Early to Bed (1941 film)

Last updated
Early to Bed
Directed by Jack King
Story by Carl Barks
Jack Hannah
Produced by Walt Disney
Starring Clarence Nash
Music by Oliver Wallace
Animation byJim Armstrong
Ed Love
Hal King
Ray Patin
Judge Whitaker
Layouts byBill Herwig
Color process Technicolor
Production
company
Distributed by RKO Radio Pictures
Release date
  • July 11, 1941 (1941-07-11)
(USA)
Running time
7 minutes and 45 seconds
CountryUnited States
LanguageEnglish

Early to Bed is a 1941 Donald Duck animated short film that was released on July 11, 1941, by RKO Radio Pictures. [1] The film was colored by Technicolor, produced by Walt Disney Productions, and directed by Jack King. The cartoon tells the story of Donald, who is trying to sleep, despite the annoyingly loud ticking of the clock keeping him awake.

Contents

This short film not only portrays Donald as a human but also emphasises on a well known proverb, - "Early to bed". [2]

Plot

The film opens with Donald Duck yawning at the sunset, ready to go to bed. However, when he lays down, he hits his head on the bed. He angrily moves down the bed, fluffs his pillow, and lays back down. As soon as his head touches the pillow, it explodes with a burst of feathers. The screen cuts to Donald lying on the bed again with a new pillow. This time, whenever he places his head on the pillow, the clock on his bedside table begins to loudly tick-tock. He puts the clock away into a drawer, but then, the entire drawer begins to vibrate due to the loud sound of the clock. Donald, visibly becoming angry, retrieves the clock from the drawer and throws it against the wall. It lands in a vase, and the entire vase begins to shake with the loud tick-tock of the clock. Finally, Donald throws the clock out the window, where it gets caught in some laundry and bouncing back up, landing into Donald's yawning mouth and causing him to accidentally swallow it. After various attempts to break the clock that is still ticking inside him, Donald manages to spit out the broken clock into small pieces.

Donald goes back to bed, relieved. This time, however, whenever he turns out the lights, his folding bed snaps shut with him inside. Donald struggles to get free, only to be launched into the ceiling by the bed springs. The screen cuts to Donald laying in bed again, this time with the bed affixed to the floor with a variety of boards and ropes. He settles back down to sleep. The broken clock, however, reassembles itself just enough to ring its alarm. Donald sits up fast, and his bed flies apart, launching Donald into the air. He lands back on his bed, now little more than a board with tacks in it, a sheet wrapped around his head like a turban. A sock lands in front of him on a spring, swaying back and forth so that he looks like an angry snake charmer and the short ends with a frustrated Donald Duck.

Voice cast

Television

Home media

The short was released on May 18, 2004 on Walt Disney Treasures: The Chronological Donald, Volume One: 1934-1941 . [3]

Additional releases include:

Related Research Articles

<i>Porkys Badtime Story</i> 1937 film

Porky's Badtime Story is a 1937 Warner Bros. Looney Tunes cartoon directed by Robert Clampett and an uncredited Chuck Jones. The short was released on July 24, 1937, and stars Porky Pig and Gabby Goat. The short was later remade as Tick Tock Tuckered (1944), with Daffy Duck taking Gabby's role.

<i>Donald and Pluto</i> 1936 Donald Duck cartoon

Donald and Pluto is a 1936 animated short film produced by Walt Disney Productions and distributed by United Artists. The film stars Donald Duck, employed as a plumber, and Mickey's dog Pluto as his assistant. The film was directed by Ben Sharpsteen and featured the voice of Clarence Nash as Donald.

<i>Don Donald</i> 1937 Donald Duck cartoon

Don Donald is a 1937 American animated short film produced by Walt Disney Productions and released by United Artists. The cartoon follows Donald Duck attempting to woo a female Mexican duck named Donna. It was directed by Ben Sharpsteen and features music by Paul J. Smith which was adapted from the Mexican folk songs "Cielito Lindo" and "Jarabe Tapatío." Clarence Nash voiced both Donald and Donna.

Tick Tock Tuckered is a 1944 Warner Bros. Looney Tunes cartoon directed by Bob Clampett. The cartoon was released on April 8, 1944, and stars Porky Pig and Daffy Duck. This is a color remake of the cartoon Porky's Badtime Story (1937), with Daffy filling the role that was previously played by Gabby Goat. A gag from Friz Freleng's cartoon Notes to You (1941) was also reused as well, while a reference to The Dover Boys (1942) is briefly made.

<i>Thru the Mirror</i> 1936 Mickey Mouse cartoon

Thru the Mirror is a 1936 American animated short film directed by David Hand from a story by William Cottrell and Joe Grant. In this cartoon short, Mickey Mouse has a Through the Looking-Glass-parody-like dream that he travels through his mirror and enters a topsy-turvy world where everything is alive. While there, he engages in a Fred Astaire dance number with a pair of gloves and a pack of cards, until the cards chase him out of the bizarre world. Produced by Walt Disney Productions and released by United Artists, it was the 83rd Mickey Mouse short film to be released, the fourth of that year.

<i>Moose Hunters</i> 1937 Mickey Mouse cartoon

Moose Hunters is a 1937 American animated short film produced by Walt Disney Productions and released by United Artists. It was the 93rd short in the Mickey Mouse film series, and the fourth for that year. The cartoon stars Mickey Mouse, Donald Duck, and Goofy on a moose hunting expedition. It was directed by Ben Sharpsteen and features music by Paul J. Smith. The voice cast includes Walt Disney as Mickey, Clarence Nash as Donald, and Pinto Colvig as Goofy.

