Dinky Duck is a Terrytoons cartoon character who first appeared in the 1939 animated short The Orphan Duck.^[1] Unlike fellow Terrytoons characters Mighty Mouse, silly Gandy Goose and the magpie duo Heckle and Jeckle, Dinky never became popular, appearing in a total of only 15 cartoons between 1939 and 1957.^[2]

For most of his appearances, Dinky was a young black duck who lived on a farm with other ducks, chickens and other typical farm animals. Sometimes he was an orphan who simply wanted a place to call home; on other occasions, he would perform some heroic deed and help restore calm to the barnyard when adult animals quarreled.

The early Dinky Duck cartoons presents Dinky making a sharp quacking noise, while the later ones gave a young voice to Dinky, performed by actor Allen Swift. Several of the cartoons had a singing chorus that gave an introduction to the upcoming story.

Dinky's final appearance was in It's a Living, a CinemaScope cartoon, in which he sheds his cute farmyard duck persona and instead takes on the role of a disgruntled animation actor who quits his cartoon character job to try his hand in television commercial acting.

Dinky was going to have a cameo in Who Framed Roger Rabbit, but rights to the character could not be obtained in time.

Dinky was a supporting character in the 1999 pilot Curbside. He was voiced by Dee Bradley Baker in that version.^[3]

Filmography

List of shorts

• The Orphan Duck (October 6, 1939)
• Much Ado About Nothing (March 22, 1940)
• The Lucky Duck (September 6, 1940)
• Welcome Little Stranger (October 3, 1941)
• Life with Fido (August 21, 1942)
• Dinky Finds a Home (June 7, 1946)
• The Beauty Shop (April 28, 1950)
• Flat Foot Fledgling (January 25, 1952)
• Foolish Duckling (May 16, 1952)
• Sink or Swim (August 29, 1952)
• Featherweight Champ (February 6, 1953)
• Wise Quacks (February 27, 1953)
• The Orphan Egg (April 24, 1953)
• The Timid Scarecrow (August 28, 1953)
• It's a Living (November 15, 1957)