This is how Donald and Daisy Duck costumes have changed over the years.
| Image | Year | Description |
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December 21, 1937 | The Donald Duck costume from the December 21, 1937, premiere of Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs at the Carthay Circle. He looked rather baggy and clumsy, with a long beak, eyes on the sides, and he has thick legs, as well as big buttons and bow and a small hat. He looked like a plush doll of the day blown up to human size. |
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1950-1955 | The Donald Duck costume from the "Walt Disney's Toy Shop" segment of Ice Capades of 1950. This costume was also used at the opening of Disneyland in 1955, since Walt Disney did not yet have his own set of characters for the park at the time. The costume was interesting, albeit rather creepy, in that the silhouette of the human in the costume could be seen, inside the white screen under Donald's beak. |
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1968-1978 | Donald received a new, improved costume, designed by Disney animator Bill Justice. It has a fuller body, wider webbed-foot shoes, an open duck beak, and the big round eyes and big blue hat. The eyes had a habit of being inconsistent; they were bigger or smaller, and they may or may not have had eye outlining.
It was during this time, on Disney on Parade, that Daisy made her formal debut; she was never seen at a Disney park until 1973. This early Daisy was little more than the Donald costume of the day in ladies' attire: a small bow on the top and a pink dress. |
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1978-1999 | This Donald Duck costume had a bigger body and his sailor suit had four white buttons. The mold for Donald is used over and over again, but covered differently. His 1970s eyes were used for a few years starting in 1978, but in 1981, they were changed to resemble the second image at left: more oval and lifted off the beak slightly.
It was also around the same time that Daisy made her first appearance in the parks. Initially, this Daisy had unusual features: eyebrows, small features and odd proportions. Her head was a different mold than Donald at first, with eyelids half-lowered in a dreamy-looking state. This early Daisy was only used in shows and parades and was short-lived. In 1982, after Donald's eyes were redesigned, so, too, was Daisy. Once again, this design was copied from Donald and dressed up in female attire: bright yellow bow, pink dress, yellow shoes like what Minnie had at the time, and blue-colored eyelids with girly eyelashes. Though these versions were retired in Tokyo in 1995, California and Paris in early 1996 and Florida in early 1997, they continued to appear in the Disney on Ice shows until 1999. In addition, this Donald made a few new appearances in Carols in the Domain in 1997 and 1998. |
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1995-2006 | Donald and Daisy looked different from the last versions. Their heads shrank a bit, and their beaks almost closed a bit, and they had blue eyes which don't rest on their bills.
Donald wore light blue attire and has lifted eyebrows and furry eyelids which probably gave him a tired look, while Daisy on the other hand had a bigger bow, and blue eyeshadow around her eyes and longer, pointier eyelashes which stuck to her eyelids. Also, Donald's sailor hat slightly changed shape and size depending on the Disney on Ice show he appeared in as well as the later version. The costumes debuted in Tokyo in October 1995, California and Paris in early 1996, and then Florida in early 1997. They then retired in Paris in early 2002, the parks in California, Florida, and Tokyo in early 2003, and in the Disney On Ice shows in 2006. |
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Post-1995 | Pictured with Mickey and Minnie, they somewhat resemble their post-1995 costumes, but Donald's eyes are slighty smaller and moved outward. These costumes only appeared in the Disney on Ice shows. |
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2002-Present | Donald and Daisy have received new, larger heads. Donald no longer shows eyelids and now sports royal blue attire. Also, his sailor suit now contains only two buttons. Daisy now sports a lavender bow and eyeshadow and pink shoes and her eyelashes on the sides and no longer on her eyelids. Her dress also has lavender trimmings.
They debuted in Paris in early 2002 when Walt Disney Studios Park opened and Disneyland Paris celebrated its 10th anniversary and other international theme parks in early 2003. In Disney On Ice's 100 Years of Magic and Worlds of Enchantment, where he has 4 buttons on his shirt, but in Disneyland Adventure/Treasure Trove/The Wonderful World of Disney on Ice, he doesn't have buttons on it. |
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2006-Present | Donald and Daisy finally got articulated heads since the Disney Live! show, Mickey's Magic Show. Their lower jaws are flattened and the tongues shrink and are located farther away from the tips of their bills which gives them the capability to open and close their mouths and lip-sync.
Daisy's eyes do not rest on her bill just like her late 1995/1996 costume, and this costume somewhat resembles that version. |
Trivia[]
- Sometimes, short people performed the two previous Donald and Daisy costumes before the current ones. Both the 1978 and 1995 costumes had subtle changes especially for the head and body sizes depending on the performers.
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