''Commando Duck'' is a

Walt Disney Walter Elias Disney ( ; December 5, 1901December 15, 1966) was an American animator, film producer, voice actor, and entrepreneur. A pioneer of the Golden age of American animation, American animation industry, he introduced several develop ...

anti-Japanese propaganda

cartoon A cartoon is a type of visual art that is typically drawn, frequently Animation, animated, in an realism (arts), unrealistic or semi-realistic style. The specific meaning has evolved, but the modern usage usually refers to either: an image or s ...

starring

Donald Duck Donald Fauntleroy Duck is a cartoon character created by the Walt Disney Company. Donald is an Anthropomorphism, anthropomorphic white duck with a yellow-orange bill, legs, and feet. He typically wears a sailor suit, sailor shirt and cap with ...

. It was released on June 2, 1944.

Plot

Donald Duck parachutes into the jungle of a remote

Pacific The Pacific Ocean is the largest and deepest of Earth's five oceanic divisions. It extends from the Arctic Ocean in the north to the Southern Ocean, or, depending on the definition, to Antarctica in the south, and is bounded by the cont ...

island to wipe out a Japanese

airfield An aerodrome, airfield, or airstrip is a location from which aircraft flight operations take place, regardless of whether they involve air cargo, passengers, or neither, and regardless of whether it is for public or private use. Aerodromes in ...

undetected.Shull, Wilt (2004), p. 166Akita, Kenney (2013), p. 53 He loses most of his equipment in the process of landing and is nearly eaten by a pair of crocodiles. He uses a rubber raft to travel down the river. He is located by Japanese

sniper A sniper is a military or paramilitary marksman who engages targets from positions of concealment or at distances exceeding the target's detection capabilities. Snipers generally have specialized training and are equipped with telescopic si ...

s, including one disguised as a rock and one disguised as a slant-eyed and buck-toothed tree. He initially mistakes their bullets for mosquitoes and presses onwards. His raft is caught beneath a waterfall and starts inflating. He makes sure the raft hits nothing that would pop it. When he gets to the edge of a cliff, he sees the airfield. The raft has already exploded, causing water to turn into a waterfall. The water ends up

flood A flood is an overflow of water (list of non-water floods, or rarely other fluids) that submerges land that is usually dry. In the sense of "flowing water", the word may also be applied to the inflow of the tide. Floods are of significant con ...

ing the entire airfield, destroying everything in its path including all of the aircraft. A montage of all the broken aircraft after the flood. Upon seeing the ruins of the airfield, a proud Donald declares his mission accomplished by sign a message quote: " Contacted enemy, washed out same".

Voice cast

Clarence Nash Clarence Charles "Ducky" Nash (December 7, 1904 – February 20, 1985) was an American voice actor and impressionist. He is best remembered as the original voice of the Disney cartoon character Donald Duck. He was born in the rural community of W ...

* Eddie Holden as Japanese Snipers

Analysis

Due to the short being made in World War II, when the

United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

was at war with the

Empire of Japan The Empire of Japan, also known as the Japanese Empire or Imperial Japan, was the Japanese nation state that existed from the Meiji Restoration on January 3, 1868, until the Constitution of Japan took effect on May 3, 1947. From Japan–Kor ...

, the cartoon expresses blatant anti-Japanese sentiment which is now seen as racist. However, the focus of the short is mostly on Donald and his efforts in combat and less on the racial aspects of the enemy. This has allowed the short to be broadcast to modern audiences with most of the Japanese references removed. There are Japanese caricatures and depictions of the Imperial Japanese Military. There is also a reference to Japanese emperor

Hirohito , Posthumous name, posthumously honored as , was the 124th emperor of Japan according to the traditional order of succession, from 25 December 1926 until Death and state funeral of Hirohito, his death in 1989. He remains Japan's longest-reigni ...

. The Japanese soldiers speak in stereotypical dialect and advocate firing the first shot at a man's back. The gag with the enemy soldier disguised as a tree can be traced back to '' Shoulder Arms'' (1918). It was also used in '' A Lecture on Camouflage'' (1944).Shull, Wilt (2004), p. 193-194 It was later utilized by the Indians during their battle with the Lost Boys in the 1953 Disney animated feature ''

Peter Pan Peter Pan is a fictional character created by Scottish novelist and playwright J. M. Barrie. A free-spirited and mischievous young boy who can fly and never grows up, Peter Pan spends his never-ending childhood having adventures on the mythical ...

'' as well. Though earlier war-era shorts (e.g. '' Donald Gets Drafted'', '' The Vanishing Private'', etc.) depict Donald's experiences and training as a regular U.S. Army draftee and

infantry Infantry, or infantryman are a type of soldier who specialize in ground combat, typically fighting dismounted. Historically the term was used to describe foot soldiers, i.e. those who march and fight on foot. In modern usage, the term broadl ...

private Private or privates may refer to: Music * "In Private", by Dusty Springfield from the 1990 album ''Reputation'' * Private (band), a Denmark-based band * "Private" (Ryōko Hirosue song), from the 1999 album ''Private'', written and also recorded ...

, the

commando A commando is a combatant, or operative of an elite light infantry or special operations force, specially trained for carrying out raids and operating in small teams behind enemy lines. Originally, "a commando" was a type of combat unit, as oppo ...

mission and Pacific Theater of Operations setting in this short are seemingly 6th Ranger Battalion or Paramarine/

Marine Raider The Marine Raiders are special operations forces originally established by the United States Marine Corps during World War II to conduct amphibious warfare, amphibious light infantry warfare. Despite the original intent for Raiders to serve ...

-inspired. This is the only film which depicts a regular Disney character engaging with the enemy at war.Leskosky (2011), p. 60

Home media

The short was released on May 18, 2004 on '' Walt Disney Treasures: Walt Disney on the Front Lines'' and on December 6, 2005 on '' Walt Disney Treasures: The Chronological Donald, Volume Two: 1942-1946''.

Sources

* * * *

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Commando Duck 1944 films American World War II propaganda shorts 1940s Disney animated short films Donald Duck short films Films set on islands World War II films made in wartime Films directed by Jack King Films produced by Walt Disney Films scored by Oliver Wallace Japan in non-Japanese culture Race-related controversies in animation Race-related controversies in film Disney controversies Anti-Japanese sentiment in the United States Stereotypes of East Asian people Ethnic humour 1944 animated short films