Donald and the Wheel (1961)

A father tells his son the invention of the wheel was most important; to prove it, the two hipsters visit the inventor caveman Donald Duck. There follows a survey of the progress of ... See full summary »

Director:

Hamilton Luske

Writer:

Bill Berg (story)

Stars:

Bill Cole, Bill Lee, Thurl Ravenscroft

Cast

Credited cast:
Bill Cole	...	(voice) (as The Mellomen)
Bill Lee	...	(voice) (as The Mellomen)
Thurl Ravenscroft	...	Spirit of Progress, Senior (voice) (as The Mellomen)
Max Smith	...	Spirit of Progress, Junior (voice) (as The Mellomen)

Storyline

A father tells his son the invention of the wheel was most important; to prove it, the two hipsters visit the inventor caveman Donald Duck. There follows a survey of the progress of transportation, a digression into the basics of gear ratios, a series of live-action dancers to various styles of music inside a giant jukebox, an illustration of the use of wheels in power generation and space satellites, etc. Ultimately, Donald decides he doesn't want the responsibility, but certainly someone else would take on the task.

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Plot Keywords:

wheel | duck | transportation | gear | caveman | 

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Genres:

Animation | Short | Comedy | Family | History

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Certificate:

Approved

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

21 June 1961 (USA)

Also Known As:

Aku Ankka ja pyörä

Company Credits

Production Co:

Walt Disney Pictures

Technical Specs

Runtime:

17 min

Sound Mix:

Mono (RCA Sound Recording)

Color:

Color (Technicolor)

Did You Know?

Connections

Edited into Walt Disney's Wonderful World of Color: Man on Wheels (1967)

User Reviews

An educational short tour-De-force

Ties with The Litterbug as the absolute best of the Donald Duck educational shorts. The animation is really impressive, from the vibrantly coloured backgrounds to some of the best character animation of Donald I've seen. The music is wonderfully jazzy and catchy, the orchestration has so much bite and pizazz to it and the singing is just brilliant. In particular from Thurl Ravenscroft, whose power on the basso notes of his singing is enough to make your jaw drop. The writing has a very witty rhyming structure, and the story is always interesting and educational, always moves and never stops doing so. It also makes its point about the wheel but not in an overly-didactic way. Donald is a great character to react to the educational aspect of Donald and the Wheel, and the short manages to play to his strengths as well. The voice work is impeccable. Overall, a tour-De-force of education in an animated short. 10/10 Bethany Cox