Jack Hannah Movies

Extensive excerpts from the Disney animated features Saludos Amigos and Three Caballeros are put to good use in this episode of Walt Disney Presents. Reunited with his Brazilian parrot pal Jose Carioca, Donald Duck joins Jose for a colorful journey south of the border. After accompanying an animated paintbrush in a lively samba dance, our two heroes meet such characters as a flying burrito, a midget moose, and a sleepwalking pelican. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

Legend has it that the desert promontory of Chimney Butte is inhabited by an eccentric hermit who keeps visitors at a distance with his shotgun. Even when the Disney staffers try to photograph the hermit with a telephoto lens, the old recluse blasts away. Closer examination reveals that, under all that white tousled hair, the Mad Hermit is none other than Donald Duck, who has squirreled himself away in the caves of Chimney Butte because of his inability to find peace and quiet anywhere else (as illustrated with clips from earlier Disney theatrical cartoons). But though he thinks he's found solitude at last, Donald is in for quite a surprise: Chimney Butte has been designated an H-bomb testing site! This all-cartoon episode originally aired on the Walt Disney Presents TV anthology. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

Four cartoon shorts from the Disney archives are shown herein to trace the rise to stardom of the studio's number one celebrity, Mickey Mouse. Along the way, it is shown how such former "extras" as Minnie Mouse, Donald Duck and Goofy were elevated to fame through their appearances in Mickey's popular movie vehicles. Even Pluto is on hand to congratulate Mickey on his success, via a lengthy excerpt from the theatrical cartoon Pluto's Christmas Tree. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

Ever since its inception in 1954, Walt Disney's weekly TV anthology had featured a special Christmas show. But it wasn't until 1959 that this seasonal special took on its most familiar and beloved title, "From All of Us to All of You." In a typically brilliant blend of animation and live action, host Walt Disney sent out invitations to all of his cartoon characters to participate in a Yuletide celebration. Among those in attendance (courtesy of excerpts from Disney's theatrical-cartoon output) are Jiminy Cricket -- who acts as co-host throughout the episode -- Donald Duck, Chip 'n' Dale, Mickey Mouse, Peter Pan (seen in the "You Can Fly" number in his eponymously titled 1953 cartoon feature), Pinocchio, Bambi, Cinderella, Lady and the Tramp, and Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs. And, of course, Santa Claus makes a special guest appearance in scenes from the early Technicolor "Silly Symphony" Santa's Workshop. "rom All of Us to All of You" would be repeated many, many times throughout the next few decades, usually with new sequences culled from the most recent of Disney's animated features. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

This episode of Disneyland is set in the basement of the Disney studio, storehouse for many a fantastic and phantasmagoric prop. Walt Disney turns the hosting duties over to the Spirit of the Mirror, originally seen in Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs and here played by the ineluctable Hans Conried. In demonstration how the art of magic has been utilized in animation, the Spirit introduces clips from several Disney cartoons, including Mickey Mouse's "Sorceror's Apprentice" sequence from Fantasia. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

Walt Disney may have cause to regret his generous decision to turn the hosting reins of his Disneyland series over to the redoubtable Donald Duck. In his usual presumptive, take-charge fashoin, Donald announces plans for his new, original, never-seen-before TV anthology series, "The Duckland Four-in-One Show." A series of vignettes from Disney's theatrical cartoons quickly follows, with Donald allegedly making his way through "Adventureland", "Frontierland", "Tomorrowland" and, somewhat redundantly, "Fantasyland." ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

That inimitable "Everydog" Goofy appears in several guises in this Disneyland compilation of theatrical cartoons. It is explained at the outset that the concept of athletic training was born of necessity, to prepare Early Man to hunt for food and fight wars. It was the Greeks who organized sports into games with the original Olympics, and this tradition persists thousands of years later. Of course, with Goofy participating in such strenuous enterprises as horse racing, baseball and hockey, the "educational" aspect of this episode takes second place to its laugh content. Portions of Goofy's Cavalcade of Sports were later excerpted in the 1972 theatrical release Superstar Goofy. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

The premise of this Disneyland "clip show" is manifested in a birthday party for Donald Duck. Having planned a surprise party for their "Unca Donald", Huey, Dewey and Louie are surprised to discover that Donald has already arranged his own natal celebration, complete with home movies. While the nephews would rather watch Donald's Disney colleagues Mickey Mouse, Goofy and Pluto--in fact, they'd sooner enjoy The Mickey Mouse Club on TV, or even make their umpteenth trip to Disneyland--Donald insists upon screening his own cinematic triumphs. Included in this mostly-animated entry is a live segment featuring the Mousketeers and Disney's own ragtime band, The Firehouse Five Plus Two. Rebroadcast three times on Disney's various TV anthologies, "At Home with Donald Duck" was again seen as a special on April 4, 1979, retitled Happy Birthday Donald Duck. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

Narrated by Jiminy Cricket (voice supplied by Cliff "Ukelele Ike" Edwards, this Disneyland cartoon-compilation episode shows Mickey Mouse, Donald Duck, Goofy, Pluto et. al. taking time off for a variety of outdoor activities. We see our heroes heading for the mountains in Mickey's RV, to the beach at Waikiki, and a dude ranch. The episode's high points include Mickey's pet dog Pluto wrestling with an octopus-like wad of chewing gum, and Goofy going in for a spot of fishing with his pet grasshopper Wilbur (who turns out to be Jiminy Cricket's nephew) Reboadcast several times, "On Vacation" was shown as an NBC special on April 11, 1979, under the title On Vacation with Mickey and Friends; this same title was used when the program was released to home video in the early 1980s. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

Donald Duck, the most irascible character to emerge from the Walt Disney cartoon factory, made his official TV debut on this early episode of the Disneyland anthology series. Using a "scrapbook" format, the episode traces the life and career of Donald from his inauspicious screen debut as a bit player in the 1934 "Silly Symphony" The Wise Little Hen, through his costarring stints in the vehicles of Mickey Mouse, and concluding with his own starring cartoon series, where he somewhat unwillingly shared screen time with his sweetheart Daisy Duck and his lookalike nephews Huey, Dewey and Louie. Refusing to let host Walt Disney do all the talking, Donald invades Walt's office to remind him who the "star of the show" really is, and also has a run-in with Clarence Nash, the man who supplied Donald's voice (and quacks!) for nearly half a century. "The Donald Duck Story" proved popular enough to be rebroadcast twice during Disneyland's inaugural season. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi