A Donald Duck Squeaker and “The Wise Little Hen”

It’s been a week since I last posted a “real” post on this blog actually having to do with post cards…so tonight I wanted to take a moment to remedy that situation!

Disney_biographyI have recently been reading an interesting biography, Walt Disney The Triumph Of The American Imagination by Neal Gabler.  So far, it’s been a great read with lots of detail on how Walt built the studio, and the various characters that were created there.  This afternoon, while spending a couple hours on an airplane, I was reading about the genesis of Donald Duck.  By 1934, Mickey Mouse had grown a little straight laced as a result of the studios forging headlong into realism.  Mickey was realized prior to sound and the “humanization” of the cartoons…and as he grew up he suffered a bit of an identity crisis.  Was he the hero like Douglas Fairbanks?  Or was he the cad like Charlie Chaplin?  As time went on, he had become more of the hero and had lost his edge that was on full display in Steamboat Willie and Plane Crazy.  So the studio came up with another character, Donald Duck, that could fill that need…a cantankerous, often temperamental and self serving type…a character to off-set the now squeaky clean Mickey Mouse.

 

 

His debut in The Wise Little Hen was an instant hit.  Fans all over the country loved him…perhaps because they saw themselves in him.  He was more gritty and real, expressing an attitude that was easy to identify with.

NT0553It’s no secret that Donald has gone on to be as popular (or more so?) as Mickey Mouse in the Disney pantheon of characters.  And he is well represented in this (rather rare) squeaker, NT0553.  It’s not an easy card to find, but you do see it pop up on eBay now and then.  Expect to pay around $50 for it though…maybe a little more, maybe a little less, if you are lucky.

Thanks for your patience with the site migration to the new domain name this week.  Everything seems to be working fine.  And the checklist database is up to over 1700 records!  I am nearing the end of the Nickel Tour entries…so stay tuned!

Until next time…

About Todd

Hello. I have been collecting Disneyland postcards and paper items for a few years now and figured I would start to share my collection with any and all who are interested. I actually started blogging on Blogger (sundrycollectibles.blogspot.net) but after a while realized I wanted a dedicated Disney site since it is a fairly niche hobby. Enjoy!
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One Response to A Donald Duck Squeaker and “The Wise Little Hen”

  1. Pingback: A Very Cool Find! | Disney Postcards

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