<i>Clock Cleaners</i> 1937 Mickey Mouse cartoon

Clock Cleaners is a 1937 American animated short film produced by Walt Disney Productions and released by RKO Radio Pictures. The cartoon follows Mickey Mouse, Donald Duck, and Goofy working as janitors in a tall clock tower. The film was directed by Ben Sharpsteen and features original music by Paul Smith and Oliver Wallace. The voice cast includes Walt Disney as Mickey, Clarence Nash as Donald, and Pinto Colvig as Goofy. It was the 97th short in the Mickey Mouse film series to be released, and the eighth for that year.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Jimmy MacDonald (sound effects artist)</span> British-born American foley artist

John James MacDonald was a Scottish-American foley artist, voice actor, musician and conductor. He was the original head of the Disney sound effects department, and was also the 2nd official voice of Mickey Mouse from 1947 to 1976 and again in 1978 and 1987 after Walt Disney stopped playing the character and before Wayne Allwine became the third voice of Mickey in 1977.

James Patton "Jack" King was an American animator and short film director best known for his work at Walt Disney Productions.

<i>Truant Officer Donald</i> 1941 Donald Duck cartoon

Truant Officer Donald is an animated short film produced in Technicolor by Walt Disney Productions and released to theaters on August 1, 1941 by RKO Radio Pictures. The film was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Animated Short Film in 1942 but lost to another Disney cartoon Lend a Paw. The story features Donald Duck working as a truant officer and making sure that Huey, Dewey, and Louie go to school. The film was directed by Jack King while Clarence Nash provided the voices of Donald and the nephews.

<i>The Autograph Hound</i> 1939 Donald Duck cartoon

The Autograph Hound is a 1939 Donald Duck cartoon which features Donald Duck as an autograph hunter in Hollywood. Many celebrities from the 1930s are featured. This is the first cartoon where Donald Duck is featured in his blue sailor hat.

The Bear That Couldn't Sleep is a 1939 animated short film, directed by Rudolf Ising for MGM as part of Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer's Barney Bear series. Released with the feature film 6,000 Enemies by MGM on June 10, 1939, the short is notable for featuring the first appearance of Barney Bear. Ising created the character Barney Bear in the late 1930s for MGM at this time, basing the sleepy-eyed character partially on himself.

<i>Tea for Two Hundred</i> 1948 Donald Duck cartoon

Tea for Two Hundred is a 1948 American animated short film directed by Jack Hannah. Part of the Donald Duck film series, the film was produced in Technicolor by Walt Disney Productions and released to theaters by RKO Radio Pictures on December 24, 1948. The cartoon stars a picnicking Donald Duck who faces an army of African ants trying to steal his food. Clarence Nash stars as Donald while the ants were voiced by Pinto Colvig. The film includes original music by Oliver Wallace.

<i>The Whalers</i> 1938 Mickey Mouse cartoon

The Whalers is a cartoon produced by Walt Disney Productions, released by RKO Radio Pictures on August 19, 1938, and featuring Mickey Mouse, Donald Duck and Goofy.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Tick mattress</span>

A tick mattress, bed tick or tick is a large bag made of strong, stiff, tightly-woven material (ticking). This is then filled to make a mattress, with material such as straw, chaff, horsehair, coarse wool or down feathers, and less commonly, leaves, grass, reeds, bracken, or seaweed. The whole stuffed mattress may also, more loosely, be called a tick. The tick mattress may then be sewn through to hold the filling in place, or the unsecured filling could be shaken and smoothed as the beds were aired each morning. A straw-filled bed tick is called a paillasse, palliasse, or pallet, and these terms may also be used for bed ticks with other fillings. A tick filled with flock is called a flockbed. A feather-filled tick is called a featherbed, and a down-filled one a downbed; these can also be used above the sleeper, as a duvet.

<i>Mickeys Nightmare</i> 1932 Mickey Mouse cartoon

Mickey's Nightmare is a 1932 Walt Disney short black and white cartoon starring Mickey Mouse and Pluto. It was the 44th Mickey Mouse short, and the eighth of that year. The plot incorporates elements from Disney's first Oswald the Lucky Rabbit cartoon, Poor Papa.

<i>Window Cleaners</i> 1940 Donald Duck cartoon

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.

Golden Eggs is a 1941 American animated short film directed by Wilfred Jackson and produced by Walt Disney, featuring Donald Duck.

The Riveter is a 1940 American Donald Duck short film directed by Dick Lundy and produced by Walt Disney. In the short film, Donald lands a job working high steel as a riveter for construction foreman Pete.

Test Pilot Donald is a 1951 American animated short film featuring Donald Duck and Chip 'n' Dale. The cartoon was directed by Jack Hannah and produced by Walt Disney. In the film, Donald flies his model airplane into Chip 'n Dale's tree. Dale climbs in and proceeds to cause trouble.

References

  1. ↑ Lenburg, Jeff (1999). The Encyclopedia of Animated Cartoons. Checkmark Books. pp. 74–76. ISBN   0-8160-3831-7 . Retrieved 6 June 2020.
  2. ↑ "Early to Bed, Early to Rise..." - MamaLisa
  3. ↑ "The Chronological Donald Volume 1 DVD Review". DVD Dizzy. Retrieved 13 February 2021.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.