| Daisy Duck | |
|---|---|
| First appearance | Mr. Duck Steps Out (1940) |
| Created by | Walt Disney Productions |
| Voiced by | Gloria Blondell (1945-1950) Kath Soucie (1996) Tress MacNeille (1999-present) other voices |
| Aliases | Super Daisy |
| Species | Pekin Duck |
| Family | Duck family |
| Significant other(s) | Donald Duck |
| Relatives | Huey, Dewey, and Louie (nephews) April, May, and June (nieces) |
Daisy Duck is a cartoon character created in 1940 by Walt Disney Productions as the girlfriend of Donald Duck. Like Donald, Daisy is an anthropomorphic white duck, but has large eyelashes and ruffled tail feathers to suggest a skirt. She is often seen wearing a hair bow, blouse, and shoes. Daisy usually shows a strong affinity towards Donald, although she is often characterized as being more sophisticated than him.
Daisy was introduced in the short film Mr. Duck Steps Out (1940) and was incorporated into Donald's comic stories several months later. She appeared in 11 short films between 1940 and 1954, and later in Mickey's Christmas Carol (1983) and Fantasia 2000 (1999). In these roles Daisy was always a supporting character, with the exception of Donald's Dilemma (1947). Daisy has received considerable more screen time in television, making regular appearances in Quack Pack (1996), Mickey Mouse Works (1999-200), House of Mouse (2001-2003), and Mickey Mouse Clubhouse (2006-present). Daisy has also appeared in several direct-to-video films such as Mickey's Once Upon a Christmas (1999) and The Three Musketeers (2004).[1]
According Don Rosa's comic stories, Daisy is related to Donald's family through marriage, being the sister of Huey, Dewey, and Louie's father. As such she is also the aunt of the boys. Daisy is also the aunt of April, May, and June, three young girl ducks who act as Huey, Dewey, and Louie's female counterparts. The girls are the children of Daisy's other sibling, an unnamed sister. Daisy is a close friend of Clarabelle Cow and Clara Cluck in the comics, and of Minnie Mouse in television.[2]
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Particularly in her early appearances, Daisy is portrayed as a flirt. She is deeply attracted to Donald and is very attached to him. This is most clearly seen in Donald's Dilemma as Daisy is almost to the point of suicide after Donald forgets her.
Besides her love for Donald, Daisy is also shown to be more sophisticated and intelligent than Donald. In Cured Duck Daisy even gives Donald an ultimatum regarding his temper. Daisy herself sometimes exhibits a temper, but she has much greater self control than Donald.
In the early Donald Duck shorts, she was a duck with a red dress, and she had a bow in her hair. The next appearance change was in the Barks-story 'The not-so-ancient mariner'. The third change was in the theme parks, when she arrived with a pink dress and indigo bow. The fourth change was during the Mickey Mouse Works shorts, when she gained a yellow dress and a green bow instead of red. Disney's House of Mouse got her a waitress look-alike outfit, with a blue bow, and a long ponytail. In Mickey Mouse Clubhouse, Daisy regained her purple dress and bow, familiar to the theme park visitors. But she also had yellow earrings, and also a short ponytail, similar to the longer one seen in Disney's House of Mouse. For instance, in 1996 the television series Quack Pack gave Daisy Duck a more mature wardrobe and more modern short hairstyle, and cast her as a career woman with a television reporter job. In House of Mouse, Daisy wears a modern blue dress and has her hair in a gigantic ponytail.[3]
Daisy Duck has been voiced by several different voice actors over the years, yet by far the most extensive work has been done by Tress MacNeille, Daisy's current voice, who took on the role in 1999.
Like Donna Duck, Daisy was voiced by Clarence Nash, who also provided Donald's voice, in her debut in Mr. Duck Steps Out. As such Daisy's first voice was a "duck voice" similar to Donald's yet pitched higher. For Daisy's second appearance Gloria Blondell took over, marking the debut of Daisy's "normal" voices. Blondell would voice Daisy for six of her nine speaking appearances during the classic shorts era. Daisy's third voice was Ruth Clifford who voiced the character only once in Donald's Dream Voice (1948). After Blondell returned for one more performance, June Foray voiced Daisy in her final classic cartoon, Donald's Diary (1954). In 1983 Daisy was voiced by Patricia Parris in Mickey's Christmas Carol. Daisy was voiced by Kath Soucie throughout her first regular television series Quack Pack (1996). In 1998 Daisy was voiced by Diane Michelle in the anthology film The Spirit of Mickey. In 1999 Tress MacNeille took over as Daisy's full-time voice. MacNeille has voiced Daisy in the television series Mickey Mouse Works, House of Mouse, and Mickey Mouse Clubhouse. MacNeille has also voiced Daisy in television specials and movies.[4]. Daisy was also voiced by Russi Taylor in Fantasia 2000 although she had no lines just a scream.
