Donald, der Holzfäller

Donald is off on a trek through the wilderness following a railroad track with one of those red polka-dot sacks on a stick (what is the deal with that?). And he's very hungry.

He comes across Pete's shack (big, bad Pete appears to be some kind of railroad worker in this cartoon) and tries to steal some dinner. But Pete catches him and forces Donald to do some lumber-jacking.

It doesn't sound like much of a set-up but there are quite a few laughs and it's as close to a Looney Tunes cartoon as Disney gets. The anarchic animation and gags are all funny for a change with no misses. I think this is due to the fact that in this short Donald's wise-ass attitude doesn't make him do dumb things. He just wants to escape Pete.

Look out for the bit where Donald is blown up with dynamite and tell me how much he looks like Daffy. And am I wrong or has Pete used Donald's bill as an ashtray before?

As I've said many times already I love Disney and always have done. Timber is not one of my absolute favourites, cartoons like the Riveter(of which Timber is somewhat similar to) are perhaps more original story-wise, but I still love it regardless. The animation is great, with vibrant colours and fluid backgrounds, while the music is very energetic, doing much to enhance the action. Both Donald and Pete(known as Pierre here) are a lot of fun here, Pete/Pierre is a great foil, rapacious and commanding, and he and Donald work wonderfully together. And Donald is in his element, just by being him, no matter how frustrated he gets you always root for him. Both characters are impeccably voiced as ever by Clarence Nash and Billy Bletcher. The gags also really bring Timber alive, I especially loved the parts with Donald with the saw(which has a mind of its own I swear!), Donald cutting down the tree and the chase sequence at the end. All in all, recommended highly, very funny and beautifully animated. 9/10 Bethany Cox

Donald is hiking in the woods and comes across Pegleg Pete's cabin, and his delicious-smelling dinner. Donald decides to help himself to some food, only ending up getting caught by Pete. As a result, Pete makes Donald a lumberjack and forces him to cut down trees to "work" for his meal." What results is one hilarious mishap after the other as Donald tries unsuccessful to manage an ax or saw, inadvertently wrecking havoc on Pete in the process.

This cartoon consists of classic Donald humor, from slapstick gags to his frustrated innuendos, trying to work the wood-chopping tools and trying to get away from Pete. But, the tools won't cooperate and it was just hilarious seeing how the resulting mishaps on Pete unfolded - from the ax slicing the back of his shirt to a tree falling on top of him. The laughs pile on and on as poor Donald tries to escape a furious Pete while on the pursuit on the train tracks. Also, Pete's European accent as funny as heck.

It's another funny Donald cartoon that would generate many laughs!

Grade A

A Walt Disney DONALD DUCK Cartoon.

Caught stealing food, hobo Donald is forced to work in Pete's TIMBER camp.

Donald gives another robust performance in this funny little film. For the sake of the plot, Pete goes by the name of 'Pierre' and assumes a phony French accent. The legendary Carl Barks was one of the writers of the script; Clarence Nash gives Donald his unique voice.

Walt Disney (1901-1966) was always intrigued by pictures & drawings. As a lad in Marceline, Missouri, he sketched farm animals on scraps of paper; later, as an ambulance driver in France during the First World War, he drew comic figures on the sides of his vehicle. Back in Kansas City, along with artist Ub Iwerks, Walt developed a primitive animation studio that provided animated commercials and tiny cartoons for the local movie theaters. Always the innovator, his ALICE IN CARTOONLAND series broke ground in placing a live figure in a cartoon universe. Business reversals sent Disney & Iwerks to Hollywood in 1923, where Walt's older brother Roy became his lifelong business manager & counselor. When a mildly successful series with Oswald The Lucky Rabbit was snatched away by the distributor, the character of Mickey Mouse sprung into Walt's imagination, ensuring Disney's immortality. The happy arrival of sound technology made Mickey's screen debut, STEAMBOAT WILLIE (1928), a tremendous audience success with its use of synchronized music. The SILLY SYMPHONIES soon appeared, and Walt's growing crew of marvelously talented animators were quickly conquering new territory with full color, illusions of depth and radical advancements in personality development, an arena in which Walt's genius was unbeatable. Mickey's feisty, naughty behavior had captured millions of fans, but he was soon to be joined by other animated companions: temperamental Donald Duck, intellectually-challenged Goofy and energetic Pluto. All this was in preparation for Walt's grandest dream - feature length animated films. Against a blizzard of doomsayers, Walt persevered and over the next decades delighted children of all ages with the adventures of Snow White, Pinocchio, Dumbo, Bambi & Peter Pan. Walt never forgot that his fortunes were all started by a mouse, or that childlike simplicity of message and lots of hard work always pay off.