David:
No, I meant that John said that the way I described my story, it
would preclude reprinting later. John would be printing it
simultaneously with Europe, not reprinting it.
He knows the existance of the story and the page length. Maybe
I'll have Byron send John a set of stats as soon as I send the story to
Egmont next week. That is all I (or you) need to do. Now it's all up to
John.
But why is the "60th Birthday" issue featuring a
Gladstone-marrying-Daisy mixup story? What does that have to do with
Donald's 60th birthday?
Author
Topic: 199312
(129 messages)
Don Rosa
+Postage Due+Disney-comics digest #176.
Message 16 -
1993-12-06 at 15:57:12
Fredrik Ekman
Grandma Duck
Message 17 -
1993-12-06 at 16:17:49
Juuso Paaso wrote:
> Dear Don,
>
> [...]
> So, could you tell me if one of those sisters really is Grandma Duck? Or
> if either one of them is, then could you tell me what is the relation of
> $crooge and Grandma?
Well, I'm not Don, but I think I can provide an answer to that anyway. I
have discussed this issue in some detail in previous posts. Perhaps this
is something for the forthcoming FAQ? (Is there indeed a forthcoming FAQ?)
There are two man theories regarding Grandma:
1) She is Donald's grandma and, thus, cannot be Scrooge's sister. In fact
she is not related to Scrooge at all. Carl Barks and Don Rosa have both
adpoted this version.
2) She is Hewey, Dewey and Louie's grandma and Scrooge's sister. This
seems to be the position mainly of many Italian writers.
What we don't know yet is what Taliaferro (who created Grandma) thought.
I have previously claimed that he created her as Donald's grandma, but
Per says the opposite. None of us has yet been able to prove his point.
This is really not an answer to the question. I guess there is no perfect
answer.
/F
> Dear Don,
>
> [...]
> So, could you tell me if one of those sisters really is Grandma Duck? Or
> if either one of them is, then could you tell me what is the relation of
> $crooge and Grandma?
Well, I'm not Don, but I think I can provide an answer to that anyway. I
have discussed this issue in some detail in previous posts. Perhaps this
is something for the forthcoming FAQ? (Is there indeed a forthcoming FAQ?)
There are two man theories regarding Grandma:
1) She is Donald's grandma and, thus, cannot be Scrooge's sister. In fact
she is not related to Scrooge at all. Carl Barks and Don Rosa have both
adpoted this version.
2) She is Hewey, Dewey and Louie's grandma and Scrooge's sister. This
seems to be the position mainly of many Italian writers.
What we don't know yet is what Taliaferro (who created Grandma) thought.
I have previously claimed that he created her as Donald's grandma, but
Per says the opposite. None of us has yet been able to prove his point.
This is really not an answer to the question. I guess there is no perfect
answer.
/F
David A Gerstein
Disney-comics digest #177.
Message 18 -
1993-12-07 at 02:56:37
Quack! and Hi, Folks!
Don tells all about his 60th Birthday story and John Clark
=== ===== === ===== === ==== ======== ===== === ==== =====
"[John] knows the existence of the story and the page length.
Maybe I'll have Byron send John a set of stats as soon as I send the
story to Egmont next week. That is all I (or you) need to do. Now it's
all up to John."
Or up to *me!* Tell me, what do you mean about my needing to
do something? I'm anxious to help, but my duty here -- if any -- is
unclear. You have mentioned John forgetting things (such as Lo$
logos). If I were you, Don, I would not let him FORGET that birthday
story! He's *gotta* use it!
Don on my own contribution to the 60th Birthday issue
=== == == === ============ == === ==== ======== =====
"Why is the "60th Birthday" issue featuring a Gladstone-
marrying-Daisy mixup story [my dialog job, "The Plot Against Donald"]?
What does that have to do with Donald's 60th birthday?"
HERE LURK YE SPOILERS!
Donald has been having nightmares of this marriage, but is
trying to convince himself it wouldn't ever happen. Meanwhile, his
birthday is coming up, and Daisy convinces Gladstone to help her give
Donald a celebration. They keep it secret from Donald, but not well
enough that Donald *doesn't* know something's going on... he only
doesn't know what it *is* that's being planned. Donald assumes the
worst, and sets out to sabotage the mysterious plan.
END OF SPOILERS!
Other news from John Clark
===== ==== ==== ==== =====
Mattias Hallin probably remembers the thread about the Danish
story "The Duck Who Cried Wolf" (Vicar). Well, my version was
accepted by Gladstone today, so you'll soon see how I gleefully turned
the "standard Danish mistaken identity" story on its head! Welllll...
take "soon" to mean Summer 1994.
That's all for now, gang.
Yours in duckdom (and mousedom, tho' I haven't discussed MM today)
David Gerstein
"Here's where you'll dig the pool, then... you're not beyond
this job, right, boys?"
"We're not beyond *anything*, Sergeant!"