According to some sources, Daisy was introduced in 1937 as Donna Duck, yet there is conflicting evidence as to whether Donna was an early version of Daisy or a separate character entirely.
Donna made her sole animated appearance in the short film Don Donald (1937), directed by Ben Sharpsteen. It was the first installment of the Donald Duck film series, and was also the first time Donald was shown with a love interest. In the story, Donald travels to Mexico to court a duck who is largely a female version of himself. She is portrayed with the same feisty temperament and impatience, and was even voiced by Donald's voice actor Clarence Nash. At the end of the story she spitefully abandons Donald in the desert after his car breaks down.
Some sources consider Don Donald Daisy's debut. These include the Internet Movie DataBase,[1] The Encyclopedia of Animated Disney Shorts,[5] and the Big Cartoon DataBase.[6] In addition to this, Don Donald is included on the Disney-produced DVD "Best Pals: Donald and Daisy." Donna's identification as an early Daisy is aided by the fact that other Disney characters, such as Goofy, were also introduced under different names (Dippy Dawg), appearances, and mannerisms. "Donna" in Italian is also the equivalent of "Don," a title Donald takes in the film's title.
However, in 1951 the character of Donna was retconned into a comic story where she appears as a separate character than Daisy and a rival for Donald's affections.[7]
Daisy debuted in theatrical animation and has appeared in a total of 14 films.[8] She appeared in ten Donald Duck short films. These are, in order of release, Mr. Duck Steps Out (1940), Donald's Crime (1945), Cured Duck (1945), Donald's Double Trouble (1946), Dumb Bell of the Yukon, Sleepy Time Donald (1947), Donald's Dilemma, Donald's Dream Voice (1948), Crazy Over Daisy (1950), and Donald's Diary (1954). She also made a brief cameo in the Mickey Mouse short film The Nifty Nineties (1941). After the classic shorts era, Daisy appeared in Mickey's Christmas Carol (1983) and Fantasia 2000 (1999) with another cameo in Who Framed Roger Rabbit (1988).
Daisy Duck in her familiar name and design first appeared in Mr. Duck Steps Out (June 7, 1940). The short was directed by Jack King and scripted by Carl Barks. There Donald visits the house of his new romantic interest for their first known date . At first Daisy acts shy and has her back turned to her visitor. But Donald soon notices her tail-feathers taking the form of a hand and signaling for him to come closer. But their time alone is soon interrupted by Huey, Dewey, and Louie who have followed their uncle and clearly compete with him for the attention of Daisy. Uncle and nephews take turns dancing the jitterbug with her while trying to get rid of each other. In their final effort the three younger Ducks feed their uncle maize (corn) in the process of becoming popcorn. The process is completed within Donald himself who continues to move spastically around the house while maintaining the appearance of dancing. The short ends with an impressed Daisy showering her new boyfriend with kisses. Like her precursor, she was initially voiced by Clarence Nash, but would later have a more lady-like voice.
The short stands out among other Donald shorts of the period for its use of modern music and surreal situations throughout.
One year following her introduction in Mr. Duck Steps Out, Daisy, along with Donald and the nephews, made a brief cameo in the Mickey Mouse short The Nifty Nineties, cementing her position as a recurring character.
Daisy's second speaking role came four years later in Donald's Crime. While Daisy has a relatively small role in the film, her date with Donald is central to the plot and shows Donald's infatuation for her. Finding himself broke before the date, Donald steals money from his nephews, but afterward feels guilty. Donald imagines what Daisy might think of him knowing he stole money, and this leads him to reform in the end. Daisy was voiced in the film by actress Gloria Blondell, marking the first time Daisy had a "normal" voice as opposed to a duck voice like Donald's. The film also marked the first time Daisy appeared in an Academy Award nominated film (Best Animated Short).
