The Village Smithy

A Walt Disney DONALD DUCK Cartoon.

Donald, THE VILLAGE SMITHY, has enough trouble just dealing with inanimate objects without the additional difficulty of trying to shoe Jenny, a most reluctant donkey.

This humorous little film is a spoof of the classic poem by Longfellow. Jenny is very reminiscent of the tragic donkeys in the Pleasure Island sequence of PINOCCHIO (1940). Clarence "Ducky" Nash provides Donald with his 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 will always pay off.

It seems Donald Duck got more than his share of bad luck in this cartoon short, where he tries to install a new iron rim on a wagon wheel and put a shoe on the donkey.

While Donald exhibited his classic slapstick comedy when bad luck strikes his way, the resistance of the donkey reminded me too much of a spoiled, childish brat who would not heed to discipline.

It's a cartoon that kids would probably enjoy, but for me, Donald had to deal with too much bad luck and an excruciatingly annoying animal. The animation was also a little on the dull side, in my humble opinion. There are lots more funny Donald cartoons than this.

Grade D--

Longfellow's poem is a classic, Disney has been responsible for some of my childhood favourites(and most of them are still among my favourites as a matter of fact) and Donald Duck as a character is just timeless. The Village Smithy is not one of Disney's very best, but like a vast majority of their cartoons, it is well worth watching. The story is fun and cute, if not as swiftly paced as other cartoons I've seen. The cartoon is charming and constantly very humorous, and I love the two characters. Donald is wonderfully temperamental, and Jenny is adorable. The animation is as colourful and vibrant as ever, and the music has the energy, dynamics and ability to enhance the action as it should do.

Overall, very, very good, not one of my favourites but I wholly recommend it. 9/10 Bethany Cox