Donald’s Crime (1945)
Donald’s Crime Review
Donald’s Crime is a 1945 animated short film from the Donald Duck series. It is a terrific Donald Duck entry.
In this cartoon, Donald steals some money from his nephews’ piggy bank, but eventually his conscience gets the better of him. This short is very much noir-inspired in its imagery and the overall storytelling and atmosphere. It was hilarious how serious they made this situation out to be and this is where the big joke of the film comes from.
I loved that second half and in particular the animation is so wonderful there. However, the ending is so abrupt that it made the whole film clumsy as a result. Also, the nephews could have been better used. But Donald himself is fantastic here and both the dialogue and the script are quite strong. It’s a pretty worthy Oscar nominee for this year.
Donald’s Crime ended abruptly, but it’s otherwise a very strong, noirish movie with a terrific role for Donald Duck.
