Most cartoons were originally for adults. Helping your average schmuck, reading the daily paper, deal with feelings of societal injustice, anger, annoyance, frustration.
I seem to remember that DD used to be particularly vicious and rude in old b/w cartoons.
Is it possible that some duck creature already existed in Disney cartoons long before 1934?
How did (Disney) cartoons become a thing for kids mostly? When did kids become main targets for product development? I suspect the answer involves Edward Bernays…
I don’t think Donald’s schtick was so much rudeness/viciousness as it was that he had no control over his temper and had horrible luck. I remember cartoons opening with him being perfectly pleasant but then getting more and more unhinged as the cartoon goes on and things go wrong for him. To the point of homocidal destruction of everything around him.
He was a character that earned what happened to him after it happened, in his response to it.
Though this was also in a world where a lot of cartoons were casually extremely violent. Like Elmer Fudd was constantly trying to kill Bugs and Daffy, who each tried to get him to target the other or tried to get him, and then they’d casually discuss it at various points during the show. Mickey and Pete had a similar at times homicidal relationship, though Disney seemed to have more “I’m so angry I could kill you” while Looney Tunes had more “Trying to kill you is just what I do”.
Most of these comics are from the newspaper funny pages of the 1930’s. They had to apply to a broad audience of readers. Something for the adults and the kids. Just no one has to worry about Karen’s or if things were appropriate or not.
Most cartoons were originally for adults. Helping your average schmuck, reading the daily paper, deal with feelings of societal injustice, anger, annoyance, frustration.
I seem to remember that DD used to be particularly vicious and rude in old b/w cartoons.
Is it possible that some duck creature already existed in Disney cartoons long before 1934?
How did (Disney) cartoons become a thing for kids mostly? When did kids become main targets for product development? I suspect the answer involves Edward Bernays…
I don’t think Donald’s schtick was so much rudeness/viciousness as it was that he had no control over his temper and had horrible luck. I remember cartoons opening with him being perfectly pleasant but then getting more and more unhinged as the cartoon goes on and things go wrong for him. To the point of homocidal destruction of everything around him.
He was a character that earned what happened to him after it happened, in his response to it.
Though this was also in a world where a lot of cartoons were casually extremely violent. Like Elmer Fudd was constantly trying to kill Bugs and Daffy, who each tried to get him to target the other or tried to get him, and then they’d casually discuss it at various points during the show. Mickey and Pete had a similar at times homicidal relationship, though Disney seemed to have more “I’m so angry I could kill you” while Looney Tunes had more “Trying to kill you is just what I do”.
DD also canonically has PTSD from the war. So there’s a lot going on there.
Thanks for the share! Didn’t know who Edward Nernays was until today. Super interesting (also not great).
Recommend: The Century of the Self
Apparently Sigmund Freud was his double uncle
Most of these comics are from the newspaper funny pages of the 1930’s. They had to apply to a broad audience of readers. Something for the adults and the kids. Just no one has to worry about Karen’s or if things were appropriate or not.