The Autograph Hound (1939)

User Rating:

7.1/10   

Director:

Jack King

Writer:

Harry Reeves (writer)

Release Date:

1 September 1939 (USA)

Genre:

Family | Animation | Comedy | Short

Plot:

Autograph hound Donald, despite the security guard, manages to get signatures from Greta Garbo, 'Mickey Rooney' ...

Plot Keywords:

Donald Duck | Obsessed Fan | Reference To The Marx Brothers | Celebrity Caricature | Revolving Door

Cast

Clarence Nash

...

Donald Duck (voice)

Runtime:

Argentina:8 min | USA:8 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono

Certification:

Argentina:Atp

Company:

Walt Disney Productions

Movie Connections:

References Conquest (1937)

"Donald Duck, did you say DONALD DUCK!!"

I can remember this cartoon very fondly. It was one of the earliest cartoons I'd ever seen, let alone among the Donald Duck archives (when VHS first started, a good chunk of his and other Disney characters got their own sets of cartoon tapes). And, it also serves as something of worth as being maybe the first place I ever got some insight about Hollywood. That it's Hollywood in Marx Brothers, Shriley Temple, and Mickey Rooney form turns everything into bolder things. It even has a sort of timeless quality, even when dealing with icons of the time all now obscured or mythic in stature.

Basically, Donald, being a fan of every Hollywood star in sight, wants to get inside and get as much as possible for his little book. A venture that keeps getting thwarted by a security guard (the un-named Pete of several cartoons before his solidifying into the cast) and by several odd attempts at securing the coveted name in ink. Of course, everyone in the cartoon is impersonated (probably even Temple, though having never seen one of her films I can't vouch). But that then brings out more for the conventions to bring out more laughs. Rooney's segment, watching it today, is funnier than when I was a kid. I got more of the subtleties laced into the obvious gags. There's even a scene with Donald and three brothers whom I (and I admit this claiming to have seen a lot) don't know anything about.

Some of the more silly and low-key outrageous moments are matched with the sweeter touches of Temple's scene and a little moment involving an ice skater. Moments like these create a rhythm that is strong, and sometimes lacking in some of the more generally slapstick shorts. This could even be considered like a mild grandfather to humor later seen in the Critic on TV. The conclusion is a great one, displaying it as one of the earliest, and successful, cartoons to make fun of itself. Is Donald Duck as popular as Garbo or Charlie McCarthey?