Donald Duck Day, June 9th

Donald Duck Day

Donald Duck first graced the world with his presence in Disney's Silly Symphony "The Wise Little Hen" on June 9, 1934. So, one could say, today is his birthday. Although it could be argued that it is not, because he was obviously an adult on his birth day, even if he was a scary adult because he wasn't wearing pants. (There once was an urban legend that Donald Duck was banned in Finland because he doesn't wear pants and he hangs out with a single woman. Shocking what hanging out with a single woman will do to your reputation! Check that out here.) Disney officially recognizes Donald's birthday as June 9th, but there seems to be come confusion about this because in "The Three Caballeros," his birthday is Friday the Thirteenth and in "Donald's Happy Birthday" his birthday is March 13th.

Donald's full name is Donald Fauntleroy Duck, (poor thing, no wonder he has such a temper) according to the cartoon "Donald Gets Drafted." He is the son of Uncle Scrooge's older sister Hortense and her husband, Quackmore. His sister, Della, is the mother of his nephews Huey, Dewey and Louie. Daisy is his girlfriend, and she has nieces April, May and June. If you want to check out more of his relatives, there are several pedigree charts for Donald on this site.

Donald Duck was the face of the University of Oregon Fighting Ducks for many years, until there were issues about copyrights, royalties and such things, after Walt Disney died. That is how I remember Donald most, as the Fighting Duck that I cheered for when I rooted against the Beavers of Oregon State University. (Yes, I know, we don't choose fierce mascots up in the wet state.) But, now U of O just has a big O and no Donald. Sadness.

Anyway, happy birthday Donald!