| Toy Tinkers | |
|---|---|
 Title card | |
| Directed by | Jack Hannah |
| Story by | Harry Reeves Milt Banta |
| Produced by | Walt Disney |
| Starring | Clarence Nash Dessie Flynn Jimmy MacDonald |
| Music by | Paul J. Smith |
| Animation by | Bob Carlson Volus Jones Bill Justice Jack Boyd (effects) |
| Layouts by | Yale Gracey |
| Backgrounds by | Thelma Witmer |
| Color process | Technicolor |
Production company | |
| Distributed by | RKO Radio Pictures |
Release date |
|
Running time | 7:30 |
| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
Toy Tinkers is an Americananimatedshort film produced inTechnicolor byWalt Disney Productions and released to theaters on December 16, 1949 byRKO Radio Pictures.[1] Set duringChristmas time, the film showsChip 'n' Dale trying to steal nuts fromDonald Duck's home using toy weapons. The film was nominated for anAcademy Award for Best Animated Short Film in 1950,[2] but ultimately lost toWarner Bros'.For Scent-imental Reasons, aPepé Le PewLooney Tunes film directed byChuck Jones.
Toy Tinkers was directed byJack Hannah and features original and adapted music byPaul J. Smith which includes the song "Jingle Bells" andSchubert'sMarche Militaire. The voice cast includesClarence Nash as Donald andJimmy MacDonald and Dessie Flynn as Chip and Dale respectively.[3][4][5]
It was later reissued asChristmas Capers, and 16mm prints of this version still exist.
Chip and Dale's curiosity leads them into Donald's house after they see him chop down a tree near their log home to use as aChristmas tree. The chipmunks follow Donald to his house and see nuts and candy through a window, deciding to try to take them. They slip in through the mail slot and load the nuts into a toy truck. During the theft, Dale pretends to be in a make-believe neighborhood, before Chip beats him up for playing around.
Donald sees Chip and Dale stealing the nuts and uses the toys to foil them. When the chipmunks catch on, Donald disguises himself asSanta Claus and gives Chip a much larger present than Dale, making him jealous and start fighting with Chip. Donald is laughs at the chipmunks arguing before revealing that inside the large nut is a handgun. He holds them at gunpoint, crashes them in a toy police car, and fires nuts from a pop gun at them. The chipmunks retaliate with a toy cannon when Donald encroaches on them.
Angered, Donald sets up a fort of presents on one side of the living room and returns fire with Chip and Dale doing likewise. Dale covertly sneaks a candlestick telephone into Donald's fort which Chip uses to distract Donald to transmit direct cannon fire. A frustrated Donald loads the phone with a stick of dynamite, but it doesn't explode. When the chipmunks call him again, he answers and the dynamite explodes. Having incapacitated Donald, the chipmunks march back home, and in a scene reminiscent ofThe Spirit of '76, employ the help of the mechanical toys to transport the hoard of nuts.
A comic book adaptation of the short was published inWalt Disney's Christmas Parade #2, printed byDell Comics in 1950. This adaptation was titled "Christmas Fray" and "Such a Clatter" in reprints.[6]
The short was released on December 11, 2007 onWalt Disney Treasures: The Chronological Donald, Volume Three: 1947-1950.[7]
Additional releases include:
