The Wise Little Hen
Donald Duck's first appearance in a Disney film.
It marks Donald Duck's first appearance, where he dances to "The Sailor's Hornpipe" with Peter Pig. The lazy pair fake stomach aches to avoid work until Mrs. Hen shows them the value of labor.
Quick Facts
- Director
- Wilfred Jackson
- Starring
- Clarence Nash
- Pinto Colvig
- Florence Gill
- Producer
- Walt Disney
- Music
- Leigh Harline
- Studio
- Walt Disney Productions
- Distributor
- United Artists
- Runtime
- 7 minutes (one reel)
- Language
- English
Facts from the source article.
Plot
The Wise Little Hen seeks help planting corn for winter. Peter Pig and Donald Duck feign stomach aches to avoid work, preferring to play. The hen and her chicks plant the corn themselves. At harvest time, the pair again claim belly aches, but the hen sees through their ruse when their clubhouse boards fall off, revealing them shaking hands over evading responsibility. She and her chicks wink at each other, planning a response. She cooks corn dishes and visits Peter and Donald, who immediately fake stomach aches before she speaks. When she asks them to help eat the corn, they drop the act eagerly, but she gives them castor oil instead. As the hen and chicks eat, Peter and Donald repent by kicking each other in the rump.
Production
This cartoon introduced Clarence Nash to Disney productions; Nash, a former Chautauqua and vaudeville performer, met Wilfred Jackson, who wanted bird sounds for a cartoon. Nash performed 'Mary Had a Little Lamb' as a duck, and Jackson sent the recording to Walt Disney, who declared 'That's our talking duck'. Animation was done by Art Babbitt, Dick Huemer, Clyde Geronimi, Louie Schmitt, and Frenchy de Tremaudan, with junior animators headed by Ben Sharpsteen. Wolfgang Reitherman animated the hen, supervised by Sharpsteen; Babbitt worked on Peter Pig and Donald Duck. Ward Kimball served as an inbetweener. Leigh Harline wrote the song 'Help Me Plant My Corn'.
Analysis
Dr. Tracey Mollet interprets the short as reflecting the Great Depression and President Roosevelt's agricultural efforts. Peter Pig and Donald Duck's refusal to help plant and harvest corn is seen as a rejection of early New Deal policy of self-sufficiency in farming. Their punishment with castor oil while the hen and chicks eat reinforces New Deal policy, penalizing their rugged individualism. The ending emphasizes the hen's self-sufficiency contrasted with Donald and Peter's punished laziness, leaving them hungry.
More in Disney Animated Films Based on Fairy Tales
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