Donald and the Wheel

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Donald and the Wheel
Directed byHamilton Luske
Written byBill Berg
Produced byWalt Disney
StarringClarence Nash
The Mellomen
Narrated byThurl Ravenscroft
Music byBuddy Baker
Production
company
Distributed byBuena Vista Film Distribution Company
Release date
  • June 21, 1961 (1961-06-21)
Running time
17 minutes
CountryUnited States
LanguageEnglish

Donald and the Wheel is a 17-minute

animated short directed by Hamilton Luske, produced by Walt Disney and released on June 21, 1961.[1] It is an educational-based film, and features a considerable amount of musical vocals. Disney described the cartoon as "using the revolutionary Xerox and Sodium Screen Processes together for the first time, Disney and his director, Ham Luske, combine real people and objects in the same perspective as animated characters and objects."[2][3]

Plot

Two "spirits of progress" are observing the potential inventor of the wheel. These spirits are never seen aside from their auras. One of these spirits is an adult (voiced by Thurl Ravenscroft) and is accompanied by his beatnik-talking son (voiced by Max Smith). The elder is trying to explain the importance of the wheel to his son. They observe a caveman (portrayed by Donald Duck) trying to haul his supply sled up a hill and into a cave. Donald is then chased out of the cave by a Saber Tooth Tiger. He gets away, but the tiger tumbles down a hill wrapped around a rock. The spirits tell Donald that this should be the inspiration for his invention of the wheel.

The film then goes into the evolution and widespread uses for the wheel, including those used by the

buggies and carriages of the 19th century, culminating with the invention of the steam locomotive and the Industrial Revolution
.

The narrators also take time to explain various devices that use wheel-based parts, including gears like a

a wheel, and that the Sun, Moon, Earth
and planetary orbits act as wheels.

After seeing into the future, Donald appears overwhelmed and bewildered, and decides against inventing the wheel. He claims it is "too much trouble" and does not want to bear the enormous responsibility. The Spirits of Progress accept that Donald may not be the true inventor of the wheel, but that "somebody did".

Voice cast

Music

The music was composed by Buddy Baker, who also composed Donald in Mathmagic Land and sung by The Mellomen.

Release

Donald and the Wheel was released in theaters with the film The Parent Trap.

Home media

The short was released on November 11, 2008, on Walt Disney Treasures: The Chronological Donald, Volume Four: 1951-1961.[4]

References

  1. ISBN 0-8160-3831-7
    . Retrieved 6 June 2020.
  2. ^ Walt Disney's "Donald and The Wheel" (1961)
  3. ^ The Pittsburgh Press from Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania on June 18, 1961
  4. ^ "The Chronological Donald Volume 4 DVD Review". DVD Dizzy. Retrieved 13 February 2021.

External links

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