Daisy Duck

Daisy Duck is one of Walt Disney's famous cartoon characters. She was created as a female counterpart, and girlfriend to Donald Duck. She first appeared in the cartoon "Mr. Duck Steps Out" in 1940. Daisy's original name is Donna.

Daisy has Donald's famous temper but has far greater control of it (although on rare occasions her temper can burst out and she can get into rages similar to Donald's), and tends to be more sophisticated than her boyfriend. Athough she can be rather annoying and pushy. She usually wears either no pants herself or a dress. She is mostly shown as showing a strong affinity towards Donald. In some appearances, Daisy is presented as the best friend of Minnie Mouse. Originally a minor character featured on special occasions in cartoons starring Donald Duck, Daisy would eventually become a recurring character in Disney productions, joining the likes of Mickey Mouse, Minnie, Goofy Goof, Donald and Pluto as one of the company's primary stars.

Background

The history of Daisy in animation can be traced to the appearance of her precursor Donna Duck in the cartoon short Don Donald. The short was directed by Ben Sharpsteen. The plot had Donald courting Donna somewhere in Mexico. His efforts were frustrated and Donna leaves him alone and rides away in her unicycle by the finale.

The short is important for introducing a love interest for Donald. But one should note that Donna had little in common with Daisy other than both being female ducks and sharing a temper. Donna was more or less a female version of Donald both in design and voice. Her voice was provided by Clarence Nash and was a slightly higher version of that than Donald. Donna was not intended as a recurring character and the Donald shorts of the following three years featured no female companion for him.

Daisy first appeared with her familiar name and design in Mr. Duck Steps Out (June 7, 1940). The short was directed by Jack King, and scripted by Carl Barks. There, Donald visits the house of his new love interest for their first known date. At first Daisy acts shy and has her back turned to her visitor. But Donald soon notices her tailfeathers taking the form of a hand and signaling for him to come closer.

But their time alone is soon interrupted by Huey, Dewey, and Louie who have followed their uncle and clearly compete with him for the attention of Daisy. Uncle and nephews take turns dancing the jitterbug with her while trying to get rid of each other. In their final effort the three younger Ducks feed their uncle maize in the process of becoming popcorn. The process is completed within Donald himself who continues to move wildly around the house while maintaining the appearance of dancing. The short ends with an impressed Daisy showering her new lover with multiple kisses.

The short stands out among other Donald Duck shorts of the period for its use of modern music and surreal situations throughout. The idea of a permanent love interest of Donald was well established following it. But Daisy did not appear as regularly as Donald himself. Her next appearance in A Good Time for a Dime (May 9, 1941) features her as one of the temptations threatening to separate Donald from his money.

The short The Nifty Nineties (June 20, 1941) featured Mickey and Minnie Mouse in an 1890s setting. But Daisy made a cameo following Goofy and alongside Donald, Huey, Dewey and Louie. This was an indication Daisy was a permanent addition to the supporting cast of Donald. This short was directed by Riley Thompson.

However she would make no further animated appearances until Donald's Crime (June 29, 1945). The short featured Donald having arranged a date with Daisy at a nightclub but not having enough money to pay for it. He proceeds to take $1.35 from the piggy bank of his nephews. The crime of the title is theft and the rest of the short focused on Donald feeling guilt. His own imagination provided increasingly disturbing and nightmarish visions of the possible repercussions of his actions and resulted in Donald resolving to return the money.

Her second appearance in the same year was in Cured Duck (October 26, 1945). The short starts simply enough. Donald visit Daisy at her house. She asks him to open a window. He keeps trying to pull it open and eventually goes into a rage. By the time Daisy returns to the room, Donald has wrecked it. She demonstrates that the locking mechanism was on and criticizes his temper. She refuses to date Donald again until he learns to manage his anger. She claims Donald does not see her losing her own temper. Donald agrees to her terms and follows the surreal method of mail ordering an "insult machine", a device constantly hurling verbal and physical insults at him. He endures the whole process until feeling able to stay calm throughout it. He visits Daisy again and this time calmly opens the window. But when Daisy shows her boyfriend her new hat, his reaction is uncontrollable laughter. Daisy goes into a rage of her own and the short ends by pointing out that Donald is not the only Duck in need of anger management training. There is a continuation regarding her temper at one episode in Mickey Mouse Works where she and Donald have a date in a restaurant wherein they both end up with a bad temper.

