Which Disney short introduced Donald Duck as a speaking character in 1934?

The Wise Little Hen introduced Donald Duck as a speaking character in a 1934 Disney short.

The cartoon adapts a story from the children’s book The Little Red Hen. A hardworking hen asks Peter Pig and Donald Duck to help plant and harvest corn, but both characters repeatedly avoid the work. When the harvest is complete, the hen serves them castor oil instead of the expected meal.

Donald’s voice in this debut was supplied by Clarence Nash, whose distinctive quacking became one of the most recognizable sounds in animation. Donald appears with his familiar sailor-inspired design, although some details of his later personality and costume developed over subsequent films.

The Wise Little Hen was part of Disney’s Silly Symphonies series, not the Mickey Mouse series. Donald’s popularity quickly grew, and he soon became one of Disney’s leading stars, eventually appearing in cartoons, comic books, television programs, and feature films.