disney animator Eric Goldberg. From bit player to superstar, Donald gave voice to the frustrations of everyone and in the process endeared himself to the world. Featuring exclusive introductions by film historian Leonard Maltin, this is a timeless collection from generations past for generations to come.



Customer Reviews
Average Rating: out of 5 stars

Rating: 5 out of 5 stars - When Mickey sees Donald, he yells "Duck!"
Even if you didn't get the first three volumes of The Chronological Donald, there's a good reason to get this last one. Along with thirty other cartoons from 1951-1961 is what's universally regarded as the best educational cartoon ever made, "Donald in Mathmagic Land" (1959). In this featurette animated by Hamilton Luske and other Disney animators, the Spirit of Adventure leads Donald to discover mathmatical wonders of music, the Golden Section, the secret of billiards, and other intriguing ideas against lush backgrounds of '50s era Disney at its modernist best. To their credit, the animators don't modernize Donald, who's his irrascible, impetuous self on this mystery tour far from Duckburg.

As Amid Amidi details in his book, Cartoon Modern, Cartoon Modern: Style and Design in 1950s Animation, the '50s marked a high point in animation design, with the Disney studio borrowing some of the stark, modern look of UPA. Some of the other cartoons in this collection rank among Donald's best: the most memorable Chip and Dale 'toons, including "Out of Scale" (1951) and "Donald Applecore" (1952). Some of the best of the duck's nephews are also included: "Lucky Number" (1951) and Don's Fountain of Youth (1953). As Leonard Maltin notes in his audio commentary, most theatrical cartoons had been discontinued due to mounting costs, but Walt still insisted on full-quality Donald cartoons for theaters throughout the '50s. "Chips Ahoy" (1956) was the last theatrical feature, after which Walt moved to TV, beginning with the Disneyland TV show.

Speaking of Maltin, his intros on the Disney treasures usually consist of short disclaimers as to the politically incorrect nature of some cartoons, usually listed separately as "From the Vault". Here, however, he gives longer, engaging introductions, perhaps because he's as much a Donald fan as we are, and there's also commentary from animation historian Jerry Beck, making this set an animation fan's delight. "Donald in Mathmagic Land" originally aired on The Wonderful World of Color with an intro by Ludwig Von Drake about light and color in which he continually notes that viewers with black and white sets will have to imagine what he's talking about, as they can't experience "living color". This was clearly propaganda to sell TV sets (as was the show's title), but which is very interesting in retrospect. Hopefully it makes it out in a Ludwig Von Drake collection.

Reviewers have been suggesting that the quality of the packaging of the Disney Treasures sets is falling, and this one is no exception. The Chronological Donald Vol. Two had a swing out flap for one of the two discs. On Vol. Four, the discs are merely snapped, one overlapping the other, on the inside back of the case, and there's barely room to do that. This is one time when registering for the Disney disc replacement program might come in handy. Another annoying feature that has not gone away is a schlocky Disney ad that opens the disc. It really is unwatchable, but there's a booklet slipped in the case about Blu-ray, what it is, why you should get it, and, it follows, go get all the Disney Blu-ray releases, that is actually helpful. All in all. The Chronological Donald Vol. Four easily lives up to the name "Disney Treasure".


Rating: 5 out of 5 stars - The final collection with perhaps the most familiar Donald cartoons - PLUS "Donald in Mathemagic Land!"
The fourth and final entry in this series allows us to live in a wondrous era in which we can own a comprehensive Donald Duck short cartoon collection. Ain't life grand? Especially when you can share the glory of these classics with new generations. My son watched every cartoon and is now watching the earlier volumes. We must instill the love of fine things in our youth.

These cartoons might be the most familiar of all, since they are the ones most often shown on Disney TV shows, but you didn't always get to see the titles. I discovered that many great Disney music masters composed for these shorts when I assumed most of them came from Oliver Wallace.

The Chronological Donald Volume 4 includes Walt Disney's first animation for CinemaScope, "Grand Canyonscope," which predates "Lady and the Tramp." You have to see this just to marvel at the Eyvind Earle art direction that would later grace Sleeping Beauty. Also, there is the final -- and perhaps funniest -- Daisy and Donald theatrical cartoon, "Donald Diary," in which the Duck dreams he marries his fair love and sees what she looks like first thing in the morning ("What'sa maddah?").

When the cartoon shorts run out, the educational shorts and two-reelers kick in, beginning with the landmark "Donald in Mathemagic Land," narrated by the great Paul Frees and boasting a credits list that easily matches that of a Disney feature-length film.

Less triumphant but nonetheless fascinating is "Donald and the Wheel," which labors under a wincingly silly set of "spirits" and a dated attempt at hipness, but benefits from vocal work from the MelloMen and a delightfully kitschy sequence featuring Donald and a live action dancing girl on a whirling phonograph record (did this inspire Woody and Jesse's similar moment in Toy Story 2?) Fans of the TV series "Mad Men" with surely be pleased to see that this comely young dancer, who like that show's Joan Holloway, captures the far more healthy standard of female plentitude of the early 60's than in today's pipe-cleaner pop culture icons.

"The Litterbug" rounds out this trio and is especially notable for the uncredited narration of John Dehner, one of those character actors who appeared in almost everything in the 60's and 70's but is perhaps best remembered as Doris Day's TV boss ("Yee-ello?") and the radio "Paladin." He also started his career as a Disney animator! Another narrator heard in some of the shorts in this set is radio and Capitol children's record announcer Art Gilmore.

