History WesternAnimation / DonaldDuck

'''Donald:''' ''(struggling)'' Shut up, you big windbag!

* JerkWithAHeartOfGold: The gold part shows up far more often the comics, modern cartoons and other spin-offs than in the classic cartoons, but... for all his faults, Donald does have a heart and will ''usually'' do the right thing in the end.

-->'''Woodlore:''' Well, I hope you're satisfied. You two have in a matter of minutes messed up what had took Mother Nature ''millions of years to create.'' The national park rule book states, and I quote: "When a natural object is marred or defaced, it must be restored to its original state." ''(holds up some shovels)'' So... ''(tosses them the shovels)'' [[SuddenlyShouting START DIGGING!]]

** In "WesternAnimation/TruantOfficerDonald" he's a truancy officer, out to catch Huey, Dewie, and Louie skipping school. When he finally captures them, [[spoiler:it turns out school was out for summer]]. Donald shrinks in shame as a result.
** In another cartoon, Donald catches his nephews with cigars and makes them smoke the whole box as punishment. When he realizes the cigars were his birthday present, he shrinks down until he falls through a knothole on the floor.

From there, Donald took off, gaining his own supporting cast in the process. In 1937's ''Don Donald'', he got a girlfriend, Donna (who was replaced by WesternAnimation/DaisyDuck in 1940's ''Mr. Duck Steps Out''). In 1938, his "darling nephews" Huey, Dewey & Louie came for a visit (officially in 1938's ''Donald's Nephews'', but the story had been told in the comics a few months earlier). The nephews' mother, Donald's twin sister Della [[note]]"Dumbella" in the short based on the comic strip and still the ical name in some countries[[/note]], was never seen or heard from again, [[note]]until WesternAnimation/DuckTales2017 [[/note]] and Donald became their permanent foster parent. The next year, ''Donald's Cousin Gus'' introduced his cousin Gus Goose.

UsefulNotes/WorldWarII was especially good to Donald. A series of {{Wartime Cartoon}}s showed him enlisting in the army and he won his only Academy Award for ''WesternAnimation/DerFuehrersFace'' in 1943. It was also during the 1940s that he was featured in four entries in the Franchise/DisneyAnimated: ''WesternAnimation/SaludosAmigos'', ''WesternAnimation/TheThreeCaballeros'', ''WesternAnimation/FunAndFancyFree'' and ''WesternAnimation/MelodyTime''.

From there, Donald took off, gaining his own supporting cast in the process. In 1937's ''Don Donald'', he got a girlfriend, Donna (who was replaced by WesternAnimation/DaisyDuck in 1940's ''Mr. Duck Steps Out''). In 1938, his "darling nephews" Huey, Dewey & Louie came for a visit (officially in 1938's ''Donald's Nephews'', but the story had been told in the comics a few months earlier). The nephews' mother, Donald's twin sister Della [[note]]"Dumbella" in the short based on the comic strip and still the canonical name in some countries[[/note]], was never seen or heard from again, [[note]]until WesternAnimation/DuckTales2017 [[/note]] and Donald became their permanent foster parent. The next year, ''Donald's Cousin Gus'' introduced his cousin Gus Goose.

In 1939, he got his own NewspaperComic and in the 1940s, Creator/CarlBarks began making [[ComicBook/DisneyDucksComicUniverse an entire comic universe based around him]]. Barks' role was eventually inherited by Creator/DonRosa and the stories by these two creators are the only ones that are officially considered canon within the Disney comics universe.

UsefulNotes/WorldWarII was especially good to Donald. A series of {{Wartime Cartoon}}s showed him enlisting in the army and he won his only Academy Award for ''WesternAnimation/DerFuehrersFace'' in 1943. It was also during the 1940s that he was featured in four entries in the Franchise/DisneyAnimatedCanon: ''WesternAnimation/SaludosAmigos'', ''WesternAnimation/TheThreeCaballeros'', ''WesternAnimation/FunAndFancyFree'' and ''WesternAnimation/MelodyTime''.

* WesternAnimation/TheThreeCaballeros, released on 3 February 1945 – in a Donald Duck, Jose Carioca & Panchito Pistoles movie; this entire Donald Duck production is one of the [[Franchise/DisneyAnimatedCanon Disney Animated Classics]] movies.