Their relationship problems were also focused on in Donald's Double Trouble (June 28, 1946). This time Daisy criticizes his poor command of the English language and his less-than-refined manners. Unwilling to lose Daisy, Donald has to find an answer to the problem. But his solution involves his own look-alike who happens to have all the desired qualities. His unnamed look-alike happens to be unemployed at the moment and agrees to this plan. Donald provides the money for his dates with Daisy but soon comes to realize the look-alike serves as a rival suitor. The rest of the short focuses on his increasing jealousy and efforts to replace the look-alike during the next date. However a failed attempt at a tunnel of love results in the two male Ducks exiting the tunnel in each other's hands by mistake. Daisy walks out all wet. She jumps up and down and sounds like a record played too fast as Donald and his look-alike run away.

Daisy makes a mere cameo in Dumbell of the Yukon (August 30, 1946). but she once again factors on the motivation of Donald. This time he was hunting bears in Yukon, Canada in order to provide Daisy with a fur coat. The cameo involves his daydream of her pleased reaction.

Her next appearance in Sleepy Time Donald (May 9, 1947). involved Daisy attempting to rescue sleepwalking Donald from wandering into danger. The Donald is loose in an urban environment and the humor results from the problems Daisy herself suffers while trying to keep him safe.

Daisy was also the actual protagonist of Donald's Dilemma (July 11, 1947). The short starts simply enough. Donald and Daisy are out on a date when a flower pot falls on his head. He regains consciousness soon enough but with some marked differences. Both his speaking and singing voices have been improved to the point of being able to enter a new career as a professional singer. He also acts more refined than usual. Most importantly Donald suffers from partial amnesia and has no memory of Daisy. Donald goes on becoming a well-known crooner and his rendition of When You Wish Upon A Star becomes a hit. He is surrounded by female fans in his every step. Meanwhile Daisy can not even approach her former lover and her loss results in a number of psychological symptoms. Various scenes feature her suffering from anorexia, insomnia and self-described insanity.

An often censored scene features her losing her will to live and contemplating various methods of suicide. She narrates her story to a psychologist who determines that Donald would regain his memory with another flower pot falling on his head, but warns that his improved voice may also be lost along with his singing career. He offers Daisy a dilemma. Either the world has its singer, but Daisy loses him; or Daisy regains her Donald, but the world loses him. Posed with the question "her or the world", Daisy answers with a resounding and possessive scream of "Me, Me, Me". Soon Donald has returned to his old self and has forgotten about his career. His fans forget about him. But Daisy has regained her lover. This is considered a darkly humorous look at their relationship.

Donald would also face problems resulting from his own voice in Donald's Dream Voice (May 21, 1948). He works as a door-to-door salesman but his customers do not understand a word he is saying. His attempts at politeness are misinterpreted and customers react angrily to imagined insults. But Daisy convinces him otherwise "Don't give up! I have faith in you!" His problems seem to end when Donald buys a box of "voice pills", a medicine temporarily improving his voice. He gets confident enough in his newfound voice to prepare his marriage proposal for Daisy. But due to an accident he loses all but one of his pills. The rest of the short features his frustrated attempt to regain this last pill in order to propose to her. Something which he is eventually unable to do. After a few minutes of trying to get it, the pill ends up getting swallowed by a cow and makes it able to talk. And tells Donald he can't understand what he's saying. Donald then throws a tantrum.

Daisy would not appear again until Crazy Over Daisy (March 24, 1950). The short took place in an 1890s setting. At first Donald seems in good mood and on his way for his date with Daisy. But when Chip 'n Dale start ridiculing his appearance the short results in one of their typical fights. Interrupted in the end by Daisy herself who accuses Donald of being cruel to the two "innocent" chipmunks. The short ends with Donald having to forget about that date.

Daisy's final animated appearance in the Golden Age of American animation was in Donald's Diary (March 5, 1954). There she played the role of a young lady who manages to start a long-term relationship with Donald. But after having a nightmare about the anxieties that would come from married life, Donald runs out on her and joins the French Foreign Legion. Several scenes of the short imply that Daisy has had several previous relationships with men. Donald carves their names on a tree. Not noticing than the opposing side of the tree features her name alongside that of several other boyfriends. The marriage scene in Donald's dream featured a group of sailors waving goodbye to Daisy and mourning the loss of their apparent lover. 

