He is the most curmudgeonly character in a star-studded Disney menagerie that includes Mickey and Minnie Mouse, Goofy and Pluto.
Donald Duck - the irascible but unflappable waterfowl - prepared to be feted in grand fashion, as he turned 75 years old Tuesday.
From the beginning, fabled cartoonist Walt Disney envisioned Donald Duck as a foil to Mickey Mouse, his good-as-gold, animated star created a half-dozen years earlier.
While goody-two-shoes Mickey was most appealing to children, Disney sought to create in Donald Duck a more piquant character with adult appeal - and succeeded beyond his wildest dreams.
In his 75 years, his feathered anti-hero has tried his hand at more than 100 different professions, but failed at them all. Donald always seems to be short of cash and make a habit of lurching from one misadventure to the next.
But no matter how often thwarted and how deeply humiliated, Donald Duck forges on - which is what has made him such a big hit with his legions of fans.
Known for his barely decipherable speech and his penchant for running afoul of the other Disney characters, Donald, beneath it all, has a heart of gold, another quality that has charmed adoring fans over the decades.
The prickly but long suffering duck made his celluloid debut on June 9, 1934 in a short animated feature called Little Wise Hen, a movie fable fashioned on the Little Red Hen fairy tale about a chicken who finds that help is scarce when she tries to recruit workers to plant and harvest her corn crop.
While Mickey Mouse often enjoys top billing in the US, in much of Europe - especially among Germans - it is Donald Duck who is the undisputed star.
Meanwhile, legions of loyal fans have launched a contest for the best birthday portrait of the trouserless bird in the sailor jacket.
The winner's depiction is to be displayed later this year at the Anaheim, California Convention Centre next to Disneyland.
在众星云集的迪斯尼卡通大家庭中，唐老鸭是最小气的一位，迪斯尼麾下还有米老鼠米奇和米妮，高飞和布鲁托。
本周二是唐老鸭的75岁生日，这位脾气暴躁却镇定自若的鸭先生将迎来盛大的生日庆典。
传奇漫画家沃尔特•迪斯尼最初是为了烘托米老鼠才创作了唐老鸭这个角色，乖巧的卡通明星米老鼠比唐老鸭早六年诞生。
孩子们最喜欢“好好先生”米奇，因此迪斯尼想把唐老鸭塑造成一个成年人喜爱的更加活泼有趣的角色，而结果出人意料的成功。
在这75年里，这位长着羽毛的平凡主角尝试过一百多种不同的职业，但都以失败告终。唐老鸭看起来总缺钱花，而且习惯性地麻烦不断。
但不论受到多少次挫折，也不管遭到多大侮辱，唐老鸭都不屈服，正因为此，它大获成功，赢得了大批粉丝。
它讲的话总是很难听懂，形象也与迪斯尼其它卡通人物大相径庭，但在这些外表之下，唐老鸭有一颗善良的心，这是它在近几十年间受粉丝追捧的另一特质。
这位易动怒但多灾多难的鸭先生于1934年6月9日初次登上荧屏，出演迪斯尼动画短片《聪明的小母鸡》。这部童话电影根据童话故事《小红母鸡》改编，讲的是一位小鸡想雇人耕种和收获玉米，但是发现人们都不愿意帮忙。
尽管米老鼠在美国、大部分欧洲国家，特别是德国最受欢迎，但唐老鸭才是无可争议的明星。
与此同时，唐老鸭的粉丝团举办了一场竞赛，为这位只穿着水手外套不穿裤子的鸭先生征集最佳生日肖像。
最终胜出的作品将于今年下半年在阿纳海姆市迪斯尼乐园附近的加州会议中心展示。
Vocabulary:
curmudgeonly：小气的，不和悦的
menagerie：动物园，动物展览
irascible：easily provoked to anger; very irritable（易怒的，暴躁的）
fete：款待，庆祝
fabled：made known or famous by fables; legendary（传奇的）
good-as-gold：十分乖巧的，善良的
goody-two-shoes：表现与众不同的，自命清高的
anti-hero：平凡的主角
decipherable：可判读的
run afoul of：与……冲突
top billing：演员表上的头牌地位