Sea Salts (1949)

An elderly beetle recalls his long partnership with sea captain Donald, beginning with their time shipwrecked on a desert island.

Director:

Jack Hannah

Writers:

Bill Berg (story), Nick George (story)

Stars:

Clarence Nash, Dink Trout

Cast

Uncredited cast:
Clarence Nash	...	Donald Duck (voice) (uncredited)
Dink Trout	...	'Mac' Bootle Beetle (voice) (uncredited)

Storyline

'Mac' Bootle Beetle tells, referring to the ship's log, how he and captain Donald Duck were sole survivors of a shipwreck. The insect always suspected the duck wasn't quite fair, actually he was constantly cheated out of his rations share and used as angling bait without realizing it, both on the wreckage raft and after they drifted onto a deserted island, but ultimately they were rescued and stayed together for life, although even at their ripe age Donald...

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Plot Keywords:

duck | sea captain | ship's log | bootle beetle | fishing | 

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Genres:

Animation | Family | Comedy | Short

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Certificate:

Approved

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

8 April 1949 (USA)

Also Known As:

Kapten Anka

Company Credits

Production Co:

Walt Disney Productions

Technical Specs

Runtime:

7 min

Sound Mix:

Mono (RCA Sound System)

Color:

Color (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Did You Know?

Connections

Edited into Walt Disney's Wonderful World of Color: At Home with Donald Duck (1956)

User Reviews

Donald Duck and Bootle Beetle as friends

Donald Duck is always worth watching, he is one of my favourite ever animated characters, and Sea Salts is no exceptions. It is different to what we usually see with Donald and any of his adversaries, but this change of pace was refreshing. There have been shorts of his with better animation than here, but that doesn't mean it was bad, far from it. It is very colourful and detailed, just not with much that leaps out as unique. The music as ever with Disney is lushly orchestrated, enhances the humour and matches the actions and expressions of the character superbly. There is the odd subtly funny gag, the best being Donald's sailor dance and he breaks his back, but it is mostly about Donald and Bootle- here as friends not enemies- who recall their memories and that is really very touching. It may be unusual to see Donald actually not suffering, as far as I'm aware it is the first time where that's been the case, but within the story this did work and was appropriate I think. It is one of those cases also where we really do feel sorry for Bootle as he doesn't get anything to eat. Donald and Bootle are great together, and fare equally as individual characters. All in all, a lovely and well done short. 9/10 Bethany Cox