National Donald Duck Day is observed annually on June 9th. This day commemorates the birthday of the funny animal cartoon character, Donald Duck. Donald made his first screen debut on June 9, 1934, in The Wise Little Hen. Today, Donald is 85 Years Young
- Donald Duck usually wears a sailor suit with a cap and a black or red bow tie and is most famous for his semi-intelligible speech along with his mischievous and irritable personality
- Donald Duck has appeared in more films than any other Disney character. Donald was also declared in 2002 by TV Guide as one of the 50 greatest cartoon characters of all times.
- It was in Donald’s second appearance in Orphan’s Benefit that he was introduced to his comic friend, Mickey Mouse.
- Donald’s girlfriend, Daisy Duck, along with his nephews, Huey, Dewey, and Louie, were introduced shortly after that.
- One of Donald Duck’s famous sayings is “Oh boy, oh boy, oh boy.”
- Walt Disney was inspired to create Donald Duck when he heard Clarence Charles Nash, a voice actor, reciting Mary Had a Little Lamb in his duck voice.
- After the idea was created, next came the sketch. Donald’s look was inspired by an American Pekin Duck (AKA Long Island Duck).
- There aren’t many Disney characters with middle names, but Donald has one. His full name is Donald Fauntleroy Duck
- Donald got his first starring role three years after his debut in 1937. The role was in a short titled Don Donald. It was eight minutes long and followed Donald’s adventures in Mexico as he tried to win over his love, Donna Duck… (that’s right Daisy wasn’t his first love!).
- Donald Duck also starred in a series of shorts from 1942 to 1944 during World War II. The shorts depicted Donald’s life in the U.S. Army and his deep appreciation of the American Troops.
- Donald was awarded his own star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame on August 9th, 2004. There are only 17 animated characters that have received this honor. Other Disney characters who share this claim to fame are Mickey Mouse (he was actually the first animated character to receive a star), Snow White, Winnie the Pooh, Tinker Bell, and Minnie Mouse.
- Donald’s voice was performed by Clarence Nash from 9th June 1934, up until 1983. Nash trained Tony Anselmo who was the voice of Donald from 1985 and onwards. Donald Duck’s voice is one of the most recognizable voices of all animated characters.
- Donald won an Oscar for the 1943 animated short Der Feuhrer’s Face, which was originally titled Donald Duck in NutziLand. The anti-Nazi cartoon begins with music from Wagner’s comic opera Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg and also features Groucho Marx’s singing.
- Finnish voters who want to register a protest vote mark their ballots with the name Donald Duck.
- The renowned early illustrators of Donald Duck were Al Taliaferro, Carl Barks, and Don Rosa. Donald Duck first appeared as a drawing in a May 1934 issue of Good Housekeeping magazine promoting the June film The Wise Little Hen. The magazine is sought after by collectors.
- Donald has gone on to star in seven feature films — which is more than any of his Disney counterparts. He is six years younger than Mickey Mouse
- Walt Disney became the first major Hollywood producer to enter weekly television, his biggest and noisiest star waddled into a new kind of celebrity on the TV screen.
- Donald was one of the presenters of the Oscars in 1958.Yes, our great friend helped with the presentation of the Oscars in 1958. He appeared behind a huge screen and did a great job. Donald was also no stranger to the Oscars. His film from 1943 was also awarded with an Oscar for the best animated film!
- Donald joined Bob Hope, Jack Lemmon, David Niven, Rosalind Russell, and James Stewart with the honors.
- Donald has his own star on the Hollywood ‘Walk of Fame’. After all his success it wasn’t a surprise, of course. Donald received his own star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame in 2004. A wonderful gesture in the same year of his 70th birthday.
- Donald’s greatest enemies are two squirrels. Fans will probably know them, Chip & Dale. Two creatures that appear to be very sweet, but sometimes can make Donald’s life extremely hard. They often manage to outsmart Donald, but sometimes Donald pranks them back.
- Donald first appeared on the silver screen on June 9, 1934 cartoon “The Wise Little Hen.” However, in the 1994 film “The Three Caballeros” Donald’s birthday is given as Friday the 13th. And in the short “Donald’s Happy Birthday” when his birthday was given as March 13.
- In 1995, an asteroid was named after Donald. Asteroid 12410 is located in the asteroid belt between Mars and Jupiter.
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