Line #2 WesternAnimation/TheTrialOfDonaldDuck


1	[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/trial_of_donald_duck_screenshot_4.jpg]]
2	''The Trial of Donald Duck'' is a 1948 [[WesternAnimation/ClassicDisneyShorts Disney short]], directed by Jack King, [[EndOfAnEra the last one to be directed by him]].
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4	WesternAnimation/DonaldDuck is out having a picnic in a park, but it starts raining, so he takes refuge in the first shelter he spots: a fancy French restaurant, and brings his picnic food in with him, which the restaurant charges him for. Unable to pay the bill, the restaurant takes Donald to court.
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7	!!Tropes:
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9	* AintTooProudToBeg: Both Donald and, in the end, Pierre.
10	* CourtroomEpisode: Where much of the plot takes place.
11	* DescriptionCut: The defense says that "with magnificent restraint, [Donald] voiced a timid protest." Cut to Donald throwing one of his trademark temper tantrums.
12	* EndOfAnEra: This was to be the last Disney cartoon directed by Jack King. Since 1944, he shared directorship of the cartoons with former storyman Jack Hannah. After this cartoon, almost all Donald cartoons from here on out would be directed by Hannah.
13	* {{Foreshadowing}}: Little does Donald know that as he is taken to his table in the restaurant, he is already in hot water as it has a five-dollar cover charge.
14	* FrenchJerk: Pierre, the ''maître d'hôtel'', who overcharges Donald for ''his own picnic food'' in the restaurant, then takes him to court for not being able to pay.
15	* HauteCuisineIsWeird: The waiter charges Donald $15[[note]]the equivalent of $167 in 2021[[/note]] for just a tiny drop of the restaurant's café noir.
16	* HowWeGotHere: The cartoon starts with Donald on trial, with his attorney recounting the events that got him there.
17	* InstitutionalApparel: Invoked when the judge makes Donald choose his sentence, half closing the blinds on the court windows so that they cast stripes on Donald.
18	* LaserGuidedKarma: What ultimately happens to Pierre after Donald chooses to serve his sentence [[WorkOffTheDebt working off his debt]] (see below).
19	* LoopholeAbuse: What happens in the end. While Donald is ''technically'' washing dishes at the Café Chez Pierre to [[WorkOffTheDebt pay off his debt]], the judge didn't specify how well he should wash the dishes, which Donald takes advantage of as he deliberately washes them so badly that he smashes every plate, bowl, cup, and glass he gets his hands on, with every intention of doing so for ten days as the judge stipulated. [[LaserGuidedKarma An excellent way to get back at]] [[FrenchJerk Pierre]], who could do nothing but [[AintTooProudToBeg beg and sob]] since the law is now on Donald's side.
20	* MetaphoricMetamorphosis: As the defense attorney says that Donald found Pierre to be "hard and cold" about his situation, Pierre is shown first as a granite statue, and then an ice sculpture.
21	* MicroDieting: Donald enters a fancy restaurant and asks for a small cup of coffee. He is given a single drop of coffee in a thimble-sized cup. Even worse, they charged him $15 for it.
22	* PyrrhicVictory: The waiter may have won the case against Donald in the tribunal, but he is forced to bear with Donald "washing" his dishes for ten days as the judge stipulated.
23	* ShockinglyExpensiveBill: Donald's bill for his own picnic food comes out to a costly $35.99 [[note]]the equivalent of $454.31 in 2023[[/note]] , but Donald only has a nickel.
24	* SupplicationPose: Donald gets on his knees as he begs Pierre not to make him pay for his own food. Later Pierre adopts the same pose as he begs Donald to stop washing (and breaking) his dishes.

Context WesternAnimation / TheTrialOfDonaldDuck