DONALD'S CRIME (1945)

RELEASE DATE: Friday 29th June 1945

SYNOPSIS: This Academy Award nominated short sees Donald succumb to the pressure of his own guilt. He's arranged a date with Daisy, but he's flat broke. So what's a responsible duck to do? Steal from his nephews' piggy bank, of course! After a wonderful night out with his girl, Donald begins to have visions of himself being chased, hunted, even thrown in prison. Such is the guilt of a thieving uncle.

This movie was notable for being the first cartoon to feature Daisy with a "normal" (non-duck) voice. It's also very different in tone from the regular Donald Duck feature, with a dark, abstract, almost film noir style, as well as an inner monologue for Donald.

PASCAL: I love how his eyebrows became devil horns when he was having evil thoughts.

SHENZI: His appearance kept changing. I liked how his costume would suddenly change as the voice was speaking in his head.

HAKU: I like the way the spotlight twisted around to follow him. It could only happen in a cartoon. It was so abstract, I thought it was going to end up being a dream.

IRVYNE: It was all a bit post-modern, wasn't it?

WENDY: It's good to see Daisy has a real voice now.

ANNA: I thought the nephews were cute.

PASCAL: Yeah, they were actually nice in this cartoon! They got told to go to bed, so they did. They even said their prayers!

IRVYNE: You've never seen them look so innocent! I suppose they had to be portrayed as lovely children for the guilt trip to be effective. Donald wouldn't feel so guilty if they were being little jerks like in other cartoons.

HAKU: But Donald left them at home on their own while he went out dancing. I think that's the real crime here!

IRVYNE: The dancing's funny to watch now, but that would have been pretty cool hip dancing in the '40s. Remember, this is all pre-rock 'n' roll. I like this cartoon. It's not a laugh a minute, but it's well made and shows a side of Donald we haven't seen before.