Modern Inventions
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Modern Inventions is a Donald Duck cartoon. Released on May 29th, 1937, and directed by Jack King.
Donald visits "The Museum of Modern Marvels", which showcases various futuristic electronic appliances and inventions. In the museum, Donald encounters and inevitably struggles with many strange and whimsical machines, all of which seem to be against him. A running gag has the Robot Butler appearing to take away Donald's hat, with the words "Your Hat, Sir."
[edit] The Hats
Throughout the cartoon, Donald magically pulls hats out of thin air to replace those taken by the Robot Butler. These include:
- Top hat
- Napoleonic officer hat
- Civil War military cap
- Baby bonnet
- Derby
[edit] The Machines
The various inventions Donald struggles with throughout the cartoon include:
- Robot Butler
- Hitch-Hiker's Aid
- Automatic Bundle-Wrapper
- Robot Nurse Maid
- Mechanical Barber Chair
[edit] Trivia
- This is widely considered Donald's very first completely solo appearance.
- Donald exhibits his trademark fist-shaking temper tantrum for the first time.
- This short appeared on the Walt Disney Cartoon Classics VHS tape "The Continuing Adventures of Chip 'n' Dale featuring Donald Duck", despite the fact that Chip 'n Dale do not appear in the cartoon (nor had they been created then).
- When this cartoon debuted, the face of [Mickey Mouse] was seen at the beginning, despite the fact that he does not appear in the cartoon.
- The climax with the robotic barber chair, was submitted by Carl Barks (who was bumped into the story department afterwards). Barks was originally concerned that the gag was getting too risque, but in an interview he stated that Walt Disney told him to just go with it. It is widely considered one of the funniest moments in Donald Duck cartoons. The Barber Chair sequence was mentioned on an episode of House of Mouse.
