Donald Fauntleroy Duck[4] is a cartoon character created by The Walt Disney Company.

Donald is an
anthropomorphic white duck with a yellow-orange bill, legs, and feet. He typically wears a sailor shirt
and cap with a bow tie. Donald is known for his semi-intelligible speech and his mischievous,
temperamental, and pompous personality. Along with his friend Mickey Mouse, Donald was included in
TV Guide's list of the 50 greatest cartoon characters of all time in 2002,[5] and has earned a star on the
Hollywood Walk of Fame. He has appeared in more films than any other Disney character,[6] and is the
most published comic book character in the world outside of the superhero genre.[7]

Donald Duck appeared in comedic roles in animated cartoons. Donald's first theatrical appearance was
in The Wise Little Hen (1934), but it was his second appearance in Orphan's Benefit that same year that
introduced him as a temperamental comic foil to Mickey Mouse.[8] Throughout the next two decades,
Donald appeared in over 150 theatrical films, several of which were recognized at the Academy Awards.
In the 1930s, he typically appeared as part of a comic trio with Mickey and Goofy and was given his own
film series starting with Don Donald (1937). These films introduced Donald's love interest and
permanent girlfriend Daisy Duck and often included his three nephews Huey, Dewey, and Louie. After
the film Chips Ahoy (1956), Donald appeared primarily in educational films before eventually returning
to theatrical animation in Mickey's Christmas Carol (1983). His last appearance in a theatrical film was in
Fantasia 2000 (1999). However, since then Donald has appeared in direct-to-video features such as
Mickey, Donald, Goofy: The Three Musketeers (2004), television series such as Mickey Mouse Clubhouse
(2006–2016), and video games such as QuackShot (1991) and the Kingdom Hearts series.

In addition to animation, Donald is well known worldwide for his appearances in comics. Donald was
most famously drawn by Al Taliaferro, Carl Barks, and Don Rosa. Barks, in particular, is credited for
greatly expanding the "Donald Duck universe", the world in which Donald lives, and creating many
additional characters such as Donald's rich uncle Scrooge McDuck. Donald has been a popular character
in Europe, particularly in Nordic countries where his weekly magazine Donald Duck & Co [no] was the
comics publication with the highest circulation from the 1950s to 2009. In Italy, Donald is a major
character in many comics, including a juvenile version named Paperino Paperotto, and a superhero alter
ego known as Paperinik (Duck Avenger in the US and Superduck in the UK).

The character of Donald Duck is portrayed as a very impatient, immature,[11] and arrogant duck with a
pessimistic attitude and an insecure disposition. In addition, his two dominant personality traits are his
fiery temper and his upbeat attitude to life. Many Donald shorts start with Donald in a happy mood,
without a care in the world until something comes along and spoils his day. His rage is a great cause of
suffering in his life. On multiple occasions, it has caused him to get in over his head and lose
competitions. There are times when he fights to keep his temper in check, and he sometimes succeeds
in doing so temporarily, but he always returns to his normal angry self in the end.
Donald's aggressive nature has its advantages, however. While at times it is a hindrance, and even a
handicap, it has also helped him in times of need. When faced with a threat of some kind, for example,
Pete's attempts to intimidate him, he is initially scared, but his fear is replaced by anger. As a result,
instead of running away, he fights. In fact, his anger can make him powerful enough to defeat ghosts,
much stronger individuals, sharks, mountain goats, giant kites, and even the forces of nature.

Donald is something of a prankster, and as a result, he can sometimes come across as a bit of a bully,
especially in the way he sometimes treats Chip n' Dale and Huey, Dewey and Louie, his nephews. As the
animator Fred Spencer has put it:

The Duck gets a big kick out of imposing on other people or annoying them, but he immediately loses
his temper when the tables are turned. In other words, he can dish it out, but he can't take it.[12]

However, with a few exceptions, there is seldom any harm in Donald's pranks. He almost never intends
to hurt anyone, and when his pranks go too far, he is often apologetic. In Truant Officer Donald, for
example, when he is tricked into believing he has accidentally killed Huey, Dewey, and Louie, he shows
great regret, blaming himself. His nephews appear in the form of angels, and he willingly endures a kick
by one of them—that is, of course, until he realizes he has been tricked, whereupon he promptly loses
his temper.

