Window Cleaners
- September 20, 1940 (1940-09-20)
Window Cleaners is an animated short film produced in Technicolor by Walt Disney Productions and released to theaters on September 20, 1940 by RKO Radio Pictures.[1]
Plot
Donald Duck is hoisted up on a roped platform while Pluto is pulling Donald up. Donald's hat and tail feathers get trimmed exposing his bare tail. Pluto easily gets distracted by a flea and lets go of the rope and Donald falls but the rope gets entangled by the stop sign and stops the platform, Donald lands on a statue horse. Later on Donald throws a bucket of water to wash the window and quickly runs out of water. Donald orders Pluto to wake up but he refuses and Donald gets angry at Pluto, yelling at him and finally throws a brush down the drainpipe. Pluto wakes up and blows the pulley to the wrong bucket full of nuts and bolts and Donald smashes a window and pulls down the window curtain in embarrassment.
Donald is still working when Spike the Bee flies over to the tulip and Donald plays a practical joke on the bee by almost drowning him in water. This proves to be a mistake as the bee gets revenge and attacks Donald who defends himself with a bucket. Donald tries to attack the bee on the building pole and loses balance and falls on the roped platform. Then the bee dives down at Donald who swings at the bee with his mop and misses, Donald spins, gets tangled in the rope and tied up. Spike sees this as an opportunity to sting Donald's exposed rear end. Donald warns the bee not to touch him, but the bee ignores Donald and dives for him. Donald blows at the bee really hard until both Donald and the bee get tired out. The bee lands on the platform. The bee slowly gets up and aims his stinger into Donald's rear end which causes Donald to yell and gets untied from the roped platform and dives headfirst into the drainpipe until his head comes out of the bottom of the drainpipe. Donald yells at Pluto for help but Pluto ignores him and shoves his head back into the drainpipe where Donald continues to scream and goes back to sleep.
Voice cast
- Donald Duck: Clarence Nash
- Pluto: Lee Millar
Production
Window Cleaners is the first cartoon to feature Spike the Bee as Donald's main rival. It is also the first Donald Duck cartoon with an opening theme that was used in more than one cartoon.
Reception
The Film Daily called the short a "hilarious cartoon", saying: "Donald Duck, window cleaner, and his assistant, Pluto, will draw plenty of laughs from audiences in this cartoon."[2]
In The Disney Films, Leonard Maltin quotes film historian William K. Everson, who said: "Disney used height -- skyscrapers, mountains, etc. -- far more than other cartoon-makers, and with more concern for perspective and the convincing illusion of dizzy depths. Height gags in Warner Brothers cartoons and MGM cartoons were always just that -- rapid gags that paid off quickly in a laugh, and without a buildup. Disney, on the other hand, used height much as Harold Lloyd did, to counterpoint comedy with a genuine thrill."[3]
Home media
The short was released on May 18, 2004 on Walt Disney Treasures: The Chronological Donald, Volume One: 1934-1941.[4]
Additional releases include:
- Walt Disney Cartoon Classics: Limited Gold Edition II: Donald's Bee Pictures
- Walt Disney's Funny Factory with Donald Volume 2
References
- ^ Lenburg, Jeff (1999). The Encyclopedia of Animated Cartoons. Checkmark Books. pp. 74-76. ISBN 0-8160-3831-7. Retrieved 6 June 2020.
- ^ "Reviews of Short Subjects". The Film Daily. 78 (83): 7. October 25, 1940. Retrieved 13 June 2020.
- ^ Maltin, Leonard (1984). The Disney Films (2nd ed.). Crown Publishers. p. 299. ISBN 0-517-55407-0. Retrieved 15 February 2020.
- ^ "The Chronological Donald Volume 1 DVD Review". DVD Dizzy. Retrieved 13 February 2021.
External links
- Window Cleaners at IMDb
- v
- t
- e
short films
- The Wise Little Hen (1934)
- Mother Goose Goes Hollywood (1938; cameo)
short films
- Orphan's Benefit (1934)
- The Dognapper (1934)
- The Band Concert (1935)
- Mickey's Service Station (1935)
- Mickey's Fire Brigade (1935)
- On Ice (1935)
- Mickey's Polo Team (1936)
- Orphans' Picnic (1936)
- Mickey's Grand Opera (1936)
- Moving Day (1936)
- Alpine Climbers (1936)
- Mickey's Circus (1936)
- Donald and Pluto (1936)
- Magician Mickey (1937)
- Moose Hunters (1937)
- Mickey's Amateurs (1937)
- Hawaiian Holiday (1937)
- Clock Cleaners (1937)
- Lonesome Ghosts (1937)
- Boat Builders (1938)
- Mickey's Trailer (1938)
- The Whalers (1938)
- Tugboat Mickey (1940)
- The Nifty Nineties (1941; cameo)
- Orphan's Benefit (1941; remake)
- Mickey's Birthday Party (1942)
- Symphony Hour (1942)
- Pluto's Christmas Tree (1952; cameo)
- Mickey's Christmas Carol (1983)
- The Prince and the Pauper (1990)
Donald & Goofy
short films
- The Volunteer Worker (1940)
- All Together (1942; cameo)
- Donald's Decision (1942)
- How to Have an Accident in the Home (1956)
- How to Have an Accident at Work (1959)
- Donald in Mathmagic Land (1959)
- Donald and the Wheel (1961)
- Steel & America (1965)
- Donald's Fire Survival Plan (1966)
- Family Planning (1967)
- Plusaversary (2021; cameo)
- Once Upon a Studio (2023)
Theatrical |
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Direct-to-video |
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- The Mickey Mouse Club (1955–1959)
- DuckTales (1987)
- Quack Pack (1996)
- Mickey Mouse Works (1999–2000)
- House of Mouse (2001–2003)
- Mickey Mouse Clubhouse (2006–2016)
- Minnie's Bow-Toons (2011–present)
- Mickey Mouse (2013–2019)
- Mickey Mouse Mixed-Up Adventures (2017–2021)
- DuckTales (2017–2021)
- Legend of the Three Caballeros (2018)
- The Wonderful World of Mickey Mouse (2020–2023)
- Mickey Mouse Funhouse (2021–present)
- Chip 'n' Dale: Park Life (2021)
- Totally Minnie (1988)
- Mickey's Tale of Two Witches (2021)
- Mickey and Minnie Wish Upon a Christmas (2021)
- Mickey Saves Christmas (2022)
- Mickey and Friends Trick or Treats (2023)
- Who Framed Roger Rabbit (1988)
- The Little Mermaid (1989)
- A Goofy Movie (1995)
- The Lion King 1½ (2004)
- Category