My longtime pal Jim Korkis is one of the foremost experts out there on All Things Disney. He saw I'd posted a link to the all-poultry production, A Fowl Affair, and he sent me this message. The connection honestly had not occurred to me…
For me, of course, the most interesting thing about that 1931 short you posted is that it predates Disney's Donald Duck by several years. A Fowl Affair done by Al Christie was part of the Gayety Comedy series and released April 20, 1931 and the live duck wearing a sailor suit was used prominently in the film poster and in advertisements for the film.
The sailor suit was the first popular children's fashion trend when Queen Victoria's decision to dress the four-year Prince of Wales, Albert Edward, in a scaled down version of the sailor suit of the Royal British Navy. The suit was used in stage musicals of the time because of its distinctive look.
British boys began wearing sailor suits in the 1860s. Prince Edward began dressing his own sons in sailor suits in the 1870s and, once again, the influence of the royal family helped to popularize the sailor suit for young children. The fashion trend really took root in the 1870s when advertisers began marketing it. By the 1880s, the sailor suit was a popular fashion trend for girls as well as boys. The sailor suit became so popular in the 1880s that few boys grew up in England without wearing it and, for some, was practically all they wore. The trend migrated to the United States and was popular when Walt Disney was a kid.
An interesting note. I can believe the notion Mr. Disney asserted about how dressing a duck in a sailor suit was an obvious idea, given the connection to water. I can also believe it was just because Walt (or someone) was influenced by all the kids around wearing sailor suits. And I can even sorta believe that Walt (or someone) consciously or unconsciously got the idea from A Fowl Affair or its poster. One of those "we'll never know" things, I guess.