Donald's Dilemma
Studio: Disney Release Date : July 11, 1947 Series: Donald Duck

Cumulative rating: No Ratings Posted

Synopsis

A blow on the head from a flowerpot changes Donald's personality for the better, but Daisy loses him in the process.

Characters

Donald Duck
(Voice: Clarence "Ducky" Nash)
Daisy Duck
(Voice: Gloria Blondell)

Credits

Note: "Unverified" credits may not be correct and should be taken with a grain of salt.

Director

James Patton "Jack" King

Animator

Don Towsley
Edwin "Ed" Aardal
Emery Hawkins
Sanford "Sandy" Strother
Robert W. "Bob" Carlson Jr.
Tom Massey
Frank McSavage
Paul Allen
Edwin "Ed" Aardal
Fred Kopietz

Story

Roy Williams

Music

Oliver Wallace

Backgrounds

Maurice Greenberg

Voices

Clarence "Ducky" Nash (unverified)

Layout

Don Griffith

Effects Animation

George Rowley

Producer

Walter Elias "Walt" Disney

Music Sources

Washington, Ned and Leigh Harline : "When You Wish Upon a Star "


Distributor(s)

RKO Radio Pictures

Clips Used In:

Buyer Be Wise

Television

Mickey Mouse Tracks (Season 1, Episode 75)

VHS

United States

Daisy

Germany

Donald Total Verliebt
That's Donald
Micky Liebt Minnie

France

Mickey et Minnie les Amours de Printemps

Italy

Paperina
Paperina
Topolino and Co. : Avventure Tutte da Ridere
Topolino e Minnie Innamorati
Paperino Piume Guai e Simpatia
Io Paperino

CED Disc

United States

Daisy

Laserdisc (CAV)

Japan

Daisy
Donald Duck and His Duckling Gang

Laserdisc (CLV)

Japan

Mickey Loves Minnie
Disney Cartoon Festival 1
Donald Duck and his Duckling Gang
Donald's Golden Jubilee
Let's Relax
Disney Cartoon Festival 7

DVD

United States

The Chronological Donald: Volume 3: 1947-1950
Classic Cartoon Favorites : Volume 6 : Extreme Music Fun

Germany

Schmetterlinge in Bauch
Musik Spass Superstars
Disney Treasures : Wave 7 : The Chronological Donald Volume 3

Italy

Extreme Music Fun

Canada

Classic Cartoon Favorites : Volume 6 : Extreme Music Fun

Technical Specifications

Running Time: 7:14
MPAA No.: 11311
Animation Type: Standard (Hand-drawn-Cel) Animation
Aspect Ratio: 1.37 : 1
Cinematographic Format: Spherical
Color Type: Technicolor
Negative Type: 35mm
Original Country: United States
Original Language: English
Print Type: 35mm
Sound Type: Mono: RCA Sound Recording

Reviews and Comments

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From Jerry Edwards :

While I dislike this short, several aspects intrigue me. The title should be DAISY'S dilemma, not Donald's. Donald is perfectly happy being a famous singer, it's Daisy with the dilemma, not Donald. I suppose the cartoon has Donald in the title since it would sell better to the distributors than a Daisy title. I try to not psychoanalyze cartoons, but this short definitely shows the "dark side" of love to me. When the psychiatrist asks Daisy if she would rather have Donald as he was or allow him to continue to be successful, loved by the world as a famous singer - Daisy screams, "Me, Me, ME!!!"

From Ryan :

What Jerry Edwards said above hadn't occurred to me before. The title should be "Daisy's Dilemma" not "Donald's Dilemma." Daisy tells the psychiatrist how it happened. I enjoy this short with some of the funny scenes that Daisy explains in her flashback. She says how she had trouble sleeping with her lying in bed holding the flower that hit Donald on the head. There is a censored scene in this short where Daisy explains that she didn't want to live. She is sitting at the table that is filled with knives, poison, etc. She is also holding a gun to her head.

From Brian :

I saw this episode many times on a home video when I was about two, and I do agree with the other two reviews that the title would better off being "Daisy's" dilemma instead of Donald's. Daisy tells the psychiatrist how Donald lost his memory of her and explains some strange things in her flashback. When on TV, this episode is missing a scene where Daisy mentions how she had trouble eating her lunch with her imagining the food on the table as nuclear waste, and her fork as a blunderbuss. The next scene is not censored - she explains how she went insane with her untying her hair ribbon and biting her arm. She goes to the Radio City Music Hall to get a chance to see her lost love, whom cannot recognize her. The psychiatrist then tells Daisy to drop another flower pot on Donald's head for a cure.

From Electro Sun Dog :

I happen to have the uncensored version and yes, it's all very...wrong. I, personally, am amazed that they even OK'ed it for release. But then, think again about how the short works. I see it as a Disney attempt at a "dark humor" piece. Well, doesn't it seem like Lynch to you?

From Baruch Weiss :

I agree with the two comments up above. The title should be "Daisy's Dilemma." The song Donald sings is "When You Wish Upon a Star." However it is slightly different from the famous song we know today because the duck replaces the line "Makes no difference who you are" to "Shine in right in from afar."

From Matthew Cooper :

I love this cartoon. The best thing about it is when Donald gets hit and changes from his quackish, short-tempered self into a smooth-toned, desirable singer, he sounds a lot like Bing Crosby (whom my Grandma is a fan of, so she likes this short.) I agree with some of the others that this short should have been called Daisy's Dilemma because it's her who has the problem. Myself, I think that by making Donald lose his singing career, Daisy did the right thing for even though Donald may be able to get somewhere with a smooth voice, without him, Daisy is nothing!

From Ryan Kilpatrick at The Disney Film Project :

Rolling on into 1947, we come to a very strange entry in the Disney shorts known as Donald’s Dilemma. I call it strange because although it is a Donald Duck cartoon and features an opening that brands it as such, Donald is not the main attraction. Instead, Daisy takes center stage for the first time in a Disney cartoon.

I’ll have to say the results are mixed. Although Daisy is established at this point in the canon of Disney as Donald’s girlfriend, she has not had much to do aside from spurn Donald. The few times we have seen Daisy have not hinted at much of a personality. This time she does have one, but I’m not sure it’s the kind of personality we want her to have.

The trouble that faces Daisy comes from a transformation in Donald’s personality. He switches from the quacking, ill-tempered duck we know to a suave singer who lights up the stage. Daisy turns from a confident girlfriend that we’ve seen in other shorts to a woman spurned who will stop at nothing to retain her man.

It’s a strange transformation, because it shows Daisy as a woman who needs a man to make herself happy. There are some very strange scenes in the montage of Daisy dealing with the fact that the “new” Donald doesn’t recognize or care for her. There’s even a shot of Daisy with a gun to her head preparing to shoot herself! This is not what we expect from a cartoon.

Layer on top of that that the song that vaults Donald to prominence is his rendition of “When You Wish Upon A Star.” It’s very confusing to see a song made famous by a Disney animated film being reused in a Disney animated short that is supposed to reflect the world at large. Very strange. We have officially entered the era of Disney self-reference, which combines with Daisy’s personality change to make this one of Disney’s strangest shorts.