The Small One

The Small One is a 1978 animated featurette produced by Walt Disney Productions and originally released theatrically by Buena Vista Distribution on December 16, 1978 with a Christmas 1978 reissue of Pinocchio. The story is based on a childrens book by Charles Tazewell and was an experiment for the new generation of Disney animators including Don Bluth, Richard Rich, Henry Selick, Gary Goldman and John Pomeroy.

Outside of the city of Nazareth, a young boy and his father own four donkeys. Three of these donkeys are young and strong. The fourth donkey, Small One, is old and weak, but the boy loves him anyway. Everyday, the boy and the donkey play together before they go to work, helping the boys father to collect wood.The boy and his father take the donkeys to work one morning, as they always do. Many times, the boy loads Small One with small sticks, since Small One cant carry heavy loads any more. Small One even has trouble carrying stacks of small sticks and the boy helps to carry them for him. ........

Source: Wikipedia