Donald and the Wheel (1961)
Genre : Animation
Runtime : 17M
Director : Hamilton Luske
Synopsis
A father tells his son the invention of the wheel was most important; to prove it, the two hipsters visit the inventor caveman Donald Duck. There follows a survey of the progress of transportation, a digression into the basics of gear ratios, a series of live-action dancers to various styles of music inside a giant jukebox, an illustration of the use of wheels in power generation and space satellites, etc. Ultimately, Donald decides he doesn't want the responsibility, but certainly someone else would take on the task.
It's time to laugh like crazy as Mickey, Goofy and Donald fight against raging gears, twisted springs, deafening bells and a sleeping stork. Watch them reach new heights of humor as their valiant efforts to clean a bell tower turn into a real circus!
Goofy's in the driver's seat, Mickey's in the kitchen, and Donald's in bed in Mickey's high-tech house trailer. When Goofy comes back to eat breakfast, leaving the car on autopilot, it takes them onto a dangerous closed mountain road. When Goofy realizes this, he accidentally unhooks the trailer, sending it on a perilous route. They come very close to disaster several times, while the oblivious Goofy drives on and hooks back up to them.
A mysterious thief has stolen the prosperous Happy Valley's most prized possession: the musical Singing Harp. Can Mickey, Donald, and Goofy find the answer in the irritable Willie the Giant's magnificent castle up in the blue sky?
Night in an old mill is dramatically depicted in this Oscar-winning short in which the frightened occupants, including birds, timid mice, owls, and other creatures try to stay safe and dry as a storm approaches. As the thunderstorm worsens, the mill wheel begins to turn and the whole mill threatens to blow apart until at last the storm subsides.
Mickey leads his polo team Donald (on a mule), Goofy, The Big Bad Wolf against an all-star team: Stan Laurel, Oliver Hardy, Harpo Marx (on an ostrich), Charles Chaplin, in a game refereed by Jack Holt. Featured spectators include the Three Little Pigs with Shirley Temple, W.C. Fields, and Clarabelle Cow with Clark Gable. Game action proceeds pretty much as you might expect from this bunch of comedians.
A jealous stump threatens two trees that are in love by starting a forest fire. When the rain comes and puts out the fire the forest revives and celebrates the wedding.
Mickey shows off his ice-skating skills to Minnie; Goofy does some unconventional ice fishing; Donald straps skates to Pluto and laughs at his attempts to skate. Donald gets strapped to a kite and is about to be swept over a waterfall when Mickey pulls off an heroic rescue.
Santa's little helpers must hurry to finish the toys before Christmas Day.
Donald and Mickey are overdue on their rent, so the sheriff is preparing to evict them and sell their belongings. Goofy the ice-man comes by and helps them move out before the sale, but their piano doesn't want to stay on his truck. Meanwhile, Donald has a fight with a plunger and a fishbowl after removing a heater from the gas line.
After being evicted from their old house by Tom's owner for causing major damage, cat and mouse Tom and Jerry enter a race entitled the "Fabulous Super Race" to win a mansion.
Ebenezer Scrooge is far too greedy to understand that Christmas is a time for kindness and generosity. But with the guidance of some new found friends, Scrooge learns to embrace the spirit of the season. A retelling of the classic Dickens tale with Disney's classic characters.
A social worker is coming to Gru's house to check if it's suitable for children. Margo, Edith, Agnes and the Minions must take care of the situation.
While carrying on their usual hi-jinks, they inadvertantly stow-away on a spaceship bound for Mars. They meet up with the local Martian residents and cause them to invade the Earth, aided by the "Invincitron", a vacuum-wielding giant robot. Tom, Jerry and their Martian ally, Peep, save the day.
Olaf is on a mission to harness the best holiday traditions for Anna, Elsa, and Kristoff.
The Christmas tree isn't the only thing green in this new holiday classic. Shrek is back and trying to get into the spirit of the season. After promising Fiona and the kids a Christmas they'll remember, he is forced to take a crash course in the holiday. But just when he thinks he has everything for their quiet family Christmas just right, there is a knock at the door.
