While I'm not a huge fan of classic Disney cartoons in general (since my sick little mind is usually drawn towards Tom & Jerry and the Looney Tunes gang), I've always enjoyed the antics of Donald Duck. Debuting in 1934 and subsequently becoming the star of his own shorts just three years later, this quick-tempered character was hugely popular with children of all ages. Voiced for roughly 50 years by the late Clarence Nash, Donald's frequent bouts with irritation and loud outbursts made him hard to understand but easy to sympathize with. His popularity lead to more branches on Donald's family tree, including nephews Huey, Dewey and Louie and the rich Uncle Scrooge. They were great characters in their own right, but there was no substitute for the original.

Fast-forwarding to today, Donald's as much a household name as Mickey himself. Disney gave DVD fans a great tribute last year with The Chronological Donald: Volume 1, a 2-disc, 32-cartoon collection of Donald's adventures from 1934-1941 (with some great extras, too!). Of course, business is business: like most Disney home video releases, it was only available for a limited time (it's still in print as of this review, though).

In a rather curious move, the House of Mouse decided to tread water with Classic Cartoon Favorites - Starring Donald, a compact collection of 8 cartoons that are 100% watchable...but 75% recycled. Only two shorts from popular Donald's classic series of "bee" cartoons in the later 1940s and early 1950s---"Inferior Decorator" and "Bee at the Beach"---are new to this release.

Owners of The Chronological Donald don't need to read any further. Sure, the two new cartoons are great in their own right (heck, I've nearly worn out my Gold Collection VHS copy of the "bee" compilation), but 12 minutes of new content just isn't worth $15. For those that don't own the 2-disc collection, this is hardly a recommended alternative. With only a quarter of the cartoons and 0% of the bonus material, Classic Cartoon Favorites should only appeal to casual Donald fans or those on a tight budget. To be fair, though, this collection of great cartoons is worth mentioning in its entirety. Here's your starting lineup:

Included Cartoons: "Inferior Decorator" (1947), "Don Donald" (1937), "Golden Eggs" (1941), "Bee at the Beach" (1950), "Donald's Dog Laundry" (1940), "Donald's Vacation" (1940), "Old McDonald Duck" (1941) and "Chef Donald" (1941).

Again, a great collection, but the major overlap between releases makes Classic Cartoon Favorites seem like an unnecessary double-dip. Instead of a quasi-chronological mix, here's a suggestion: why not keep things moving with the entire "bee" series? The bare-bones nature of this DVD is another frustrating point, as a disc so obviously aimed at younger audiences shouldn't be presented without a little bit of history to back it up. Long story short: if Donald saw this thing, he's probably get a little irritated himself. In any case, let's see how this one stacks up, shall we?

The audio quality is largely the same, though the sound was undoubtedly tougher to polish. It's a little thin on the whole, but I'm sure most of these sound as good as possible from their dated source material. If you're at all familiar with classic cartoons from this era, you won't be disappointed.

The anamorphic widescreen menus (seen above) are easy to navigate, and also include Disney's "FastPlay" option for technologically-impaired children of all ages. Each 6-minute short is presented as its own chapter, and no layer change was detected during playback. Besides for the menus themselves, all other content is presented in fullscreen and non-anamorphic widescreen format. English subtitles are included for the deaf, hard of hearing and angry-Donald-rant-impaired. Packaging is standard Disney fare, including a standard white keepcase and a few ads and inserts.

In all honesty, Classic Cartoon Favorites - Starring Donald is simply a watered-down version of The Chronological Donald (save for the bee cartoons, of course). For the cheap seats, I'd most definitely recommend the excellent 2-disc collection...even if Disney's nefarious "limited time offer" window makes it tougher to find as time passes. I'd be lying if I said Classic Cartoon Favorites was a waste of plastic, though: parents and kids can still enjoy a nice evening of great entertainment with this disc, and that's never a bad thing. It's just too bad that Disney couldn't keep the ball rolling. Rent It.