Daisy Duck is the girlfriend of Donald Duck, best friend of Minnie Mouse, and is a recurring character in Disney media. She first appeared in the 1940 short Mr. Duck Steps Out. She was preceded by Donna Duck in Don Donald, but they usually aren't considered the same character.
The specifics of Daisy's personality differ from work to work; however, her core is usually the same. Though she loves her boyfriend Donald, Daisy is well-aware of his flaws and vices. Daisy is constantly arguing with Donald and frequently tries to fix his flaws. Though she'll often berate Donald for his temper, Daisy has just as big of a temper as him. Daisy serves as a foil to Minnie. While Minnie is demure and prefers to dress simple, Daisy is very outspoken and fashion-savvy. Minnie and Daisy get along for the most part, but Daisy's bombastic personality can make her an annoyance.
Daisy appeared sparingly throughout the 1940s, although in 1947 she was the protagonist of Donald's Dilemma. Daisy had several more appearances until the mid-50s. She was retired (in theatrical form at least) until she was revived in the '80s. Since then, Daisy Duck has become a core member of the Classic Disney Shorts cast.
Her current official voice actress is Tress MacNeille, who is also the official voice of Chip. However, in some projects, such as season two of Mickey Mouse Funhouse, Debra Wilson voices the character, making her the first Black performer to voice any of Disney's "Sensational Six" characters. This is due to MacNeille being too busy with other projects; she otherwise continues to voice Daisy in most other Disney media.
Media featuring Daisy
Classic Shorts
- Don Donald (1937)note
- Mr. Duck Steps Out (1940): The first cartoon to have Daisy appear in her standard design, and the first time she is named as such.
- A Good Time for a Dime (1941)
- The Nifty Nineties (1941): First and only appearance of Daisy in a Mickey Mouse short.
- Donald's Crime (1945): First cartoon to have Daisy with a normal voice, provided by Gloria Blondell.
- Cured Duck (1945)
- Donald's Double Trouble (1946)
- Dumb Bell of the Yukon (1946)
- Sleepy Time Donald (1947): First cartoon to have Daisy in more of a leading role.
- Donald's Dilemma (1947): A fairly dark cartoon in Daisy's filmography as it sees Daisy suffer numerous physical and mental health disorders.
- Donald's Dream Voice (1948)
- Crazy for Daisy (1950)
- Donald's Diary (1954): Final appearance of Daisy in the Donald Duck shorts.
- How to Have an Accident at Work (1959): Final appearance of Daisy in the classic shorts.
Comic Books:
Feature Films:
- Mickey's Christmas Carol
- Fantasia 2000
- Mickey's Once Upon a Christmas
- Mickey, Donald, Goofy: The Three Musketeers
- Mickey's Twice Upon a Christmas
Television Series:
- Quack Pack
- House of Mouse
- Mickey Mouse Clubhouse
- Minnie's Bow-Toons
- Mickey Mouse (2013)
- Mickey and the Roadster Racers
- Legend of the Three Caballeros
- DuckTales (2017)
- Mickey Mouse Funhouse
Video Games
Tropes that apply to Daisy:
- Adaptational Jerkass: In media such as Mickey Mouse Works, House Of Mouse, Mickey's Twice Upon a Christmas, and Legend of the Three Caballeros, she has shown to be more abusive, spoiled, and self-centered, as opposed to her more gentle, mature and kind side.
- Adaptational Nice Guy: In DuckTales (2017), she is shown to be gentle, kinder, and understanding, even to Donald.
- Ascended Extra: Curiously, for a character considered a major Disney star, Daisy only appeared in 16 of the classic theatrical shorts. She had a much bigger role in comics, and eventually got bumped up to be a recurring star in modern shorts and features.
- Alliterative Name: Daisy Duck.
- Brooding Boy, Gentle Girl: The Gentle Girl to Donald's Brooding Boy. She's usually sweet, level-headed, and calm while Donald is temperamental, grumpy and rude.
- The Bus Came Back: She didn't have any animated appearances between 1954's Donald's Diary short and 1983's Mickey's Christmas Carol film.
- Chaste Toons: She has nieces—April, May, and June—in the comics.
- Depending on the Artist: Out of all the Sensational Six Disney characters, Daisy's design changes the most. Does she have hair or feathers? How are her feathers stylized?
- Depending on the Writer: Daisy's personality and voice have changed with nearly every new title released after the original shorts. The only real constant is that she's a bit of a Tsundere.
- Distaff Counterpart: Though arguably, she has a few unique personality traits, and is more different from Donald than Minnie is from Mickey.
- Divergent Character Evolution:
- While Donna Duck from "Don Donald" is considered to be the prototype of Daisy, one comic strip established that she and Daisy are two separate characters.
- Daisy started out as a more level-headed Donald, but eventually other aspects of her, such as her being a fashionista and her Genki Girl qualities, began appearing.
- The Fashionista: Daisy is shown to like clothes and is fashion-savvy.