Later that same year Daisy appeared again in Cured Duck (October 26, 1945).[9] The short starts simply enough. Donald visit Daisy at her house. She asks him to open a window. He keeps trying to pull it open and eventually goes into a rage. By the time Daisy returns to the room, Donald has wrecked it. She demonstrates that the locking mechanism was on and criticizes his temper. She refuses to date Donald again until he learns to manage his anger. She claims Donald does not see her losing her own temper. Donald agrees to her terms and follows the surreal method of mail ordering an "insult machine", a device constantly hurling verbal and physical insults at him. He endures the whole process until feeling able to stay calm throughout it. He visits Daisy again and this time calmly opens the window. But when Daisy shows her boyfriend her new hat, his reaction is uncontrollable laughter. Daisy goes into a rage of her own and the short ends by pointing out that Donald is not the only Duck in need of anger management training. There is a continuation regarding her temper at one episode in Mickey Mouse Works where she and Donald have a date in a restaurant wherein they both end up with a bad temper.
Their relationship problems were also focused on in Donald's Double Trouble (June 28, 1946).[10] This time Daisy criticizes his poor command of the English language and his less-than-refined manners. Unwilling to lose Daisy, Donald has to find an answer to the problem. But his solution involves his own look-alike who happens to have all the desired qualities. His unnamed look-alike happens to be unemployed at the moment and agrees to this plan. Donald provides the money for his dates with Daisy but soon comes to realise the look-alike serves as a rival suitor. The rest of the short focuses on his increasing jealousy and efforts to replace the look-alike during the next date. However a failed attempt at a tunnel of love results in the two male Ducks exiting the tunnel in each other's hands by mistake. Daisy walks out completely drenched. She jumps up and down and sounds like a record played too fast as Donald and his look-alike run away.
In Dumb Bell of the Yukon, Daisy is the motivation behind Donald's hunting trip after he reads a letter from her saying she likes fur coats. Daisy briefly appears in a non-speaking role in Donald's daydream, imagining how pleased she will be.[11]
Her next appearance in Sleepy Time Donald (May 9, 1947)[12] involved Daisy attempting to rescue a sleepwalking Donald from wandering into danger. Donald is loose in an urban environment and the humor results from the problems Daisy herself suffers while trying to keep him safe.
Daisy was also the actual protagonist of Donald's Dilemma (July 11, 1947).[13] The short starts simply enough. Donald and Daisy are out on a date when a flower pot falls on his head. He regains consciousness soon enough but with some marked differences. Both his speaking and singing voices have been improved to the point of being able to enter a new career as a professional singer. He also acts more refined than usual. Most importantly Donald suffers from partial amnesia and has no memory of Daisy. Donald goes on becoming a well-known crooner and his rendition of When You Wish upon a Star becomes a hit. He is surrounded by female fans in his every step. Meanwhile Daisy can not even approach her former lover and her loss results in a number of psychological symptoms. Various scenes feature her suffering from anorexia, insomnia and self-described insanity. An often censored scene features her losing her will to live and contemplating various methods of suicide. She narrates her story to a psychologist who determines that Donald would regain his memory with another flower pot falling on his head, but warns that his improved voice may also be lost along with his singing career. He offers Daisy a dilemma. Either the world has its singer, but Daisy loses him; or Daisy regains her Donald, but the world loses him. Posed with the question "her or the world", Daisy answers with a resounding and possessive scream of "Me, Me, Me". Soon Donald has returned to his old self and has forgotten about his career. His fans forget about him. But Daisy has regained her lover. This is considered a darkly humorous look at their relationship.
Donald would also face problems resulting from his own voice in Donald's Dream Voice (May 21, 1948).[14] He works as a door-to-door salesman but his customers do not understand a word he is saying. His attempts at politeness are misinterpreted and customers react angrily to imagined insults. But Daisy convinces him otherwise "Don't give up! I have faith in you!" His problems seem to end when Donald buys a box of "voice pills", a medicine temporarily improving his voice. He gets confident enough in his new-found voice to prepare his marriage proposal for Daisy. But due to an accident he loses all but one of his pills. The rest of the short features his frustrated attempt to regain this last pill in order to propose to her. Something which he is eventually unable to do. After a few minutes of trying to get it, the pill ends up getting swallowed by a cow and makes it able to talk. And tells Donald he can't understand what he's saying. Donald then throws a tantrum.
