Donald Duck and the Gorilla 1944

On a stormy night, Donald Duck and his nephews hear a radio report that a fierce gorilla named Ajax has escaped from the city zoo. To taunt them, Donald wears black gloves that look like gorilla hands, and the nephews catch him at it by peering through a keyhole to see their uncle laughing. They retaliate with mischief of their own, slipping into a gorilla suit and sneaking up on him as he reads, snatching a lick from his lollipop. The real Ajax then appears in a front window, breaks into the house, and roars at the nephews, who scatter in alarm. Donald, realizing the prank has backfired on him, chases the trio in anger and crashes straight into Ajax. Believing the gorilla is the nephews in disguise, he yanks on the “mask,” only to discover there are two gorillas in the house, which shocks him to the core. He peels open Ajax’s mouth and calls for the nephews, but all he hears is an echo as Ajax roars again.

A radio announcer’s sly tip—“look at animals straight in the eye”—becomes a tense turning point. Donald stares down the gorilla, and for a moment he imagines a tombstone bearing his fate. In a desperate bid to survive, he shoves an umbrella into Ajax’s mouth just as the creature lunges and then bolts for safety. The trio tiptoes through the house, yet chaos continues: the nephews spill melted candle wax on Ajax’s tail, giving the gorilla a comical burn on his rear. In a fit of rage, Donald hobbles after them and even burns his hand on a superheated doorknob as he tries to outsmart his pursuers.

The chase sweeps into a chaotic choreography: Ajax swings from rafts, Donald meets him with a stare-down, and the tail’s prompting nervy moves sends the two into a wild pursuit. Behind a broken door, Ajax tests his strength by forcing his way through a hole; as the ruined piece lands, Donald is momentarily exposed and the pursuit resumes. A clever gambit sees Donald using a ladder as improvised stilts, only for Ajax to swipe the stilts away, sending Donald sliding along the dining room table toward a dramatic standoff at the edge. In a burst of reckless debris, the boards crack and fly into Ajax’s hands, dropping to the floor in two halves. Ajax lunges to bite Donald’s tail, but the tail ends up striking Ajax in the eyes, buying Donald a fleeting window of relief.

At last, the nephews intervene with tear gas to subdue Ajax, and the gorilla begins to cry. Donald, briefly overwhelmed, inhales the tear gas as well, and the two finally find a moment of relief. The night ends with a quiet, uneasy reconciliation as the two unlikely allies—one duck and one distressed gorilla—settle into a shared, soothing closeness, closing the cartoon on a note of reluctant camaraderie.