User Reviews

. . . by such DONALD DUCK AND THE GORILLA-related puzzlers as "Who was Breckenridge? Who voiced him? And How did he get his name?" Breckenridge is the police dispatcher\radio news reader Don Duck and "nephews" Huey, Dewey and Louie hear three times giving the public advice about Ajax, the local gorilla rampaging on the loose. Breckenridge is played by "Candy" C-a-n-d-i-d-o. He is named after a town future Dizzy henchmen Carl S. And U. I. Works visited during its 1913 rodeo days. Today Breckenridge, MI, has a population of 1,538, divided between 535 households. The median age in the village is 35.8, and each household has a median income of $36,200. Founded in 1872, Breckenridge is a suburb of EPA Superfund clean-up site St. Louis, MI. Several state penitentiaries are on the Breckenridge--eastern--side of St. Louis. At 1.07 square miles in size, Masters Carl and Works probably were able to take in the primary tourist sites in a single day. Of course, Breckenridge may have been less built up in 1913 than it is Today.

"Donald Duck and the Gorilla" summarizes this cartoon pretty well as the only thing missing to describe this one 100% is the nephews and maybe the radio commentator with his great timing. This cartoon is from the days of World War II, so now already almost 75 years old and another Disney work by prolific director Jack King and the even more prolific voice actor Clarence Nash doing everything and everybody in these under 7 minutes. Mel Blanc style. Sadly I am not too impressed here. The best thing is probably the reference about people still hearing the radio as their number 1 source of information. Sure, it is from the Golden Age of Animation and looks fine visually, but it just didn't work for me. Too unrealistic, too many coincidences. Donald has a pair of gorilla gloves when a gorilla is on the loose, the nephews even have a full dress. Boy they were cowards in here. Not cool. Donald doesn't even realize when he is sitting on a gorilla (costume) and when somebody takes his lollipop out of his hands and puts it back in moments later? Nah. And that is just the first couple minutes. The second half with the actual gorilla appearing (that would have been coincidence enough) is hardly any better. It's fast, but never funny. Overall, one of the slightly scarier Donald/Disney cartoons, in one scene we even see Donald tombstone, but not among the better sadly. I love the Ducks, but this was underwhelming. Thumbs down. Don't watch.

In addition to Trick or Treat (1952), another really good Disney cartoon to check out around Halloween time is Donald Duck and the Gorilla. It's all about a gorilla that escapes from the city zoo, breaks into a random house, and terrorizes the folks inside it. Don't you hate it when that happens? Our story begins on a dark and stormy night, where Donald and his nephews are listening to the radio, when the announcer breaks in with a special report: Ajax the Gorilla has escaped from the zoo, and is running wild. This animal is reported to be a killer. Special note here: Ajax is basically Disney's answer to Acme, as both are big corporations that supply the characters in their respective cartoons with essentials, so if this were a Warner Bros picture, the gorilla would probably be named Acme... and would be terrorizing Wile E. Coyote, no doubt, as that company seems to hate him for no particular reason. But anyway, the boys are terrified of the notion that a crazed ape is on the loose, but Donald finds the situation and his nephews' reactions somewhat humorous. He even displays a sick sense of humor by slipping on a pair of hairy, black gloves that he happened to have and scares Huey, Dewey, and Louie half to death with them. He gets a good laugh, but the boys didn't find it so funny, so it was time to get even. So they dress in a full-sized gorilla costume and have some fun with their uncle, and he falls for it pretty easily. Unfortunately, fate took a cruel turn as a REAL gorilla broke into the house at that moment. The boys, each making up a part of the costume, took off running, thus giving themselves away to Donald. A chase ensues and he grabs who he thinks is his nephews in a gorilla suit, only to realize it's the genuine article. The somewhat helpful radio announcer breaks in again, saying that the best way to master any wild animal is to look them straight in the eye. Donald tries this, but only sees a vision of his headstone. He takes off with his tail between his legs.

The four ducks, armed and an ax and a candle, decide to take matters into their own hands, but when Donald accidentally gets burned on the rear with the candle, which he then inadvertently burns a doorknob with and gets the Joe Pesci treatment when he touches it, he decides to handle it on his own. This begins a very wild chase through Donald Duck's monstrously large house. It didn't look that big on the outside. Donald must be doing alright for himself, as they must be paying sailors really well. I don't think even Jeff Bezos has a house THAT big. Through the living room, through the cellar, as Donald takes off on a ladder which, when broken and stepping into a pair of conveniently placed boots, become stilts. He then goes flying across his enormous dining room table which could probably seat the whole state of Rhode Island. However, it's there that the gorilla gets the upper-hand and tries to crush Donald in the adjustable table. All seemed lost, until that somewhat helpful radio announcer broke in once more, saying that the best way to subdue Ajax was to use tear gas. So as poor Donald was begging for his life, the nephews grabbed a can of tear gas, which they luckily just happened to have lying around, and tossed it into the room. Sure enough, it worked: Ajax's eyes welled up with tears and he began sobbing comically. Donald thought it was hilarious, until the gas started effecting him, at which point duck and gorilla, now buddies, have themselves a good cry.

Classic cartoon hijinks. Now, one important thing to point out here is that despite what the radio announcer said, the one thing you NEVER do when coming face to face with a wild animal, especially a gorilla, is to look them straight in the eye. They would interpret that to mean you're trying to challenge them, in which case, again, especially with a gorilla, you would lose. Donald Duck and the Gorilla is a classic, for Donald fans, for gorilla fans, for everybody, and again, I marvel at just how big Donald's house was. I know when cartoon characters run across a room, you see the same scenery pass by multiple times, giving the illusion that the house is bigger than it looks, but then again, they could be running in circles. Not much else I can say, except I recommend this cartoon, especially for Halloween.