** Curiously, a gag in WesternAnimation/HouseOfMouse revealed that Donald is seemingly part-goose, even more goose than duck, so his name ought to be Donald Goose. He’s terrified about people finding out, for it would ruin his career. This was likely something made [[RuleOfFunny out of thin air]] to give Don a secret in an episode where ''everyone'' had an embarrassing one, rather than a notion to be taken seriously. [[CanonDiscontinuity It was never been brought up before, nor has it been mentioned ever again]]. (There are geese in his family, though)

* The Wise Little Hen, released on 9 June 1934 – in a Silly Symphony cartoon; this is the Grand Premiere of the character.

* Donald and Pluto, released on 12 September 1936 – in a Mickey Mouse cartoon, [[WolverinePublicity though Mickey doesn't actually appear at all in it.]] It could be considered a PoorlyDisguisedPilot for Donald's own series of shorts.

* Don Donald, released on 9 January 1937 – first Donald & Daisy Duck cartoon; this one features Daisy's predecessor, Donna Duck

* Donald's Nephews, released on 15 April 1938

* Donald's Double Trouble, released on 28 June 1946

* WesternAnimation/DerFuehrersFace AKA [[ThoseWackyNazis Donald Duck In Nutzi Land]] released on 1 January 1943: One of The50GreatestCartoons.

* The Litterbug, released on 21 June 1961 – the last regular Donald Duck cartoon

** [[ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin The title]] [[SarcasmMode couldn't be any more misleading]], but it's the premise for ''Donald's Golf Game'', where Don's nephews start putting tricks on their uncle [[ForTheEvulz to entertain themselves]], completely ruining the day for him. [[PlayedForLaughs All in the name of comedy!]]

After theatrical shorts fell out of favor, his appearances slowed down, but he was never quite out. He appeared in ''WesternAnimation/DuckTales'' as a supporting character and starred in ''WesternAnimation/QuackPack''. He also appeared with WesternAnimation/DaffyDuck in ''Film/WhoFramedRogerRabbit'', starred in the "Pomp and Circumstance" segment of ''WesternAnimation/Fantasia2000'', reappeared with the gang in ''WesternAnimation/MickeyDonaldGoofyTheThreeMusketeers'' and in 2004, he got a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. He also came back in ''Mickey [=MouseWorks=] / WesternAnimation/HouseOfMouse'' and ''WesternAnimation/MickeyMouseClubhouse'', as well as the new series of ''WesternAnimation/{{Mickey Mouse|2013}}'' shorts, ''WesternAnimation/MickeyAndTheRoadsterRacers'', the ''WesternAnimation/{{DuckTales|2017}}'' revival (as a regular this time), and ''WesternAnimation/MickeyMouseFunhouse''. He appeared as a court mage and recurring party member in the ''Franchise/KingdomHearts'' series of video games, to say nothing of the few games he got to himself such as the fondly remembered ''VideoGame/{{Quackshot}}''. He is the protagonist of ''WesternAnimation/LegendOfTheThreeCaballeros''.

%%* CompetitionCouponMadness: Several examples. A Deadly Game... Night from the 2017 Ducktales is a good example

* DecompositeCharacter: Since ''WesternAnimation/DuckTales'' had Donald Duck DemotedToExtra and sent to the navy so to give more screen-time to the relatively underexposed Uncle Scrooge. Donald did appear a few times in the original cartoons but never in a big role and he didn't have much of his orignal personality and characteristics. Nevertheless, aspects of his traditional role in the Comics were distributed to other characters, who eventually evolved aspects of their own personality.

* DemotedToExtra: In ''WesternAnimation/DuckTales'' he only appears in a handful of episodes. Averted in the 2017 reboot where he's now part of the main cast.

* RedOniBlueOni: The red to Main/{{Mickey Mouse}}'s blue. Whenever he's paired with Goofy, Goofy takes Mickey's place as the blue oni.

