Clown of the Jungle (1947)
In the African jungle, the narrator introduces us to the various birds living there and to wildlife photographer Donald Duck intent on getting some pictures. Unfortunately, all his attempts to photograph birds are ruined by the "clown of the jungle", the Aracuan Bird. Example: when Donald attempts to photograph a chorus line of hummingbirds, the Aracuan Bird interrupts the picture with a Russian kick dance. Donald becomes aggravated to the point where he gives chase but the bird always manages to outsmart Donald and make short work of his sanity.
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If you don't like this, we can't be friends.
A different way of telling a story
The movie turns out to be a little better than the average. Starting from a romantic formula often seen in the cinema, it ends in the most predictable (and somewhat bland) way.
The thing I enjoyed most about the film is the fact that it doesn't shy away from being a super-sized-cliche;
"Clown of the Jungle" is an American cartoon from 1947, so it just had its 70th anniversary and the names Hannah, Nash and Colvig make it obvious that here we got another Disney short from back in the day. It runs for under 6.5 minutes, so certainly not one of their longest. The star is Donald in here, or lets say one of the stars as this is basically a two-man errr.. two-bird show when DD is a wildlife photographer in the jungle and there he meets Disney's equivalent to Woody Woodpecker you could say, maybe a bit more whiny and less confident, but very similarly looking. And the two birds dueling is all this film is about. I did not like this new character. Donald was okay, but he alone cannot carry this either, even if his mannerisms were kinda funny. The gadget-based humor was also not top-notch here. Eventually this is evidence of how characters and story are king and how the best animation and voice actors cannot make up for deficits in these crucial fields. A small thumbs-up for Donald as he cannot be blamed here, but the cartoon as a whole gets a thumbs-down from me. Not recommended.
This is also one of my favourite Donald Duck cartoons, and it is certainly the best of the ones featuring the Aracuan bird. The animation is vibrant and colourful, just look at the gorgeous backgrounds right at the start, and the music is as energetic and bouncy as ever before with a beautifully harmonised bird song. The story is a tad routine, but skips along very nicely in the pace, and the sight gags and humour are constantly hilarious, such as the sight of the Aracuan bird shaking Donald's beak. The Aracuan bird is absolute nuts(reminds me of a more maniacal version of Roadrunner), but isn't he funny? Donald's cantankerous and somewhat rude personality perfects contrasts. The vocal work is stellar. Clown of the Jungle is a short cartoon at 6 minutes, but it is 6 minutes or animated joy and fun. 10/1 Bethany Cox
A Walt Disney DONALD DUCK Cartoon.While on a photographic expedition, Donald is driven crazy by the CLOWN OF THE JUNGLE, the zany Aracuan bird.This incredibly silly little film features the second of three animated appearances by the Aracuan bird. With his debut in THE THREE CABALLEROS (1945), his mercifully brief film career would come to a culmination in MELODY TIME (1948). Clarence "Ducky" Nash supplies Donald's unique voice.Walt Disney (1901-1966) was always intrigued by 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 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 simplicity of message and lots of hard work always pay off.
Donald Duck is facing Aracuan bird.Aracuan is just insane.Nothing that Donald does realy affects him.Donald's own sanity fails him.This is one of the most hilarius Donald shorts.He just crosses the short line from mad-furious to mad-insane in his own way.Watch it if you want to laugh.