Horst in Translation (filmreviews@web.de)
"Donald's Cousin Gus" is a Disney cartoon from 1939, so this one is already almost 80 years old, maybe more when you read this, and the names King, Colvig and Nash make sure that it can be easily understood who produced this. The title is pretty simple this time as it states the name of the character next to Donald in here, the insatiable Mr. Goose who keeps emptying Donald's entire fridge. Oh well. The best moment is maybe when Donald is channeling his inner cat and Gus is channeling his inner (hot) dog voiced by Pinto Colvif too, Disney's go-to guy for dog characters, even hotdogs. So yeah this was a fast and funny work and it is a bit of a pity that Disney's equivalent to Relaxo is not used in other cartoons really. Bx the way, this runs for seven minutes of course like most other cartoons from that time and it is in color too. A certain contender for best/funniest short film from its year and thumbs-up for Gus who really brings out the best and funniest in Donald. Maybe not for Donald himself, but certainly for us. This one really deserves to be more famous and if you love these old cartoons, then it is a must-see. I enjoyed it almost as much as during the first watch thanks to its quality plays on words and give it a very positive recommendation. Go for it.
OllieSuave-007
I know Donald Duck always get the bad luck in Disney cartoons, which gives the character his uniqueness and charm. However, I think Donald got a little too much misfortune in this short.I know this is a cartoon and I shouldn't dwell on the details. But, Donald's cousin Gus is one annoying bird, who pays Donald a visit and eats him out of his house and food. When I watched this as a kid, I wished Donald would have thrown this creature out and locked all the doors so he could enjoy his lunch. Too bad Donald didn't get the last laugh in this one.Grade D
TheLittleSongbird
This is a real shame as I love Donald Duck and Disney. But Donald's Cousin Gus just wasn't them at their best for me. It certainly has its good points. The animation is absolutely beautiful, as pretty much always it is nothing to complain about, and I'll say the exact same for the music too. Donald's trademark personality is put to good use, mainly through his priceless reactions to what's going on, though could have been done better in a more inspiredly written situation. Some of the gags at the beginning and a couple of Gus' sly ways with stealing the food especially the one with the cake work very well, and Clarence Nash's Donald voice is impeccable. Sadly, the story gets routine very quickly, and it doesn't help that most of the gags are too more of the same. The barking hot dog gag was an interesting concept and quite an original one, but came across as contrived here instead. Also not helping is that outside of the sly food-stealing Gus doesn't have much of a personality and his playing dumb gets annoying and predictable at the end of the day. Overall, lacking but not bad. 6/10 Bethany Cox
rbverhoef
This Donald Duck cartoon starts with cousin Gus Goose who is visiting Donald Duck. Donald has no idea who he is, but after a note from his aunt he lets the goose inside his house. The note said that Gus does not each much, but as soon as he is in he starts eating all of Donald's food. Gus drives Donald crazy and of course he tries to get rid of the goose.The first minute is pretty nice with some good gags and a well animated sequence where Gus is eating everything. But after that it is too much of the same. After a couple of minutes I wanted this cartoon to end. Not a good thing for a Disney cartoon; I normally enjoy them very much.
AD
