Donald's Nephews is a 1938 animated short film released by Disney, directed by Sid Marcus and co-written by Carl Barks and Jack Hannah. As the title suggests, this cartoon serves as the debut of Huey, Dewey and Louie Duck.
Donald receives a postcard in the mail from his sister saying that Huey, Dewey and Louie will be visiting him for a few days. Excited at the prospect of meeting his nephews for the first time, Donald has the house all ready in time for their arrival.
But when the boys show up, they immediately begin to cause their uncle a great deal of trouble, forcing Donald to rely on a book of parenting tips to help him deal with the situation. It may not be enough...
Tropes:
- Book Ends: The triplets are introduced bursting into Donald's house on tricycles. They exit the same way at the end of the short, having successfully gotten the better of their uncle but hightailing it out of there before he could really unleash his temper.
- Butt-Monkey: Par for the course in a Donald Duck cartoon where our main character's concerned, but given he does nothing to deserve the harsh and brutal treatment Huey, Dewey and Louie put him through, Donald's humiliations come off more sadistic than they normally do.
- Crocodile Tears: Reading from Modern Child Training again after music and food fails to get the boys to behave, Donald is advised to fall upon this as a last resort.Donald: (reading) When all else fails, arouse their sympathy.
- Downer Ending: The boys get away scot-free while Donald is left to tend to his ruined dinner, broken belongings, his almost-destroyed house, and his sanity.
- Early-Installment Weirdness:
- Zig-zagged with the color scheme of the boys' clothing. While Huey wears his usual red, modern Disney fans accustomed to Dewey and Louie wearing blue and dark green may find it strange to see them originally dressed in orange and light green.
- In all future shorts, comics and television series, Donald usually does something reprehensible that earns Huey, Dewey and Louie's ire and makes their prankish actions towards him seem justified. Here, Donald is patient and accommodating with their misbehaviour, and the boys are absolute destructive brats.
- The name of Donald's sister (and the triplets' mother) is Dumbella rather than Della.
- Establishing Character Moment: Huey, Dewey and Louie enter their Unca Donald's life (and ours) by racing through his front door on tricycles and playing a game of polo between them indoors, resulting in the breaking and shattering of various vases, lamps and windows.
- Fire-Breathing Diner: Donald gets this way when Dewey and Louie give him a slice of pie filled with Volcano Brand Mustard.
- Hope Spot: Donald's first tactic to get the boys to behave - playing music on the piano - does actually seem to work, as the three abandon their wrecking of the house to come join in. But, midway through, the boys fall back on old habits and begin using their instruments as tools to torment Donald.
- Karma Houdini: Thanks to Donald being more soft-handed in dealing with Huey, Dewey and Louie's antics, their taunts and bullying of him appear more vicious and cruel, and it becomes frustrating when they get no comeuppance for it.
- Music Soothes the Savage Beast: The first lesson Donald reads in Modern Child Training tells him that music will soothe the savage child.
- Out-of-Character Moment: Huey, Dewey and Louie are left gobsmacked when their initial pranks on Donald are met with a mature, patient response from their infamously bad-tempered uncle.
- Punctuated! For! Emphasis!: When the boys scarper at the end, they farewell Donald at the end one word for each boy, accompanied by a squirt from a water gun in their uncle's face.Huey: Goodbye...Dewey: ...Unca...Louie: ...Donald.
- Rage Breaking Point: At the end of the short, after the nephews leave, Donald reads one last section of "Modern Child Training" stating "After all, little children are only angels without wings." Donald is so infuriated by this that he tears the book to pieces.
- Who's on First?: After being drenched from above by a split bag of water, Donald sternly demands the identity of the one responsible. In an attempt to avoid their uncle's wrath, Huey, Dewey and Louie all accuse one another. Huey shifts blame onto Dewey, Louie also blames Dewey, and Dewey blames both Huey and Louie. A moment later, the boys all realise at least one brother sold them out but since none of them were looking at the other two, they don't know which brother is the one framing them. And so commences an all-out brawl.Huey: He did.Louie: He did.Dewey crosses his arms and points at Huey and LouieDewey: He did.[beat]ALL: WHO DID!?
