''Truant Officer Donald'' is an

animated Animation is a filmmaking technique whereby image, still images are manipulated to create Motion picture, moving images. In traditional animation, images are drawn or painted by hand on cel, transparent celluloid sheets to be photographed and e ...

short film A short film is a film with a low running time. The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS) defines a short film as "an original motion picture that has a running time of not more than 40 minutes including all credits". Other film o ...

produced in

Technicolor Technicolor is a family of Color motion picture film, color motion picture processes. The first version, Process 1, was introduced in 1916, and improved versions followed over several decades. Definitive Technicolor movies using three black-and ...

Walt Disney Productions The Walt Disney Company, commonly referred to as simply Disney, is an American multinational mass media and entertainment conglomerate headquartered at the Walt Disney Studios complex in Burbank, California. Disney was founded on October 16 ...

and released to theaters on August 1, 1941 by

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 ...

. The film was nominated for an

Academy Award for Best Animated Short Film The Academy Award for Best Animated Short Film is an award given by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS) as part of the annual Academy Awards, or Oscars, since the 5th Academy Awards (with different names), covering the year ...

in 1942 but lost to another Disney cartoon, '' Lend a Paw''. The story features

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 ...

working as a

truant Truancy is any intentional, unjustified, unauthorized, or illegal absence from compulsory education. It is a deliberate absence by a student's own free will and usually does not refer to legitimate excused absences, such as ones related to medic ...

officer and making sure that his nephews

Huey, Dewey, and Louie Huey, Dewey, and Louie are Multiple birth, triplet cartoon characters created by storyboard artist and screenwriter Carl Barks for The Walt Disney Company from an idea proposed by cartoonist Al Taliaferro. They are the nephews of Donald Duck an ...

go to

school A school is the educational institution (and, in the case of in-person learning, the Educational architecture, building) designed to provide learning environments for the teaching of students, usually under the direction of teachers. Most co ...

. The film was directed by Jack King while

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 ...

provided the voices of Donald and the nephews.

Plot

are enjoying a swim in the lake, but they are being watched by Truant Officer

, as he believes that they are skipping school to have fun in the lake. He captures the nephews and drives them to the schoolhouse in his truant officer van. While he endlessly goes on about the importance of a good education, the boys pull out their pocket knives, managing to cut themselves out of the van and make a run for it. Donald notices the back of his van is gone, and he chases the boys to their clubhouse. Donald tries numerous ways to get in, but each attempt fails miserably. In one attempt, he jacks up the clubhouse to load onto his van, but the boys manage to reverse the jack, so it comes back down on top of Donald. He tunnels out and decides as a last resort to smoke the boys out. Meanwhile, inside the clubhouse, the boys are cooking three chickens over the fire when suddenly they notice smoke pouring in. They decide to beat Donald at his own game by putting the chickens in the bed and escape through the roof. Donald peeks inside to see if his ploy had worked, and is horrified to see the chickens in the bed. Donald is very beside himself as he thinks he cooked the nephews alive. Then, Huey disguises himself as an angel and is lowered into the clubhouse. He manages to kick Donald in the rear. The second one causes him to fall, and his disguise falls off. Realizing that he has been tricked, Donald angrily beats up the trio and takes them to school. In a

twist ending A plot twist is a literary technique that introduces a radical change in the direction or expected outcome of the plot in a work of fiction. When it happens near the end of a story, it is known as a twist ending or surprise ending. It may change ...

, as soon as they reach school, Donald is shocked when he sees a sign that says "NOTICE SCHOOL CLOSED FOR SUMMER HOLIDAYS"; he realizes his nephews weren't playing hooky like he thought, and his intention of bringing his nephews back to school was all for nothing. As such, the nephews give Donald an infuriated glare for what he has done to them, causing Donald to literally deflate himself to his shrunken tiny size from his embarrassment over his mistake.

Reception

The cartoon was nominated for an Academy Award in 1942, but lost to another Disney cartoon, '' Lend a Paw'' starring Mickey Mouse and featuring Pluto.

Home media

The short was released on May 18, 2004 on '' Walt Disney Treasures: The Chronological Donald, Volume One: 1934-1941''.

References

External links

* {{Jack King Donald Duck short films 1940s Disney animated short films 1941 films Films directed by Jack King Films produced by Walt Disney Films with screenplays by Carl Barks Films about the education system in the United States 1941 animated short films