<David.A.Gerstein at Williams.edu>
Don tells all about his 60th Birthday story and John Clark
=== ===== === ===== === ==== ======== ===== === ==== =====
"[John] knows the existence of the story and the page length.
Maybe I'll have Byron send John a set of stats as soon as I send the
story to Egmont next week. That is all I (or you) need to do. Now it's
all up to John."
Or up to *me!* Tell me, what do you mean about my needing to
do something? I'm anxious to help, but my duty here -- if any -- is
unclear. You have mentioned John forgetting things (such as Lo$
logos). If I were you, Don, I would not let him FORGET that birthday
story! He's *gotta* use it!
Don on my own contribution to the 60th Birthday issue
=== == == === ============ == === ==== ======== =====
"Why is the "60th Birthday" issue featuring a Gladstone-
marrying-Daisy mixup story [my dialog job, "The Plot Against Donald"]?
What does that have to do with Donald's 60th birthday?"
HERE LURK YE SPOILERS!
Donald has been having nightmares of this marriage, but is
trying to convince himself it wouldn't ever happen. Meanwhile, his
birthday is coming up, and Daisy convinces Gladstone to help her give
Donald a celebration. They keep it secret from Donald, but not well
enough that Donald *doesn't* know something's going on... he only
doesn't know what it *is* that's being planned. Donald assumes the
worst, and sets out to sabotage the mysterious plan.
END OF SPOILERS!
Other news from John Clark
===== ==== ==== ==== =====
Mattias Hallin probably remembers the thread about the Danish
story "The Duck Who Cried Wolf" (Vicar). Well, my version was
accepted by Gladstone today, so you'll soon see how I gleefully turned
the "standard Danish mistaken identity" story on its head! Welllll...
take "soon" to mean Summer 1994.
That's all for now, gang.
Yours in duckdom (and mousedom, tho' I haven't discussed MM today)
David Gerstein
"Here's where you'll dig the pool, then... you're not beyond
this job, right, boys?"
"We're not beyond *anything*, Sergeant!"
<David.A.Gerstein at Williams.edu>
Don Rosa
+Postage Due+Disney-comics digest #177.
Message 19 -
1993-12-07 at 07:02:43
Juuso Paaso:
(I don't really have an answer to your question -- I just love
to say "Juuso Paaso".)
No, actually, we were up one side of this Grandma Duck scandal
and down the other on here before you came along.
Simply put, Grandma Duck was created, I'm certain, with no
deeper thought than to have a kindly old grandma character with no
concern as to who she was.
As time went on the character was used in the comic books in
more complex stories than in grandma's newspaper-strip home. This
eventually required a writer to place Grandma in the Duck family, and
since most of these stories were written by hacks, they took a very
simple viewpoint on the Duck Universe, and treated the Duck Family as
if it only had one root. Only one side. Why should they worry about
making it more complex and realistic? But having made this decision and
carried on from there, they were eventually faced with the growing
complexity of the situation -- and not bothering to waste any thought
on the matter, somebody hastilly decided on the insultingly simple
notion that Donald's two older relatives must be brother and sister.
They didn't worry that this meant Donald's grandmother was the sister
of his uncle since they weren't writing this stuff for geniuses. This
also ignored all the other aspects of $crooge's life as the two
characters were created with no regard for the existance of the other.
Barks never seemed to think he was working for geniuses either,
nor did he have any more respect for comic books than the others; but
his difference was that he put more thought into his work simply
because he took great pride in whatever his job was, regardless of the
pay or genre. This is the now-extinct "American work ethic". He
actually constructed a Family Tree for his own reference in order to
make sure the Duck Family was a logical, workable entity. And
naturally, as any person with half a brain would build it, Grandma came
from one side of Donald's parentage and $crooge from the other (to be
precise, $crooge is Donald's mother's brother, and Elvira "Grandma"
Duck is Donald's father's mother). The only problem left is that this
requires Grandma to be older than $crooge -- which places her in her
late 90s in the stories. I'd prefer her to be a bit younger than
$crooge but not everything works as well as can be. At least it's
better than the idea that your grandmother is your uncle's sister.
(I don't really have an answer to your question -- I just love
to say "Juuso Paaso".)
No, actually, we were up one side of this Grandma Duck scandal
and down the other on here before you came along.
Simply put, Grandma Duck was created, I'm certain, with no
deeper thought than to have a kindly old grandma character with no
concern as to who she was.
As time went on the character was used in the comic books in
more complex stories than in grandma's newspaper-strip home. This
eventually required a writer to place Grandma in the Duck family, and
since most of these stories were written by hacks, they took a very
simple viewpoint on the Duck Universe, and treated the Duck Family as
if it only had one root. Only one side. Why should they worry about
making it more complex and realistic? But having made this decision and
carried on from there, they were eventually faced with the growing
complexity of the situation -- and not bothering to waste any thought
on the matter, somebody hastilly decided on the insultingly simple
notion that Donald's two older relatives must be brother and sister.