** The 2017 reboot of ''Ducktales'' even makes this a plot point, with no one being able to understand Donald's plan to fight the BigBad. Gyro Gearloose gives Donald a voice change, turning him into a BadassBaritone instead. It doesn't last, but several characters note that being able to understand his dialogue makes him seem far more capable than before.

After theatrical shorts fell out of favor, his appearances slowed down, but he was never quite out. He appeared in ''WesternAnimation/DuckTales'' as a supporting character and starred in ''WesternAnimation/QuackPack''. He also appeared with WesternAnimation/DaffyDuck in ''Film/WhoFramedRogerRabbit'', starred in the "Pomp and Circumstance" segment of ''WesternAnimation/Fantasia2000'', reappeared with the gang in ''WesternAnimation/MickeyDonaldGoofyTheThreeMusketeers'' and in 2004, he got a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. He also came back in ''WesternAnimation/MickeyMouseworks'' and ''WesternAnimation/MickeyMouseClubhouse'', as well as the new series of ''WesternAnimation/MickeyMouse2013'' shorts, ''WesternAnimation/MickeyAndTheRoadsterRacers'' and the ''WesternAnimation/{{DuckTales|2017}}'' revival (as a regular this time). He appeared as a court mage and recurring party member in the ''Franchise/KingdomHearts'' series of video games, to say nothing of the few games he got to himself such as the fondly remembered ''VideoGame/{{Quackshot}}''. He is the protagonist of ''WesternAnimation/LegendOfTheThreeCaballeros''.

* Canvas Back Duck, released on 25 December 1953

* BlueIsHeroic: He wears a blue sailor suit and while he's not always heroic, he is at best a JerkWithAHeartOfGold.

* Modern Inventions, released on 29 May 1937 – the last Disney cartoon released through United Artists

** Donald's voice can be so hard to understand that it has caused at least two {{Mondegreen}}s in the form of people accusing him of screaming "Fuck you!" in ''Clock Cleaners'' and calling [[WesternAnimation/LooneyTunes Daffy Duck]] the n-word in ''Film/WhoFramedRogerRabbit'' (he actually says "''Sez'' you!" and "You doggone stubborn ''little''...", respectively). This does not apply to him in the comics, though for obvious reasons, though once in a while a story may allude to his odd voice.

* AdaptationalJerkass: Donald was even more angry and trigger happy than usual in ''WesternAnimation/MickeyMouse2013''.

* FunnyAnimal: Maybe he's only a duck, but he's human.
* FurryConfusion: [[SugarWiki/FunnyMoments Hilariously]] brought up in ''WesternAnimation/Fantasia2000'', where Donald notices a couple of non-anthropomorphized ducks passing by and realizes that evolution may have done him special favors. His [[MindScrew face]] says it all.

* Out On A Limb, released on 15 December 1950

After theatrical shorts fell out of favor, his appearances slowed down, but he was never quite out. He appeared in ''WesternAnimation/DuckTales'' as a supporting character and starred in ''WesternAnimation/QuackPack''. He also appeared with WesternAnimation/DaffyDuck in ''Film/WhoFramedRogerRabbit'', starred in the "Pomp and Circumstance" segment of ''WesternAnimation/Fantasia2000'', reappeared with the gang in ''WesternAnimation/MickeyDonaldGoofyTheThreeMusketeers'' and in 2004, he got a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. He also came back in ''WesternAnimation/MickeyMouseworks'' and ''WesternAnimation/MickeyMouseClubhouse'', as well as the new series of ''WesternAnimation/MickeyMouse'' shorts, ''WesternAnimation/MickeyAndTheRoadsterRacers'' and the ''WesternAnimation/{{DuckTales|2017}}'' revival (as a regular this time). He appeared as a court mage and recurring party member in the ''Franchise/KingdomHearts'' series of video games, to say nothing of the few games he got to himself such as the fondly remembered ''VideoGame/{{Quackshot}}''. He is the protagonist of ''WesternAnimation/LegendOfTheThreeCaballeros''.

%%* HeliumSpeech: He could very well be the {{Trope Namer|s}}. Seriously, it's the official term if you check Wiki/TheOtherWiki!

* WesternAnimation/{{Mickeys Amateurs}}, released on 17 April 1937 – in a Mickey Mouse cartoon