Walt Disney Treasures Review: Chronological Donald Volume 2

Stars: 4 out of 5
Pros: Historic and fun animated shorts

Cons: Donald occasionally becomes the aggressor

The Bottom Line:

Donald mean at times

But collection is still fun

For fans of the duck

Volume 2 Puts Donald in World War II

It's no surprise that The Chronological Donald Volume 2 picks up exactly where the first volume in the Walt Disney Treasures series left off. This two disc set contains 32 cartoons from 1942 to 1946 starring the excitable Donald Duck in all his glory.

Since Disney was so involved in the war effort, it's not too surprising that a section of these cartoons are directly related to the war. Disc one has 8 cartoons made as propaganda during the time. These shorts were all originally released in the Disney at War set a few years ago, but it is nice to have them again for Donald fans who may have missed that tin. The most obviously political is "Der Fuehrer's Face," which finds Donald dreaming he is living in Germany under Hitler. Frankly, I find this one chilling even today. While that one and "Commando Duck" do engage in stereotypes, most of the war shorts don't. In fact, most of them find Donald dealing with every day life in the Army. You know, such things as 100 mile marches in "Fall Out - Fall In" and learning to parachute in "Sky Trooper." My favorite of the war cartoons is "The Vanishing Private" which finds Donald accidentally coated with vanishing paint and getting revenge on his commanding officer.

Even though the rest of the cartoons here aren't related to the war effort directly, a few are obvious products of their time. "Donald's Tire Trouble" finds Donald complaining about the poor tires of the day since rubber was being used for the war. Another such cartoon finds Donald making a plane out of plastic. Unfortunately, "The Plastics Inventor" discovers that plastic melts in the rain.

Most of these shorts just find Donald doing what he does best, getting angry at exaggerated circumstances. His overactive imagination scares him in "Duck Pimples." He's chased around his house in "Donald Duck and the Gorilla." He gets angry at abusive customers in "Bellboy Donald." A simple snowball fight with his nephews gets out of hand in "Donald's Snow Fight." He deals with a frustrating and boring job as a department story gift wrapper in "The Clock Watcher." And he tries to save a historic tree in "Old Sequoia."

Most of the time, Donald is an innocent victim, which makes his excessive temper tantrums at least sympathetic. Occasionally, he becomes the aggressor. Then, I rarely find myself rooting for Donald. For example, I actually side with the pelican he was tormenting with the light in "Lighthouse Keeping." The best of these, however, is "Donald's Crime," which finds our hero dealing with a guilty conscious after robbing his nephews to pay for a date with Daisy.

Speaking of Daisy, she has a bit of a temper herself, as we learn in "Donald's Double Trouble" when Donald hires someone to play a sophisticated version of himself. And her temper makes the ending of "Cured Duck" even funnier. In it, Donald uses a machine to learn to control his temper.

The two disc set fits in perfectly with the others in the Disney Treasures series. Leonard Maltin continues to host, introduction the history of each disc as well as warning about any non-PC content in the cartoons. The cartoons themselves look and sound great. There's the occasional imperfection, but considering the shorts are 60 years old, it's minor. Disc one features an episode of the TV show "Disneyland" that used Donald to show how animation is done. The second disc contains an interview with Donald's current voice, Tony Anselmo, and a tribute to Carl Barks, the man who created the Donald comic books.

I'll admit that I love Mickey and Goofy more then Donald. Yet I laughed my way through The Chronological Donald Volume 2. There are plenty of shorts here to please any one. Recommended for kids of all ages.

Included Cartoons:

1942 - Bellboy Donald, The Village Smithy, Donald's Snow Fight, Donald's Garden, Donald's Gold Mine, Donald Gets Drafted, The Vanishing Private, Sky Trooper

1943 - Donald Tire Trouble, Flying Jalopy, Der Fuehrer's Face, Fall Out - Fall In, The Old Army Game, Home Defense

1944 - Commando Duck, Trombone Trouble, The Plastics Inventor, Donald's Off Day, Donald Duck and the Gorilla, Contrary Condor

1945 - The Eyes Have it, Donald's Crime, Duck Pimples, No Sail, Cured Duck, The Clock Watcher, Old Sequoia

1946 - Donald's Double Trouble, Wet Paint, Dumb Bell of the Yukon, Lighthouse Keeping, Frank Duck Brings 'Em Back Alive