Grand Canyonscope (1954)

Absolutely Brilliant!

Fun premise, good actors, bad writing. This film seemed to have potential at the beginning but it quickly devolves into a trite action film. Ultimately it's very boring.

This story has more twists and turns than a second-rate soap opera.

By the time the dramatic fireworks start popping off, each one feels earned.

It is actually not too common that you know exactly where these 7-minutes Disney/Warner Bros. cartoons are set. Usually they play outside, but that's all we know. This Disney movie here is an exception in terms of that as you already know from the title. Donald is in the Grand Canyon area, but just won't start listening to the guide and constantly causes trouble, mostly to himself, but also to the guide. We see several local animals, even some pretty much extinct one for that area and Donald causes mayhem wherever he goes. I thought, this was fairly weak for Disney standards. A smartly animated comedic scene here and there, but compared to other films from the 1950s, also by Disney, it falls flat. Nichols, Schaffer and George have done better on many occasions. Not recommended, or only for the biggest Donald lovers like myself

Donald Duck is a tourist visiting the Grand Canyon who gives the tour's guide fits due to his continuous shenanigans including an encounter with an ill-tempered old lion.This cartoon short is diverting enough in its goofy slapstick fashion only really I wonder if it really needed Donald Duck as its lead at all. In fact, this one seems better suited to Goofy himself to me as really there's no point here where we see Donald Duck's temper rise, which is usually said character's most entertaining aspect. Honestly most any character could have probably fit into the role which makes one wonder if they just didn't pick a popular character's name out of an hat to use for this one.

This 6 minute and 51 second cartoon starring Donald Duck can be found on the first disc of the 2-dvd set of "20,000 Leaques under the Sea". As the first Disney animated short shot in Cinemascope to compliment their first movie to be shot the same way, this has Donald Duck being a pain in the backside to a hapless grand canyon tour guide. And for what it is, is pretty good. Although I think that it might have been edited to make it more P.C. which would be a shame as changing scenes only taints the heritage that we could gain in seeing the original version. As such, I can't give this a great score.My Grade: C+

A Walt Disney DONALD DUCK Cartoon.The Little Ranger enjoys his job as guide at the Grand Canyon, until tourist Donald and a ferocious Mountain Lion give him a really bad day...This enjoyable little comedy doubtless got its name as it was one of Disney's first releases in Cinemascope. It also marked the final appearance in a Disney cartoon of the Mountain Lion, who retired to a cave in California's Hollywood Hills. Clarence "Ducky" Nash provided the voice for Donald; Bill Thompson did the honors for Ranger J. Audubon Woodlore.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.