Tom And Jerry are among the last animals living in Storybook Town, a fairy tale-inspired theme park "where dreams come true, if you believe."
Dueling cat-and-mouse team Tom and Jerry hit the high seas on a hunt for buried treasure in this pirate adventure. The tale begins when crew member Tom sets sail with an infamous pirate and finds a treasure map along with stowaway Jerry. The furry swashbucklers race to a deserted island where X marks the spot, but along with battling each other, they must outwit ruthless buccaneers, angry monkeys and a giant octopus to strike it rich.
Tom and Jerry find a dragon egg, and help the baby dragon find its mother.
In Disney's take on the Alexander Dumas tale, Mickey Mouse, Donald Duck and Goofy want nothing more than to perform brave deeds on behalf of their queen (Minnie Mouse), but they're stymied by the head Musketeer, Pete. Pete secretly wants to get rid of the queen, so he appoints Mickey and his bumbling friends as guardians to Minnie, thinking such a maneuver will ensure his scheme's success. The score features songs based on familiar classical melodies.
On Anna's birthday, Elsa and Kristoff are determined to give her the best celebration ever, but Elsa's icy powers may put more than just the party at risk.
Donald and his nephews are litterbugs: they drop garbage everywhere they go - even when they are out for a drive in Donald's car - until they are stopped by a policeman who makes them pick up everything they have dropped.
The title character comes to town, complete with portable boxing ring. He grabs a local chicken and dances with her, inspiring several other barnyard animals to dance. But her rooster takes offense, and enters the ring to do battle.
Thrown out of the house into the backyard, the three kittens are sheltered by a giant Saint Bernard and are tormented by a turtle and a bluebird.
Mickey Mouse is about to build Pluto a doghouse when Pluto digs up a magic lamp that speaks in black dialect. It offers to do Mickey's bidding. Mickey's first wish is for a doghouse, and the lamp starts to work. Suddenly, the saw, the planer, the paintbrush and other tools magically begin working on their own. Finally, Pluto has a magnificent doghouse. The second wish? Mickey asks the lamp to give Pluto a bath. But things go awry when Pluto accidentally breaks Mickey's radio. Now, all sorts of conflicting messages are coming out of the speaker as Mickey tries to fix it. The lamp assumes all the voices are Mickey's and obeys them. Pluto is rolled with a rolling pin, punched with boxing gloves, frozen in an aspic and is about to be cut into thin slices before all ends happily.
A sailor doll, thrown into a toy dump, rallies the demoralized dolls that were already there.
Mickey and Pluto make a short stopover on a South American flight. Mickey throws Pluto's ball into the jungle, and he chases it but it looks exactly the same as an armadillo that's rolled up into a ball. This, of course, greatly confuses Pluto for a while. But he eventually makes friends with the armadillo. He chases the critter into a cave right behind his ball, and rips the ball apart thinking it's the armadillo, which makes him very sad until the armadillo shows up again.
In the logical sequel to Springtime, a new set of insects (mostly) dances to a new set of tunes, while doing summer activities. The insects include dung beetles, dragonflies, butterflies, a walking stick, bees, and various other beetles and flies.
Pluto is tied up in the backyard and has been ordered by the maid to stay outside while she prepares a roast. Of course, once Pluto smells the scent of the roast, he makes a beeline for the kitchen. Unfortuantely, staying undiscovered proves difficult for Pluto once he gets inside particularly after he inhales a bucket of soapy water and starts sneezing. Bubbles fill the kitchen and cups are broken at which point the maid comes downstairs. Luckily, Pluto returns to his doghouse leaving the impression that he never left. The maid just shrugs and says, "I could swear it was that dog."
Donald is listening to a radio program that tells how to build an airplane from plastic, in a process much like baking a cake, cookies, and making toast. He takes it out for a test flight, still guided by the radio, and it works wonderfully. Until the radio interviewer asks if there's any problems: yes, it melts when it gets wet. Of course, Donald instantly flies into a rain cloud, and has to battle his plane as it disintegrates.
