The Wise Little Hen

The Wise Little Hen is a Walt Disney's Silly Symphonies cartoon, based on the fairy tale The Little Red Hen. This cartoon marked the debut of Donald Duck, dancing to the Sailor's Hornpipe. Donald and his friend Peter Pig try to avoid work by faking stomach aches until Mrs. Hen teaches them the value of labor. This cartoon was released on June 9, 1934. It was animated by Art Babbitt, Dick Huemer, Dick Lundy, and Ward Kimball and directed by Wilfred Jackson. It was also adapted as a Sunday comic strip by Ted Osborne and Al Taliaferro.

Plot
The Wise Little Hen of the title is looking for someone to help her plant her corn. Peter Pig and Donald Duck both feign belly aches to get out of the chore. So, with help from her chicks, she plants it herself. Harvest time comes; again, Peter and Donald claim belly aches, but the hen sees through this. She cooks up a variety of corn dishes, and heads over to Peter and Donald to help her eat them, but before she can open her mouth, they already fake their belly aches. Once she asks, they are miraculously "cured" but all she gives them is castor oil, to teach them a lesson. As the hen eats the corn herself, Peter and Donald, with nothing but an appetite, repent with all their might by kicking each other.

Cast

 * Florence Gill - the Wise Little Hen (She only properly speaks in her sung lines when she asks Peter or/and Donald if they will "Help her plant, harvest or eat her corn")
 * Clarence Nash - Donald Duck
 * Pinto Colvig - Peter Pig

Other references
This short was one of the many featured in Donald Duck's 50th Birthday.

Home video releases

 * Donald Duck Volume 1 (Betamax) 1986
 * Mickey Mouse & Donald Duck Volume 2 (VHS, Laserdisc) 1989
 * Donald Duck's 50 Birthday (VHS, Laserdisc) 1991
 * The Chronological Donald Volume 1 (DVD) 2005
 * Walt Disney's Timeless Tales Volume 3: Casey at the Bat/Little Hiwatha/Morris the Midget Moose (DVD) 2006
 * Walt Disney Animation Collection: Classic Short Films Volume 5: Wind in the Willows (DVD) 2009

Adaptations
There was an adaptation story to the cartoon called "Mrs. Cackles's Corn" from Walt Disney's Story Land: 55 Favorite Stories. There are a couple of differences like instead of Donald Duck and Peter Pig, they use Daniel Duck and Podgo Pig in the story, the hen is called Mrs. Cackle, and Clara Cluck is telling the story.