| For other uses, see Donald's Duck (disambiguation). |
- "You don't understand, Donald, how much the Fat Controller relies on me."
"Och, aye."
"I'm Great Western and I…"
"Quack, quack, quack!"
"What?"
"Ye heard! 'Quack, quack' ye go! Soon ye'll have an egg laid! Now wheesht and let an engine sleep!"
"Quack yourself!" - ― Duck and Donald
Donald's Duck is the fifth episode of the third series. It is based on the story of the same name from The Railway Series book, Oliver the Western Engine.
Plot
Duck the Great Western Engine works very hard on the Island of Sodor. Whether he is pulling coaches, taking trucks, or shunting in the yard, he always does his work quickly and without complaint. One day, the Fat Controller comes to see Duck to thank him for all the hard work he has done. He then asks if Duck would like to have his have his own branch line, which Duck happily accepts.
Taking charge of his new line, Duck is delighted to be given such a big responsibility. He finds it quite scenic, running along the coast and into a port where ships dock. Duck greatly enjoys exploring the new line as well as being close to the sea, remarking that it feels just like being on holiday. Before long, he is busier than ever. The Fat Controller begins building a shed at Tidmouth Hault and Duck helps with the construction along with the other engines, while his passengers are looked after by Bertie. Although it is a long job, with everyone helping, the shed is finished on time.
Duck continues to feel the importance of his new responsibilities and often talks about them. One night in the shed, he starts telling Donald how important he is to the line. Donald, who is sleepy, grows irritated when Duck carries on and, at the end of his tether, mocks him by making quacking noises and saying Duck sounds as if he had laid an egg. Duck is offended and furious at the joke, and he tells his crew about it the next day. Duck's fireman then comes up with a plan to get back at Donald, which he shares with Duck and the driver. They all agree, but soon Duck is back at work and nothing more is said, not even a quack. That night, however, when Donald is asleep, Duck's crew sneak something into the Scottish engine's water tank.
The next morning, when Donald stops for water, his crew are astonished when a white duckling pops out of his tank. Donald sees the funny side of the joke, and the duckling, who is friendly toward him and his crew, is allowed to ride in his tender despite the other engines often teasing him about her. The duckling soon grows tired of traveling and hops off at a station, where she decides to stay.
That night, Donald's crew decide to pay Duck back, and the next morning, the driver and fireman find an egg in a nest box under the Great Western Engine's bunker. Donald jokes that Duck must have laid it in the night, and Duck agrees that Donald has won.
The duckling enjoys swimming and playing in a pond near her station, where she can see the engines passing by. The stationmaster calls her Dilly, but to everyone else, she will always be Donald's duck.
Characters
- Toby
- Duck
- Donald
- Sir Topham Hatt
- Bertie (does not speak)
- Thomas (cameo)
- James (cameo)
- Percy (cameo)
- Douglas (cameo)
- Trevor (cameo)
- Edward (deleted scene)
Locations
- Tidmouth Sheds
- Tidmouth Hault
- Tidmouth Beach
- Suddery Coastal Village
- Ffarquhar River Bridge
- Ffarquhar Quarry
Trivia
- According to Dilly's concept art, this episode was originally intended to be the sixth episode of the third series.
- Modified models of the Coast Guard and some shrimpers from Tugs appear at Suddery Coastal Village.
- This is Donald's final episode with a leading role until the sixth series episode, Twin Trouble.
- In the close-up shot of Donald's water tank, the lid is made of a British 1 penny coin painted black.
- The large-scale model of the nest box is a modified short wheelbase truck.
- In early US releases, Dilly's quacking sounds are omitted in some scenes.
- In the restored version, Duck rolls his eyes after talking to the Fat Controller.
- In the original UK dub, the music is omitted when Duck runs on his branch line.
- This episode aired back-to-back with the second series episode, Percy and the Signal, on Storytime with Thomas.
- The name of this episode is based off a pun of the famous Disney character, Donald Duck.
- Apart from deleted scenes, this is the only episode to feature Dilly's Pond.
- This is the first episode in where Donald speaks without Douglas.
- In Canada, this episode was released before Donald and Douglas, meaning the Canadian audience would not have known who Donald and Douglas were.
- This episode was never released on home video in South Korea.
- This is the only episode where Donald wears his yawning face.
Goofs
- In the US dub and the Ukrainian voice-over, Duck is said to be "pulling the heavy cars" when in fact, he is actually pushing them.
- Before Duck was being teased by Donald, the steam smoke flows around him. Then as he looked bewildered, the smoke disappears until it reappears when Duck retorted, "Quack yourself!"
- Duck's driver and fireman get mixed up briefly while discussing their plan.
- When one of Duck's crew members is putting the duck in Donald's tender, he is missing his moustache.
- The narrator says Donald opened a sleepy eye but he actually opens both.
- Because pre-filmed footage is used, snow appears in the close-up of Duck's fireman instead of dust.
- Throughout the episode, despite being a duckling, Dilly is depicted as a fully grown duck. The most obvious difference is that she has white feathers instead of yellow down.
- When the narrator mentions Bertie, one of the other buses is mistakenly shown instead.
- Douglas is seen pulling the Breakdown Train into Tidmouth Hault to help build the new shed, but when the shot changes to Donald with Toby and Duck, Douglas is nowhere to be seen.
- Throughout most of the episode, Donald's brake pipe faces downwards but faces upwards in the scenes where he is passing Tidmouth Beach, stopped at Tidmouth Hault and when is with Duck and Dilly and the very end.
- In the restored version, when Duck says, "You win, Donald", the top right side of the front of his boiler has white paint on it.
Quotes
- Donald: [about the egg under Duck's bunker] Well, well, well! Ye must've laid it in the night, Duck. All unbeknownst!
- Duck: You win, Donald. It'd take a clever engine to get the better of you!
In Other Languages
| View content | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
Merchandise
- Buzz Books - Donald's Duck
- Magazine stories - Donald's Duck! and Duck's Little Joke!
- My Thomas Story Library - Duck (discontinued)
Home Video Releases
Episode
References
| #01 A Scarf for Percy | #10 The Trouble with Mud | #19 One Good Turn |
| #02 Percy's Promise | #11 No Joke for James | #20 Tender Engines |
| #03 Time for Trouble | #12 Thomas, Percy and the Post Train | #21 Escape |
| #04 Gordon and the Famous Visitor | #13 Trust Thomas | #22 Oliver Owns Up |
| #05 Donald's Duck | #14 Mavis | #23 Bulgy |
| #06 Thomas Gets Bumped | #15 Toby's Tightrope | #24 Heroes |
| #07 Thomas, Percy and the Dragon | #16 Edward, Trevor and the Really Useful Party | #25 Percy, James and the Fruitful Day |
| #08 Diesel Does It Again | #17 Buzz, Buzz | #26 Thomas and Percy's Christmas Adventure |
| #09 Henry's Forest | #18 All at Sea | |