Sea Scouts

A Walt Disney DONALD DUCK Cartoon.

Young SEA SCOUTS Huey, Dewey & Louie must try to save their Uncle Donald when the officious Duck has a dangerous encounter with a hungry shark.

This is a very fine little film, with excellent animation and a humorous storyline. The Disney artists were able to make use of several of their favorite posterior gags. Clarence "Ducky" Nash supplies the voice for Donald.

Walt Disney (1901-1966) was always intrigued by 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 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, Bambi, Peter Pan and Mr. Toad. Walt never forgot that his fortunes were all started by a mouse, or that simplicity of message and lots of hard work always pay off.

When this cartoon isn't busy with those really old 'bum' jokes that were only funny in 1903 it's actually quite fun with an untypical ending. Donald, fancying himself as an old-fashioned Navy Captain, takes his nephews out on the sea in a pretty big sailboat. But, being Donald he has no idea how to hoist the anchor safely or even how to properly cast off the ropes.

Pretty soon he's flying around in the sky attached to the mast which has broken off and turned into a kite. And then he battles a hungry shark and, you know what, he actually wins by punching it out. Strange to think that Donald actually succeeds at something.

This is a funny and well animated cartoon, where our favourite duck and his nephews go sailing and encounter a watery disaster of "titanic" proportions. As predictable as it is, it is fun to watch and never fails to deliver the laughs. Donald's encounters with the big shark was a definite highlight.

The animation is very colourful and vibrant, and the music is lovely as is always the case with these Donald Duck cartoons. In a one man show, Clarence Nash voices all the characters and does a superlative job. Nobody else could do it better, Nash WAS Donald. And Huey, Duey and Louie are just as funny, but maybe I am biased but Donald steals the show. Overall a really fun cartoon. 8/10 Bethany Cox

Sea Scouts (1939)

*** (out of 4)

Cute Disney short has Donald Duck taking his nephews Huey, Dewey and Louis out to sea where he hopes to teach them a few things. Nothing goes as planned for the poor uncle and soon he has to deal with a large shark. Fans of the Donald Duck shorts will certainly enjoy this one as the typical high quality animation is on full display and there are several funny gags. Needless to say, the stuff dealing with the shark are the highlights including a scene where Donald is frantically trying to climb a rope to avoid being eaten.

"Sea Scouts" was made during the finest years for Disney shorts. Like other shorts from this era, they were unsurpassed by other studios...thanks to gorgeous backgrounds and highly detailed animation. "Sea Scouts", simply put, is a gorgeous short...the type you would expect from Disney in 1939.

The first thing you'll likely notice is that Donald's nephews look a tad different--more rounded. This is because it's an early appearance by them and they still weren't as consistently drawn. This is not a criticism...more an observation.

As for the story, Donald is going to take his nephews boating but unfortunately, a nasty shark is lurking nearby and plans on eating them. Can Donald manage to save himself and his little nephews?

This is a well animated and enjoyable cartoon. I particularly liked the way it ended...certainly NOT what I expected!