Donald's Ostrich
Encyclopedia
Donald's Ostrich is an animated
short film produced in Technicolor
by Walt Disney Productions
and released to theaters on December 10, 1937 by RKO Radio Pictures. It was the third film in the Donald Duck series of short films, although billed at the time as a Mickey Mouse cartoon. It was the first of the series to be released by RKO.
Donald's Ostrich was directed by Jack King
and features the voices of Clarence Nash
as Donald Duck
, Pinto Colvig
as Hortense the Ostrich (hiccups), and Elvia Allman
and Billy Bletcher
as radio voices.
and tied around the ostrich's neck he finds the following note: "My name is HORTENSE[.] Please see that I am fed and watered. P.S. I eat !"
Hortense begins to eat anything she can find at the station starting with the message. She then eats a concertina
, a wind up alarm clock, and several balloons. This causes Hortense to have hiccups which Donald tries to cure by scaring her.
Finally Hortense swallows Donald's radio and her body begins to react to what is playing on the radio. Donald realizes Hortense has swallowed the radio and grabs a pair of forceps to pull it out. But when Hortense starts to react to a broadcast car race Donald is unable to control her. Hortense finally crashes through a door which at last knocks the radio out of her, but also gives Donald the hiccups also.
Animated cartoon
An animated cartoon is a short, hand-drawn film for the cinema, television or computer screen, featuring some kind of story or plot...
short film produced in Technicolor
Technicolor
Technicolor is a color motion picture process invented in 1916 and improved over several decades.It was the second major process, after Britain's Kinemacolor, and the most widely used color process in Hollywood from 1922 to 1952...
by Walt Disney Productions
The Walt Disney Company
The Walt Disney Company is the largest media conglomerate in the world in terms of revenue. Founded on October 16, 1923, by Walt and Roy Disney as the Disney Brothers Cartoon Studio, Walt Disney Productions established itself as a leader in the American animation industry before diversifying into...
and released to theaters on December 10, 1937 by RKO Radio Pictures. It was the third film in the Donald Duck series of short films, although billed at the time as a Mickey Mouse cartoon. It was the first of the series to be released by RKO.
Donald's Ostrich was directed by Jack King
Jack King (animator)
James Patton "Jack" King was an American comics artist and animator best known for his work at Walt Disney Productions.Born in Alabama, King began his animation career in the silent era in 1920 working at Bray Productions animation studio...
and features the voices of Clarence Nash
Clarence Nash
Clarence Charles "Ducky" Nash was an American voice actor, best known for providing the voice of Donald Duck for the Walt Disney Studios...
as Donald Duck
Donald Duck
Donald Fauntleroy Duck is a cartoon character created in 1934 at Walt Disney Productions and licensed by The Walt Disney Company. Donald is an anthropomorphic white duck with a yellow-orange bill, legs, and feet. He typically wears a sailor suit with a cap and a black or red bow tie. Donald is most...
, Pinto Colvig
Pinto Colvig
Vance DeBar "Pinto" Colvig was an American vaudeville actor, radio actor, newspaper cartoonist, prolific movie voice actor, and circus performer whose schtick was playing clarinet off-key while mugging....
as Hortense the Ostrich (hiccups), and Elvia Allman
Elvia Allman
Elvia Allman was a character actress and voice over performer in Hollywood films and television programs for over 50 years. She is best remembered for her semi-regular roles on The Beverly Hillbillies and Petticoat Junction and for being the voice of Walt Disney's Clarabelle Cow...
and Billy Bletcher
Billy Bletcher
William "Billy" Bletcher was an American actor, comedian, and voice artist, a native of Lancaster, Pennsylvania.-Career:...
as radio voices.
Synopsis
Donald is working along as a custodian at a whistle stop train station and is responsible for loading and unloading luggage. A train passes the station and dumps a large pile of luggage on Donald without stoping. Donald finds that one of the crates contains a live ostrichOstrich
The Ostrich is one or two species of large flightless birds native to Africa, the only living member of the genus Struthio. Some analyses indicate that the Somali Ostrich may be better considered a full species apart from the Common Ostrich, but most taxonomists consider it to be a...
and tied around the ostrich's neck he finds the following note: "My name is HORTENSE[.] Please see that I am fed and watered. P.S. I eat !"
Hortense begins to eat anything she can find at the station starting with the message. She then eats a concertina
Concertina
A concertina is a free-reed musical instrument, like the various accordions and the harmonica. It has a bellows and buttons typically on both ends of it. When pressed, the buttons travel in the same direction as the bellows, unlike accordion buttons which travel perpendicularly to it...
, a wind up alarm clock, and several balloons. This causes Hortense to have hiccups which Donald tries to cure by scaring her.
Finally Hortense swallows Donald's radio and her body begins to react to what is playing on the radio. Donald realizes Hortense has swallowed the radio and grabs a pair of forceps to pull it out. But when Hortense starts to react to a broadcast car race Donald is unable to control her. Hortense finally crashes through a door which at last knocks the radio out of her, but also gives Donald the hiccups also.