Donald's Better Self (1938)

Crappy film

Charming and brutal

As somebody who had not heard any of this before, it became a curious phenomenon to sit and watch a film and slowly have the realities begin to click into place.

It’s fine. It's literally the definition of a fine movie. You’ve seen it before, you know every beat and outcome before the characters even do. Only question is how much escapism you’re looking for.

This is a fun little cartoon short from Disney, featuring Donald Duck as a schoolboy. Here, Donald meets his conscience, who resembles him and wears a white robe and a golden halo. She attempts to get Donald to get out of bed and go to school, but gets a run-in from Donald's anti-conscience, dunning a red cape and red horns, who tries to have Donald stay in bed. What results is a back and forth battle for Donald between the good and bad consciences. It's OK for a few laughs and it's somewhat entertaining to see some good vs. evil action going on. The good conscience wants Donald to go to school while the bad conscience wants him to go fishing instead, among of things.Despite Donald being in this cartoon, there isn't a whole lot of laughable moments or comedy you'd come to expect from Donald, but it's still not a bad cartoon short - a good lesson about right and wrong.Grade B-

I have always loved Donald Duck, he is my personal favourite of him, Mickey and Goofy and I love all three in their own way. Donald's Better Self is not one of my favourites from Donald, but I still liked it a lot. I do remember seeing it with a friend a couple of years back and she commented that while she appreciated some aspects she felt that it took much time getting the morals about but it forgot to entertain. I disagree somewhat. Maybe it is a little preachy somewhat with the go to school and never smoke messaging(and I am still not entirely sure about what anti-smoking message was trying to be conveyed), but I don't think it forgets to entertain. Yes, there are definitely funnier Donald cartoons elsewhere, but there are still some good gags like the at the start with Donald being told get out of bed/stay in bed and the devil telling Donald to go to the fishing hole and smoke a pipe. The story is very interesting too, the concept is not necessarily a fresh one but I did love how much of a psychological approach there was here, both in what both the angel and devil tell Donald to do and how Donald reacts to them. The animation is simpler in style, but still colourful and smooth, and the music has a lot of vigorous energy. Donald is like a child here and is fun to watch, but the angel and devil I found to be even more interesting to watch, I love their contrasting personalities and also their well-spoken voices. Clarence Nash is very good as ever as Donald. Overall, a good story and characters lifts an interesting cartoon, even if the morals may come across as preachy to some and you may question the significance of the anti-smoking message. 8/10 Bethany Cox

Coz in this he's still a kid going to school. Or at least he should be going to school. He doesn't feel like getting out of bed and his devil side wants to lie in but his angel side convinces him to get up. Then there's the dilemma of either going to school or having fun. Should he go fishing or go to class? Should he smoke a big cigar or do the intelligent thing and refuse it? Obviously the devil and angel start fighting it out with each other instead of bothering with Donald himself. And in the end he does end up going to class. But really, how old is Donald and is he really still in School? Whatever the answer is, it's a funny cartoon.

A Walt Disney DONALD DUCK Cartoon.DONALD'S BETTER SELF has quite a chore: to keep the young Duck from listening to Temptation and playing hooky.This is a very good cartoon, featuring excellent animation & acting. But why is Donald back in school? It must be a flashback to his youth. Highlight - our hero's first encounter with a corncob pipe. Clarence "Ducky" Nash supplies Donald's voice.Walt Disney (1901-1966) was always intrigued by drawings. As a lad in Marceline, Missouri, he sketched farm animals on scraps of paper; later, as an ambulance driver in France during the First World War, he drew figures on the sides of his vehicle. Back in Kansas City, along with artist Ub Iwerks, Walt developed a primitive animation studio that provided animated commercials and tiny cartoons for the local movie theaters. Always the innovator, his ALICE IN CARTOONLAND series broke ground in placing a live figure in a cartoon universe. Business reversals sent Disney & Iwerks to Hollywood in 1923, where Walt's older brother Roy became his lifelong business manager & counselor. When a mildly successful series with Oswald The Lucky Rabbit was snatched away by the distributor, the character of Mickey Mouse sprung into Walt's imagination, ensuring Disney's immortality. The happy arrival of sound technology made Mickey's screen debut, STEAMBOAT WILLIE (1928), a tremendous audience success with its use of synchronized music. The SILLY SYMPHONIES soon appeared, and Walt's growing crew of marvelously talented animators were quickly conquering new territory with full color, illusions of depth and radical advancements in personality development, an arena in which Walt's genius was unbeatable. Mickey's feisty, naughty behavior had captured millions of fans, but he was soon to be joined by other animated companions: temperamental Donald Duck, intellectually-challenged Goofy and energetic Pluto. All this was in preparation for Walt's grandest dream - feature length animated films. Against a blizzard of doomsayers, Walt persevered and over the next decades delighted children of all ages with the adventures of Snow White, Pinocchio, Bambi, Peter Pan and Mr. Toad. Walt never forgot that his fortunes were all started by a mouse, or that simplicity of message and lots of hard work always pay off.