Dinky Duck

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 had Dinky making a sharp quacking noise, while the later ones gave a young voice to Dinky. 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.[3]

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. Dinky was also portrayed as female in that version.[4]