Irwin the Disco Duck


Irwin the Disco Duck, a.k.a. Irwin the Dynamic Duck, is a fictional character who was featured on a series of children's records from Peter Pan Records. He's depicted as an anthropomorphic white duck with a head of brown hair, usually dressed in 1970s-style clothes. The character was created by artist George Peed in 1976.
Despite the similarity in both sound and appearance to Donald Duck, Irwin the Disco Duck had no affiliation to the more widely known character of The Walt Disney Company.

History

Inspired by the novelty song "Disco Duck", Peter Pan put out a series of children's records starting in 1976 that were compilations of popular songs of the time. The fictional "host" of the albums was Irwin the Disco Duck, whose name would be altered to Irwin the Dynamic Duck when disco fell out of fashion. None of the songs were by the original artists; according to the album cover, they were being performed by "The Wibble Wobble Singers and Orchestra." Some of the songs featured Irwin singing, but more often he functioned as the album's disc jockey, introducing the songs.
While numerous voice-actors played Irwin throughout this series, the most notable is Don Messick of Hanna-Barbera TV cartoon fame, whose Irwin-voice later became the one for Scooby-Doo's nephew Scrappy.
Irwin's hair, wardrobe and DJ persona are all reflections of American radio personality Rick Dees, who wrote and recorded the "Disco Duck" song on which this series was based.

Record list

AlbumYearPr. #
Disco Duck Dance Party19768191
Irwin the Disco Duck Dance Party II19778195
Alley Cat and Chicken Fat19778196
Irwin the Disco Duck Christmas & New Years Party19778203
Duck Wars: Big Hits Dance Party19788206
Disco Fever for All Ages19788223
Irwin the Disco Duck in The Navy19798235
Irwin Strikes BackJanuary 4, 19801117
Big Hits Dance PartyDecember 10, 19801112