Disney’s Donald Duck Rings in 90th Anniversary with New Hand-Drawn Animated Short

One of the most iconic quacks in cartoon history is back, as the legendary Disney character Donald Duck celebrates 90 years by starring in an all-new animated short, D.I.Y. Duck, written and directed by master animator/incoming Disney Legend Mark Henn. The hand-drawn animated short will debut on Sunday, June 9 on Disney+, Walt Disney Animation Studios’ YouTube, Disney Channel and Freeform. The film marks Donald’s first standalone starring role since the 1961 short The Litter Bug.

Synopsis: Donald tries his hand at home repairs, which begins with the replacement of a light bulb and quickly turns into a series of comic catastrophes. His temper flairs and his frustration grows as things spiral out of control and lead to an explosive finale.

“For Donald, I tried to come up with a situation that would be funny and contemporary, yet timeless,” says Henn. “The headache of home repairs are something that modern audiences can identify with, and Donald is the perfect everyman. It also lent itself to some opportunities for really broad animation. We had a really talented group of up-and-coming 2D animators (who had started two years ago as trainees), and they jumped at the chance to animate one of Disney’s greatest characters.”

This new short includes dialog by Clarence “Ducky” Nash, who originated the voice of Donald in the 1934 short, The Wise Little Hen, and voiced the character for the next 50 years. Donald’s vocal gestures and assorted wise quacks in D.I.Y. Duck are delivered by way of archival voice recordings of Ducky Nash.

D.I.Y. Duck is produced by Emmy Award-winner Dorothy McKim, and was created by the hand-drawn animation team at Walt Disney Animation Studios. Jennifer Lee, Disney Animation’s Chief Creative Officer, executive produced.

“Throughout his career, Mark has been one of our animation experts on the ‘sensational six’ (Mickey, Donald, Minnie, Daisy, Goofy and Pluto). He knows these characters inside and out,” says McKim. “When he approached me with the idea, having already storyboarded, written and laid out the entire short, it just took on a life of its own and we knew we had to make it.”

Henn will head to France next week to screen D.I.Y. Duck on the big screen for the first time at the Annecy International Animation Film Festival on Friday, June 14 as part of Disney Animation’s annual presentation. Henn is also being inducted into the prestigious Annecy Walk of Fame this year.

The director, who recently retired from WDAS after an illustrious 43-year career in which he supervised the animation of such beloved characters as Ariel, Belle, Jasmine, Young Simba, Mulan and Tiana in their feature films, had previously directed the 2000 short, John Henry. He was recently named a Disney Legend, and will receive that honor in August at D23: The Ultimate Disney Fan Event.

D.I.Y. Duck will stream on Disney+ beginning June 9. Disney Channel will have multiple airings of the short throughout June 9. Freeform will air the short Sunday, June 9 at 5:15 pm. DisneyNOW will have the short for 30 days beginning June 9.