Daisy would not appear again until Crazy Over Daisy (March 24, 1950).[15] The short took place in an 1890s setting. At first Donald seems in good mood and on his way for his date with Daisy. But when Chip 'n Dale start ridiculing his appearance the short results in one of their typical fights. Interrupted in the end by Daisy herself who accuses Donald of being cruel to the two "innocent" chipmunks. The short ends with Donald having to forget about that date. The short introduced Daisy's theme song "Crazy over Daisy," and in later appearances Donald can be heard whistling the tune, such as in "Dude Duck" and "Out on a Limb."
Daisy's final appearance in the Golden Age of American animation was in Donald's Diary (March 5, 1954).[16] There she played the role of a young lady who manages to start a long-term relationship with Donald. But after having a nightmare about the anxieties that would come from married life, Donald runs out on her and joins the French Foreign Legion. Several scenes of the short imply that Daisy has had several previous relationships with men. Donald carves their names on a tree. Not noticing than the opposing side of the tree features her name alongside that of several other boyfriends. The marriage scene in Donald's dream featured a group of sailors waving goodbye to Daisy and mourning the loss of their apparent lover. The story bore little continuity with the "real" Donald and Daisy as Huey, Dewey, and Louie appeared at Daisy's younger brothers. Even still, it was the only time in which Daisy's parents are seen.
Daisy appeared in Mickey's Christmas Carol in 1983, playing the character Isabelle, the love interest of a young Ebenezer Scrooge, played by Scrooge McDuck. The film was Daisy's first theatrical appearance in almost 30 years, and was also the first time she was portrayed outside the context of her relationship with Donald. Although the nature of the film was that of Disney characters "playing" other characters, and was not part of any story continuity. Daisy was voiced Patricia Parris in the film.
In 1988 Daisy made a cameo appearance in Who Framed Roger Rabbit along with many other Disney characters.
Daisy's last theatrical was Fantasia 2000 which was released in late 1999. Like the original Fantasia, the film constituted various musical segments. Donald and Daisy appeared in non speaking roles for the seventh of eight segments, set to the Pomp and Circumstance marches. The segment is a retelling of Noah's Ark with the ducks acting as Noah's assistants. Donald and Daisy become separated in the chaos of the flood and each presume the other to have drowned.
In the end, after the chaos of the flood ends and everyone returns to home safe, they meet each other again and happily find that both had survived in the ark.
According to the unofficial timeline of Don Rosa, Daisy was born in 1920. According to Rosa, Daisy is the sister of Donald's brother-in-law – Daisy's brother had married Donald's twin sister, Della Duck, and together, the two became the parents of Huey, Dewey, and Louie Duck. This is his explanation of why the triplets tend to call her "Aunt Daisy" while no such courtesy is given to Gladstone Gander for example.
Though some accounts show Donald and Daisy as a married couple, others mention that she is Donald's cousin.
Their common last name points to both Donald and Daisy being members of the Duck family. Several stories consider them cousins but none has specified their relationship. Current speculation by Donaldist Gilles Maurice who has studied and compared various versions of the family tree is that the two are second cousins. Don Rosa has however said that he considers Donald and Daisy to be nonrelated and that Duck simply is the Duckburg universe equal to Smith, being a common surname.
Donna Duck served as a precursor for Daisy in both animation and comics. She first appeared in a one-page illustration titled "Don Donald" and published in Good Housekeeping #3701 (January 1937). The page was illustrated by Thomas "Tom" Wood (1870s – October 4, 1940) who was head of the Walt Disney Studios' publicity department from 1933 until his death. She went on to appear in the "Donald and Donna" comic strip published in Mickey Mouse Weekly from May 15 to August 21, 1937. The Weekly was a United Kingdom publication and the strip was illustrated at the time by William Arthur Ward. However her co-starring role was brief.
