Commando Duck (1944) User Reviews

The only Donald Duck short to show him in combat.

[emasterslake · 7/10 · 19 May 2006]

This is one of the few Disney shorts to show one of our beloved characters fighting the enemy in combat.

Donald is given a mission to face the enemy and destroy the Japanese airbase on a tropical island.

In order to do this he must travel by river and be on the look out for Crocodiles and Japanese Snippers This task is very risky for a soldier to do specially for Donald.

This here is yet another great WW2 Donald Duck short.

Please that this is one of the many Disney shorts banned due to it having Japanese as the enemy and making them look very gullible and sneaky. So those who are Japanese might find this short offensive.

You're able to see it off of the Disney Treasures Front Line Box Set.

Heh heh

[CuriosityKilledShawn · 8/10 · 17 July 2004]

Easily one of the worst soldiers the Army has ever seen (judging by his previous cartoon hijinks), Donald is dropped out of an airplane and right into enemy territory. That's somewhere in the Japan jungle actually.

The air is ripe for typical wartime xenophobia as things go wrong for poor old ducky right from the start. He sniped at by stereotyped Japanese soldiers and runs for his feathered life. The funny thing is, while running he tries to escape on a rubber raft. But the raft gets caught under a waterfall and fills up with river water. Soon it becomes a massive waterballoon and Donald running for his life once more, tho not from the 'Japs' but from the impending doom of a mile high water balloon.

It's very funny and highly inventive. Definitely one of Donald's better wartime efforts.

You might have a hard time finding this one.

[planktonrules · 8/10 · 21 January 2014]

"Commando Duck" is a cartoon I can almost guarantee you won't see on television. This is because it's a WWII propaganda cartoon and nowadays the cartoon wouldn't make a lot of sense. Plus, it offers some stereotypes of the Japanese that probably make the Disney folks nervous. But it WAS WWII and the Japanese military machine was evil--so it isn't like the cartoon takes any serious risks! If you do want to see it, you can find it either at archive.org or on the set "Walt Disney Treasures - The Chronological Donald, Volume Two"--though in the latter case, it's a bit buried on the DVD so you have to look carefully.

I actually used to show this cartoon as well as the stupendous "Der Fuehrer's Face" because they took a humorous look at the war and offer insight into the times. "Commando Duck" finds Donald about to be parachuted in behind enemy lines*. His job is to destroy the Japanese airfield--all by himself. While this seems like an insane task, our heroic duck accepts the challenge. What's to become of poor Donald? While this is a not a great Donald Duck cartoon, it is very well animated and delivers a propaganda message in a fun and enjoyable manner.

Quite funny short

[rbverhoef · 7/10 · 3 May 2003]

Donald Duck as a paratrooper has to surround (he is alone) a whole Japanese base and then attack the enemy. Most of the things go wrong, of course. This is a quite funny Disney short. The Japanese enemies have some nice one-liners and the ending is quite funny as well. 7/10.

Donald wiping... washing out the enemy!

[TheOtherFool · 6/10 · 27 May 2004]

Donald is a commando (duh) who has to wipe out an entire Japanese airbase all by himself. I love it when he gets his commands: 'surround them!'. Reminded me of Chaplin's 'Shoulder Arms', where Charlie claims to have surrounded a dozen enemies all by himself.

Donald doesn't get far though as his parachute gets stuck in two trees, and a lifeboat is all that's left of his belongings. Who knew that lifeboat would flood the entire airbase though!

Funny if silly little WWII short, with not that many nasty references to the Japanese, except when one Japanese guy says to another: 'Remember the old Japanese saying: always shoot a guy in the back!'.

6/10.

Commando Duck

[CinemaSerf · 6/10 · 15 February 2024]

The heavily supplied "Donald" must head to a Japanese airbase on a remote island. There he is to surround and wipe them all out...! Well narrowly avoiding a couple of crocodiles upon landing, he sets off on his mission whilst the vocals of his well camouflaged enemy indulge in some stereotyping pidgin-dialogue about only shooting people in the back. Quickly, "Donald" realises that his inflatable dinghy isn't bullet proof, nor is it much use on waterfalls either, especially when more and more full of water and expanding exponentially - though the resulting inundation clearly has it's uses. Cartoons were regularly used as propaganda tools, but I rarely remember one quite this aggressive. Not just in the animation, itself, but in the whole presentation. Somehow, even the perilous antics of the duck didn't inject much humour into this and I didn't love it.

Duck And Cover - Good Propaganda Animated Short

[ninjaalexs · 7/10 · 2 November 2021]

This Disney propaganda film made towards the end of World War II was designed to raise morale amongst the American troops.

