History Headscratchers / ClassicDisneyShorts

** Although to be fair, ''WesternAnimation/DuckTales1987'' had [[PutOnABus Donald joining the Navy at the beginning of the Tseries.]]

** Although to be fair, WesternAnimation/{{Ducktales}} had [[PutOnABus Donald joining the Navy at the beginning of the series.]]

** Apparently "Duck" is a common surname for ducks, just how names like Jones, Smith, and Brown are common surnames for people.

* You might have heard this before: DonaldDuck never wears pants, yet he always wears a towel when he gets out of the shower! Why is that?

** And according to ''WesternAnimation/HouseofMouse'', [[Disney/TheAristocats Abagail and Amelia Gabble]] (both geese) are also Donald's cousins.

* From what I’ve heard, Huey, Dewey and Louie are Donald’s nephews from their mother’s side, which means their mother is Donald’s sister. Yet they all share the same surname.

** It's a speech impediment, simple as that.

** Donald has frequently been shown as a HalfDressedCartoonAnimal, with either half of his body covered but the other exposed. While he normally wears a shirt but no pants, sometimes it's the other way around. For example, if he's at the beach, he may be shown wearing swim trunks and no shirt. When neither half of his body is covered, however, he reacts as a normal person would to being naked (even covering his crotch). So apparently it is acceptable for him to at least have half of his body clothed and the other exposed, regardless of which half it is, but shameful for him to walk around in the buff.

** Donald has frequently been shown as a HalfDressedCartoonAnimal, with either half of his body covered but the other exposed. While he normally wears a shirt but no pants, sometimes it's the other way around. For example, if he's at the beach, he may be shown wearing swim trunks and no shirt. Yet when neither half of his body is covered, however, he reacts as a normal person would to being naked (even covering his crotch). So apparently it is acceptable for him to at least have half of his body clothed and the other exposed, regardless of which half it is, but shameful for him to walk around in the buff.

** Donald has frequently been shown as a HalfDressedCartoonAnimal, with either half of his body covered but the other exposed. While he normally wears a shirt but no pants, sometimes it's the other way around. For example, if he's at the beach, he may be shown wearing swim trunks and no shirt. When neither have of his body is covered, however, he reacts as a normal person would to being naked (even covering his crotch). So apparently it is acceptable for him to at least have half of his body clothed and the other exposed, regardless of which half it is, but shameful for him to walk around in the buff.

* I can't believe no one has ever asked this: OK, in the Disney universe there are lots of ducks, most of them from Donald's family tree: There's Daisy, there's Huey, Dewey and Louie, there's Scrooge, there's also Joe McQuack, Darkwing Duck, Gozalin... Then why in the World is Donald the only duck in Disney universe that quacks?

** To come back to the "why", out-of-universe it's because Donald's quacking voice was literally part of his personality, a source of gag, while making all the later characters quack to (then using the same gag) would have seemed redundant. Also, remember that it's because they had a good duck-imitator that they could make Donald quack properly. They most certainly couldn't find enough good quacking actors for all the Duck characters, and it wouldn't have been funny if all of them were dubbed by the same guy. In-universe, maybe it's a genetic matter (perhaps the gene that make ducks quack is recessive; then it was enough than ONE duck in history had a mutation that gave him a normal voice, and then all his children had too). Alternatively, Donald's quacking is just a pronunciation flaw; he COULD speak normally but nobody dared to tell him "you should do something about your voice" because of his well-known temper. Evidence of that: in the short "Donald's dilemma", Donald is psychologically shocked and that makes him speak normally.

* I know the Pete Jr. (or PJ) from ''WesternAnimation/{{Goof Troop}}'' originated from the "Bellboy Donald" (1942), Junior just like Max from ''WesternAnimation/{{Goof Troop}}'' originated from the red-headed, "Fathers are People" (1951) Goofy Jr., but the WesternAnimation/{{Goof Troop}}/{{A Goofy Movie}} versions of the two characters don't look much like the original versions. In fact, they look so different from each other that I think the original and modern day versions of both of the characters as separate entities. Even though the original and modern day versions of Mickey, Minnie, Clarabelle, Horace, Donald, and Goofy look pretty different from each other, I still see both versions of those six characters as one entity.

