Tea for Two Hundred
Encyclopedia
Tea for Two Hundred is a 1948
American animated
short film directed by Jack Hannah
. Part of the Donald Duck film series, the film was produced in Technicolor
by Walt Disney Productions and released to theaters by RKO Radio Pictures
on December 24, 1948. The cartoon stars a picnicing Donald Duck
who faces an army of ants trying to steal his food. Clarence Nash
stars as Donald while the ants were voiced by Pinto Colvig
. The film includes original music by Oliver Wallace
.
Tea for Two Hundred was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Animated Short Film in 1949
, but lost to The Little Orphan
, an MGM Tom and Jerry film. the title of the film is a reference to the song "Tea for Two
." Animation from the short was later used in Uncle Donald's Ants (1952).
The ant is angry with Donald at first, but when he tastes the pie and sees all of Donald's food, he becomes elated. He enthusiastically runs back to the ant colony and tells the ants about all of Donald's food. The ants call the colony together using mushrooms as drums.
Later, while Donald is sleeping against a tree next to his picnic basket, a small team of ants sneak up on him. The open the basket, but Donald, still asleep, instinctively puts his hand over the basket to keep the ants out. Then all of the ants fill in around Donald and pick him up. They carry him over to a cliff where they throw him off into the water.
As an angry Donald races back up the cliff, the ants are carrying food items out of his basket into their hole. In a mock game of football
Donald is steamrolled by the ants. As he tries grab his food directly from their hole, the ants pull of Donald's shirt as well. To then puts on a barrel to protect his modest, and shoves several sticks of dynamite
down the anthill and ignites it. Immediately after the explosion, Donald laughs that he has seemingly had the last say against the ants. Yet moments later, the ground around Donald starts to crack. Donald is standing near the cliff, and the explosion of the dynamite causes a large part of the cliff to fall away, and Donald falls into the water a second time, screaming
has he does.
In the final sense, the ant colony congregates around a large cupcake. The little ant whom Donald had been harassing runs to the top and takes a big bite out of the cherry
.
1948 in film
The year 1948 in film involved some significant events.-Events:* Laurence Olivier's Hamlet becomes the first British film to win the American Academy Award for Best Picture.-Top grossing films : After theatrical re-issue- Awards :...
American animated
Animated cartoon
An animated cartoon is a short, hand-drawn film for the cinema, television or computer screen, featuring some kind of story or plot...
short film directed by Jack Hannah
Jack Hannah
Jack Hannah was an animator, writer and director of animated shorts.Hannah was born January 15, 1913, in Nogales, Arizona. He moved to Los Angeles in 1931 to study at the Art Guild Academy. One of his first jobs was designing movie posters for Hollywood theaters...
. Part of the Donald Duck film series, the film was produced in Technicolor
Technicolor
Technicolor is a color motion picture process invented in 1916 and improved over several decades.It was the second major process, after Britain's Kinemacolor, and the most widely used color process in Hollywood from 1922 to 1952...
by Walt Disney Productions and released to theaters by RKO Radio Pictures
RKO Pictures
RKO Pictures is an American film production and distribution company. As RKO Radio Pictures Inc., it was one of the Big Five studios of Hollywood's Golden Age. The business was formed after the Keith-Albee-Orpheum theater chains and Joseph P...
on December 24, 1948. The cartoon stars a picnicing Donald Duck
Donald Duck
Donald Fauntleroy Duck is a cartoon character created in 1934 at Walt Disney Productions and licensed by The Walt Disney Company. Donald is an anthropomorphic white duck with a yellow-orange bill, legs, and feet. He typically wears a sailor suit with a cap and a black or red bow tie. Donald is most...
who faces an army of ants trying to steal his food. Clarence Nash
Clarence Nash
Clarence Charles "Ducky" Nash was an American voice actor, best known for providing the voice of Donald Duck for the Walt Disney Studios...
stars as Donald while the ants were voiced by Pinto Colvig
Pinto Colvig
Vance DeBar "Pinto" Colvig was an American vaudeville actor, radio actor, newspaper cartoonist, prolific movie voice actor, and circus performer whose schtick was playing clarinet off-key while mugging....
. The film includes original music by Oliver Wallace
Oliver Wallace
Oliver George Wallace was a British composer and conductor. He was especially known for his film music compositions, which were written for many animation, documentary, and feature films from Walt Disney Studios....
.
Tea for Two Hundred was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Animated Short Film in 1949
21st Academy Awards
The 21st Academy Awards features numerous firsts. It was the first time a non-Hollywood production won Best Picture, Hamlet. It was the first time an individual directed himself in an Oscar-winning performance...