Leonard Maltin is on hand, as on all the Walt Disney Treasures sets, to instruct, enthuse and enlighten, as well as provide a buffer to the shorts which have, for one reason or another, been considered inappropriate for the mainstream. They are in a separate category called "From the Vault."

One of the most notable of these is "No Hunting," likely relegated to the vault for gunplay and violence -- but such a searing satire of recreational hunting, it makes its point as clearly anti-gun and anti-hunting. It also is one of the few, if any, Disney cartoons from Walt's era that nod slyly to a revered animated feature: as loads of garbage flow down a stream and the sound of guns are heard, Bambi's mother says to her fawn, "Man in in the forest...let's dig out." Take that, Stitch-meets-Beauty and the Beast commercials!


Rating: 5 out of 5 stars - Donald gets his due, Round 4!
"The Chronological Donald, Volume Four" (one of 3 Disney Treasure tin sets being released) stars everyone's favorite irascible duck, Donald Duck, in 31 films from 1951-961 and presented for the first time on DVD in the original widescreen format (where appropriate). The shorts look fantastic; bright, crisp, and colorful.

Disc 1 contains:

(1951) Dude Duck, Corn chips, Test Pilot Donald, Lucky Number, Out Of Scale, Bee On Guard

(1952) Donald Applecore, Let's Stick Together, Trick or Treat

(1953) Don's Fountain of Youth, The New Neighbor, Working For Peanus (Donald's 1954 3D short, which was shown at Disneyland for years in The Fantasyland Theater), Canvas Back Duck

From The Vault: This is what Disney calls the section where they put cartoons that have some content that viewers today may find objectionable. For both discs, there is the same Leonard Maltin intro that does not go into specficis (which is what some other Disney sets have done), but rather just asks the viewer to watch remembering that these were filmed in a different time and not to be judgmental. The 2 shorts on disc one "Uncle Donald's Ants" (1952) and "Rugged Bear" (1953). "Ants" is most likely in this section because the ants are based on a stereotypical african-american. "Rugged Bear" had me baffled; unless I missed something, the only reason I could figure out why it would be here is because it shows animals being hunted.

Bonus Material on Disc 1:

* Donald Goes To Press - A retrospective look at Donald's career in comic books.

* "The Unseen Donald Duck: Trouble Shooters": Storyboards for an unproduced Donald Duck cartoon pitched by famed Disney animator, Eric Goldberg. This is fascinating to watch, as Goldberg acts out the cartoon, using all the different voices. One can only imagine Walt doing this.

* Audio Commentary by Leonard Maltin and Jerry Beck for "Working for Peanuts." With all their talk about this 3D short and how great it looks, makes one wish that it had been put on this disc in a 3D version with the glasses!

Disc 2 contains:

(1954) Donald's Diary, Dragon Around, Grin & Bear It, The Flying Squirrel, Grand Canyonscope

(1955) Bearly Asleep, Beezy Bear, Up A Tree

(1956) Chips Ahoy, How To Have An Acident In The Home

(1959) Donald In Mathmagic Land

(1961) Donald And The Wheel, The Litterbug

Bonus Material for Disc 2:

* Audo commentary by Leonard Maltin & Jerry Beck for "Grand Canyonscope."

* Mouseworks Cartoons is a 10 cartoons from 1998, with surprisingly good animation, that were created in an attempt to look like their vintage predecessors.

* From the Vault: includes "Spare the Rod" (1954), "No Hunting" (1955), and "How To Have An Accident At Work" (1959)

Set contains a Certificate of Authenticity (set is limited to 39,500), a postcard size reproduction of the original movie poster for "Grin and Bear It" (1954), as well as the mini-booklet featuring a little background and the table of contents for this tin. Hopefully these sets will keep on!


Rating: 5 out of 5 stars - Really looking forward to this DVD!
For quite awhile I've been waiting for this DVD. I'm surprised that two other Donald Duck shorts weren't included. These were educational shorts. The first, "Steel And America" was produced for US Steel in 1965 - it's a pretty funny short with Donald about how steel is made. The second short from 1965 as well called, 'Donald's Fire Survival Plan'. Actually, 'Donald's Fire Survival Plan' is available but only through Disney's educational store as well as the Freewayphobia shorts. Maybe they do intend to release these two shorts but include them as Easter eggs - hopefully... Either way, I'll definitely be buying this.


Rating: 5 out of 5 stars - WARNING TO ALL DONALD DUCK FANS RE THIS DVD
For some unknown reason amazon has mixed up Donald and Annette and while I have nothing against Annette I do not want her DVD I want the Duck. I have written several emails to amazon re this mixup and received several in return all contending the issue has been resolved which, as you can see, it has not, and the last email I received reasured me not to worry I would be getting Annette!!! Needless to say I am a wee bit frustrated at the lack of communication and therefore have ordered this DVD from Walmart to ensure I get Donald Duck and NOT Annette.
Frankly I am surprised this is such a problem for amazon, I actually thought my first email would have been enough to ensure the graphics and info matched; alas, it was not to be.
So if you don't care which one you get, by all means order from amazon but if you want Donald Duck you need to order from somewhere else to be on the safe side.

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