Working for Peanuts 1953

While collecting acorns, Chip and Dale discover a peanut that had been tossed from the nearby zoo. They sample it and enjoy the unusual flavor, pausing their nut-hunting to savor the treat. Nearby, a crowd pelts peanuts at Dolores the Elephant, who is being cared for by Donald Duck. The trio’s antics kick into gear as the chipmunks plot a quick theft while Donald is away, hoping to grab more peanuts for themselves.

When Dolores catches [Dale], he offers her a peanut and then bolts as she blinks, but she quickly turns the moment into a playful trap, using her trunk as a makeshift “branch” to pull a peanut-laden load toward her mouth and, in the process, snags Chip’s stash from the tree. The chipmunks retaliate by tugging on a branch of their own tree and deliver a comic nudge to Dolores’s rear. Frustrated, Dolores complains to Donald, and the moment Donald notices the theft, he wields Dolores’s trunk like a vacuum, hoovering up the stolen loot. He blasts the peanuts out in a rapid-fire spray, only to exhaust his supply and watch the chipmunks retreat into a mouse hole. A dazed Donald rushes after them, colliding with the wall in his haste.

The chipmunks notice other animals around the zoo getting peanuts, and Dale tries to imitate a sea lion to get more, only to be met with a thrown fish as Chip mocks him. Unfazed, Dale retaliates with a slap to Chip using the fish, adding a mischievous crunch to the chase.

Dolores spots Donald and snaps him out of his daze, leading the duo to find the chipmunks dancing in exchange for peanuts. Donald, fueled by resolve, launches a full-on chase to clear the trespassers from the zoo. In the ensuing escape, Dale trips into a bucket of white paint, spraying himself head to paw, which gives the duo a messy but clever cover. Chip quickly hatches a plan, and the two smother themselves in white paint, sliding into a box to pose as albino chipmunks and insist that Donald feed them only peanuts.

The plan grows from clever to theatrical as Donald creates an albino chipmunk exhibit, filling it with peanuts. Dolores helps by supplying the pair with a tiny swimming pool, and Dale even tries a cannonball, though Chip stops him and, in the splash, washes away much of the paint on Dale’s lower half. Dolores alerts Donald, prompting Dale to draw two lines across his body to resemble suspenders. Donald buys the disguise, and he and Dolores depart, leaving the show to the chipmunks. Chip looks at the camera and shrugs as the ruse appears to work.

“We sure fooled him!”

“Yep! Sure did!”