The Wise Little Hen

"The Wise Little Hen" (1934) is the Disney short you can watch online on iFILM — and the cartoon where Donald Duck quacked for the very first time.

A hardworking hen needs help planting and harvesting her corn, but her neighbors Peter Pig and Donald both beg off with a convenient "tummy ache." So she does the whole job herself, chicks in tow. Come dinner, the two freeloaders find out exactly what their excuses earned them.

Part of the Silly Symphonies series, the eight-minute film was directed by Wilfred Jackson, with Clarence Nash giving Donald the squawk he'd keep for the next fifty years. A tidy little fable about who actually deserves a seat at the table. Stream "The Wise Little Hen" (1934) online on iFILM.