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Modern Inventions

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Modern Inventions
"Your hat, sir."
Directed byJack King
Story byCarl Barks
Produced byWalt Disney
StarringClarence Nash
Billy Bletcher
Adriana Caselotti
Don Brodie[1]
Music byOliver Wallace
Animation byJack Hannah
Paul Allen
Johnny Cannon[2]
Color processTechnicolor
Production
company
Distributed byUnited Artists
Release date
  • May 29, 1937 (1937-05-29)
[3]
Running time
8:30
CountryUnited States
LanguageEnglish

Modern Inventions is a 1937 American comic science fiction animated short film produced by Walt Disney Productions and released by United Artists.[4] The cartoon follows Donald Duck as he tours the fictional Museum of Modern Marvels. Jack King directed it in his first directing role at Disney, and Oliver Wallace composed the original music. The voice cast includes Clarence Nash as Donald, Billy Bletcher as the Robot Butler, Adriana Caselotti as the Robot Baby Carriage, and Don Brodie as the Robot Barber.

Modern Inventions pokes fun at modern conveniences. The scene of Donald in the barber's chair was submitted by Carl Barks as his first story contribution at Disney.[5] It is also the final Disney short to be released by United Artists.

Plot

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Donald visits the Museum of Modern Marvels, which showcases various futuristic electronic appliances and inventions. He drops a coin on a string in the admission box and then yanks it out before entering. Once inside, he meets the Robot Butler, a robotic golden cyclops. The butler takes Donald's hat over his protest and walks away, but Donald produces a top hat from his sleeve. He encounters a robotic hitchhiker who thumbs a ride when he imitates a passing car, then pokes him in the eye for not stopping. The butler appears again and takes Donald's hat. Donald shouts angrily, then produces a bicorne and continues exploring.

Next, Donald comes across a bundle wrapping machine. He ignores the warning not to touch and pulls the lever, causing the machine to wrap him with cellophane and a ribbon. After Donald frees himself, the butler dutifully takes his hat. Donald produces a kepi and taunts the butler, who chases after him. He hides in a robotic baby carriage and swaps his kepi for a bonnet. The carriage coddles him and offers a milk bottle, which squirts in his face. As Donald tries to escape, the carriage thrashes him with a puppet toy, squirts more milk, and puts a diaper on him. He finally gets free, and the butler takes his bonnet.

Donald produces a bowler hat and walks over to an automatic barber chair. He uses the coin trick again to activate the chair, which tosses him upside-down and trims his tail while giving his face a shoe-polish. Once released from the chair, Donald takes the hat off his combed tail and puts it on his well-polished head. However, the butler snatches it away, provoking him into an explosive tantrum.

Production

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The story was originally conceived as Mickey's Inventions, a vehicle for Donald's co-star Mickey Mouse. As Donald's star began to rise in 1936, the short was reworked as a duck cartoon.[6]

Voice cast

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Uncredited

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Releases

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Source:[2]

Home media

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The short was released on May 18, 2004, on Walt Disney Treasures: The Chronological Donald, Volume One: 1934-1941.[8]

It was also released on VHS in 1985 on Cartoon Classics: The Continuing Adventures of Chip 'n' Dale Featuring Donald Duck.

Legacy

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The cartoon would later serve as inspiration for suicide booths, fictional contraptions appearing in the American adult animated sitcom Futurama.[9]

In an episode of the series House of Mouse, the cartoon is mentioned when Goofy and Minnie Mouse try to figure out the name of the cartoon where Donald's tail is given a haircut by the mechanical barber chair. Donald mistakenly tells them that it was from a short called Donald's Haircut, made in 1945, only for Mickey Mouse to mention the correct name and year that it was made.

See also

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References

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  1. ^ a b Scott, Keith (October 3, 2022). Cartoon Voices of the Golden Age, Vol. 2. BearManor Media.
  2. ^ a b Modern Inventions Archived March 17, 2011, at the Wayback Machine at The Encyclopedia of Disney Animated Shorts
  3. ^ Kaufman, J.B.; Gerstein, David (2018). Walt Disney's Mickey Mouse: The Ultimate History. Cologne: Taschen. ISBN 978-3-8365-5284-4.
  4. ^ Lenburg, Jeff (1999). The Encyclopedia of Animated Cartoons. Checkmark Books. pp. 74–76. ISBN 0-8160-3831-7. Retrieved June 6, 2020.
  5. ^ Kaufman, J.B.; Gerstein, David (2024). Walt Disney's Donald Duck: The Ultimate History. Taschen. p. 111. ISBN 978-3-8365-5280-6.
  6. ^ Kaufman, J.B.; Gerstein, David (2024). Walt Disney's Donald Duck: The Ultimate History. Taschen. p. 106. ISBN 978-3-8365-5280-6.
  7. ^ Movie connections for "Ink & Paint Club" at the Internet Movie Database
  8. ^ "The Chronological Donald Volume 1 DVD Review". DVD Dizzy. Retrieved February 13, 2021.
  9. ^ Groening, Matt (2003). Futurama season 1 DVD commentary for the episode "Space Pilot 3000" (DVD). 20th Century Fox.
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