Donald Gets Drafted (1942)
Donald Gets Drafted Review
Donald Gets Drafted is a 1942 animated short film from the Donald Duck series. It is a surprisingly effective cartoon.
Donald expresses his desire to join the Army Air Forces. During basic training, Sergeant Pete marches Donald’s unit through the camp. Carl Barks, the writer of the short, was actually a pacifist and he was against the war effort, which led to the movie being surprisingly anti-military. I’d expected a dated pro-war movie going in, but what I got was a modern cartoon in every sense.
The animation is stellar, the score is great and that one song about the military was very memorable and naturally propagandistic. The juxtaposition between the promotions for the war and the frustrating army training itself was well realized. I just wished that we got more scenarios outside of the ones between Pete and Donald. The second half was in desperate need of more variety. But still, Pete was a great fit for the drill instructor and how Donald made him so angry was amusing to watch.
