Test Pilot Donald

Donald Duck is testing out his new model airplane in the park, when it's caught in a tree. It's Chip and Dale's tree. While Chip wants to have nothing to do with it, Dale decides to take the chipmunk-sized aircraft out for a spin. It doesn't take long for Donald's temper to get him in trouble; it's a seven-minute cartoon, after all.

What susrprised me about this cartoon is the strong differentiation between the two chipmunks' characters. It shouldn't, I suppose. Disney staff knew their stories were firmly based in character, and here that makes a difference.

Chip an' Dale shorts are entirely too often rather boring, lifeless affairs because the characters aren't all that interesting in and of themselves. Donald is the attraction here for the most part. Largely an unsympathetic character, there are moments where I found myself actually pulling for him in this one. Worth watching at least once, even though it isn't vintage Disney.

I personally enjoy the Donald Duck/Chip 'n' Dale cartoons. Sure, they are not the best cartoons I've ever seen, and most of them including this one are routine story-wise, but I still find them very entertaining. Test Pilot Donald is not one of their best, there are funnier cartoons of theirs out there, though I was amused by the tools being left in the plane engine. However, it is beautifully animated, from the subtle backgrounds, well-drawn characters to the elegant colours, and the music has a very uplifting quality to it. Of the characters, I found the star of the cartoon to be Dale, he is not only cute but he manages to drive Donald crazy and defeat him by himself, while Chip, perhaps the only cartoon where this is the case, has none of it. Clarence Nash does a great job as Donald despite not having much to say. Overall, a fun and amusing cartoon but nothing exceptional at the end of the day. 8/10 Bethany Cox

This is a rather unpredictable Chip N Dale and Donald Duck cartoon. Donald tests his model airplane but, after it gets stuck in a tree, Dale jumps on it and decides to take it for a fun run. Chip wanted no part of it and wasn't amused at Dale taking parts in the mischief. He even went as far as stopping him from getting into the plane at first, saying it belongs to Donald. That was a refreshing departure.

Not many laughs in this one though, but plenty of slapstick stuff, good animation, and classic Donald expressions.

Grade B-

A Walt Disney DONALD DUCK Cartoon.

TEST PILOT DONALD is appalled to see that his highly expensive toy plane has been appropriated by Chipmunk Dale.

Here is another standard Duck versus Chipmunks film; the plot is routine, but the antagonists are always enjoyable to watch. Notice the subtly animated background behind the title - a very rare effect in a Disney cartoon short. Clarence "Ducky" Nash supplies Donald's unique voice.

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, Dumbo, Bambi & Peter Pan. 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.