Down and Out with Donald Duck is a 1987 Disney TV Special released on NBC on March 22. A parody of 60 Minutes, it claims to be a "duckumentary" charting the fall of the career of Donald Duck, followed by his narrow aversion of his descent to reconnect with friends and family before rebuilding his career. Using this story as a framing device, it is a clipshow built out of a wide variety of Donald's theatrical shorts.
The special's plot runs thus: As Donald's fame grows, so does his ego. After being informed that Mickey Mouse would replace him as host of a variety show, Donald snaps. On the night of the show, Donald made a surprise appearance and attacked the studio audience with a machine gun in a crazed rage. This incident sends Donald's career and life into a downward spiral.
After Donald is fired from Walt Disney Studios, reporters interview Donald's family and former colleagues in an effort to determine the cause of the studio incident. Despite the interviewees' unanimous comments on Donald's fiery temper and massive ego, Donald himself dismisses these comments and believes himself to be a victim of unfortunate circumstances and an ungrateful public. Abandoned by his family and friends, Donald begins to slip into obscurity.
Faced with poverty, Donald attempts to find a job to support himself. With his monstrous temper continuing to hound him, however, Donald is fired from one job after another. Slowly realizing that he might actually have a personal problem but not quite willing to admit his own faults, Donald goes to the Research Institute of Duck Behavior for advice. After being told that relaxing could set his mind at ease, Donald tries a variety of methods for relaxation, including a visit to a carnival, a vacation in the countryside, and several hobbies, but to no avail.
Finally, Donald seeks psychiatric help from Ludwig Von Drake. Through Von Drake's session, Donald reveals that he has been deeply troubled by the seemingly minor setbacks in his life, such as his nephews' mischief, Pete's selfishness, and Mickey's grandeur. Because of these everyday negative events, Donald believes that everyone who offended him in some way are all involved in a mass conspiracy to ruin him. Von Drake then uses an insult machine as part of Donald's therapy, and he is seemingly cured. Donald thanks Von Drake and is ready to pay up, however, when he sees the bill he relapses upon thinking it is too expensive. Meanwhile, he has run out of all employment possibilities, and is forced to take the sole remaining job opening, pretending to be a duck decoy. Which, as the narrator remarks, should be "a job no duck would be fool enough to take". Donald, finally accepting that he has hit rock bottom, rents a squalid home and prepares for his new job. He takes a bus to his new residence, immediately going to bed right after he gets off the bus.
While asleep, Donald has a series of bizarre dreams where he sees himself at his absolute worst - an evil monster with a frightening temper. After this terrible revelation, he finally accepts responsibility for his own faults and vows to reform. Donald makes amends with his family and friends and is re-hired by Walt Disney Studios. Best of all, he reunites with Daisy, glad to see the "new him". Never again, he vows, would he lose his temper, which is about as believable, the narrator remarks, as believing that "a duck can talk – not all that clearly, mind you, but that's the way it is."
This special contains examples of:
- Clip Show: Whilst some unique animation is used for the present day scenes connected to the meta-plot, the vast majority of the special is built out of clips from Donald's previous animated appearances. In fact, according to the special's article on the Disney wiki
, this special uses clips from 55 Donald theatrical shorts, 9 episodes of the Walt Disney anthology series, and from the films Dumbo and the "Mickey and the Beanstalk" segment of Fun and Fancy Free. - Darker and Edgier: This special is pretty damn dark for something about one of the three core characters of Disney animation, with notable deconstructive elements. The very premise is that Donald's temper gets him into serious trouble with his friends and coworkers. Many of the clips are taken from shorts where Donald acts as the antagonist, and present him at his worst, with stunts like disrupting Mickey's magic act by attacking the mouse with his own fireworks-loaded pistol, or attempting to steal the money from his nephews' piggybank.
- Disproportionate Retribution: Donald's career goes into free fall when he reacts to being told that Walt Disney Studios has chosen to have Mickey Mouse host a variety show instead of him by showing up on the opening night... and opening fire on the crowd with a machine gun.
- Fatal Flaw: Pride and Wrath are spelled out as Donald's twin Achilles heels; if it isn't his ego getting him into trouble, it's his furious temper that's driving people away, and the ego just makes his temper worse because it prevents him from accepting his own fault in matters.
- The Friend Nobody Likes: During the "interview" portion of the special, it's established that Donald's ego and vicious tempers have made him a figure of fear and dislike at Walt Disney Studios, with Mickey Mouse in particular claiming to be absolutely terrified of Donald.
- Heel Realization: What saves Donald from ending up losing everything and everyone is when he finally has a nightmarish epiphany that everything he's been told about his temper and ego is true, and he finally accepts that he needs to really work at getting control of himself.
- I Resemble That Remark!: Barely two minutes into the special, Donald receives a letter from a fan asking why he always loses his temper, and proceeds to throw one of his iconic tantrums right there and then.
- Lampshade Hanging: The narrator notes that, since it was just a cartoon, nobody was actually hurt when Donald went on his career-derailing machinegun rampage.
- Narrator: Stan Freberg narrates the special in mock serious-journalist mode.
- Never My Fault: For most of the special, Donald refuses to accept that he has a problem with his ego or his temper, instead blaming all his failings on those around him, even inventing a conspiracy aimed specifically to torment and humiliate him.
- Newspaper-Thin Disguise: When an anonymous witness is interviewed, he is clearly Mickey Mouse hiding behind a newspaper (a clip from Mr. Mouse Takes a Trip). "Mr. X" even asks if his White Gloves don't give him away.
- Nightmare Fuel: In-universe, when a clip of Magician Mickey (specifically, the sequence where he shrinks Donald to the size of a bug and toys with him before an audience, culminating in him literally shooting him into an egg) is played during Donald's hypnosis therapy, he mentions that he still has nightmares from the experience.
- Pop-Culture Pun Episode Title: The special's title is based on Down and Out in Beverly Hills; the title card is even a parody of the movie's poster.
- "Weird Al" Yankovic: The special features four musical numbers; three are licensed songs that were popular in the 80s ("You're No Good" by Linda Ronstadt, "9 to 5" by Dolly Parton, and "Born to Be Wild" by Steppenwolf), but the very first musical number of the special is a song parody created specifically by Weird Al; "I Want A New Duck", a parody of "I Want A New Drug".
