The next short on Disney plus was the 1955 effort, another Donald Duck one named "Bearly Asleep". Puns! Off to a good start. For me it was charming enough but lacking the wit of some of the better efforts.
Donald Duck (Clarence Nash) is the Ranger at a National Park. Having waved away the last of the summer tourists, it becomes time to organise the bears for the winter's hibernation. One bear though, Humphrey (James MacDonald) has been dozing already and so struggles to drop off. When he does, his snoring causes the other bears to kick him out and he is forced to find somewhere else to sleep. He decides that Ranger Donald's cabin is the most attractive alternative.
So, again it's quite a charming time. It's more focused on Humphrey the bear than Donald, which was a bit of a surprise to me. I have to be honest and say somehow that Humphrey has rather passed me by, so I wasn't expecting him to feature so heavily, or that Wikipedia would advise me of quite as comprehensive a history for him. He seemed a touch more slapstick a character than the classic shorts have otherwise been. That perhaps came at the expense of a bit of wit, or timing, what made, for example, "The Band Concert" made some twenty years earlier, such a delight.
It's solid though, don't get me wrong, classic animation style and vocal work. There' are just better examples out there.
Donald Duck (Clarence Nash) is the Ranger at a National Park. Having waved away the last of the summer tourists, it becomes time to organise the bears for the winter's hibernation. One bear though, Humphrey (James MacDonald) has been dozing already and so struggles to drop off. When he does, his snoring causes the other bears to kick him out and he is forced to find somewhere else to sleep. He decides that Ranger Donald's cabin is the most attractive alternative.
So, again it's quite a charming time. It's more focused on Humphrey the bear than Donald, which was a bit of a surprise to me. I have to be honest and say somehow that Humphrey has rather passed me by, so I wasn't expecting him to feature so heavily, or that Wikipedia would advise me of quite as comprehensive a history for him. He seemed a touch more slapstick a character than the classic shorts have otherwise been. That perhaps came at the expense of a bit of wit, or timing, what made, for example, "The Band Concert" made some twenty years earlier, such a delight.
It's solid though, don't get me wrong, classic animation style and vocal work. There' are just better examples out there.