Celebrate Donald Duck day and discover the mystery behind Donald ducks birthday
It may seem like Mickey and Donald have always been friends. The truth is, Donald didn’t come into the cartoon picture until June 9, 1934. This is 6 years after Mickey and Minnie made their successful debut in Steamboat Willie. This makes June 9th Donald Duck Day and to some Donald Ducks Birthday (or does it…keep reading).
Donald Duck’s Cartoon Debut
Donald enters the scene as a character in the Silly Symphonies cartoon The Wise Little Hen. This is Disney’s adaptation of the fairy tale, the Little Red Hen. In the cartoon we see a playful duck and his friend Peter Pig dancing and playing to avoid helping. In the end wise Mrs. Hen teaches the animals the value of labor.
Like other Disney characters, this may not have been the actual first time Donald appeared as one of Mickey’s friends. In the book The Adventures of Mickey Mouse Donald appears with some other yet-to-be-seen-in-cartoon-friend’s of Mickey!
In this book, Donald is seen wearing pants. A rarity indeed.
Who has more films than Mickey Mouse? DONALD!
He may have had a “late start” as one of the Sensational Six (The 6 main characters in the Disney franchise), however, Donald Duck is credited with appearing in more feature films than the Mouse himself. Donald is also the proud owner of an Oscar, for his role in the 1943 animated short Der Fuehrer’s Face (an anti-Nazi cartoon).
When is Donald Duck’s Birthday?
Traditionally a Character’s “Birthday” is celebrated based on the day of their first appearance – making June 9 Donald’s Birthday. Fans also come up with character Birthdays based on their findings. According to some, Donald was born on March 13, 1914. The concept behind this comes from the 1949 cartoon “Donald’s Happy Birthday”. In this cartoon, it is revealed his birthday is March 13th. In Walt Disney’s The Life of Donald Duck, his authorized biography, published in 1941, we find out he was born on Friday the 13th. Some dedicated fans found all of the instances of Friday, March 13 and, using other clues from the Duck-verse, determined that Donald was born on March 13, 1914. It’s fitting that this over-the-top Duck who loves to be in the spotlight would have 2 days in which we can celebrate as DONALD DUCK DAY!
How you can celebrate
You can celebrate either of Donald’s birthdays, as well as the special days of the other members of the Sensational Six, with a FREE download of THE SENSATIONAL SIX by Happy Hive Homeschooling. This Set includes activities for EACH of the 6 main characters in the group.
For each character, there is a brief history, information about their first animated appearances as well as some fun facts. I have linked to the best quality version of the cartoons mentioned as possible, for educational/historic purposes only.
I have also included a brief explanation of the literary terms personification and anthropomorphism. This is aimed at older learners in grades 5 and above as all of the characters except Pluto are considered anthropomorphic.
There are Comic Book Templates, a Cartoon Discussion guide, as well as a link to a short video on the 5 Types of Animation all, included for extension activities. This is a JAM-PACKED FREEBIE! to celebrate 6 Amazing characters and their impact on cartoon culture.
Thanks for stopping by Happy Hive Homeschooling for Donald Duck’s Birthday!
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Sources:
This post uses material from the “Adventures of Mickey Mouse” article on the Disney wiki at Fandom and is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike License.
