Truant Officer Donald
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Donald catches his nephews swimming on a school day. He thinks he’s made an easy catch, but the boys are much more resourceful than that. When he tries to smoke them out of their clubhouse, they put three roast turkeys in their bed and dress one boy as an angel.
★★★★☆
Curator’s rating
Oscar nominee
Nominated for the Academy Award, and one of the darkest of the nephew shorts — the boys convince Donald he has killed them, and the film lets him mourn properly before the reveal. It is a remarkable tonal gamble for a 1941 comedy and it works, which is why it is still discussed.
The nephews fake their own deaths, and Donald's grief is played straight for a surprisingly long stretch.