One of the best Disney shorts. Highly recommend. Same very funny.
9 Reviews
Donald and Daisy both shine!
TheLittleSongbird20 April 2012
I do agree that the title is misleading, it is more Daisy's Dilemma than Donald's. But when you see the quality of the cartoon, you can forgive this, because Donald's Dilemma is just wonderful. It is a cartoon where both Donald and Daisy shine, Donald is not as temperamental as he is in other cartoons but he is still a joy here. Especially with his singing which is one of the more mellow and beautiful singing voices of any male singing voice in the Disney cartoons. The animation is of vibrant and fluid quality, and there is a lot of energy and style in the music. The cartoon is both touching and amusing, touching because while I have rarely seen Daisy so angry you do to an extent feel for her and amusing because the part where Donald gets the pot crashed upon his head cracks me up every time. The story is structured beautifully and characterised so affectionately. The voice acting is as good as you'd expect too. Overall, a wonderful cartoon where Donald and Daisy both shine. 10/10 Bethany Cox
Coming up Daisie's
JohnHowardReid28 November 2006
The title is a bit of a misnomer. It's actually Daisy's dilemma. For once, she is thrust center stage. No longer the shrinking violet or amiable catalyst, she displays a ruthlessly self-centered neurotic streak light years removed from the traditional Carl Barks comic-book conception. We sympathize with her all the same, despite her theatrics which are not all that exaggerated when you think about it. I've known fans who would hang around stage doors for interminable lengths of time, patiently waiting for a fleeting glimpse or grudging autograph from their idol, gaining comfort during their long vigil just from the sight of a poster.
Donald's Dilemma is unusual for Disney in that it tells a definite story, laid out in the traditional premise/plot development/resolution fashion, rather than presenting just a series of gags and variations on a single theme (for example, wanting to fly, trying to sleep, jitterbugging, skinning a bear) which often ends abruptly when time is up. Happily, this well-crafted story experiment is highly successful, thanks to an ingenious central idea which is cleverly developed and brilliantly characterized, and direction that is both unusually snappy and atmospheric from the usually stolid Jack King.
Donald's Dilemma is unusual for Disney in that it tells a definite story, laid out in the traditional premise/plot development/resolution fashion, rather than presenting just a series of gags and variations on a single theme (for example, wanting to fly, trying to sleep, jitterbugging, skinning a bear) which often ends abruptly when time is up. Happily, this well-crafted story experiment is highly successful, thanks to an ingenious central idea which is cleverly developed and brilliantly characterized, and direction that is both unusually snappy and atmospheric from the usually stolid Jack King.
Daisy's Moment To Shine
Ron Oliver18 September 2003
A Walt Disney DONALD DUCK Cartoon.
DONALD'S DILEMMA is really Daisy's - after a conk on the head leaves her boyfriend a crooning sensation with no remembrance of her whatsoever.
Daisy has one of her very best screen roles in this humorous little film. The fickleness of the public's taste in popular entertainment comes in for a bit of gentle ribbing. Roy Williams, one of the adult members of TV's The Mickey Mouse Club, was the writer on this project. Clarence Nash provides Donald with his ordinary voice.
Walt Disney (1901-1966) was always intrigued by pictures & drawings. As a lad in Marceline, Missouri, he sketched farm animals on scraps of paper; later, as an ambulance driver in France during the First World War, he drew comic figures on the sides of his vehicle. Back in Kansas City, along with artist Ub Iwerks, Walt developed a primitive animation studio that provided animated commercials and tiny cartoons for the local movie theaters. Always the innovator, his ALICE IN CARTOONLAND series broke ground in placing a live figure in a cartoon universe. Business reversals sent Disney & Iwerks to Hollywood in 1923, where Walt's older brother Roy became his lifelong business manager & counselor. When a mildly successful series with Oswald The Lucky Rabbit was snatched away by the distributor, the character of Mickey Mouse sprung into Walt's imagination, ensuring Disney's immortality. The happy arrival of sound technology made Mickey's screen debut, STEAMBOAT WILLIE (1928), a tremendous audience success with its use of synchronized music. The SILLY SYMPHONIES soon appeared, and Walt's growing crew of marvelously talented animators were quickly conquering new territory with full color, illusions of depth and radical advancements in personality development, an arena in which Walt's genius was unbeatable. Mickey's feisty, naughty behavior had captured millions of fans, but he was soon to be joined by other animated companions: temperamental Donald Duck, intellectually-challenged Goofy and energetic Pluto. All this was in preparation for Walt's grandest dream - feature length animated films. Against a storm of naysayers, Walt persevered and over the next decades delighted children of all ages with the adventures of Snow White, Pinocchio, Dumbo, Bambi & Peter Pan. Walt never forgot that his fortunes were all started by a mouse, or that childlike simplicity of message and lots of hard work always pay off.
DONALD'S DILEMMA is really Daisy's - after a conk on the head leaves her boyfriend a crooning sensation with no remembrance of her whatsoever.
Daisy has one of her very best screen roles in this humorous little film. The fickleness of the public's taste in popular entertainment comes in for a bit of gentle ribbing. Roy Williams, one of the adult members of TV's The Mickey Mouse Club, was the writer on this project. Clarence Nash provides Donald with his ordinary voice.