Daisy made her first comics appearance on November 4, 1940. She was introduced as the new neighbor of Donald and his potential love interest. The Donald Duck comic strip was at the time scripted by Bob Karp and illustrated by Al Taliaferro. She was seemingly soft-spoken but had a fiery temper and Donald often found himself a victim to her rage. For example one strip had Daisy waiting for Donald to carve their names and their love for each other on a tree, only to discover the male Duck had carved "Daisy loves Donald" with her name hardly visible and his name in prominent bold letters. Resulting in her breaking her "umbrella" on his head and dismissing him as a "conceited little pup".
Her first original comic book appearance was in the story "The Mighty Trapper" by Carl Barks, first published in Walt Disney's Comics and Stories #36 (September 1943). However this was only a cameo when Huey, Dewey and Louie ask her to lend them an old fur coat. Barks would not use the character again until "Donald Tames His Temper" (January 1946) when Daisy demands that Donald learn to manage his anger as a New Year's resolution. Donald has to agree but points early on that Daisy herself has the temper of a "wild-eyed wildcat".
Her next appearance by Barks in "Biceps Blues" (June 1946) introduced a key concept to their relationship. When Daisy seems impressed by a certain type of male, Donald is forced to emulate that type, no matter how unsuited Donald is for emulating it successfully. In this early case Daisy envies her "old school chum" Susy Swan for dating a notable weightlifter. Donald at first protests that she seems too impressed by a "gorilla" just because the "muscle-bound buffalo" can lift 300 pounds. But when Daisy simply ignores him and daydreams about dating Hercules, Donald decides to start weightlifting. The rest of the story focuses on his ineptitude at exercising and the eventual efforts of Huey, Dewey and Louie to cheer him up by various tricks pointing to Donald becoming stronger. But when Donald arranges a demonstration for Daisy, Susy and her boyfriend, their tricks are not able to save him from ridicule. Daisy then chases Donald in anger (Donald in turn chases Huey, Dewey and Louie in anger) while Susy boasts about her luck in men to her weightlifter boyfriend, who simply grunts and nods and fails to understand her words. Daisy failed to see that Susy's boyfriend is strong but otherwise not too gifted, whereas Donald is one who would go great lengths for her.
Daisy continued to make frequent appearances in stories by Barks but the next important one for her development was "Wintertime Wager" (January 1948). There she first attempts to act as the voice of reason between competing cousins Donald Duck and Gladstone Gander and in fact manages to prevent Donald losing his house to Gladstone because of a wager. This story established that both of them wanted to be in her good graces. Their next joined meeting in "Gladstone Returns" (August 1948) has Donald and Gladstone competing in raising enough money for her charity effort.
Their rivalry would only increase when "Donald's Love Letters" (December 1949) revealed that both cousins were romantically interested in Daisy. From then on many stories by both Barks and others would develop around this love triangle. Daisy in turns dates both of them but this fact does not prevent the two competing suitors from attempting to earn more of her affection or trying to embarrass each other in front of her. Daisy can be counted on to be making regular appearances alongside either of them for several years to come. Often it would appear as if Gladstone had the upper hand in winning Daisy due to his luck, only to find fate thwarts his plans, such as a contest where the man who hunts the most turkeys gets to have dinner with Daisy, who has won a beauty contest. Gladstone wins the turkey hunt but finds himself having dinner with an ugly woman who is the runner-up queen, as Daisy is incapacitated, and Donald is the one nursing her.
Similarly, Daisy's precursor Donna and Daisy herself were featured together as rivals for Donald's affection in a newspaper strip published on August 7, 1951. In her last appearance, on August 11, 1951, Donna had a fiancé, a caricature of Disney cartoonist Manuel Gonzales, establishing a distinction between her character and Daisy.
In the comics, Daisy is also a member of a local gossip group called the "Chit-Chat Society", which plays bridge and sponsors charity fund-raisers. The core membership includes Clarabelle Cow and Clara Cluck, though occasionally some other unnamed characters appear.
In later years, Carl Barks 'modernized' Daisy in two stories: 'The not-so-ancient mariner' and 'Hall of the mermaid queen'. In the first story, Daisy is wearing a lot of different wigs and outfits. Gladstone Gander is also seen wearing a wig and a new wardrobe in the story. In the second story, Daisy has short, curly hair and a bow that is much smaller than usual.
