14 Shades of Disney, Shade 4: Don Donald

Shade #4: Don Donald (1937)
Starring: Donald Duck and Donna Duck
Setting: Mexico

Plot: Donald travels down to Mexico by way of donkey to visit his fiery girlfriend, Donna Duck.

Box of Chocolates:
This is Donald’s first standalone cartoon as well as the first appearance of a love interest in Donna.

Are Donna and Daisy the same Duck – similar to the Dippy Dawg/Goofy situation???  At first, I thought maybe they were but after doing some digging, I found that Donna appeared once again, fourteen years later, in Donald Duck’s daily comic strip playing a Mexican duck who moved in next door to Donald, making DAISY DUCK jealous.

Donald calling Donna “toots!” is just as hilarious the first time as it is the fifth.

Never trust a car with a “Will Trade for Burro” sign.

Judging by all the artwork and pictures of Donald in Donna’s adobe, the term “She’s Just Not that Into You” need not apply. 

A fed up Donna pulls a unicycle out of her purse and rides off into the Mexican desert… never to be seen or heard from again (seriously, this was her last cartoon).

The Morning After:
I much prefer Donald’s tales of “romance” to Mickey’s.  No matter the situation, things always works out for the happy mouse couple.  The same can’t be said for Donald.  While he and Daisy have their moments, as you will see, they are few and far between.  Just in this very cartoon, the ducks engage in multiple squabbles until Donna finally has had enough and deserts Donald in the desert.  On another note, I love these destination shorts and here, Mexico is represented very nicely.  I wonder if this one was a precursor or helped plant the seeds for Donald’s inclusion in the Central and South American features Saludos Amigos (1942) and The Three Caballeros (1944).