Early to Bed (1941 film)

Early to Bed is a 1941 Donald Duck animated short film that was released on July 11, 1941, by RKO Radio Pictures.[1] The film was colored by Technicolor, produced by Walt Disney Productions, and directed by Jack King. The cartoon tells the story of Donald, who is trying to sleep, despite the annoyingly loud ticking of the clock keeping him awake.

This article is about the 1941 cartoon. For the silent film, see Early to Bed (1928 film). For the British film, see Early to Bed (1933 film). For other uses, see Early to Bed (disambiguation).
Early to Bed
Directed byJack King
Story byCarl Barks
Jack Hannah
Produced byWalt Disney
StarringClarence Nash
Music byOliver Wallace
Animation byJim Armstrong
Ed Love
Hal King
Ray Patin
Judge Whitaker
Layouts byBill Herwig
Color processTechnicolor
Production
company
Distributed byRKO Radio Pictures
Release date
  • July 11, 1941 (1941-07-11)
(USA)
Running time
7 minutes and 45 seconds
CountryUnited States
LanguageEnglish

This short film not only portrays Donald as a human but also emphasises on a well known proverb, - "Early to bed".[2]

Plot

The film opens with Donald Duck yawning at the sunset, ready to go to bed. However, when he lays down, he hits his head on the bed. He angrily moves down the bed, fluffs his pillow, and lays back down. As soon as his head touches the pillow, it explodes with a burst of feathers. The screen cuts to Donald lying on the bed again with a new pillow. This time, whenever he places his head on the pillow, the clock on his bedside table begins to loudly tick-tock. He puts the clock away into a drawer, but then, the entire drawer begins to vibrate due to the loud sound of the clock. Donald, visibly becoming angry, retrieves the clock from the drawer and throws it against the wall. It lands in a vase, and the entire vase begins to shake with the loud tick-tock of the clock. Finally, Donald throws the clock out the window, where it gets caught in some laundry and bouncing back up, landing into Donald's yawning mouth and causing him to accidentally swallow it. After various attempts to break the clock that is still ticking inside him, Donald manages to spit out the broken clock into small pieces.

Donald goes back to bed, relieved. This time, however, whenever he turns out the lights, his folding bed snaps shut with him inside. Donald struggles to get free, only to be launched into the ceiling by the bed springs. The screen cuts to Donald laying in bed again, this time with the bed affixed to the floor with a variety of boards and ropes. He settles back down to sleep. The broken clock, however, reassembles itself just enough to ring its alarm. Donald sits up fast, and his bed flies apart, launching Donald into the air. He lands back on his bed, now little more than a board with tacks in it, a sheet wrapped around his head like a turban. A sock lands in front of him on a spring, swaying back and forth so that he looks like an angry snake charmer and the short ends with a frustrated Donald Duck.

Voice cast

Television
  • Good Morning, Mickey, episode #55
  • Mickey's Mouse Tracks, episode #29
  • Donald's Quack Attack, episode #17

Home media

The short was released on May 18, 2004 on Walt Disney Treasures: The Chronological Donald, Volume One: 1934-1941.[3]

Additional releases include:

  • Have a Laugh!: Volume 2

References
  1. Lenburg, Jeff (1999). The Encyclopedia of Animated Cartoons. Checkmark Books. pp. 74–76. ISBN 0-8160-3831-7. Retrieved 6 June 2020.
  2. "Early to Bed, Early to Rise..." - MamaLisa
  3. "The Chronological Donald Volume 1 DVD Review". DVD Dizzy. Retrieved 13 February 2021.
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