Donald Gets Drafted is a Donald Duck animated short. It was released in 1942.
Synopsis
Filled with enthusiasm, Donald Duck reports to his local draft board after receiving a draft notice. Along the way, he passes several recruiting posters that romanticize military life. Especially intrigued by one for the Air Force, featuring attractive women and the promise of escorting them around, Donald decides that he "wants to fly". After arriving at the draft board, Donald expresses his desire to join the Army Air Forces, adding excitedly, "I came from a family of aviators!" The desk officer directs Donald to a room where he is to undergo a physical examination.
Inside the exam room, a team of white-coated doctors hurriedly pass Donald around, measuring him and testing his vital signs, vision, and hearing. Several gags during the scene emphasize the army's willingness to accept as many recruits as possible, such as a color vision test that Donald passes even after mistakenly identifying a green card as being blue. At the end of the exam Donald is issued a uniform - vastly oversized, but shrunk to fit thanks to a bucket of water dumped over his head - and has his rear end stamped with a large "OK."
During basic training, Donald's unit is marched around the field by the drill sergeant Pete. Donald is distracted by some planes flying overhead, reminding him that he would rather be flying. His lack of concentration causes him to march out of step with the other soldiers and accidentally chop Pete's necktie in half with his rifle bayonet when he is ordered to turn "about face". Pete dismisses the other soldiers to drill Donald personally, but Donald's inability to understand Army jargon causes him to make a series of comical mistakes. Pete finally orders Donald to stand at attention, but Donald mistakenly stands over an anthill, and struggles to maintain his composure as the ants crawl all over him. Finally he snaps and scrabbles madly to get the ants off, accidentally firing his rifle several times and striking Pete as he climbs a tree to get away. Donald is later punished by being assigned to peel a roomful of potatoes, shaving off one peel to form his catchphrase "phooey" in response to the chorus' lyrics that describe the good conditions in the Army.
Characters
- Donald Duck (voiced by Clarence Nash)
- Pete (voiced by Billy Bletcher)
- Unseen millitaries
- Officer Behind Desk (voiced by John McLeish)
- Various Examiners (voiced by John McLeish)
Song
Home video releases
VHS
- Walt Disney Cartoon Classics: Limited Gold Editions: An Officer and a Duck
DVD
- Walt Disney Treasures: On the Front Lines
- Walt Disney Treasures: The Chronological Donald, Volume 2
Trivia
- The date on Donald's draft card, March 24, 1941, was long before the U.S. had entered WWII, as the US did not enter the war until December 8 of that year, when Pearl Harbor was bombed by Japanese forces, thus the next day, the US enter the war by declaring war to the Japanese Empire
- The draft card reveals Donald's middle name to be Fauntleroy. This name is a parody of the character of Little Lord Fauntleroy, who wore a sailor suit similar to Donald's.
- When taking a vision test, Donald sees a green card as blue, implying that he may be colorblind.
- Pete's line Company Dismissed was later reused for Get a Horse!.
Gallery
