Donald’s Nephews (1938)

Donald’s Nephews Review

Donald’s Nephews is a 1938 animated short film from the Donald Duck series. It is a pretty great flick.

Donald receives a visit from his three nephews, who are quite unruly. Undoubtedly, the premise behind this flick is familiar to anyone who’s seen as many cartoons as I have. But execution matters, so this movie ended up being great in spite of that familiarity. The animation is strong and the score is pretty good. Clarence Nash voiced all four characters and he did a wonderful job.

This was the introduction of Donald’s nephews – Huey, Dewey and Louie. They had been introduced in comics before, but this was their first movie role. They are pretty much indistinguishable from one another outside of the color of their clothes, but they brought real disruption to Donald’s life and that always produces funny results in the form of his angry outbursts. The piano scene is a lot of fun while the dinner sequence was memorably mean-spirited.

Donald’s Nephews has a familiar premise, but excellent execution. It’s a great first cartoon starring these characters with some very fun, mean-spirited gags.

My Rating – 4.1