A scared Donald Duck accidentally lands in a Japanese jungle and takes on the troops. You don't see much fighting more the aftermath of broken planes. There's loads of silly and amusing slapstick moments. As you would expect from a film from this time, there are some crass Japanese stereotypes. This is elevated above many of the Disney propaganda films of the time due to excellent animation and some amusing antics from Donald Duck.

The film appears on out of print and fairly expensive On the Front Lines collection and it's one of the best on there. The picture quality is decent, but not amazing. Unless a HD upgrade is released it's as good as you can expect.

Out of Character

[Hitchcoc · 8/10 · 30 March 2019]

Donald Duck is a paratrooper and is given an impossible mission. The fact that he doesn't squawk and carry on means that this cartoon is deadly serious. He goes into combat and does things only more heroic figures would even try. He encounters the stereotypical Japanese and has to decide what to do.

America's military heroes always have relied upon . . .

[pixrox1 · 7/10 · 31 March 2022]

. . . Band of Brothers teamwork to score their success, particularly on missions considered to be essential, which is the opening premise of COMMANDO DUCK. Yet, Don Duck is depicted as a lone wolf bumbler here, unable to even deploy his parachute properly. Yet misfit Duck's C. O. assigns him to a task seemingly way more important than that of the Navy SEAL squad ordered to take out O. B. L. What follows is an implausible series of mishaps, likely to cause any True Blue Loyal Patriotic American viewer to groan in dismay, as Axis of Evil patrons stand up and cheer. Though an unbelievable final twist seems to save Don's bacon during the finale, these few seconds of film are easy to forget--or to scissor away, without even needing to resort to splicing tape!

Hilarious and imaginative

[TheLittleSongbird · 9/10 · 9 February 2013]

Disney and Donald Duck are a perfect combination when it comes to animation. Commando Duck is simply wonderful, and one of Disney's best World War 2 shorts. True it does stereotype the Japanese and in a way that not everybody is going to find gratifying. But actually I wasn't offended by the stereotyping and I love their sense of humour, their one-liners are a definite highlight of Commando Duck. Donald is a great and charismatic lead character, one who you feel for and understand his frustration and predicament. The animation is beautifully done, with colourful backgrounds and I loved how the washed down air-planes look like something from a Salvador Dali painting. The music is rousing and nimbly orchestrated, while the one-liners and gags, mainly from Donald accomplishing his goals quite by accident, make for great and very inventive(especially the solution to how Donald will destroy the base).

All in all, one of the best Disney WW2 shorts and extremely entertaining. 9/10 Bethany Cox

Hilarious,worth taping.

[dimadick · 9/10 · 26 September 2001]

This short is great.Donald as a commando is effective in a way no other Disney character could be.The Japanese have quite a sence of humor.They also have dialogs that cause me to burst in laughter such as in a moment in which one of them sees a shoots the rope from which Donald is hanging he shouts"I did it!Just like the Lone Ranger!".The condition of the airfield in the end is reminding me of Surrealistic paintings.Probably one of Disney's best shorts,

Nice to see Donald serving his country again!

[OllieSuave-007 · 9/10 · 24 May 2016]

This is a classic Disney cartoon where Donald Duck serves his country again, this time to vanquish a Japanese airfield during WWII. Donald has some mishaps along with the way, including parachute troubles, crocodile run-ins and dealing with an ever-so-inflatable lifeboat.

Donald shows his slapstick comedy as he deals with his mishaps, serving up some laughs and light-heartedness. The Japanese soldiers were on hand to obstruct Donald's missions, but they were a funny bunch. Donald was able to deal with them effectively and, ultimately, was able to complete his mission against the airfield - in a comedic way. Donald has been a lot of things, but being a U.S. military hero is what he does best!

Grade A

Erected on the principles of Disney

[StevePulaski · 9/10 · 17 February 2014]

Commando Duck is an uproariously fun Disney short, centering around Donald Duck, whose task is to take out a Japanese airfield. A difficult process already, it's even more difficult when Donald experiences every issue in the book, from troubles with his raft, his parachute, to not being fiercely shot at by the opposition. The hilarity and fun comes from the fact that even though this deals with the serious topic of the Nazis and World War II the short itself still possesses well-known and recognized characteristics Disney was known for pioneering during this time, such as the quick-moving events, the cartoonish lunacy, and the sequence of events that just keep becoming more and more outlandish over time. Commando Duck is one of the strongest and most fun Disney shorts I have yet to see, and given what I've seen thus far, that's quite a feat.

Directed by: Jack Kinney.