In this 1954 cartoon Donald is a happy bachelor looking for
love and finds that true love is more than he bargained for. But before he
realizes that truth, he must go through all of the “honeymoon” phases attendant
to any loving relationship.
With the standard cast of Donald, Daisy and Huey, Dewey and
Louie it is hard to imagine that this was the last feature which would have
Daisy Duck in it. She is, after all, the main character in this cartoon, which
is a wonderful send up of a typical marriage.
The cartoon begins in what appears to be San Francisco, with
Donald strolling the hilly streets in search of love. Daisy hears him whistling
down the street and dons a beautiful dress in the hopes of snaring a mate. She
does all of the atypical things that women in the movies do; she drops a
handkerchief; goes into a faint; even pretends to drown, but Donald seems
oblivious to her. But Daisy has a few tricks up her sleeve and the two are soon
dating.
Their courtship consists of all the usual things; a drive-in
movie; eating at a diner; and they even carve their names on a tree trunk. (The
trunk actually has all of Daisy’s previous prospects names on it.) It is at
this point that they kiss and “fall in love.”
The next logical step is for Donald to meet Daisy’s family.
Huey, Dewey and Louie play Daisy’s brothers and they give Donald the welcome
you would expect in a Donald Duck cartoon. He then meets her deaf mother, who
is an exact replica of Whistler’s classic painting. After meeting her father, a
crazed photographer, Donald is entranced with the idea of entering the state of
Holy Matrimony.
He goes to the jewelry store and buys the requisite ring
in order to propose to Daisy. He arrives back at the house and the stage is set
for him to pop the question. But, while Daisy is upstairs getting ready; which
takes several hours; Donald falls into a deep sleep, dreaming of married life.
After Daisy accepts his proposal in the dream the two
start out life as a happily wedded couple. But happiness seems to elude Donald
at every turn as he deals with his in laws and all of the responsibilities
which go along with wedded bliss. Clearly, Donald has made a mistake.
When Daisy comes downstairs to wake him up, expecting him
to propose, Donald screams in horror and runs out of the house screaming,
leaving a hole in the door which he neglected to open while making his escape.
The wedding is, apparently, off.
When we next see Donald he is sitting in a sparsely
furnished room writing in his diary. As the cartoon comes to a close Donald
writes his summation of what he has almost been through. “"It was a narrow
escape. Though I was born when I kissed her, I died when we parted."
A bugle is then heard playing in the background and he
rushes out the door to take his place along the ramparts of a desert fort
flying the French tricolor. The last thing he says as the cartoon comes to a
close is, "But I lived for a little while".
This is the original 1954 movie poster for "Donald's Diary"
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