Donald's Nephews
Donald's Nephews (1938) is a Donald Duck animated cartoon which features Donald being visited by his three nephews, Huey, Dewey, and Louie. This cartoon is Huey, Dewey, and Louie's very first appearance in animation. The short, and the three nephews, was the idea of Al Taliaferro, the artist for the "Silly Symphonies" comic strip, which featured Donald Duck. The Walt Disney Productions Story Dept. on February 5, 1937, sent Taliaferro a memo recognizing him as the source of the idea for the planned short. Taliaferro subsequently introduced the nephews in his comic strip, which by this time had been renamed "Donald Duck", on Sunday, October 17, 1937, beating the theatrical release of "Donald's Nephews" by almost six months.
Donald Duck in comics
Among other innovations, Taliaferro made several additions to Donald's supporting cast. Bolivar, Donald's pet St. Bernard first appeared in the strip on March 17, 1938, following his animated appearances in "Alpine Climbers" (July 25, 1936) and "More Kittens" (December 19, 1936). Donald's cousin Gus Goose made his first appearance on May 9, 1938, in a series of strips that promoted his upcoming debut short "Donald's Cousin Gus" (1939). Daisy Duck first appeared in the strip on November 4, 1940, following her first proper animated appearance in "Mr. Duck Steps Out", first released on June 7, 1940. Donald's paternal grandmother, usually just called Grandma Duck, first appeared in a portrait on August 11, 1940, and in person on September 28, 1943. Taliaferro also reintroduced Donna Duck as a separate character from Daisy. This old flame of Donald rivaled Daisy for his affections between August 7, 1951 and August 18, 1951, before leaving him for another.