The Orphan Duck (1939) User Reviews

Three on a Duck

[boblipton · 5/10 · 3 August 2014]

Paul Terry was starting to gain a bit of traction with his search for a star for his cartoons with Andy Panda, so he tried a duck -- after all, Disney and Schlesinger were having some success with Donald and Daffy. So he trotted out Dinky Duck and there were about fifteen of them over the next twenty years.

This one has poor orphan Dinky looking for a family. It's the sort of plot that Casper the Friendly Ghost went through in every cartoon, so even though this one came out half a dozen years earlier, it's thoroughly boring. Still, the visuals are good in the candybox style of animation that Terrytoons aspired to when they were given a budget, and the Technicolor is lush.

The Ugly Duckling

[TheLittleSongbird · 6/10 · 24 August 2018]

The Terrytoons are oddly interesting, mainly for anybody wanting to see (generally) older cartoons made by lesser known and lower-budget studios. They are a mixed bag in quality, with some better than others, often with outstanding music and with some mild amusement and charm and variable in animation, characterisation and content.

1939, like all the other years for Terrytoons, saw a hit and miss batch. Of which 'The Orphan Duck' is one of the high middle ones ranking it in correlation with the rest of the Terrytoons and one of the better 1939 cartoons. It is an unexceptional, nothing exactly special cartoon and has the same amount of problems as it has the amount of strengths. 'The Orphan Duck' is also worth the look, completest sake is the main reason to see it but it's not the only reason.

Best asset is the music, which predictably is incredible. It is so beautifully and cleverly orchestrated and arranged, is great fun to listen to and full of lively energy, doing so well with enhancing the action. The ambitious, elaborate detail in the backgrounds is still great to see, as is the comparatively improved fluidity of drawing and movement, and some synchronisation in movement and sound is neat. Colour is vibrant.

A number of well timed and amusing moments, some neat fishing touches, some imaginative and there is some zest and natural charm, and parts of it and the basic set up are nicely done. The characters are fun with a rootable protagonist.

Outside of the backgrounds and more fluidity than seen previously however, a few of the transitions are not always polished.

Likewise, the story is paper thin and formulaic with not an awful lot to it (like the cartoon in general). In terms of gags, a few lack freshness and wit to work properly. The cartoon tends to veer towards being too cute and a lot of it is pretty predictable from being a familiar premise for Terrytoons. Some choppiness too and the cartoon feels very old fashioned and at times routine.

Summing up, above average and not bad at all, though also not great. 6/10 Bethany Cox