, but lost to The Little Orphan
The Little Orphan
The Little Orphan is a 1949 American one-reel animated cartoon and is the 40th Tom and Jerry short, released in theatres on April 30, 1949 by Metro-Goldwyn Mayer. It was produced by Fred Quimby and directed by William Hanna and Joseph Barbera, with music by Scott Bradley...
, an MGM Tom and Jerry film. the title of the film is a reference to the song "Tea for Two
Tea for Two (song)
"Tea for Two" is a song from the 1925 musical No, No, Nanette with music by Vincent Youmans and lyrics by Irving Caesar. It is a duet sung by Nanette and Tom in Act II as they imagine their future.-Analysis:...
." Animation from the short was later used in Uncle Donald's Ants (1952).
Synopsis
While camping in the mountains, Donald Duck sits down to eat a picnic. Soon a line of ants emerges from a nearby bush and marches past Donald, each carrying a grain harvested in the wild. Donald takes interest in the straggler, a small ant who seems to be carrying a bean several times his body weight. Donald begins to test the ant to see how much he can take. The ant, seemingly unaware of Donald, continues to march. Finally Donald balances several food items from his picnic on the any, which the ant carries. But when Donald makes the ant walk a tight rope, Donald plucks the string causing the ant to fall into a large custard pie.The ant is angry with Donald at first, but when he tastes the pie and sees all of Donald's food, he becomes elated. He enthusiastically runs back to the ant colony and tells the ants about all of Donald's food. The ants call the colony together using mushrooms as drums.
Later, while Donald is sleeping against a tree next to his picnic basket, a small team of ants sneak up on him. The open the basket, but Donald, still asleep, instinctively puts his hand over the basket to keep the ants out. Then all of the ants fill in around Donald and pick him up. They carry him over to a cliff where they throw him off into the water.
As an angry Donald races back up the cliff, the ants are carrying food items out of his basket into their hole. In a mock game of football
American football
American football is a sport played between two teams of eleven with the objective of scoring points by advancing the ball into the opposing team's end zone. Known in the United States simply as football, it may also be referred to informally as gridiron football. The ball can be advanced by...
Donald is steamrolled by the ants. As he tries grab his food directly from their hole, the ants pull of Donald's shirt as well. To then puts on a barrel to protect his modest, and shoves several sticks of dynamite
Dynamite
Dynamite is an explosive material based on nitroglycerin, initially using diatomaceous earth , or another absorbent substance such as powdered shells, clay, sawdust, or wood pulp. Dynamites using organic materials such as sawdust are less stable and such use has been generally discontinued...
down the anthill and ignites it. Immediately after the explosion, Donald laughs that he has seemingly had the last say against the ants. Yet moments later, the ground around Donald starts to crack. Donald is standing near the cliff, and the explosion of the dynamite causes a large part of the cliff to fall away, and Donald falls into the water a second time, screaming
Screaming
A scream, shout, shriek, hoot, holler, vociferation, yell, outcry, or bellow is a loud vocalization in which air is passed through the vocal folds with greater force than is used in regular or close-distance vocalization...
has he does.
In the final sense, the ant colony congregates around a large cupcake. The little ant whom Donald had been harassing runs to the top and takes a big bite out of the cherry
Cherry
The cherry is the fruit of many plants of the genus Prunus, and is a fleshy stone fruit. The cherry fruits of commerce are usually obtained from a limited number of species, including especially cultivars of the wild cherry, Prunus avium....
.
Releases
- 1948 – original theatrical release
- 1954 – Walt Disney's Wonderful World of Color, episode 1.4 "The Donald Duck Story" (TV)
- 1972 – The Mouse FactoryThe Mouse FactoryThe Mouse Factory was a syndicated television series produced by Walt Disney Productions, that ran from 1972 to 1974. It showed clips from various Disney cartoons and movies and showed celebrity guests, including Johnny Brown, Charles Nelson Reilly, JoAnne Worley and many more, visiting the Disney...
, episode 1 "Vacations" (TV) - 1986 – Walt Disney's Wonderful World of Color, episode 30.8 "Disney Goes to the Oscars" (TV)
- c. 1995 – Mickey's Mouse TracksMickey's Mouse TracksMickey's Mouse Tracks was a television series on the Disney Channel which featured Disney cartoons and animated short films, dating from before the advent of Disney Channel. A similar show was Donald's Quack Attack. The show premiered in 1992 and was made to replace Good Morning, Mickey!...
, episode 18 (TV) - 1992 – "Happy Summer Days" (VHS)
- 2007 – "The Chronological Donald, Volume Three" (DVD)