Daisy's parents and three little brothers appeared in Donald's Diary, a 1954 Disney cartoon. Also, she has three nieces called April, May and June, who were created by Carl Barks and made their comic debut in Flip Decision (1953). In the same story, Daisy visits her sister, the mother of her nieces, who remained unseen. In 1973, Daisy's rascal nephew Desmond was introduced in the comics. According to Don Rosa, Daisy has got a brother, who is Donald's sister Della's spouse. However, many authors take Daisy as a cousin of Donald or as not being related to the Duck family, despite having the same surname.

Personality

Daisy is the beautiful girlfriend of Donald Duck and best friend of Minnie Mouse. Like Donald, she is capable of going into rages when upset and possibly more dangerous than Donald. Despite this, she manages to keep her temper down a lot better. In early appearances, Daisy was shown to be a loving girlfriend always there for Donald but always having the tendency to nag and change Donald's way but always for the better. She has faith in her boyfriend knowing that she is so important to him that he will strive to change but usually fails in the end.

In later years, Daisy became more than just a temperamental female version of Donald, but a fun-loving and glamourous diva. She often annoys her friends being that she loves to talk, is easily bored and at times can overstay her welcome. Even Donald would occasionally find her to be a nuisance. She loves the spotlight and can be very competitive but always looks for the best way to apologize, knowing her right and wrongs, and is shown to love and care for her friends deeply.

A lover of glamour, she's shown to be worldly, sophisticated, wellbred and loves to be "surrounded by pretty things." Her confidence and aggressiveness point a sharp contrast to Minnie's shy, more demure personality. Her enthusiastic nature can get her to act a bit silly, but she's actually quite mature when she needs to be. She's also someone whose fiercely determind and strives to get what she wants by any means.

Appearance

In the early Donald Duck shorts, she was a duck with a red dress, and she had a bow in her hair. The next appearance change was in the Carl Barks story 'The not-so-ancient mariner'. The third change was in the theme parks, when she arrived with a pink dress and indigo bow. The fourth change was during the Mickey Mouse Works shorts, when she gained a yellow dress and a green bow instead of red.

The television series Quack Pack gave Daisy Duck a more mature wardrobe and hairstyle, and cast her as a career woman with a television reporter job. House of Mouse got her a waitress look-a-like outfit, with a blue bow, and a long ponytail. In Mickey Mouse Clubhouse, Daisy regained her purple dress and bow, familiar to the theme park visitors. But she also had yellow earrings, and also a short ponytail, similar to the longer one seen in House of Mouse. Despite her many wardrobe changes, she is known for her matching single bangle that she wears usually on her left wrist. In the new series, Mickey Mouse, Daisy wears her trademark blouse in pink and matching bow. She also sports a pair of white boots with pink daisy designs on the outter sides of them.

Popularity

In 1983, she made he return in Mickey's Christmas Carol, playing Isabelle. The romantic love interest of a young Ebenezer Scrooge. In the 2012 animated short, Electric Holiday, Daisy makes a brief cameo as a fellow model to Minnie and other iconic Disney characters.

Film Appearances

Mickey's Christmas Carol

Daisy returned to animation in Mickey's Christmas Carol (October 20, 1983). She was cast as Isabelle, the romantic partner of a young Ebenezer Scrooge (Scrooge McDuck). 

Who Frame Roger Rabbit

Daisy made a cameo alongside several Disney characters in Who Framed Roger Rabbit (June 21, 1988). She was seen at the very end when the toons begin heading back to Toontown.

Fantasia 2000

She was featured alongside Donald in the "Noah's Ark" segment of Fantasia 2000. Here, Daisy resides with Donald in their own hub and prepare to board the giant ark to save themselves from the global flood coming their way While Daisy is boarding the ark, she notices some mice about to get stepped on by Colonel Hathi, until Daisy grabs them. While Donald is loading the animals, he fails to notice Daisy boarding the ark and believes she's still in the hub just as the storm approaches He rushes to save her while Daisy sees him through a window of the ark and sees Donald and a huge wave. She covers her eyes to prevent herself from seeing Donald's death.

She fails to notice that Donald jumped onto the ark at the last minute. As Daisy is on the second floor and Donald is on the first, they never see each other the entire ark ride and believe each other dead. When the flood clears up, Daisy and the other passengers leave the ark when Daisy finds her love locket to be missing.

It was recovered by Donald and as Daisy reaches out for it, she finds Donald. The two reunite and live happily ever after.

Mickey's Once Upon a Christmas

Daisy plays a supporting role in the film. Daisy first appears in the segment "Donald Duck: Stuck on Christmas" where Huey, Dewey and Louie wish for Christmas everyday. In the segment, Daisy attempts to kiss Donald under the mistletoe and make Christmas dinner for the family which she noted is her favorite part of Christmas.

Daisy later appears in the last segment "Gift of the Magi" where she works with Minnie in Mortimer Mouse's department store.In this segment, Daisy seems to be far younger as the story may possibly take place in the past. Also is this segment, Daisy has blue eyes as apposed to her usual black.

She lastly appears at the end of the film singing Christmas carols with Mickey and friends.

Mickey, Donald and Goofy: The Three Musketeers

Daisy is Princess Minnie's lady-in-waiting and close friend. Daisy secretly believes Minnie's fantasy of true love is a little ridiculous and believes a princess should be practical. After Captain Pete hire Mickey, Donald and Goofy as musketeers to protect Minnie and Daisy she is thought to be a bad guy and attacked, after things are set straight she sees Donald developed a crush but she is not interested.

Daisy and Minnie are kidnapped by the Beagle Boys as apart of Pete's plans to become king but are saved by Mickey, Donald and Goofy. At the grand opera Daisy and Minnie are attacked again but this time the Beagle Boys are accompanied by Pete.

Daisy and Minnie are rescued and she reveals her love for Donald and the two are presumed married afterwards.

Mickey's Twice Upon a Christmas

Daisy reappears in the sequel with a larger role. Daisy first appears in the first segment Bells On Ice where she is a contestant in an ice skating tournament. One of the other contestants is Minnie, who proves to be a glamorous skater with only a few seconds in during her run. Daisy becomes jealous of Minnie's acclaim and begins to steal the light by heading ontu the ice and impressing the judges. Minnie begins to become more advanced with her moves, using the alligators from Fantasia. Daisy decides to pull out her secret weapons, the hippos from Fantasia. After many incredible stunts, Minnie accidentally trips on a bell. Daisy rushes to her side and apologizes for her attitude.

Minnie gladly accepts and the friends perform a grand finale stunt. Daisy is later seen in Christmas: Impossible, celebrating Christmas with Donald and his nephews at Scrooge's house. In Donald's Gift, Daisy and the boys try to show Donald what Christmas spirit is. Lastly, Daisy is seen aside the rest of the cast, attending Mickey's Christmas party.

TV Show Appearances

Quack Pack

Daisy curiously never appeared on DuckTales, but she was a regular in Quack Pack. In Quack Pack, Daisy is presented as a much more assertive and liberated woman, and is working as a reporter for a local television news-magazine, where Donald is her boyfriend and the show's cameraman. On that show she also has a pet iguana named Knuckles who seems to be a brainless omnivore who blithely goes about eating anything from automobile upholstery to priceless works of art. Quack Pack is also notable for showing Daisy gaining weight in a fantasy sequence on an episode of the show.

Mickey Mouse Works

Daisy is a main character in the show and for the first time gets her own series of cartoons. Unlike most of her previous appearances, Daisy is wild, wacky and somewhat childish. She often annoys Minnie, Mickey and Donald. In most of her cartoons she has a comical time with Minnie who in contrast to her is very mature and intelligent. Aside from this, in some episode she is similar to the earlier cartoons. She is often the subject of Donald as he tries to please her the best way he can. For the series, she resides in a beach house.

