Donald Duck is my all-time favorite Disney character, (I’ve been told I have a short temper. What of it?) and Lars von Trier is a respected filmmaker, but never would I have thought to pair the two. Someone cooked up the crazy notion, however, and came up with an intentionally dreary live-action Donald Duck short made using the barebones Dogme 95 style of filmmaking. Brace yourself, people, for the trailer to Donald Duck – A Dogma Film:
Drugs? Prison? Insurmountable debt to Goofy? Daisy crying about having to spend time with Huey, Duey and Louie? Clearly this is not the pantsless duck we grew up with, yet when the teaser trailer introduced Donald’s wealthy uncle, Scrooge McDuck, I actually became way more interested than I intended. Then I started to realize that I’d actually watch a 90-minute version of this story.
Credit for the video goes to the Icelandic comedy troupe Mid-Island, who very easily could (and should) get some play on Funny Or Die or some such website in the future. This particular sketch appeared on a show named after the group and showcases comedians Ari Eldjarn, Bergur Ebbi Benediktsson, Halldor Halldorsson and Johann Alfred Kristinsson. Now, who wants to reach into their deep pockets to pony up some dough and make the full-length, hard-R version of this Donald Duck movie happen? Or, at the very least, pay the guys’ legal fees when Disney’s lawyers come a’calling?
