| This article is about the episode. You may be looking for the duck, the song, the Malaysian DVD, the Buzz Book, the 1985 annual story or the magazine story. |
- “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 the 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 him if he would like to have his own branch line, which Duck happily accepts.
Taking charge of his new line, Duck is happy at being given such a big responsibility. He finds it to be quite scenic, running along the coast and into a port where ships dock. Duck very much enjoys exploring the new line as well as being close to the sea, remarking that it is just like being on holiday and is soon busier than ever before. The Fat Controller is building a shed at Tidmouth Hault and Duck helps out with the construction along with the other engines while his passengers are looked after by Bertie. Although it is a long job, everyone helping means that the shed will be finished on time.
Duck is still feeling the importance of his new responsibilities and enjoys talking about them. One night in the shed, he starts telling Donald how important he is to the line now. Donald is sleepy but when Duck carries on, Donald - at the end of his tether - mocks him by making quacking noises and saying Duck sounds like he laid an egg. Duck is offended by this joke and tells his crew about it the next day. Duck's fireman has a plan to pay Donald back and he tells Duck and the driver. They all agree but soon Duck is back at work and nothing else is said, not even a quack. That night, however, when Donald goes to sleep, Duck's crew sneak something into the Scottish engine's water tank.
The next morning when Donald stops for water, his crew are astounded when a white duckling pops out of his tank. Donald sees the funny side of the joke and the duckling is friendly towards him and the crew and is allowed to ride in his tender despite the other engines often teasing him about her. The duckling soon tires of travelling and hops off at a station which is where she ends up staying.
That night, Donald's crew decides to pay Duck back and 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 going past. 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 intended to be the sixth episode of the third series.
- Modified models of the Coast Guard, a shrimper and some fishing boats 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 plank 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.
- The narrator mentions the episode title when he says, "But to everyone else, she is always Donald's duck". This is also the second time the episode's name is said in the episode itself.
- 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 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
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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 | |