Cover for the MCA DiscoVision release.
"At Home with Donald Duck" (retitled "Happy Birthday, Donald" in syndication) is an animated episode of Disneyland.
Synopsis[]
It's Donald Duck's birthday and his nephews decide to buy their uncle a box of cigars. Donald gets suspicious of his nephews' secrecy, and when he sees them exiting the tobacco store, he is convinced that they've taken up smoking. Enraged, he bursts into their treehouse and forces them to smoke the entire box. However, when Donald discovers his birthday card inside the box, he feels so guilty that he literally shrinks with shame. Afterwards, Donald receives a visit from his hipster-sounding conscience, who tells him that "even a worm can turn" and convinces him to throw the boys a party - on his birthday.
Donald invites the boys in for their party, and his idea of celebrating involves watching some of his cartoons, but he reluctantly shows Mickey and the Seal instead when his nephews play onto his conscience. After it's over, the boys now want to watch a Goofy cartoon, but Donald refuses, insisting that it's his turn now. His conscience then convinces him to have a coin-flip bet with the boys, but Donald tries to cheat by using a coin with heads on both sides. The conscience alerts the boys, so they stage a trick so that Donald runs after it along the street while they watch Foul Hunting themselves.
The clock then strikes 5:00, meaning it's time for The Mickey Mouse Club, so the boys put on their Mouseketeer hats and turn on their television to watch the show. Meanwhile, Donald finally catches his coin and walks inside to see the boys watching TV, so he discreetly unplugs the set and tells the boys it's "busted". Faced with the prospect of watching their uncle's cartoons over and over again, the conscience advises the boys to prank their uncle by getting his film reel to roll into the street so he'll chase after it, giving the boys a chance to watch Pluto's Blue Note.
When Donald returns to get the projector ready once more, the conscience reveals Donald's "busted" prank to the boys, and they retaliate by telling him to create a bigger projector picture by stepping far back outside and then locking him out. After being tricked, Donald gets his revenge by going to the TV station and hijacking the "Mousekartoon" portion of The Mickey Mouse Club to present his cartoon, Sea Salts.
Featured cartoons[]
- Donald's Happy Birthday
- Mickey and the Seal
- Foul Hunting
- Bumble Boogie (from Melody Time, replaced with Mickey's Circus in the Discovision version)
- Pluto's Blue Note
- Sea Salts
Voices[]
- Clarence Nash - Donald Duck, Huey, Dewey, Louie
Trivia[]
- When the episode first aired, the Mickey Mouse Club segment that the nephews watch on TV was the original 1950s version. When it re-aired in the 1970s and '80s, however, it was updated to feature the 1977 revival of the show.
- The MCA DiscoVision release omits the opening with Walt and replaces Bumble Boogie with Mickey's Circus. It also removes the live-action Mickey Mouse segment.
- The footage of Donald trying to thread up the projector is featured in a commercial for Walt Disney Super 8 Home Movies.
Gallery[]