House of Mouse

Daisy is the club's reservation clerk and still girlfriend of Donald. Like Donald, Daisy craves the spotlight and constantly asks Mickey to perform which he usually denies. On some occasions during an emergency, Daisy performs and it's often hated by the Disney character audience. Daisy is also a big fan of Ariel from The Little Mermaid. In a related topic, she often gets starstruck when special guests attend the club often trying to get their autograph before the night's over. Several episodes revolved around Daisy. She was finally given her debut chance in "Daisy's Debut" but gave up her chance when she realized how Minnie wanted to work close with Mickey. She also performed a parody of The Enchanted Tiki Room theme in "Suddenly Hades" entitled The Daisy Duck Room. In "House of Magic", Daisy, wanting to go into magic, practices sorcery and accidentally makes the House of Mouse, and all its guests disappear. In the end, Jafar and Lago restore the club and guests. Daisy also appears in the spin-off films Mickey's Magical Christmas: Snowed in at the House of Mouse and Mickey's House of Villains. Her first time ever to fall asleep in the series (& her life) is the episode, Pluto Saves the Day.

Mickey Mouse Clubhouse

Daisy also stars in the CGI series starring Mickey Mouse. Daisy is one of the main characters. She is still girlfriend of Donald and obsessed with fashion as always. She joins Mickey on many adventures and tries to keep Donald's temper at bay. Many episodes revolve around Daisy. One of the most notable is "Secret Spy Daisy". In the episode Pete plots to steal Clarabelle's secret cookie recipe and Professor Ludwig Von Drake alerts Daisy of the situation. She becomes her spy alias and teams up with Mickey and Minnie to foil Pete. She would later become Secret Spy Daisy on occasion and team up with Minnie's alter ego, Detective Minnie. Another episode centering around Daisy is "The Golden Boo-Boo". In this episode, Daisy becomes Daisy O'Dare in order to retrieve a legendary golden statue known as The Golden Boo-Boo. However, trouble arise when she must compete against the thieving Safari Pete.

Minnie's Bow-Toons

In the recent series, Daisy joins Minnie in her new bow business known as Minnie's Bow-Tique. Here, Daisy and Minnie open a shop where they sell different types of bows. As seen in the first episode "Leaky Pipes", Daisy has yet to master the "art" of bow tying as Minnie did. Daisy can be rather lazy in comparison to Minnie's hardworking stature and because of this, she sometimes tries to find faster ways to get her work done

Mickey Mouse (2013 TV Series)

In the animated series, Daisy returns with the rest of her friends in an all-new collection of adventures. Like in previous roles, Daisy is presented as fairly mature, though still sassy.

She first appears in the episode No Service where she and Minnie are set to have a picnic with Donald and Mickey. However, the short ends with Donald accidentally becoming nude in public, embarrassing Daisy to the point where the picnic goes on without Donald.

In the episode Croissant de Triomphe, Minnie and Daisy work in a French cafe in Paris, though things go astray when they run out of their signature croissants, forcing Mickey to travel around the famous city to deliver them to Minnie.

The first episode in which she had a big/significant role is in "The Adorable Couple". In this episode, Mickey and Minnie try to make Donald and Daisy happy.

In "Captain Donald", Daisy, Mickey and Minnie were very excited to set sail on Donald's boat, much to Donald's dismay. It was revealed in the same episode that Daisy bought a sailor outfit for Donald because she likes a man in uniform.

Daisy made a cameo appearance as a bridesmaid at Goofy's "wedding" at the end of "Goofy's First Love".

In "No Reservations", Daisy with Minnie and Clarabelle attempt to get into the hottest, yet most impossibly booked restaurant in town.

In "Split Decisions", Daisy does not actually appear, but is heavily mentioned: the reason Donalds wants Ludwig Von Drake to solve Donald's temper problems is because Daisy has had enough of it and is threatening to leave him if he does not find a cure. Later, when the attempt to cure Donald has gone horribly wrong, Mickey dreams about and interacts with an imaginary Daisy being mad at him for what he's done to Donald.

In "Duck the Halls: A Mickey Mouse Christmas Special", Daisy and Donald are to migrate to the south for the winter with Scrooge McDuck, Ludwig Von Drake, Huey, Dewey and Louie. At the last minute, Donald chooses to stay behind to celebrate Christmas. Daisy believes he'll join her soon as ducks cannot survive through winter, but she and the others become increasingly worried the longer they wait. After a call to check, Daisy learns that Donald is gravely ill. She rallies Scrooge, Ludwig and the triplets to rescue Donald, but he soon arrives in the south safely curtesy of Mickey, Minnie, Goofy and Pluto. Though somewhat angry with his recklessness, Daisy is relieved that Donald is safe.