The city of Anyburg decides its traffic situation has gotten out of hand, so it puts the automobile on trial. The trial (conducted in rhyme) starts with a car that was in a hit-and-run accident, followed by a sports car whose sins are peeling rubber and general hot-rodding, followed by a heap, on trial for lack of safety. Next, a number of safety equipment designers testify that, despite their best efforts, the accident rate keeps rising. Through all this, the defense lawyer declines to ask questions. A highway designer bemoans the problems on his beautiful roads. At last, defense. He shows a number of scenarios, pointing out that the real problem isn't the car but the driver. Everyone left the courtroom, declaring the car not guilty, and drove politely again, for a little while.
We learn the true stories behind various nursery rhymes. Little Jack Horner: a servant to a city official was delivering a present to King Henry VIII, baked, as was the custom of the time, in a pie. The present was the deed to a valuable estate, which Horner stole. Mary, Mary, Quite Contrary: Mary Stuart brought "quite contrary" French style to the Scottish court. After a series of disastrous romances, she was jailed; the jailer's son, captivated by her, helped her escape. After a brief but disastrous attempted coup, she fled to England, where her sister, Queen Elizabeth, soon grew jealous and had her imprisoned. London Bridge: The bridge, finished in 1209, was soon lined by shops with luxury apartments upstairs, turning into a popular commercial and cultural zone. The Great Fire that broke out in 1666 spread to the bridge, but the houses were rebuilt. Over the ages, things decayed. In 1823, things finally got bad enough that the bridge was demolished and replaced.
Two bear cubs tussle harmlessly, then start to munch on a berry bush, until a bigger, meaner bear chases them off. They nibble some flowers and find a bee, which they follow to the hive, which they then proceed to raid. The big bear chases them off, but unknown to him, a bee spotted the raid and has summoned the attack squad. The bees run him off, and the cubs dig in.
Insects have made a playground/carnival out of castoffs, featuring "ice skating" on mirrors. Two love bugs head off to a more private area. But their fun is interrupted when a crow comes by. He bottles up the male bug and chases the female into her home. The male bug escapes in the nick of time, and another bug notices the battle and rallies the rest of the bugs to attack, which they do, using false teeth, an eggbeater, a mousetrap, castor oil, and other things.
The moon and two owls sing to the Blue Danube Waltz, celebrating the night. Moths dance around a candle flame, fireflies glow, frogs chorus, and so forth.
Donald and his nephews are visiting the carnival. After Donald makes a relatively high score on a weight testing machine, he is thought to be a veritable strong man and takes on an offer from a little boy to fight his uncle in a boxing match. Unfortunately for Donald, that "little boy" is actually a con man in cahoots with boxer Peewee Pete who is anything but what his name implies. His nephews notice and try to warn Donald but he finds himself in the ring with Pete anyway.
Two birds rejoice over the hatching of their three eggs; as they grow, the hatchlings are taught to sing and fly. One falls from the nest and has adventures with a rattlesnake and a beehive before finding his way home.
When a pilot has to turn back due to a severe storm, he drops the mail at a remote outpost where it can be delivered by dogsled. The falling mail pouch lands on Pluto, and he sets out to deliver it. He is continually delayed by a rabbit along the way, but in the end, the rabbit helps Pluto deliver the mail pouch.
Donald and Goofy are putting up advertising posters in a farm. Goofy prepares to post on a windmill, but his tools keep disappearing and reappearing on the windmill blades. Donald puts up his posters, a picture of a soup can, and a goat eats them immediately. Goofy gets stuck to his poster after it comes around on the windmill. Donald, being his calm, even-tempered self, gets into a battle with the goat.
Donald is trying to sell brushes door-to-door, but since nobody can understand him, nobody will buy anything. He happens across a street vendor selling voice pills. They work great, but he's only got a limited number so of course, the last pill ends up in various inconvenient places.
Pluto walks past the zoo and sees the huge bone the sleeping lion has but getting it out is easier said than done. He gets it out of the lion's cage, but then has to face the kangaroo and its playful joey. Next is the gorilla, then the crocodiles.