Memorial Day Events at The Walt Disney Family Museum

© DisneyYou won't want to miss our special programs in observation of Memorial Day!

This Saturday, May 21st at 3:00pm, in our state-of-the-art digital theater, noted author and The Walt Disney Family Museum's consulting historian, Paul F. Anderson, will present a one-of-a-kind chronicle of Walt’s mutifaceted contributions towards the war effort, featuring rare information and seldom-seen visuals.  

Paul will return the day after, Sunday, May 22nd at 2:00pm, and offer a unique and informative visual presentation on the making of Walt Disney’s Victory Through Air Power—and the resulting impact the film had on the Allied war strategy.

Relive this pivotal time through never-before-seen images, rare film clips, and moving stories—and through these narratives, discover how Walt Disney wholeheartedly devoted himself and his organization to winning the war. Paul’s presentations are sometimes funny, often emotional, and thoroughly uplifting. Stay after the presentation for an intimate Q&A session with Paul as we commemorate this year's Memorial Day.

Tickets are limited, so get yours today at www.waltdisney.org!

THE FAUNTELROY FOLLIES: The Continuing History of Donald Duck

In light of the Donald Duck Contest we held last month, Disney Historian Paul Anderson has uncovered new information about our favorite duck's middle name that will have you quacking "Oh boy, oh boy, oh boy!" 

May I be the first to congratulate all the Trivia Scholars that successfully answered the three Donald Duck questions. I think Donald’s middle name is one of the perennial Top Ten Disney trivia questions of all time, as it routinely shows up in contests (for many decades now). All I can surmise from this is that there must be a great deal of interest in the fine-feathered fowl’s middle name.

As a Disney historian, I wanted to share a little bit about the origins of the name as well as a previously unpublished and unknown anecdote. Yes, this is not your dad’s Walt Disney history, this is brand new, breaking news right here and now on Storyboard (alert the media!).

As you glorious, gifted masters of minutiae winners know, the answer to this trivia question comes from the short film Donald Gets Drafted (1942). It is in this cinematic achievement that we first see the name “Fauntleroy” as it is manifest on Donald’s Order to Report for Induction. It has always been suggested that the name had its origins from the 1886 book Little Lord Fauntleroy by Frances Hodgson Burnett. A Fauntelroy garment often consisted of a sailor suit and hat, and Little Lord Fauntleroy himself was a well-known spoiled brat (does this sound like somebody we know?).

I recently came across a story transcript from the film Donald Gets Drafted from April 9, 1941. In attendance at this meeting were Walt Disney and a handful of storymen. Early on in the discussion Walt comes up with the idea of zooming in on Donald’s draft notice and showing the particulars.  Walt declares: “Could we come down on this draft paper and it says ...” And now, here, for the first time, we hear Walt’s idea for Donald’s middle name ... (drum roll please), it is “something funny.” Okay, I know, that’s not funny. It’s not a name, but Walt throwing out a suggestion to his storymen. Storyman Harry Reeves states that it should be “Donald Swansdown Duck,” to which Walt replies, “it ought to be some dopey, silly name.” And there it is left. So now you know, the very first ever incarnation of Donald’s middle name is: Swansdown! It is just one more, small piece of Donald S. Duck’s celebrated history.

Of particular interest to Donald Duck fans, is that also present at the story meeting was Carl Barks, who, of course, became Donald Duck’s best pal and champion (along with Clarence “Ducky” Nash and Tony Anselmo!). Carl did not suggest a middle moniker for Donald, which is unusual because he was legendary when it came to creative and imaginative character names for his comic book stories. So making the leap of faith that Walt’s storymen were well known for stashing unused ideas for future use, and Carl was in the meeting, we discover that Barks  did just that! In his Donald Duck story for the April 1946 issue of Walt Disney Comics and Stories #67, we find a flirtatious Donald with a “Miss Swansdown-Swoonsudden.” Coincidence? I think so! But a cool story, nonetheless!

Congratulations to Jessica Peterson who was drawn at random to win a personal audio birthday message from Tony Anselmo. A round of applause to all who participated in the contest and knew that Donald's birthday was June 9, 1934, Clarence Nash was the first person to voice The Duck, and Donald's middle name is indeed Fauntleroy!

EVOLUTION OF A DUCK, THE 1940s “THE DONALD DUCK DECADE”

 As part of our month-long salute to Donald Duck, we asked Disney historian, Paul Anderson, to tell us about Donald's golden era of the 1940s.

In my esteemed colleague’s essay on Donald Duck, we had an insightful look at the inception and evolution of the quarrelsome quacker throughout the thirties. As the story unfolds we are witness to Donald’s meteoric rise in popularity with the eventual eclipsing of Walt’s much beloved Mickey Mouse. It is in the decade of the forties where Donald Duck finds stardom beyond what he knew in the thirties, and also cements himself as Walt Disney’s most popular cartoon star ... of all time. So that latter statement, at least to fans of Mr. Mickey Mouse, might be a bit controversial (that is if one can actually create a debate such as this). Far be it for me to start the feathers flying in a Donald-esque rage of temper over the most popular Disney character of all time; as emotionally everybody has their favorite and ultimately it is a bit farcical (in keeping with the subject of this essay). However, let me state that what Donald Duck achieved in the 1940s has never been equaled by any cartoon character in any decade!

If Mickey’s decade was the 1930s, then Donald’s was the 1940s. Each character’s popularity has more to say about what was going on in America, then about the mouse and the duck. As such, it is probably an unfair comparison; suffice it to say, Mickey was the “every man” of the Depression era, while Donald was the “fighting spirit” of the War era. Each character, in their own way, offered a beacon of hope and light to their respective decade–Mickey to show us that with tenacity and good spirits we could overcome the adversity and obstacles of an economically beleaguered nation; and Donald to show us that with a fighting spirit we could get the job done in a world that was devastated by war.

As J.B. pointed out in his essay, to which I whole-heartedly agree, Donald’s peak in his acting career was 1937 to 1941. His peak in popularity, however, was 1941 to 1945, and while his star power declined a bit after the War, he was still at the top of his game ... he did not suffer the typical Hollywood star decline following the war. Indeed, his popularity continued well into the 1950s.

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