Una partita a golf

A Walt Disney DONALD DUCK Cartoon.

DONALD'S GOLF GAME might be just about perfect - were it not for the impertinent interference of his three nephews.

There are several solid laughs in this little film, although the basic premise - the Duck versus Huey, Dewey & Louie - offers nothing new. Once again, Clarence Nash does yeoman service, giving hilarious voice to the entire Duck clan.

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 will always pay off.

Of all the games in the world that wouldn't fit Donald Duck's temperament, golf is probably the least positive. Donald is about to play a round and his nephews are with him, acting as caddies. He goes nuts before they get into the act, but once they start to play tricks on him, there is no hope. One thing that was really distracting in these early cartoons is that Donald's speech is totally incomprehensible. The later Donald is quite understandable, even with his squawk.

Donald goes golfing with his nephews along the beach, but Donald's doesn't get the quietness he wants. Poor old Donald gets the brunt of the bad luck again as his relentless nephews keep playing tricks against him, from making squealing noises to placing a grasshopper inside the golf ball to make it jump.

It's the usual bad luck and slapstick humor we see Donald endure, but I've found it to be the lesser funny of Donald's cartoons. We don't see much character connection between Donald and his crazy nephews. It does have its chuckling moments, like Donald's iconic personality traits and expressions, and the animation was great. But, is cartoon is more of the average ones featuring Donald.

Grade C

In this cartoon Donald is out on a coastal golf course for a relaxing eighteen as his nephews caddie for him. Everything would have worked out fine if he were not so bossy. Huey, Duey and Louie play tricks on him to throw him (such as swapping his clubs for nets and giving him phony balls) off his game. And that's about as creative as the cartoon gets.

Donald Duck cartoons are so easy to set up and seem to spend the entire eight minutes knocking down. You can tell that whatever Donald is involved in is going to end up in disaster but sometimes it can be quite inventive. This one just seems to be going through the motions. Why can't he and his nephew cooperate for a change?

There are some good things about Donald's Golf Game, but there are also some not so good things.

GOOD THINGS:

1) Once again, the animation is very well done. I love cartoons with colourful, crisp backgrounds and good character features and Donald's Golf Game did well in both counts.

2) One thing I love most in an 8-or so minute Disney cartoon is good music. That is why I love The Old Mill, Wynken, Blynken and Nod and The Ugly Duckling so much. Here, the music is appropriately lively, with quirky motifs and rousing orchestration.

3) The characters are still their engaging selves, Donald being as volatile and as cantankerous as he is well known for, and Huey, Duey and Louie providing excellent support as his mischievous nephews.

4) Clarence Nash, need I say more? He is perfect for the voice of Donald, simply born to voice him. Don't get me wrong, I like Tony Anselmo as well, but Nash conveyed the hot headedness of the character more effectively. And I mustn't forget that Nash also provided the voices for Huey, Duey and Louie so strictly speaking it is a pretty bravura one man show.

THE NOT SO GOOD THINGS:

1) I know this is not the first Donald Duck cartoon to have this flaw, but for me the story is pretty routine. Nice but otherwise unexceptional.

2) A good part of the cartoon is funny, but some of the gags were rather predictable and not as well timed as others.

3) The pacing is a little too fast. When the ending came, I was like "That's it?"

Overall, this is a decent Donald Duck cartoon, but not a truly great one. Personally I prefer Donald's Nephews, No Hunting, Toy Tinkers and Donald's Off Day all of which I consider one of Donald's better cartoon efforts. 7/10 Bethany Cox