In the 1950s, Disney launched the series "Daisy Duck's Diary", where Daisy was given more of a leading role. This series, originally by such cartoonists as Dick Moores, Jack Bradbury, Tony Strobl and Carl Barks, have continued to the present day in Italy.
Since the early 1970s, Daisy has been featured as a crimefighter in Italian Disney comics. The character of "Super Daisy" ("Paperinika" in Italian) was designed as a female counterpart to "Super Donald" ("Paperinik" in Italian). While the character of Super Donald was originally created to place Donald into situations where he was finally a "winner" (versus his usual portrayal as a "loser"), when Super Daisy appeared in the same story as Super Donald, she then became the "winner" and Donald was once more relegated to the role of "loser." This upset some children, who complained to the comics' editors, which resulted in the Italian comics ceasing to use Super Daisy, though the Brazil Disney comics continue to make use of Daisy's superhero alter ego.
As Super Daisy, Daisy has no superpowers, but instead uses devices created by high society fashion designer Genialina Edy Son. Genialina personally designed Daisy's costume, as well as supplying her with crime-fighting gear such as sleeping pills and a James Bond-esque sports car. Very frequently, Super Daisy will both fight alongside and against Super Donald. In the Brazilian stories, Super Daisy often teams up with other Disney comic superheroes, such as "Super Goof" (Goofy), "Super Gilly" ("Gilbert"), the "Red Bat" (Fethry Duck), etc.
Since 1999 Daisy, like Donald Duck, has her own magazine in the Netherlands. She had one in Brazil between 1986 and 1997, and a short-lived series in 2004 with republications of old stories.[17]
At the Walt Disney Parks and Resorts and on the Disney Cruise Line ships, Daisy is a semi-common character for meet-and-greets, parades and shows, though she doesn't make as many appearances as Donald or Minnie. Her semi-elusiveness has made her extra popular to an extent, adding to the fact that Daisy is an 'unofficial' member of the Fab Five (with Daisy, the Sensational Six), therefore making Daisy merchandise even more appealing to collectors.
Daisy appears in a MMORPG game called Toontown Online. She appears in the playground called Daisy Gardens. She is a NPC character that walks around leaving comments about passing Toons.
Curiously, Daisy never appeared on DuckTales. In the 1996 television series Quack Pack, Daisy was presented as a much more assertive and liberated woman than in her previous appearances, where she was employed as a television station reporter, with Donald as her cameraman. In Quack Pack, Daisy had a pet Iguana named Knuckles. Some consider Quack Pack to be a spin-off of Ducktales, however unlike Ducktales, the world is not populated purely by animal beings, but also humans.
Daisy also has appeared in the later television series Mickey Mouse Works, Disney's House of Mouse and Mickey Mouse Clubhouse as a regular character (all of which are on the Disney Channel). She was featured alongside Donald in the "Noah's Ark" segment of Fantasia 2000. Daisy runs the neighborhood, Daisy Gardens in Disney's Toontown Online. She has also appeared in the direct-to-video films Mickey's Once Upon a Christmas, Mickey's Twice Upon a Christmas, and Mickey, Donald, Goofy: The Three Musketeers.
In the Kingdom Hearts video game series, Daisy Duck (デイジーダック Deijī Dakku) appeared as a countess in Disney Castle. Her relations to Donald remain intact, especially in Kingdom Hearts II when she was seen scolding him. Goofy- speaking to Sora- refers to her as "Donald's very special sweetheart." She is also slated to appear in the prequel Kingdom Hearts Birth By Sleep in the world Disney Town, alongside Queen Minnie, Pluto, Chip, Dale, Huey, Dewey, Louie and Horace Horsecollar. However, she does not have a speaking role in the prequel.
Daisy is also a playable character in the video game Disney Think Fast.
In the Wii video game Epic Mickey, a robot version of Daisy appears in the game, built by the Mad Doctor (before his betrayal) as Oswald wanted to replicate Mickey's friends. Her parts, after the Doctor's Beetleworx attacked her, were then scattered around Ventureland, and Mickey can find them or not. In the ending, depending on if she was restored or not, she is either seen restored and cuddling a tiki mask of Donald Duck, or still as a head in her glass case, harassed by a nearby pirate.
In the Wii video game Dance Dance Revolution Disney Grooves, Daisy Duck appears as one of the random backup dancers if you are playing with 1 or 2 players.
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