2024, Animation, Comedy
WISE Score
Donald Duck attempts to change a single light bulb and predictably spirals into a three-minute masterclass of hand-drawn frustration.
6.7
This is a love letter to the era when animation was about squash, stretch, and a duck having a nervous breakdown over household maintenance. It’s short, sweet, and technically stunning.
It’s the best thing Disney has done with Donald in decades because it stops trying to modernize him and just lets him be an angry, unlucky duck. It’s three minutes of pure, high-quality distraction that feels like a time machine to the 1940s.
Perfect for literally everyone. Toddlers will laugh at the physical comedy, and adults will appreciate the incredible 2D animation work that is so rare these days.
Classic, high-quality slapstick that relies on character-driven frustration rather than mean-spiritedness. It captures the timeless appeal of a character losing his cool over the mundane.
The visual gags are clever and the commitment to traditional hand-drawn animation in 2024 is a creative triumph in itself.
It is a three-minute Disney short about a light bulb. The only 'danger' is cartoon explosions and a duck's blood pressure.
While primarily entertainment, it serves as a great entry point for appreciating traditional animation craft and the history of one of media's most famous characters.
In a world of hyper-polished 3D renders, D.I.Y. Duck feels like a minor miracle. Released to celebrate Donald’s 90th anniversary, it marks the first solo short for the character from Walt Disney Animation Studios in a long time. The big draw here is the direction by Mark Henn, the man responsible for animating characters like Ariel, Belle, and Mulan. He brings a level of craft to this three-minute short that you just don't see in standard Saturday morning fare.
What makes it work is the restraint. They didn't try to give Donald a smartphone or put him in a modern setting. He's just in a house, trying to change a light bulb, and the universe is conspiring against him. The decision to use archival recordings of Clarence Nash (the original voice of Donald) is the icing on the cake. It gives the short an acoustic authenticity that modern voice actors—as good as they are—can't quite replicate.
If your kids are used to the frantic, flash-animated style of the newer Mickey Mouse shorts, this will be a change of pace. It’s slower in its build-up but much richer in its payoff. It’s a great reminder that physical comedy doesn't need dialogue to be hilarious. Put it on when you need a three-minute reset button during a chaotic afternoon.
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