Continuing my project of putting together the first season of Disneyland...
Walt Disney shows us a scrapbook of the life of Donald Duck, which sets the stage for showings of several Donald Duck cartoons. This episode presented the first real challenge of piecing together an episode from the Anthology series. While many of the cartoon episodes are easily available, I don't have this particular episode nor was I able to track one down anywhere. I did find a list of the cartoons used in the episode, as well as some information pointing to a large number of clips from the episode were used in a DVD bonus feature. I thought about substituting a different Donald Duck episode for this one, but those are all coming up in the line up later on, so I watched a selection of cartoons featured in the episode. Honey Harvester (1949), Tea For Two Hundred (1948), Donald's Dream Voice (1948) and Three For Breakfast (1948) are all found on the Walt Disney Treasures: The Chronological Donald Volume Three: 1947-1950 DVD. Orphan's Benefit (1934) can be found on Walt Disney Treasures: Mickey Mouse Black & White. I supplemented the cartoon line-up with the bonus feature from the Donald Duck Treasures DVD: The Many Faces of Donald Duck (2007) which is a 16 minute discussion of Donald's career with plenty of clips from The Donald Duck Story episode.Episode 1.5 11/24/54 So Dear To My Heart
The 1948 feature film about life for a young farm boy at the turn of the century was presented. Although not nearly as popular or well known as other animated films from the Disney library, this movie has had three VHS releases and is also available on disc exclusively from the Disney Movie Club. My copy is the original 1986 VHS release. The preview for the next episode of the Anthology series can be found in the bonus features of the Lady & The Tramp 50th Anniversary DVD.
Episode 1.6 12/1/54 The Story of Dogs
A look at the new animated feature Lady & The Tramp is presented, followed by a tribute to Mickey's best friend Pluto. This was a fun episode to recreate as you can easily find almost the entire episode. The Lady & The Tramp half is on the film's 50th Anniversary DVD release, while the Pluto half is on Walt Disney Treasures: The Complete Pluto in the bonus features section under "Pluto's Picture Book." Each segment has opening and closing credits but the preview for the next episode is not to be found on either.
