Donald's Ostrich

NR 6.5
1937 0 hr 9 min Animation , Comedy

Donald is the baggagemaster at a remote railway station. Part of the latest cargo shipment is Hortense the Ostrich, who is a bit too friendly with Donald, and who eats everything in sight, whether it's food or not (mostly not): a concertina, an alarm clock, some balloons, all of which start reacting when Hortense gets the hiccups.

  • Cast:
    Clarence Nash , Billy Bletcher

Similar titles

Meg's Jaw - A film essay
Meg's Jaw - A film essay
This is Meg. She has TMJ and not a lot of time to work on it.
Meg's Jaw - A film essay 2023
Mineral
Mineral
After painfully passing a kidney stone, a slob discovers that a new breed of monster has invaded his home with deadly intentions.
Mineral 2014
Breaking Santa
Breaking Santa
Santa goes on a blind date and ends up getting a lesson in Stockholm Syndrome.
Breaking Santa 2012
HPL Insurance
HPL Insurance
You can't control the gibbering madness that lies waiting on the edge of our reality but for a small monthly premium you can ensure that you don't pay for it when things go eldritch.
HPL Insurance 2015
Inki and the Minah Bird
Inki and the Minah Bird
Once again, the mysterious minah bird hops his syncopated way into Inki's lion-hunting expedition. This time the little black bird has a new reality- defying way to disappear: he hops into a haystack which gradually (and with the same catchy hip-hop) shrinks down to a single straw, which vanishes.
Inki and the Minah Bird 1943
La Maison en Petits Cubes
La Maison en Petits Cubes
La Maison en Petits Cubes tells the story of a grandfather's memories as he adds more blocks to his house to stem the flooding waters.
La Maison en Petits Cubes 2009

Reviews

Marketic
1937/12/10

It's no definitive masterpiece but it's damn close.

... more
Nessieldwi
1937/12/11

Very interesting film. Was caught on the premise when seeing the trailer but unsure as to what the outcome would be for the showing. As it turns out, it was a very good film.

... more
Hadrina
1937/12/12

The movie's neither hopeful in contrived ways, nor hopeless in different contrived ways. Somehow it manages to be wonderful

... more
Robert Joyner
1937/12/13

The plot isn't so bad, but the pace of storytelling is too slow which makes people bored. Certain moments are so obvious and unnecessary for the main plot. I would've fast-forwarded those moments if it was an online streaming. The ending looks like implying a sequel, not sure if this movie will get one

... more
Michael_Elliott
1937/12/14

Donald's Ostrich (1937) ** (out of 4)Donald is at work when a package suddenly springs open and it's an ostrich. There's a note attached to it saying that the ostrich will eat anything and for the next several minutes that's exactly what he does.DONALD'S OSTRICH is a pretty bland short, which is shocking considering this was Disney after all. It's not that Disney never made a bad film but this one here is really lacking any laughs and I'd argue that it's really not all that creative either. The entire running time basically has the ostrich eating various items and reacting to what it has eaten. This just isn't all that funny and the one-note gag gets rather old quickly.

... more
OllieSuave-007
1937/12/15

In this cartoon short, Donald Duck is the baggage handler at a railway station and encounters Hortense the Ostrich. The ostrich turns out to be too friendly of an animal and eats everything in sight, from an alarm clock to balloons, ending itself with uncontrollable hiccups.Donald's classic frustrated and temperamental personality works well with the character and is very entertaining. However, the Hortense character proves to be too cute and overly cuddly, making it annoying and not very funny to look at. The hiccup gags get old quick throughout the short and consumes much of the picture, losing less room for other humorous stuff. But, Donald does pull through with some laughable moments and radio bit was amusing.Grade C

... more
TheLittleSongbird
1937/12/16

I say this as a big fan of Disney and Donald Duck as I have said several times. Donald's Ostrich is certainly not a terrible short, it has great animation with the characters well-drawn, the backgrounds crisp and the colours vibrant, the music is very pleasant on the ear and is full of energy and helped by Clarence Nash's impeccable voicing, Donald's easily frustrated and temperamental persona works well with him. However, Donald would have fared even better if he had a strong character to work with. Unfortunately Hortense is not really that compelling, animated great but not very funny(in fact sometimes annoying above all else) and the chemistry with Donald is rather bland. The gag where anything in sight is eaten is a good one to work with, but is undermined by the fact that it gets repetitive fast. Also the premise of Donald's Ostrich is simple, not a bad thing, the real problem is that it all feels routine and not much is done with it. Of the gags, the only one that I really found more than amusing in effectiveness was the one where the radio as a device is used, a very inventive gag and used well. Overall though, didn't work despite some good points. 5/10 Bethany Cox

... more
Ron Oliver
1937/12/17

A Walt Disney DONALD DUCK Cartoon.An ostrich is delivered to the Wahoo train station platform and proceeds to create merry mayhem for baggage handler Duck.This lively and very enjoyable little film boasts good animation and a fine sense of fun. Hortense proved to be a bird capable of stealing scenes even from the Duck, but DONALD'S OSTRICH would be both her first & final film performance. Clarence "Ducky" Nash supplies Donald's unique voice.Walt Disney (1901-1966) was always intrigued by drawings. As a lad in Marceline, Missouri, he sketched farm animals on scraps of paper; later, as an ambulance driver in France during the First World War, he drew figures on the sides of his vehicle. Back in Kansas City, along with artist Ub Iwerks, Walt developed a primitive animation studio that provided animated commercials and tiny cartoons for the local movie theaters. Always the innovator, his ALICE IN CARTOONLAND series broke ground in placing a live figure in a cartoon universe. Business reversals sent Disney & Iwerks to Hollywood in 1923, where Walt's older brother Roy became his lifelong business manager & counselor. When a mildly successful series with Oswald The Lucky Rabbit was snatched away by the distributor, the character of Mickey Mouse sprung into Walt's imagination, ensuring Disney's immortality. The happy arrival of sound technology made Mickey's screen debut, STEAMBOAT WILLIE (1928), a tremendous audience success with its use of synchronized music. The SILLY SYMPHONIES soon appeared, and Walt's growing crew of marvelously talented animators were quickly conquering new territory with full color, illusions of depth and radical advancements in personality development, an arena in which Walt's genius was unbeatable. Mickey's feisty, naughty behavior had captured millions of fans, but he was soon to be joined by other animated companions: temperamental Donald Duck, intellectually-challenged Goofy and energetic Pluto. All this was in preparation for Walt's grandest dream - feature length animated films. Against a blizzard of doomsayers, Walt persevered and over the next decades delighted children of all ages with the adventures of Snow White, Pinocchio, Dumbo, Bambi & Peter Pan. Walt never forgot that his fortunes were all started by a mouse, or that simplicity of message and lots of hard work always pay off.

... more

Watch Free Now