Walt Disney (1901-1966) was always intrigued by pictures & drawings. As a lad in Marceline, Missouri, he sketched farm animals on scraps of paper; later, as an ambulance driver in France during the First World War, he drew comic figures on the sides of his vehicle. Back in Kansas City, along with artist Ub Iwerks, Walt developed a primitive animation studio that provided animated commercials and tiny cartoons for the local movie theaters. Always the innovator, his ALICE IN CARTOONLAND series broke ground in placing a live figure in a cartoon universe. Business reversals sent Disney & Iwerks to Hollywood in 1923, where Walt's older brother Roy became his lifelong business manager & counselor. When a mildly successful series with Oswald The Lucky Rabbit was snatched away by the distributor, the character of Mickey Mouse sprung into Walt's imagination, ensuring Disney's immortality. The happy arrival of sound technology made Mickey's screen debut, STEAMBOAT WILLIE (1928), a tremendous audience success with its use of synchronized music. The SILLY SYMPHONIES soon appeared, and Walt's growing crew of marvelously talented animators were quickly conquering new territory with full color, illusions of depth and radical advancements in personality development, an arena in which Walt's genius was unbeatable. Mickey's feisty, naughty behavior had captured millions of fans, but he was soon to be joined by other animated companions: temperamental Donald Duck, intellectually-challenged Goofy and energetic Pluto. All this was in preparation for Walt's grandest dream - feature length animated films. Against a storm of naysayers, Walt persevered and over the next decades delighted children of all ages with the adventures of Snow White, Pinocchio, Dumbo, Bambi & Peter Pan. Walt never forgot that his fortunes were all started by a mouse, or that childlike simplicity of message and lots of hard work always pay off.
Don't try this at home, kids!
planktonrules10 June 2019
"Donald's Dilemma" is one of the first films to use a very common cliche for TV shows of the 50s and 60s. Early in the cartoon, a flower pot falls off a very high ledge and conks Donald in the head. Instantly, he is an all new duck....one that doesn't recognize Daisy and who is a crooner. In fact, he almost instantly becomes a huge sensation (like Sinatra in his prime) and the world is thrilled with the change. But Daisy is upset...and all she wants back is her cranky old Donald! So, she seeks out professional help...
Like all the Disney films of the era, the animation quality it tops and the cartoon is a wonderful counterpoint to the almost saccharine Mickey Mouse cartoons of the 1940s (where he is so nice...too nice if you ask me). Instead, this Daisy/Donald cartoon is violent and mean-spirited...exactly what most folks want out of a cartoon! Very enjoyable and nice to see a cartoon from Daisy's point of view.
Like all the Disney films of the era, the animation quality it tops and the cartoon is a wonderful counterpoint to the almost saccharine Mickey Mouse cartoons of the 1940s (where he is so nice...too nice if you ask me). Instead, this Daisy/Donald cartoon is violent and mean-spirited...exactly what most folks want out of a cartoon! Very enjoyable and nice to see a cartoon from Daisy's point of view.
Daisy gets her own.
OllieSuave-00712 April 2016
This is a funny cartoon where Daisy goes see a psychiatrist, distressed over Donald getting amnesia from a knock on the head. Donald doesn't recognize Daisy and becomes a famous singer, becomes the world's darling instead of Daisy's.
Daisy I thought has always been bullish to Donald. Now, seeing her getting the brunt of all the bad luck and mishaps in this cartoon, from her getting kicked out by the stagehand to her going crazy over losing Donald, was rather funny and entertaining.
Great fun here with lovable characters and beautiful animation.
Grade A
Daisy I thought has always been bullish to Donald. Now, seeing her getting the brunt of all the bad luck and mishaps in this cartoon, from her getting kicked out by the stagehand to her going crazy over losing Donald, was rather funny and entertaining.
Great fun here with lovable characters and beautiful animation.
Grade A
He's a Big Star!
Hitchcoc1 April 2019
This is the old bit where someone gets hit on the head and a whole new personality appears. Donald and Daisy are walking down the street when a flower pot falls from a high floor in a skyscraper. He is suddenly transformed into a great actor, singer, and personality. He's on the cover of magazines, he fills entire concert halls, on and on. Meanwhile, Daisy wants him back the way he was. This leads to serious complications and a predictable finish. Watching him get there is a load of fun.
A duck crooning a famous song
baruch7706 December 2003
The song Donald sings is "When You Wish Upon A Star"however it is slightly different from the famous song we know today because donald Replaces the verse "Makes No Difference who you are" to "Shine in Right In From Afar. I saw this short many times on a home video. I have read other comments about this short and they said that the title should be "Daisy's Dilemma" and i agree with that. I don't think i saw donald loose his temper in this short.
The Ditsy Mega Corporation has always specialized in . . .
tadpole-596-91825629 April 2022
Warning: Spoilers
. . . fleshing out wicked wanton wenches in its films, such as Daisy Duck in DONALD'S DILEMMA. In the 1900's there was SNOW WHITE and her seven gentlemen friends, the always-horizontal SLEEPING BEAUTY and PETER PAN's pied piper of lost boys, Wendy Darling. Don't even get me started on ALICE IN WONDERLAND, with her purse full of little blue pills. Which brings us to this animated brief. When Don Duck finally gets his big break, Daisy literally becomes the anvil around his neck, insisting upon dragging him back down to her pit of squalid anonymity. With girlfriends like Daisy, who needs epidemics?
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