Mickey and the Roadster Racers

Daisy appears in the madcap racing series, with a transforming roadster known as the "Purple Snapdragon", which is modeled after the snapdragon plant. She also stars alongside Minnie in the episodes centered around their local, "Happy Helpers" hotline business.

Video Games

Daisy Duck is the duchess of Disney Castle and the girlfriend of Donald. She is also King Mickey's court magician. Daisy is present during the announcement of the winners of the Million Dreams Award, although she does not speak.

Kingdom of Hearts

She and Queen Minnie are walking in the courtyard when they overhear Donald talking to Goofy about the King's disappearance. After finding out about the troubles of the universe, Donald and Goofy are sent to Traverse Town to find Leon to look for "the Key". She last sees her darling go off in the Gummi Ship, but before Donald leaves he asks her to keep care of Queen Minnie. She does not reappear until the ending credits where she and the Queen look at Donald's nephews walking in the courtyard.

Kingdom of Hearts II

After peace is restored to Disney Castle, Daisy finally appears, but is upset with Donald for having been out of reach for so long and for having missed their date. Donald attempts to make a run for Timeless River, but she stops him. When the Cornerstone of Light reacts and helps Sora open the gateway to Atlantica and Port Royal, she is asked to let Donald go with them for a while longer. Donald promises her that he will be back soon. In the ending credits, she is so glad to be reunited with Donald that she runs to his side to hug him.

Epic Mickey

Daisy herself doesn't appear in Epic Mickey but an animatronic version of herself does. In the game the story reveals that Oswald the Lucky Rabbit created Daisy as a friend for him, and Ortensia. She lives in Ventureland a twisted version of Adventureland, she also has an relationship with Animatronic Donald . In the game when the Mad Doctor switched sides he sent his Beetleworx to destroy Oswalds frends. As a quest you must find each animatronic peice that has been scattered throughout the game. Once retrieving each limb Daisy would return back to normal.

Epic Mickey II

Daisy's robotic form also appear in the sequel. In the game she appears to have a job of news Anchor for (DNN) Duck News Network. 

Disneyland Kinect

Daisy has a major role in the game, appearing as a meet-and-greet character in Town Square on Main Street USA and in Mickey's Toontown. There, she and Minnie are planning to decorate Toontown City Hall for that town's mayor election and asks the player to assist her in finding supplies. At one point, Daisy forgets to buy a handbag for the election party. She then asks the player to buy one for her at one of the shops, trusting the player's taste in fashion. Right after, Daisy asks if the player can take photos of Mickey and Donald for the election but advises the player to take Mickey's first as Donald is practicing his acceptance speech.

Quotes

• Donald!

Knownable Relatives

• Unnamed Mother
• Unnamed Father
• Unnamed Sister
• April, May & June (Nieces)
• Minnie Mouse (Best Friend)

Trivia

• Daisy's control over her temper was mostly shown in Mickey Mouse Works and House of Mouse.
• Like Donald, Daisy is shown to love the spotlight in a selfish way.
• In Mr. Duck Steps Out she sounds like Donald Duck as she is voiced by Clarence Nash. But in her next and other future appearances she is voiced by Tress MacNeille and Gloria Blondell as she is given a more clear ladylike voice.
• Like Minnie, Daisy wears a bow on her head and pumps. However unlike Minnie Daisy doesn't have a dress, as her feathers are ruffled in a way to create a dress.
• She enjoys shopping.
• In an episode of House of Mouse, Daisy says "Temper Donald, Temper".

Voice Actressess & Actors

• Japanese : ??? (1945), ??? (1950), ??? (1980), ??? (1990), Mika Doi (2001 – Present)
• English : the late Gloria Blondell (1945 – 1950), the late June Foray (Donald's Diary), Kath Soucie (1986 – 1998), Daine Michelle (1998 – 1999), Russi Taylor (Fantasia 2000), Tress MacNeille (1999 – Present)
• English voice Actor : the late Clarence Nash (Mr. Duck Steps Out)

all information on Daisy Duck came from http://disney.wikia.com/wiki/Daisy_Duck

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