Donald's Dilemma

Donald's Dilemma
Theatrical release poster
Directed by	Jack King
Story by	Roy Williams
Produced by	Walt Disney
Starring	Clarence Nash Gloria Blondell
Music by	Oliver Wallace
Animation by	Don Towsley Ed Aardal Emery Hawkins Sandy Strother
Layouts by	Don Griffith
Backgrounds by	Maurice Greenberg
Color process	Technicolor
Production company	Walt Disney Productions
Distributed by	RKO Radio Pictures
Release date	July 11, 1947 (1947-07-11)
Running time	7 minutes
Country	United States
Language	English

Plot

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Daisy narrates her problem to an unseen psychologist through flashback scenes. Her problem started on a spring day when she was out on a date with Donald and a flower pot fell on his head. He regained consciousness soon enough but with some marked differences. His singing voice was improved to the degree in which it sounds identical to Frank Sinatra, but Donald had no memory of who Daisy was. He became a well-known crooner and his rendition of "When You Wish Upon a Star" from Pinocchio became a hit, which gave him a large number of fans. Daisy's loss resulted in a number of psychological symptoms - she suffered from insomnia, anorexia and self-described insanity. An often censored scene features her losing her will to live and pointing a gun at her head, while in front of a table of other suicide methods, including a noose, a grenade, a bomb, a knife, and poison.^[4]^[5] She decided that she would see Donald once again at Radio City Music Hall in New York City, at any cost, but failed to do so. That's when she decided to go to the psychologist - and the flashback meets the actual time of the cartoon.

At the end of the cartoon, the psychologist determines that Donald would regain his memory of Daisy if another flower pot would fall on his head, but he warns that his improved voice may be lost along with his singing career. He offers Daisy a dilemma. Either the world has its singer but Daisy loses him or Daisy regains Donald but the world loses him. Posed with the question "her or the world", Daisy answers with a resounding and possessive scream - "Me! Me! Me! MEEE!!" Soon, Daisy sneaks into one of Donald's performances and drops another flower pot on his head. Donald's voice returns to normal and he is jeered and thrown off the stage, but he regains his memory and Daisy is reunited with her lover.

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Reception

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In The Disney Films, Leonard Maltin says that Donald's Dilemma is "perhaps the best Donald Duck of all... a sidesplitting satire of psychological dramas." Maltin provides a number of reasons why he considers this a great cartoon: "Foremost is the fact that it makes the characters and their situation real, even while reminding you that this is a cartoon. The audience actually becomes involved with Daisy's predicament, and there are marvelous little touches to heighten the emotionalism (as when she is climbing to the catwalk near the end and almost loses her step). At the same time the cartoon is filled with hilarious visual exaggeration: when Daisy recalls that Donald gave her a cold icy stare, a long icicle emits from his eyes, and as she waits for Donald at the stage door of the theatre, the seasons change and she is covered with snow. Donald's Dilemma shows how much could be done within the framework of a seven-minute cartoon, using familiar characters; it is a gem."^[6]

According to John Howard Reid in Science-Fiction & Fantasy Cinema: Classic Films of Horror, Sci-Fi & the Supernatural, Daisy displays "a ruthlessly self-centered neurotic streak", but maintains the audience's sympathy throughout the film.^[3]

Plot

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References

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