Donald is also a bit of a poseur. He likes to brag, especially about how skilled he is at something. He
does, in fact, have many skills—he is something of a Jack-of-all-trades. Amongst other things, he is a
talented fisher and a competent hockey player. However, his love of bragging often leads him to
overestimate his abilities, so that when he sets out to make good on his boasts, he gets in over his head,
usually to hilarious effect.

Another of his personality traits is perseverance. Even though he can at times be a slacker, and likes to
say that his favorite place to be is in a hammock, once he has committed to accomplishing something he
goes for it 100 percent, sometimes resorting to extreme measures to reach his goal.

Phrases

Donald has a few memorable phrases that he occasionally comes out with in certain situations. For
example, when he stumbles across other characters in the midst of planning some sort of retaliation or
prank, or when things do not go as he had planned or do not work properly, he often says, "What's the
big idea!?" When he gives up on something he is trying to do, or something he hopes will happen, he
tends to say, "Aw, phooey!" When he confronts someone/something that is antagonizing or frustrating
him, he tends to exclaim, "So!!" He greets his girlfriend Daisy, and occasionally others, with, "Hiya,
toots!" And when he is very excited about something, he usually mutters, "Oh boy, oh boy, oh boy..."
under his breath.

Health

There is a running gag in the Donald Duck comics about him being physically unhealthy and unmotivated
to exercise. Usually, some character close to Donald annoys him by saying he is being lazy and needs to
get some exercise. But despite his apparent idleness, Donald proves that he is muscular. In the short film
Sea Scouts, Donald is traveling with his nephews in a boat when it is attacked by a shark. Donald makes
several attempts to defeat the shark, each of which proves ineffective, but then finally triumphs and
defeats the shark with a single well-placed punch. Additionally, as discussed below, Donald had a stint in
the U.S. Army during World War II that culminated with him serving as a commando in the film
Commando Duck, and he was frequently away serving in the U.S. Navy in the television cartoon series
DuckTales.

Friendly rivalry with Mickey Mouse

Throughout his appearances, Donald has shown that he is jealous of Mickey and wants his job as
Disney's greatest star, similar to the rivalry between Bugs Bunny and Daffy Duck. In most Disney
theatrical cartoons, Mickey and Donald are shown as friends and have little to no rivalry (exceptions
being The Band Concert, Magician Mickey and near the end of Symphony Hour, which were due to
Donald's antagonistic schemes). However, by the time The Mickey Mouse Club aired on television (after
Bugs vs. Daffy cartoons such as the "hunting trilogy" of Rabbit Fire, Rabbit Seasoning, and Duck! Rabbit,
Duck!), it was shown that Donald always wanted the spotlight.

One animated short that rivaled the Mickey Mouse March song showed Huey, Dewey, and Louie as Boy
Scouts and Donald as their Scoutmaster at a cliff near a remote forest and Donald leads them in a song
mirroring the Mouseketeers theme "D-O-N-A-L-D D-U-C-K! Donald Duck!" The rivalry has caused Donald
some problems, for example in a 1988 TV special, where Mickey is cursed by a sorcerer to become
unnoticed, the world believes Mickey to be kidnapped. Donald Duck is then arrested for the kidnapping
of Mickey, as he is considered to be the chief suspect, due to their feud. However, Donald did later get
the charges dismissed, due to lack of evidence. Walt Disney, in his Wonderful World of Color, would
sometimes make reference to the rivalry. Walt, one time, had presented Donald with a gigantic birthday
cake and commented how it was "even bigger than Mickey's", which pleased Donald. The clip was
rebroadcast in November 1984 during a TV special honoring Donald's 50th birthday, with Dick Van Dyke
substituting for Walt.

The rivalry between Mickey and Donald was shown in the 2001-2003 television series Disney's House of
Mouse. It was shown that Donald wanted to be the club's founder and wanted to change the name from
House of Mouse to House of Duck, which is obvious in the episodes "The Stolen Cartoons" and "Timon
and Pumbaa". In the episode "Everybody Loves Mickey", Donald's jealousy is explored and even joins
sides with Mortimer Mouse. However, Donald has a change of heart when Daisy reminds Donald how
Mickey has always been there to support him. Since then, Donald accepted that Mickey was the founder
and worked with Mickey as a partner to make the club profitable and successful.