Walt Disney Treasures: The Chronological Donald, Vol. 2 - 1942-1946 DVD: Review By Mushy

The Walt Disney Treasures: The Chronological Donald, Vol. 2 - 1942-1946 is a very relevant DVD release especially in today's highly politicized time. While there are some "regular" cartoons amongst this collection, a good amount of them deal with the war effort. As they are cartoons, they certainly don't come across as statements about the war in one way or the other. This said, this collection gives us a look (in order) at the evolution of Donald Duck from that time period. What makes these DVDs even more special is the supplemental features that grace each disc. The Walt Disney Treasures: The Chronological Donald, Vol. 2 - 1942-1946 is a microcosm of this time in the animated characters life. By having such informative bonus features this really gives us a different perspective on the cartoons we are watching in this set.

I know that there is a decent amount of DVDs of an animated nature in the marketplace, but I really feel that The Walt Disney Treasures: The Chronological Donald, Vol. 2 - 1942-1946 is something worth owning. Sadly, they are only available in this limited edition. On a more positive note, again we have Leonard Maltin guiding us through these DVDs and he helps us put what we are seeing in it's proper perspective.

Disc One

A Day In the Life Of Donald Duck

This is a highly entertaining, very old, featurette in which we get to see A Day In the Life of Donald Duck as if he is a real person. In fact, what I found to be so interesting was how seamlessly he was put into the live action footage with the humans. From driving his car on the freeway, to holding an office at the Disney Lot, to interacting with human beings this is really an amazingly intricate and in-depth featurette on this character

Disc Two

Bonus Cartoon: The Volunteer Worker

The Volunteer Worker is a short cartoon in which Donald Duck goes from door to door trying to solicit some money for a worthy cause. He keeps getting the door slammed in his face until someone digging a ditch in the street is kind enough to give him some money. An inspiring cartoon with a great message.

Drawing and Talking "Duck" With Tony Anselmo

Leonard Maltin interviews Tony Anselmo who is much more serious than his "Donald voice" would first lead you to believe. This featurette basically gives us Tony Anselmo's story. How he got started doing animation and eventually began voicing "The Duck". Also, this segment provides us with a nice historical perspective on Donald Duck, for example, how they used to use a metronome when they drew him so that they could more easily add musical cues into the footage.

The Art and Animation of Carl Barks

Basically, this featurette puts the spotlight on Carl Barks who doesn't seem to have gotten a lot of recognition until now. As he was older than many of the animators he worked with, he wasn't as zany and therefore probably came off as somewhat reserved. He also did the first Disney comic book which featured Donald Duck. Like Drawing and Talking "Duck" With Tony Anselmo, this piece also gives us a historical look at the character, his personality and his family.

Timeline: The War Years, 1941 to 1945

This is a rather short look at Walt Disney Studios during this four year time period. We see things like the emergence of Dumbo and what the studio was doing in regards to their support of the War effort. This is all done in a fairly straight forward way that doesn't linger on any area for too long.

Animation Art Gallery

A list of the cartoons are presented to us and we have the ability to scroll through them individually and look at some stills. There aren't that many for any of the cartoons listed, but it is interesting seeing the drawings, some of which were very early ideas of what the cartoon in question eventually became.

1.33:1 - Formatted 4x3. These cartoons look really good when you realize they are from 1942 to 1946. I will admit that there were parts of these cartoons that I thought could have looked a bit better, and it seemed at times that some of them were missing frames in places. However, it really is hard to knock these things because on the whole I think their colors are rich, there is a great deal of texture in each frame and their "reflection on the war" subject matter is very interesting.

Dolby Digital - 2.0 Mono. With such talented musicians playing on so many of these cartoons, the soundtracks, more than anything else in my opinion are what really stand out here. They give these cartoons such depth and class because they offer so much to this medium. While on the one hand we are watching a cartoon, we are also hearing well done music that seems to perfectly underscore it with ease.

A gray tin houses a plastic DVD case with exactly the same artwork on the front and back of it. There is a picture of Donald Duck with the Devil on his left side and an Angel on his right. The back features a picture from the cartoon Old Sequoia, a description of what this set contains, some technical specs and a succinct quote from Leonard Maltin. The discs are housed in two individual trays inside the plastic case, and next to that is a collector's booklet and some collector's artwork. Overall, the presentation alone is enough to make consumers realize how special these "Treasures" are.

Why is it that Donald Duck is such a beloved figure? What is there about the character that makes him so easy to watch? I don't think these questions can be answered and furthermore, they certainly can't be answered easily. Donald Duck is just one those icons of pop culture that almost seems to demand our attention. What this set really gets right is it's examination of this character. Also, the cartoons themselves have really been preserved and made to look very good for these DVDs. I know that restoring and keeping this kind of material in good condition is no easy feat, it is time consuming and in many ways thankless, but Disney hits all the right notes both in it's presentation and packaging of The Walt Disney Treasures: The Chronological Donald, Vol. 2 - 1942-1946.