Director: Jack King
Release Date: January 13, 1939
Stars: Donald Duck
Rating: ★★½
Review:
‘Donald’s Lucky Day’ starts with the shadows of two gangsters making a time bomb to be delivered by a messenger boy.
The messenger boy in question is Donald Duck. Unfortunately, it’s Friday the 13th, and superstitious Donald desperately tries to avoid a ladder, a mirror and a black cat. In the end the black cat saves him by accident, hence the title.
Donald Duck is the sole star of this cartoon, but apart from his antics with the cat in the harbor, there’s little to enjoy. And because of Jack King’s slow timing, one has ample time to admire the beautiful, realistic background paintings, successfully evoking the atmosphere of a misty harbor quarter by night.
Watch ‘Donald’s Lucky Day’ yourself and tell me what you think:
This is Donald Duck cartoon no. 7
To the previous Donald Duck cartoon: Donald’s Golf Game
To the next Donald Duck cartoon: The Hockey Champ
‘Donald’s Golf Game’ is available on the DVD set ‘The Chronological Donald Volume 1’
Dr. Grob's Animation Review 
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July 16, 2021 at 23:18
Mr Gull
An outstanding film; no doubt a masterpiece in Donald’s career. The incredible backgrounds, the noir atmosphere, and the quiet relaxed timing create an incredibly funny mix of suspance and entertainment; it’s all so funny and “dangerous” you cannot stop watching it. God, I could write a book about the perfection of this one; not many pantomime / slapstick films are on par with this. Funnier and faster films? Maybe. Better films? Highly doubt it. Magnificent short.