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Top Ten Donald Duck Films

Donald Duck is an absolute cartoon icon that eventually stole the spotlight from Mickey Mouse himself. He’s by far the most entertaining and funniest Disney creation of all time. His films were released from the early forties all the way to the early sixties. Throughout his adventures he had numerous animals as rivals and a couple of fun adventures with Daisy and Pete too. The best Donald Duck shorts capture his panicking mode while also focusing on the aforementioned rivalries. So without further ado, here are ten best Donald Duck short films in my opinion with quite a lot of honorable mentions as well.

10. Out of Scale

Donald has a model of a train and a city in his garden. He decides to move a tree in his path that doesn’t match the scale of the model, not realizing that it is Chip and Dale’s home. This movie benefitted from this brilliant idea of Donald building an entire miniature town and actually indulging the chipmunks and eventually even tricking them into believing that snow is falling in the most memorable moment of the short. It’s a highly imaginative cartoon that deserves its spot on this list.

9. Rugged Bear

Some of the best Donald Duck shorts do not focus on him, but on other characters as is the case with Rugged Bear. Humphrey the Bear has never been better than he was in this short. He hides in Donald’s cabin, pretending to be the bearskin rug. Donald then proceeds to put the poor bear to immense pain, but the bear perseveres and in the end leaves the house unharmed. The twist at the end was hilarious and so clever while the rest of the film is littered with fun and very well executed gags. It’s such an underrated gem.

8. Sea Salts

This is another film where Donald Duck shares the screen with another character. Bootle Beetle tells audiences how he and Donald had to survive after being shipwrecked on a deserted island. This beetle has appeared before, but this is his best role for sure. This movie is different than your regular Donald Duck short in that it actually builds the central relationship properly, leading to more meaningful interactions and funnier gags as a result. It has a big heart.

7. Donald’s Dilemma

After being hit by a flower pot, Donald is convinced that he is a great singer and sings beautifully, which leads to fame, but he doesn’t recognize Daisy. Daisy asks for help from a psychiatrist to try to bring his personality back. This movie is a parody of all those psychological thrillers from the forties and it works because of its superb atmosphere, score and animation. Daisy is actually the protagonist here and she was just wonderful throughout.

6. Donald’s Double Trouble

Another movie starring Daisy, but this time in a supporting role, Donald’s Double Trouble is a delight all-around. When Daisy wants Donald to change his personality, he hires a double to make it look like he’s changed for the better, but the double soon invades Donald’s territory. The doppelganger is all British and posh, making for a fun rival for Donald. Their interactions were very funny and priceless. This is the type of movie that executes its concept so well.

5. Der Fuehrer’s Face

Although overly patriotic and definitely one of those propaganda movies from the forties, Der Fuehrer’s Face is still an undisputed classic that actually rose above its propaganda pitfalls to deliver in all other aspects. Donald is very amusing and wonderfully utilized here. The animation is among the best and most artistic in the series and the score is great too. This is not my favorite Donald Duck cartoon, but it’s definitely among the best and most influential in the series. It’s also the only Oscar-winning short, which makes it highly important.

4. Donald’s Off Day

When Donald’s plans to play golf on his day off are ruined by rain, he starts reading a medical book, which makes him think he may have the symptoms he reads about, and his nephews take advantage of his hypochondria to prank him. The resulting pranks lead to a lot of hilarity as the movie has some of the best gags in the history of this series. Donald is at his best when he is being frustrated or panicking and this movie mined his hypochondriac nature deliciously well. His facial expressions and acts of doom were hilarious in what is probably the funniest entry in the series.

3. Donald’s Snow Fight

In this iconic short, Donald engages in a snowball fight with his nephews, leading to all sorts of funny mayhem. It was interesting seeing Donald start the fight himself and he deserved what was coming for him after he needlessly annoyed his nephews. When they unleashed all hell on him, this is where the movie reached true greatness. Donald and his nephews building their own snow forts of sorts was hilarious and every single snow weapon gag worked and was wildly inventive. Donald’s Snow Fight isn’t just fun and funny, but it’s also gorgeously animated and just so damn cozy.

2. The Riveter

During the construction of a building, Pete hires Donald as his riveter. This flick paired off Pete with Donald and the results were much better than expected. This is because Pete here isn’t a straight-up villain, but rather a man who just becomes annoyed by Donald, so that he starts chasing him in that thrilling third act that was so well executed. Donald being so clumsy produced some amusing results and the building site as a setting was so well utilized. These Donald Duck shorts are at their best when utilizing an interesting setting and a great rivalry at this core, which is why this one gets such a high placement from me.

1. The Hockey Champ

And the best Donald Duck short for me has to be The Hockey Champ. In it, Donald is skating, but when his nephews arrive, he goes on to beat them at hockey. Eventually, the nephews, frustrated by his cockiness, turn against him and begin torturing him through a series of inventive gags that were superbly executed. The nephews are truly devious here while poor Donald becomes angrier and angrier, which leads to hilarious results. The highlights are all the clever gags beneath the snow, especially those that made Donald have a snow beard or a snow devil look. The animation is absolutely gorgeous as the movie made great use of its beautiful icy setting to create something both fun and charming. It’s a truly phenomenal short and the first choice when it comes to this series for sure.

Honorable Mentions:

Donald’s Lucky Day – This uniquely noirish short is too slow, but immensely artistic and just different enough that it deserves to be seen for its premise and atmosphere alone.

Don Donald – Don Donald paired Donald with Daisy and it was set in an exotic location, making for a fun time to be had with our favorite characters.

Modern Inventions – This is a terrific high-concept film that actually belongs to the Mickey Mouse series, but I included it here as it features the duck in a very prolonged and fun role.

Up a Tree – This late entry in the series is a classic because it made perfect use of Chip and Dale, who are easily the best rivals that Donald Duck has ever had. The ending here is especially memorable.

Donald’s Camera – Donald has to deal with a pesky woodpecker in this cute and amusing flick that is consistently fun and charming.

Bellboy Donald – Donald dealing with an extremely annoying guest at a hotel made for such a relatable cartoon that ended with a very satisfying conclusion.

Old Sequoia – Donald is a forest ranger, assigned to protect an old sequoia from a pair of beavers in this very entertaining cartoon.

Donald’s Diary – This is an uneven, but inspired movie that is quite different and unique. The highlight is its comedic ending, fun narration and a very well executed dream structure.