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This short seems to work like those old Warner Bros. Wolf and Sheep dog cartoons, where the wolf tries to get the sheep, and the sheep dog foils each attempt. Here, Donald stands guard over the giant acorn while Chip 'n Dale try to steal it from him with the result of Donald stopping them cold each time. This short works better than most in the series and the ending is one for the books too.
The munks were back, and the makers did a good job in showing them in their classic form. The model they used for the chipmunks looked like one from the earliest cartoons. Their heads seemed smaller in proportion to their bodies than I'm used to. The short had only a few closeups on them. So it seemed a lot harder to tell them apart from appearance than it would watching a later short or a "Rescue Rangers" episode. They also acted alike in several scenes, like when they were gathering nuts from Donald's leaf blower. But the distinction between Chip and Dale was subtlety there. There were also several moments where Chip bossed Dale around, and Dale was in his own world.
IMHO this short didn't have any story idea or gag different from what I've already seen in the classic shorts. But I had to admit that I liked the munks enough to not mind. The short got interesting when the big nut appeared, as the characters now had something to go after. I especially liked the munks' attempts to break into the woodshed. For a small change the munks were the victims of failure instead of Donald. The trick the munks did to finally win was clever, and I LOL'ed at the ending.