Dive Into Our Delightful Details About Donald Duck (and Stikins ® Labels!)

Today marks 89 years since Donald Duck’s first appearance! So, we’re celebrating with our favourite details about the delightful duck. Plus, find out how Stikins ® name labels can help you get your ducks in a row (when it comes to labelling your family’s belongings).

Quacking Good Facts About Donald Duck

Donald Duck first appeared in the short film The Wise Little Hen, released in June 1934. Did you know that…

• Donald’s official date of birth is Friday 13^th March, which is why his car license plate is 313.
• Donald’s full name is Donald Fauntleroy Duck. He was possibly named after Australian cricketer Donald Bradman, who was dismissed from a game without scoring (dismissed for a duck). His middle name was inspired by Donald’s sailor hat, which was a common accessory for boys wearing “Little Lord Fauntleroy suits”.
• Donald was first mentioned in a 1931 storybook, The Adventures of Mickey Mouse. He also appeared on the back cover.
• Vaudeville performer Clarence Nash created Donald’s voice while trying to mimic his pet goat Mary. Walt Disney heard Nash reciting “Mary Had A Little Lamb” in this voice and thought it sounded like a duck – leading to the creation of Donald Duck. Nash voiced Donald from 1934-1983 and trained his replacement (Tony Anselmo), who remains Donald’s official voice.
• Mickey Mouse’s “perfect” persona limited his storylines so Disney wanted to introduce a character with flaws. Many of Mickey's storylines were used for Donald because he could display negative traits that didn’t fit Mickey or happy-go-lucky Goofy.
• Donald’s second appearance was in the 1934 Mickey Mouse cartoon, Orphans Benefit. He was such a hit that he appeared in most of the following Mickey Mouse cartoons. In 1937, Donald started appearing in his own cartoons, beginning with Don Donald, which featured Donald in Mexico, trying to win the love of Donna Duck.
• By the 1950s, Donald was appearing in more films than Mickey Mouse, becoming Disney’s biggest animated star. Walt Disney called him the “[Clark] Gable of our stable”.
• Donald usually wears a blue sailor’s shirt with a red or black bow tie. While he doesn’t wear trousers, he does wear swimming trunks and a towel after showering!
• Donald’s nephews (Huey, Dewey, and Louie) are the children of Donald’s twin sister, Della/Dumbella, who is an astronaut. Donald’s girlfriend, Daisy Duck, also has three niblings – nieces April, May, and June!
• Donald Duck is extremely popular in Europe, especially in comics. From the 1950s to 2009, Donald’s weekly magazine had the highest circulation of any comic in the Nordic countries.
• Donald has regularly appeared as a write-in candidate in Swedish elections. He received 291 votes in a 1985 Parliamentary election and the Donald Duck Party outperformed 19 other political parties in 2006 (that year, voting for non-existent candidates was banned). Since 1959, it has been a Swedish tradition to watch Kalle Anka och hans vanner onskar God Jul (Donald Duck and his friends wish you a Merry Christmas) on Christmas Eve at 3pm.
• Donald Duck is called Paolino Paperino in Italy. He also appears in comic books as the superhero Paperinik (Superduck).
• During World War II, Donald Duck appeared in several propaganda films. Der Fuehrer's Face won the 1943 Oscar for Best Short Subject, Cartoons.
• Donald joined the army in a WWII film series, joined the navy in the original Duck Tales, and became a mascot for the coast guard. In 1984, for his 50^th birthday celebrations, the US Army awarded Donald Duck an honourable discharge as “Buck Sergeant Duck”. He also became an honorary alumnus of the University of Oregon where, since 1947, he has been the mascot of the “Fighting Ducks” athletics program.
• For his 70^th birthday, in 2004, Donald Duck received a star on the Hollywood walk of fame.
• Donald is colour-blind! In the 1942 short, Donald Gets Drafted, Donald identifies a green coloured card as being blue.
• In 1964, an inventor tried to patent an idea to raise sunken ships with plastic balls. His patent was rejected after an examiner found Donald Duck used the same method in a comic book from 1949.
• In 1979, Donald Duck released a disco song called Macho Duck.
• The opening of Raiders of the Lost Ark was inspired by a 1959 comic book where Uncle Scrooge, Donald Duck, and his nephews evade a series of booby traps, including flying darts, a decapitating blade, a flooding tunnel, and a huge boulder…

Get Your Ducks In A Row With Stikins ® Name Labels

Stikins ® labels are a brilliant way to get all sorts of things labelled quickly. They work on fabric and non-fabric items. All you have to do is peel a label off the backing sheet and apply it firmly onto an item. The bright white label and bold black font make your personalisation stand out, which makes your message inescapably clear to children and adults alike.

Stikins ® name labels are a great way to keep your family organised – and they’re not just suitable for school uniform and kit. Name labels are a great way to keep items safe at work and home (they’re great at solving family arguments about which item belongs to whom!). You might want to keep track of work equipment or assets (or even just your lunch). Perhaps you’ve got a lot of boxes, jars, bottles, and other containers to keep organised at home. You might just have a particularly forgetful family that struggles to keep track of their stuff!

In any case, our name labels provide a quick and simple way to get everything labelled safely and securely.

You can add any text you like onto your name labels. The only limits are you can request one or two lines of text and each line can hold a maximum of 22 characters. You can add a simple name or more detailed information like contact information, messages, or medical/allergy alerts.

You can order anytime by filling in our online order form. Simply personalise your name labels and pick your pack size, then enter your address and pay. We print and post orders up to 3pm Monday to Friday, which means we'll despatch your order on the same or next working day. Delivery is free and uses Royal Mail’s first class service.