*** The modern day (WesternAnimation/GoofTroop, AGoofyMovie, ''An Extremely Goofy Movie'', and WesternAnimation/HouseOfMouse) Max has black hair, a black nose, looks more like his dad, Goofy, has longer ears than the original version, and is less earnest and humble but more "normal" than his dad.

*** The modern day (WesternAnimation/GoofTroop, AGoofyMovie, and ''An Extremely Goofy Movie'') Pete jr., better known as PJ, is overweight like his dad, has a double chin, has small ears like his dad, is shy, and is a loyal friend to Max.

** And according to ''HouseofMouse'', [[Disney/TheAristocats Abagail and Amelia Gabble]] (both geese) are also Donald's cousins.
* Not exactly orginal, but how come Goofy's a dog (supposedly) and gets to live in a house, have a job, talk, etc. while Pluto is a pet that lives like and acts like...well a pet dog; he doesn't talk, have a job, or have any human-like freedoms.

*** The modern day (WesternAnimation/GoofTroop, AGoofyMovie, ''An Extremely Goofy Movie'', and HouseOfMouse) Max has black hair, a black nose, looks more like his dad, Goofy, has longer ears than the original version, and is less earnest and humble but more "normal" than his dad.

** To come back to the "why", out-of-universe it's because Donald's quacking voice was literally part of his personality, a source of gag, while making all the later characters quack to (then using the same gag) would have seemed redundant. Also, remember that it's because they had a good duck-imitator that they could make Donald quack properly. They most certainly couldn't find enough good quacking actors for all the Duck characters, and it wouldn't have been funny if all of them were dubbed by the same guy. In-universe, maybe it's a genetic matter (perhaps the gene that make ducks quack is recessive; then it was enough than ONE duck in history had a mutation that gave him a normal voice, and then all his children had too). Alternatively, Donald's quacking is just a pronunciation flaw; he COULD speak normally but nobody dared to tell him "you should do something about your voice" because of his well-known temper. Evidence of that: in the short "Donald's dilemma", Donald is psychologically shocked and that makes him speak normally.

* I can't believe no one has ever asked this: OK, in the Disney universe there are lots of ducks, most of them from Donald's family tree: There's Daisy, there's Huey, Dewey and Louie, there's Scrooge, there's also Joe McQuack, Darkwing Duck, Gozalin... Then why in the World is Donald the only duck in Disney universe that quacks?

** How about the fact during WorldWarII, the studio had a cartoon series where Donald joins the Army as a trooper. Wouldn't having him in the US Navy or at least as a Marine have been more logical for a duck?

* I can't believe no one has ever asked this: OK, in the Disney universe there are lots of ducks, most of them from Donald's family tree: There's Daisy, there's Huey, Dewey and Louie, there's Scrooge, there's also Joe McQuack, Darkwing Duck, Gozalin... Then why in the World is Donald the only duck in Disney universe that quacks?
* OK, here's the mother of all Disney's headscratchers: If Goofy and Pluto are both dogs, they why does Goofy talk, walk over two legs, wear clothes and lives in a house while Pluto barks, walks over four legs, doesn't wear clothes and lives in a doghouse?

* How can Donald ''Duck'' have Gus ''Goose'' as a cousin? And the extended DonRosa [=McDuck=] family tree also includes coots, which aren't even in the Anseriformes (duck/goose) family.

* OK, here's the mother of all Disney's headscratchers: If Gooyy and Pluto are both dogs, they why does Goofy talk, walk over two legs, wear clothes and lives in a house while Pluto barks, walks over four legs, doesn't wear clothes and lives in a doghouse?

* OK, here's the mother of all Disney Headscratchers: If Gooyy and Pluto are both dogs, they why does Goofy talk, walk over two legs, wear clothes and lives in a house while Pluto barks, walks over four legs, doesn't wear clothes and lives in a doghouse?

* I can't believe no one has ever asked this: OK, in the Disney universe there are lots of ducks, most of them from Donald's family tree: There's Daisy, there's Huey, Dewey and Louie, there's Scrooge, there's also Joe McQuack, Darkwing Duck, Gozalin... Then why in the World is Donald the only duck in Disney universe that quacks?

*** Actually, Steamboat Willie WASN'T the first sound cartoon. However, the short came out when cartoons were dying out, and it revived people's interest in animation.