- Feet-First Introduction: In Louie's Eleven from DuckTales, as soon as she descends a couple of stairs, we first get to see a clear view of her high heels, as well as the lower half of her body.
- Femme Fatale: In "Mr. Duck Steps Out" Daisy seduces Donald user her bottom by waving her tail in a "come here" gesture.
- Funny Animal: Daisy is an anthropomorphic duck.
- Furry Female Mane: Daisy usually averts this trope. She usually has feathered stylized as "hair". However, in some appearances, such as House of Mouse, she has a white ponytail that meshes with her feathers. In Mickey, Donald, Goofy: The Three Musketeers she outright has blonde hair
- Graceful Ladies Like Purple: One of her two default colors is purple. She's more sophisticated than many of the other characters.
- Green-Eyed Monster: A reoccurring theme of her character is that she gets jealous easily.
- Hair-Trigger Temper: While not as easily annoyed as her boyfriend, Daisy does have a mean temper in most incarnations.
- Half-Dressed Cartoon Animal: Her classic design is just a blouse and a bow on her head. Her feathers give the impression of a skirt. However, she does wear her high-heeled shoes unlike other ducks.
- Honorary Aunt: She doesn't interact with Donald's nephews very often, but they tend to view her as this trope when they do and Daisy tends to appreciate the gesture.
- Hot-Blooded: She is often presented this way.
- Hotter and Sexier: She can be considered as this due to the upper half of her body structure being more feminine and attractive when compared to Minnie's simplistic body shape. It's justified since her lower half is shaped like a real duck's.
- I Just Want to Be Special:
- In House of Mouse, Daisy's plotlines often involve her trying to secure a spot on the titular show's lineup so she can give a stellar performance and become famous.
- In DuckTales, she admits that she dreams of being a professional designer and made a stellar dress in the hopes of impressing her boss so she can get on her exclusive "IT" list.
- Informed Attractiveness: Mostly applied to Donald's Diary and Quack Pack.
- Jerkass Ball: There are times in House of Mouse and Mickey Mouse Works when she's very inconsiderate. One cartoon has her inviting herself along on Mickey and Minnie's day out and causing nothing but trouble the entire way there.
- Legend of the Three Caballeros shows her at her worst. In the first episode, she breaks up with Donald when he's late to their date, after he loses his job and his home, on his birthday, no less. As if that wasn't enough, in episode 7, she brings over her new boyfriend to the Caballeros' cabana, just to spite Donald and make him jealous. She does get better at the end, though.
- Ms. Fanservice: In the DuckTales episode Louie's Eleven, at the part when she and Donald are trapped in the elevator and they end up getting tied themselves due to shakeups and her coat being stained by a drink, she took off her coat to reveal herself in a gorgeous dress that she made herself, which causes Donald to become overjoyed.
- Non-Mammal Mammaries: Though not to the extent of her Looney Tunes counterpart Melissa Duck, in some of her appearances, such as Quack Pack and DuckTales, she has a quite busty chest.
- Official Couple: With Donald Duck. Unlike Minnie and Mickey, however, they're consistently depicted as dating (not confirmed to be married off-screen).
- Pantsless Males, Fully-Dressed Females: Inverted with Goofy and ocassionally played straight with Donald, as she is normally seen with no bottomwear of any kind, but there are some cases in which she can be seen wearing a dress.
- Pink Means Feminine: One of her default colors is pink, and Daisy is a Girly Girl.
- Reimagining the Artifact: Her portrayal in the DuckTales reboot is considered the most ideal version of her so far. In this version, she's very patient and gives Donald the benefit of the doubt about his friend Storkules invading their second date, but when she does finally lose patience and consider breaking up with him, it's over understandable grievances: she worries that she'll end up Parenting the Husband and have to teach Donald basic adult things like how to take out the trash or schedule dates around his Manchild friend. However, she doesn't scold Donald or invoke a Minor Flaw, Major Breakup like in most other versions. Here, she takes time to reevaluate their relationship and ultimately decides she's in it for the long haul.
- Satellite Character: Even though she's more different from Donald than Minnie is from Mickey, she's rarely seen without him.
- Shaking the Rump: In the episode of Mickey Mouse Clubhouse Daisy shakes her butt at the camera while preforming her song in "Mickey Mouse Clubhouse Rocks". In "Shake Your Tail Feathers" she, along with Donald, shake their butts.
- The Sixth Ranger: Of Disney's Sensational Six.
- The Smart Guy: She is very intelligent when compared to the rest of the cast.
- Species Surname: She is a duck with the surname "Duck".
- Tertiary Sexual Characteristics: She is a more feminine version of Donald, though some redesigns like her Quack Pack incarnation attempt to differentiate her more.
- Tuft of Head Fur: In some appearances, she has a tuft of feathers in replacement for hair. Fantasia 2000 is one such example.
- Vocal Evolution: She started out sounding almost exactly like Donald. In her earliest appearances, she even had the same voice actor as him.
