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Dragon Around

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Dragon Around
Theatrical release poster
Directed byJack Hannah
Story byNick George
Roy Williams
Produced byWalt Disney
StarringClarence Nash
James MacDonald
Dessie Flynn
Music byOliver Wallace
Animation byWilliam Justice
Volus Jones
Layouts byYale Gracey
Backgrounds byRay Huffine
Color processTechnicolor
Production
company
Distributed byRKO Radio Pictures
Release date
  • July 16, 1954 (1954-07-16)
Running time
6:57
CountryUnited States
LanguageEnglish

Dragon Around is a 1954 American animated short film directed by Jack Hannah and produced by Walt Disney, featuring Donald Duck and Chip 'n' Dale.[1]

Plot

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Dale is reading a discarded book of fairy tales with a story about a brave warrior fighting a mighty dragon. Fascinated with the action and drama of being a knight, Dale mimics the adventure in his own way. Suddenly, a loud rumbling occurs, and a shadowy figure appears in the distance. The features of the "monster" make Dale instantly believe that he is face-to-face with a real dragon. Frightened, Dale hurries back home, where Chip is organizing acorns, and rapidly describes his encounter. The duo go to find the monster, but it is no longer there. Irritated, Chip hits Dale and dismisses his claim as nonsense, until the rumbling resumes and he too sees the "dragon" in person. The chipmunks flee and hide in their stash of nuts. The "dragon" then reveals itself to be a steam shovel, operated by Donald Duck. Surveying the area, Donald sees the chipmunks' tree and determines that it must be removed to make room for a freeway he is building.

Donald begins to work on removing the tree, to the chipmunks' horror. Realizing that they must act fast to save themselves and their tree, Chip and Dale retaliate by hitting and pelting it with objects. Seeing the retaliation scene, Donald grabs the grass with his tractor, flinging Chip and Dale away. Inspired by the fairy tale, the chipmunks make their own costumes and become knights, their goal being to save their home. As Chip and Dale hurry to the battlefield, Donald spots them and prepares a surprise attack by hiding a welding torch in the shovel's bucket. The chipmunks charge forward, but Donald uses the hidden torch to burn Chip's sword, forcing them to retreat. Donald then attempts to lure the chipmunks out of hiding by pretending to fall asleep. Chip and Dale slowly advance on the beast, before unleashing the attack. Donald feigns death throes with the steamshovel, and then slams its bucket on the chipmunks to squash them, but they manage to escape. As the chipmunks celebrate their victory over the "dragon", Donald springs his trap — he grabs and devours the duo with the bucket and laughs triumphantly. Inside, realizing they got eaten, Chip and Dale use a steel pipe to ram their way out of the bucket, destroying one of its teeth. Donald angrily replaces the broken tooth with a golden one and begins furiously digging at the tree.

Chip and Dale retaliate by disorienting Donald and his machine with a large boulder, and then destroying the bucket's remaining teeth with a barrel of tar. Enraged, Donald captures the chipmunks and locks them in his toolbox, then begins ramming the tree with the now-toothless bucket. As Donald climbs up a nearby hill for one last charge, Chip and Dale make their getaway with a saw and use wrenches to dismantle the tractor. The machine gradually falls apart as it surges down the hill, until the only thing remaining is the driver's seat with Donald himself in it, who then crashes head-on into the tree and is left dazed. As Chip and Dale roll home, they taunt Donald, who figures that if he cannot force them out, he will instead blast them out with dynamite. He places several sticks around the tree, lights them, and rushes off to await the explosion, but Chip and Dale extinguish and collect the dynamite sticks, and use them to replace the rungs on Donald's ladder, before setting it up near a ledge. Dale uses a paper bag to make a fake explosion to attract Donald's attention, who then pursues him up the booby-trapped ladder as Chip re-lights the dynamite. Dale tells Donald to stop, look and listen. When Donald finds out about the charade, he hastily flees, inadvertently bringing the dynamite with him. The dynamite ladder explodes multiple times sending Donald high into the air. As they witness, Chip plays a trick on Dale; he pretends that he's the monster by pulling its picture out of the fairy tale book and hiding behind it. When Dale finds out about the prank, the chipmunks share a good laugh as the short concludes.

Voice cast

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Television

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  • The Mouse Factory, episode #8: "Man at Work"
  • Good Morning, Mickey, episode #12
  • Mickey's Mouse Tracks, episode #48
  • Donald's Quack Attack, episode #58
  • The Ink and Paint Club, episode #1.5 "Chip 'n' Dale"

Home media

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The short was released on November 11, 2008, on Walt Disney Treasures: The Chronological Donald, Volume Four: 1951-1961.[2]

Additional releases include:

  • Mickey Mouse and Donald Duck Cartoon Collections, Volume One (VHS)
  • Walt Disney Cartoon Classics: Starring Chip 'n' Dale (VHS)
  • Mickey and Company (VHS)
  • Walt Disney Cartoon Classics: Starring Mickey & Minnie / Starring Chip 'n' Dale (LaserDisc)
  • Walt Disney's Classic Cartoon Favorites: Starring Chip 'n' Dale (DVD)
  • Chip 'n' Dale Volume 2: Trouble in a Tree (DVD)

References

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  1. ^ Lenburg, Jeff (1999). The Encyclopedia of Animated Cartoons. Checkmark Books. pp. 74–76. ISBN 0-8160-3831-7. Retrieved 6 June 2020.
  2. ^ "The Chronological Donald Volume 4 DVD Review". DVD Dizzy. Retrieved 13 February 2021.
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