Canvas Back Duck is a 1953 cartoon short starring Donald Duck.
At a carnival with his three nephews, Donald shows off his strength in all the games. A kid approaches the triplets and brags that his uncle could beat up Donald. Imagining the uncle to be as big a sissy as the Lord Fauntleroy-like kid, Don accepts the challenge — not realizing that he's actually fighting Peewee Pete, the boxing champion. Will Donald survive one round with the champ? Or is he a sitting duck?
Tropes in this cartoon:
- Adults Dressed as Children: The barker dresses as an obnoxious rich kid to lure Donald Duck into fighting the much larger Pete.
- Achilles' Heel: Pete's glass jaw is his only weakness, and is defeated instantly when Donald lands a weak punch against the jaw.
- Big "WHAT?!": The nephews react with this when the disguised barker claims that his uncle can lick their Unca Donald.
- The Boxing Episode: Donald is tricked into getting into a boxing ring with Pete.
- Combat Pragmatist: Both sides of the conflict do this to win the battle.
- Covers Always Lie: The theatrical poster of this short features Donald in his sailor outfit using a carnival hammer to fight Pete. In the cartoon, he is dressed as a boxer in the battle and never uses a hammer to fight Pete in the battle.
- David Versus Goliath: In contrast to the enormous Pete, Donald is smaller and weaker.
- Flexing Those Non-Biceps: While preparing Donald, one of the nephews tests Donald's biceps and is horrified to see that Donald doesn't have any strength as the biceps fall down.
- Hall of Mirrors: Donald spars in front of a funhouse mirror that gives his reflection a Heroic Build. He then moves over to the next mirror, which gives him a tiny reflection, so he returns to the first mirror.
- Ironic Nickname: There's nothing "peewee" about Peewee Pete.
- Laser-Guided Karma: Both the barker and Pete lure Donald into fighting the latter in an easy fight, but karma hits hard on them as Pete's jaw is broken, knocking him out, and the barker is forced to give Donald $500note for winning the battle.
- My Dad Can Beat Up Your Dad: A sissy kid (actually the carnival barker in disguise) tells the nephews that "My uncle can beat your uncle." Donald takes the challenge, not realizing the kid's "uncle" is the boxing champ.
- Pathetically Weak:
- In the short, Donald is portrayed as this, to the point that even hitting a flying paper bag can hurt his fist. The only reason he's fighting against Pete is that the strength games were rigged by the barker to feed his ego and lure him into the fight.
- Despite being a legitimate strong guy, Pete's glass jaw can't stand even the weakest punch, knocking him out instantly if hit.
- Pintsized Powerhouse: Donald manages to defeat boxing champ Peewee Pete by simply tapping him ever so slightly on his jaw (causing it to shatter like a window; Pete has a "glass jaw").
- Punny Title: On the canvasback, a species of duck; here, the canvas refers to the boxing ring.
- Rigged Contest: The whole carnival is rigged by the barker to lure Donald and other unlucky customers into fighting Pete.
- "Test Your Strength" Game: Donald starts with the high-striker, and wins because he accidentally fell head first, followed by the mallet. He then goes on to ace all the other strength games in the carnival, which may or may not be rigged as part of Pete's scam.
- There Are No Rules
- This Is Gonna Suck: Huey, Louie and Dewey, after realizing that Donald was tricked and that their uncle has little possibility of actually defeating Pete in a fair match.
- Title Drop: The announcer refers to Donald as "Canvas Back Duck" as he enters the ring.
- Use Your Head: How Donald wins at the high striker. As he swings back to hit it, he loses his balance and falls head first into the striker. The mallet then falls over Don's head, with enough force to strike the bell.
- Water Wake-up: The nephews wake up Donald this way in the mid-times of the battle.
- Weighted Gloves: Donald's nephews put scraps of metal in his glove, but it only makes the glove too heavy to lift. His hand slips off and his fist accidentally hits Pete in the jaw. Fortunately, Pete had a "glass jaw" and is out like a light.
