Donald Duck Presents was a television series that aired on the Disney Channel in the 1980s. It showed Disney's classic cartoons. A similar show called Good Morning, Mickey aired on the channel around the same time. Although Donald Duck shorts were the primary programming, as suggested by the name, additional cartoons featuring Goofy, Mickey Mouse, Chip 'n' Dale, Pluto, as well as Silly Symphonies, Disney featurettes, and others Disney-based shorts were shown. Some Max Fleischer cartoons were shown as well, under the title of "The Fabulous Fleischer Folio".
The show was first aired on September 1, 1983, a few months after the Disney Channel was launched. Its timeslot for its early run was at 8:00 AM Eastern Time, making it the third program of the Disney Channel's initial 16-hour programming day.
Brief clips and segues featuring Donald Duck typically were placed between each short. The shorts oftentimes were edited down, removing the opening and closing credits, and in some cases, edited for length.
The opening of the show featured a cavalcade of scenes from classic Disney shorts, and a theme song. Unlike the opening of Good Morning, Mickey, which features all of the characters in the theme, the opening of Donald Duck Presents featured only Donald (and his nephews).
It was replaced by Donald's Quack Attack in 1992.
Episode list (incomplete)
# | Short 1 | Short 2 | Short 3 | Short 4 |
---|---|---|---|---|
001 | How to Dance | Mickey's Revue | What Should I Do?: The Project | Crazy with the Heat |
002 | Donald's Lucky Day | Brave Little Tailor | Mickey's Polo Team | Up a Tree |
003 | Donald's Crime | Camp Dog | ||
004 | Bearly Asleep | The Little Stranger (a Max Fleischer cartoon) | The Moth and the Flame | |
005 | More Kittens | Monstro the Whale (scene from Pinocchio) | Farmyard Symphony | |
006 | The Flying Squirrel | Two Gun Goofy | Officer Duck | |
007 | Grin and Bear It | Cold Turkey | Lion Down | The Ugly Duckling |
008 | Self Control | Thru the Mirror | The Litterbug | The Pointer |
VHS release
This show was released only on VHS PAL in the UK as part of a six-volume set which also each featured an episode of Good Morning, Mickey, Welcome to Pooh Corner, The Mouse Factory and Mousercise. Unlike the stateside version of Donald Duck Presents, however, there were no cartoon shorts released; that position was filled by Good Morning, Mickey. Instead, it contained different Disney featurettes.
- Volume One contains "Adventures of J. Thaddeus Toad"
- Volume Two contains "A Day at Disneyland"
- Volume Three contains "Donald in Mathmagic Land"
- Volume Four contains "Bear Country"
- Volume Five contains "Magic and Music" and "Peter and the Wolf"
- Volume Six contains "Nature's Half Acre"
In Australia, six more VHS tapes (for a total of twelve) were released containing additional featurettes. Along with the six new tapes, one Christmas-themed one was also released:
- Volume Seven contains "Johnny Fedora and Alice Blue Bonnet" and "The Whale Who Wanted To Sing At the Met"
- Volume Twelve contains "In Shape with Von Drake"
- The Christmas Volume contains "The Making of Mickey's Christmas Carol"