20 Days of Summer, Day 6: Orphans' Picnic

Day 6: Orphans’ Picnic (1936)
Starring: Mickey Mouse, Donald Duck and the Orphans
Setting: Picnic Grounds
Plot: Mickey and Donald take a slew of rambunctious orphans “Out for a Good Time” at a bucolic picnic area.

Tan Lines
While on the truck, I count 29 orphans.

This is the orphans’ fourth appearance in a Classic Short.

The orphans refer to Mickey and Donald as their “Uncles.”

The trash cans are labeled as “Rubbish.”  Is this what we called trash cans in the ‘30s???  I think I prefer “rubbish cans.”

There’s a sign on the tree that reads “Keep off the Grass.”  The whole picnic grounds is grass… where else are they supposed to go???

Back to back episodes this series where our heroes battle swarms of bugs.  Bugs feel like a very summery thing.

Sitting by the Campfire
With this being only his ninth appearance, we can already see signs for what’s to come for the rising star that is Donald Duck.  For one thing, he clearly overshadows Mickey as the main object of ours and the orphans’ attention.  This is something that we’ll see a lot of as Donald eventually becomes Disney’s go-to protagonist.  We also see how his relationship with the youngins evolves from well-intentioned and almost fatherly to playful and ultimately violent.  This serves as a harbinger of things to come with his own trio of unruly nephews.  Lastly, Donald’s run-in with the bees portends to a future buzzy nemesis we’ll see later on this summer.