''Grand Canyonscope'' is a

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 ...

animated short released in 1954. It was Disney's second cartoon filmed in

CinemaScope CinemaScope is an anamorphic format, anamorphic lens series used, from 1953 to 1967, and less often later, for shooting widescreen films that, crucially, could be screened in theatres using existing equipment, albeit with a lens adapter. Its cr ...

(following '' Toot, Whistle, Plunk and Boom''), and was produced to accompany Disney's first CinemaScope film ''

20,000 Leagues Under the Sea ''Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Seas'' () is a science fiction adventure novel by the French writer Jules Verne. It is considered a classic within its genres and world literature. It was originally serialised from March 1869 to June 1870 i ...

''. One joke has J. Audubon Woodlore

breaking the fourth wall The fourth wall is a performance convention in which an invisible, imaginary wall separates actors from the audience. While the audience can see through this "wall", the convention assumes the actors act as if they cannot. From the 16th centu ...

stating to the tourists in the CinemaScope version, "Uh, spread out, folks, this is CinemaScope" or in the non-CinemaScope version, "Uh, spread out, folks, this is a big canyon." This short was the first ''

'' cartoon to be distributed by Disney's own distribution company,

Buena Vista Distribution Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures is an American film distributor within the Disney Entertainment division of the Walt Disney Company. It handles theatrical and occasional digital distribution, marketing, and promotion for films produced and ...

, instead of

RKO Radio Pictures RKO Radio Pictures Inc., commonly known as RKO Pictures or simply RKO, is an American film production and distribution company, historically one of the "Big Five" film studios of Hollywood's Golden Age. The business was formed after the Kei ...

Plot

Donald Donald is a Scottish masculine given name. It is derived from the Gaelic name ''Dòmhnall''.. This comes from the Proto-Celtic *''Dumno-ualos'' ("world-ruler" or "world-wielder"). The final -''d'' in ''Donald'' is partly derived from a misinter ...

is taking a tour of the

Grand Canyon The Grand Canyon is a steep-sided canyon carved by the Colorado River in Arizona, United States. The Grand Canyon is long, up to wide and attains a depth of over a mile (). The canyon and adjacent rim are contained within Grand Canyon Nati ...

. Although he just wants to enjoy the whole exhibition, this is made all but impossible by the constant admonishment from the rulebook-wielding tour guide: none other than Ranger J. Audubon Woodlore. Donald and Woodlore continue to irritate each other — Donald by innocently tripping over various regulations ("Don't drop rocks into the canyon; Don't bother the native Americans; Don't yell at Echo Cliff"; You can't be on the tour without a burro to ride"; et al.), and Woodlore by chastising him for it — until Woodlore himself disturbs Louie the Mountain Lion, the last

lion The lion (''Panthera leo'') is a large Felidae, cat of the genus ''Panthera'', native to Sub-Saharan Africa and India. It has a muscular, broad-chested body (biology), body; a short, rounded head; round ears; and a dark, hairy tuft at the ...

seen in these parts since the

Civil War A civil war is a war between organized groups within the same Sovereign state, state (or country). The aim of one side may be to take control of the country or a region, to achieve independence for a region, or to change government policies.J ...

. To Woodlore's shock, Louie is, in fact, the same lion. He proceeds to don a

Confederate A confederation (also known as a confederacy or league) is a political union of sovereign states united for purposes of common action. Usually created by a treaty, confederations of states tend to be established for dealing with critical issu ...

soldier's hat and gives chase (after Woodlore's failure to gain his confidence by whistling the Confederate tune

Dixie Dixie, also known as Dixieland or Dixie's Land, is a nickname for all or part of the Southern United States. While there is no official definition of this region (and the included areas have shifted over the years), or the extent of the area i ...

). Woodlore is caught in the middle as Louie chases Donald through the Canyon, which results in most of it being destroyed (notably, a number of natural rock formations are smashed). With all the other tourists having fled, Woodlore sternly — and rather insultingly — demands that both Donald and the lion must restore Grand Canyon to its original state that they ruined; accordingly, he throws them two shovels and yells at them to start digging. Feeling extremely remorseful, Donald and Louie are actually crazy enough to go along with this; they mopingly begin the ponderous task of restoring the Grand Canyon to its former glory.

Voice cast

* Donald Duck:

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 ...

* J. Audubon Woodlore: Bill Thompson * Louie the Mountain Lion: James MacDonald

Home media

The short was remastered and also released on November 11, 2008, on '' Walt Disney Treasures: The Chronological Donald, Volume Four: 1951–1961''. It was also released as a bonus feature on the DVD release of ''

''.

References

External links

* 1954 films Donald Duck short films 1950s Disney animated short films Animated films set in Arizona Films produced by Walt Disney Films scored by Oliver Wallace Films directed by Charles August Nichols CinemaScope films Grand Canyon in fiction Works about the Grand Canyon 1950s English-language films Animated films about cougars English-language short films 1954 animated short films {{AmericanCivilWar-film-stub

Plot

Voice cast

Home media

See also

References

External links