Donkey Baseball (1935) Poster

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6/10
Odd......very, very odd.
planktonrules2 February 2013
One thing I love about MGM and Warner Brothers classic films is that they almost always include a few theatrical shorts on the DVD--making it sort of like going to the movies way back when. However, "Donkey Baseball" is a first--the only MGM/Warner film with such shorts where the short did not debut the same year the feature film did. In this case, the film is included on "Angels in the Outfield" (1951)--but "Donkey Baseball" was made in 1935. But, considering they're both about baseball (of sorts) I can understand them breaking this unwritten rule.

This is another Pete Smith-narrated short film from MGM. It's also among the weirdest I have seen. You see a bunch of nuts playing baseball while riding on donkeys--or at least they must mount a donkey after the ball is hit by the batter. The fielders (except for the pitcher) always ride on donkeys! The film is pretty much what you'd expect--Smith making lame comments and the donkeys. It's certainly not a film I'd want to watch all the time, but as a curiosity, it's worth your time. Odd but watchable.
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7/10
Another John Waters Classic!!
whoson1st022 August 2006
There is a new game in town - donkey baseball! This is the same game as regular baseball but you must ride around the bases on a donkey. The fielders must also ride on donkeys, but are permitted to get off only to retrieve the baseball when it is hit.

OK I have no idea who John Waters is, but this mockumentary is pretty funny despite the stupid premise. Saw this on TCM in between movies (it's only about 9 minutes long). A funny spoof of baseball and old news reels (or what I imagine they were like).

The title screen credits this as an "MGM Oddity" so maybe there are more in this series, though I have not seen or heard of any others.

I have no idea how you would get to see this though, unless you catch it on TCM or find it as an extra on a DVD.
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7/10
No Serenading The Donkeys
boblipton14 January 2020
A Smith called Pete offers the audience the latest sports craze of 1933: a game of baseball in which the fielders and base runners are mounted on donkeys, in this amusing short subject.

Smith's voice is higher-pitched than usual, and his trademark corny snark doesn't show up until the second half of this short. I believe he thought the subject amusing enough on its own. If so, I agree with him.

Smith started out as a publicity man, but by the time he retired, he had produced more than 200 short subjects, including three Oscar wins and eleven other nominations. He died in 1979, aged 86.
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Strange Sport
Michael_Elliott19 April 2009
Donkey Baseball (1935)

** 1/2 (out of 4)

Early Pete Smith short takes a look at the fad that swept through the country during the 1930's (or so the film says). Donkey baseball pretty much has the title telling you what the sport is but in case you missed it, it's playing baseball while on a donkey. There are a few changes in this version as games last for 13 innings, feature forty-run games and also players must stay attached to their dear donkey at all times. I pride myself in being a somewhat smart fellow when it comes to baseball and I know a lot of its history but I must admit that I had never heard of this "alternate" version until seeing this film on Turner Classic Movies. The oddball sport is certainly something to see and I would have liked to have had a straight documentary. Being a short from Smith we have some stuff done over the top just for laughs so it was hard to tell how much was real and how much was just for laughs. Either way, it's easy to see why this sport isn't being played today.
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7/10
In a timely bit of matching its programming to . . .
oscaralbert15 January 2020
Warning: Spoilers
. . . "Breaking News," one of those TV Land-like cable movie channels screened DONKEY BASEBALL just as the Houston Astros World Series Cheating Scandal come to a boil. Because not every backlot fanatic takes time to keep up with sports, it behooves DONKEY BASEBALL reviewers to point out some of the connections between this live-action short and Real Life as we now know it. The first syllable of the word "Astros" is pronounced exactly the same as the universal synonym for "donkey," of course. None of the participants pictured here in DONKEY BASEBALL have ever been elected into MLB's hallowed "Hall of Fame." Since the baseball commissioner banned "Shoeless Joe" from the Hall simply because "Say it ain't so" did not rat out his tampered-with teammates (which is the crux of FIELD OF DREAMS), certainly none of the 2017 Astros--ALL of whom shared knowledge of (and most of whom were active participants in) the scam will ever even be listed for future HOF ballots (this means YOU, "J. Verlander")! DONKEY BASEBALL bends a lot of basic Diamond rules: the critters pictured seldom even touch home plate (despite the "44-43" final score). However, these mulish ball players are Paragons of the Game in contrast to the pretentious posers of Houston's 2017 "World Chumps" squad!
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