Out of Scale (1951) User Reviews

One of the better Chip 'n' Dale and Donald Duck cartoons.

[OllieSuave-007 · 8/10 · 20 November 2015]

In this Disney cartoon, Donald Duck has a miniature scale set of a suburb built in his backyard, with a train set running through the perimeters. Donald takes great lengths to make sure that every structural piece of the model is down to scale. However, there is one thing that is out of scale - a tree (large by the scale set's standards) sitting in the middle of everything and it is the home of Chip 'n' Dale. After Donald moves the tree, the chipmunks find themselves a new home in one of the models.

This cartoon is not the usual Chip 'n' Dale vs. Donald Duck story, as they form more of a mutual relationship, with Donald helping the chipmunks settle into their new home (but Donald does later play tricks on them). But, it's nice to see them at least getting along most of the time and Donald doesn't get the brunt of all the bad luck or gets humiliated a lot in this cartoon short, which is a breath of fresh air.

Some funny moments in and there and one of the better Chip 'n' Dale and Donald Duck cartoons out there.

Grade B+

This chipmunk episode merits a top score . . .

[pixrox1 · 8/10 · 30 May 2022]

. . . for revealing the inner psyche of the nefarious Dizzy Mega Corporation. OUT OF SCALE discloses that the founding fathers of Dizzy viewed themselves as malign deities, entitled to mess with We Little People for the sheer Evil of It. During SCALE, Don Duck adopts Walnut's favorite hobby: Running a model railroad through a manipulated human environment in which a cackling madman can exert total control over his unfortunate minions. When a pair of "wild" rodents are foolish enough to enter Don's pernicious simulation, he lulls them into a sense of false security by being momentarily "nice" to them. However, as soon as they let down their guard, the devious foul duck tries to torture them psychologically and physically, creating bogus climate changes with the potential to permanently injure them. Why is anyone surprised when rides and savage animals eat small tykes at Dizzy World, given this not-at-all subtle advance warning of how Walnut will treat people in any state mercenary enough to grant him civic powers? Fortunately, Florida's current Hero Governor plans to permanently derail Dizzy's OUT OF SCALE influence in the Sunshine state, finally stopping a runaway train of terrifying thought.

Got my brother interested in miniatures...

[TheLittleSongbird · 10/10 · 25 March 2012]

Not one of my favourite Donald Duck/Chip 'n' Dale cartoons of all time, but it is still a great cartoon and one of their most fascinating. I loved the story, structurally it wasn't hugely surprising, but it completely engaged and interested me and it was paced to Disney's usual crisp standard. This was also the cartoon that got my brother interested in miniatures and inventions, and no wonder seeing as both are shown here in a very intriguing way especially the miniatures. The animation is beautiful with all three characters well-drawn and the backgrounds fluid, and the music is suitably jaunty. The sight gags are amusing and Donald and the chipmunks really shine here, especially Donald. All in all, very fascinating and highly recommendable cartoon. 10/10 Bethany Cox

Master Of All He Surveys

[Ron Oliver · 10/10 · 9 July 2003]

A Walt Disney DONALD DUCK Cartoon.

Donald wants nothing OUT OF SCALE in his elaborate backyard model railroad and town - including Chip 'n' Dale and their tree.

Here is another typical Duck versus Chipmunks film - fun & fast-moving, but no classic. The cartoon is rare in that amity reigns over all at the conclusion. Clarence Nash provides Donald with his unique voice; the Chipmunks are largely unintelligible.

Walt Disney (1901-1966) was always intrigued by pictures & drawings. As a lad in Marceline, Missouri, he sketched farm animals on scraps of paper; later, as an ambulance driver in France during the First World War, he drew comic figures on the sides of his vehicle. Back in Kansas City, along with artist Ub Iwerks, Walt developed a primitive animation studio that provided animated commercials and tiny cartoons for the local movie theaters. Always the innovator, his ALICE IN CARTOONLAND series broke ground in placing a live figure in a cartoon universe. Business reversals sent Disney & Iwerks to Hollywood in 1923, where Walt's older brother Roy became his lifelong business manager & counselor. When a mildly successful series with Oswald The Lucky Rabbit was snatched away by the distributor, the character of Mickey Mouse sprung into Walt's imagination, ensuring Disney's immortality. The happy arrival of sound technology made Mickey's screen debut, STEAMBOAT WILLIE (1928), a tremendous audience success with its use of synchronized music. The SILLY SYMPHONIES soon appeared, and Walt's growing crew of marvelously talented animators were quickly conquering new territory with full color, illusions of depth and radical advancements in personality development, an arena in which Walt's genius was unbeatable. Mickey's feisty, naughty behavior had captured millions of fans, but he was soon to be joined by other animated companions: temperamental Donald Duck, intellectually-challenged Goofy and energetic Pluto. All this was in preparation for Walt's grandest dream - feature length animated films. Against a blizzard of doomsayers, Walt persevered and over the next decades delighted children of all ages with the adventures of Snow White, Pinocchio, Dumbo, Bambi & Peter Pan. Walt never forgot that his fortunes were all started by a mouse, or that childlike simplicity of message and lots of hard work always pay off.

Maybe personal bias, but this one didn't impress me

[Horst_In_Translation · 4/10 · 21 January 2018]

"Out of Scale" (a bit of a random title to be honest) is another Disney cartoon and this one was released back in 1951, so it is already over 65 years old. Like all the others, it runs for 7 minutes roughly and it had many people working on it who you also find credited on many other famous Disney movies from back in the day. Maybe my bias here was too strong as I am not the biggest Chip'n Dale fan, but Donald could not make up for it here either as the duck and duo start arguing and fighting here when Donald's beloved model train gets in conflict with the 2 little fellows' housing situation. It is a fast cartoon for sure, no denying that, and it has its creative and witty moments too, but really funny it was not. I also keep finding C&D's voice more annoying than hilarious to be honest. So yeah, all in all, I have to give this one a thumbs-down, but like I said my subjective take on the characters has a lot to do with it. Then again there are works with Donald and C&D that I ended up enjoying. So only watch this one if you love the characters. Otherwise you will be as underwhelmed as I was and probably enjoy nothing but the visual side where Disney pretty much never misses, certainly not back then during the Golden Age of Animation.