They didn't worry that this meant Donald's grandmother was the sister
of his uncle since they weren't writing this stuff for geniuses. This
also ignored all the other aspects of $crooge's life as the two
characters were created with no regard for the existance of the other.
Barks never seemed to think he was working for geniuses either,
nor did he have any more respect for comic books than the others; but
his difference was that he put more thought into his work simply
because he took great pride in whatever his job was, regardless of the
pay or genre. This is the now-extinct "American work ethic". He
actually constructed a Family Tree for his own reference in order to
make sure the Duck Family was a logical, workable entity. And
naturally, as any person with half a brain would build it, Grandma came
from one side of Donald's parentage and $crooge from the other (to be
precise, $crooge is Donald's mother's brother, and Elvira "Grandma"
Duck is Donald's father's mother). The only problem left is that this
requires Grandma to be older than $crooge -- which places her in her
late 90s in the stories. I'd prefer her to be a bit younger than
$crooge but not everything works as well as can be. At least it's
better than the idea that your grandmother is your uncle's sister.
Mattias Hallin
David's WDC 589
Message 20 -
1993-12-07 at 10:37:50
David:
Nice work, if you can get it... ...and you got it!!! That was a nice
scripting, to my mind, with a fairly Barksy touch. Your "Danish" pun was indeed
immediately spotable to a Scandinavian like meself; I wouldn't bet on a Central
European to get it, though... One question mark: on page one, second panel,
Donald says "Hey! What the heck?! The jar's full of ANTS!". I always thought
the expletive "what the heck" meant something like "so what?", but then again,
English isn't exactly my mother tongue, and I do of course realise that it is a
milder form of "what the hell", or so I would assume.
Don:
I thought lice was what injuns GREW to from nits; isn't that the
"colourful" rationale for killing papooses (or is that papeese?) that some
cavalry commander is supposed to have given his men before charging some camp?
Just curious!
Mattias
Nice work, if you can get it... ...and you got it!!! That was a nice
scripting, to my mind, with a fairly Barksy touch. Your "Danish" pun was indeed
immediately spotable to a Scandinavian like meself; I wouldn't bet on a Central
European to get it, though... One question mark: on page one, second panel,
Donald says "Hey! What the heck?! The jar's full of ANTS!". I always thought
the expletive "what the heck" meant something like "so what?", but then again,
English isn't exactly my mother tongue, and I do of course realise that it is a
milder form of "what the hell", or so I would assume.
Don:
I thought lice was what injuns GREW to from nits; isn't that the
"colourful" rationale for killing papooses (or is that papeese?) that some
cavalry commander is supposed to have given his men before charging some camp?
Just curious!
Mattias
Fredrik Ekman
Grandmas and sisters and such
Message 21 -
1993-12-07 at 13:47:32
Don;
I still don't agree with you that all the writers who put Grandma as
Scrooge's sister created an inconsisten Duck family. At least not from
their own point of view. My reason: They must have viewed Grandma as
being Hewey, Dewey and Louie's grandma, rather than Donald's. Grandma
would then be Donald's mother (or stepmother, since you don't want to
give him a biological mother, which implies a lot of filthy things that
you shouldn't bother the poor kids with) and, quite possibly, Scrooge's
sister.
In Swedish translations, matters are further complicated by the fact
that there are different words for "father's brother" and "mother's
brother", Scrooge consistently being referred to as "father's brother";
(farbror Joakim).
/F
I still don't agree with you that all the writers who put Grandma as
Scrooge's sister created an inconsisten Duck family. At least not from
their own point of view. My reason: They must have viewed Grandma as
being Hewey, Dewey and Louie's grandma, rather than Donald's. Grandma
would then be Donald's mother (or stepmother, since you don't want to
give him a biological mother, which implies a lot of filthy things that
you shouldn't bother the poor kids with) and, quite possibly, Scrooge's
sister.
In Swedish translations, matters are further complicated by the fact
that there are different words for "father's brother" and "mother's
brother", Scrooge consistently being referred to as "father's brother";
(farbror Joakim).
/F
Mattias Hallin
Grandma Duck
Message 22 -
1993-12-07 at 14:02:41
Fredrik:
I think you went off at the deep end this time: of course Donald has a
mother! According to Don Rosa, it's $crooge's sister Hortensia who eventually
marries Grandma's son Quackmore, and together they have two children: Donald
and his sister Dumbella (or just Bella); the latter is of course the mother of
HD&L. Where on earth did you get the idea that DON should be using the
non-sexual donaldo-genealogical theory?
(the "you-don't-have-children-you-have-nephews" theory, I mean).
To me, this makes perfect sense - much more so than the idea that Grandma
should be Donald's mother, and the grandma of HD$L. If that was the case, by
the way, there would be absolutely NO reason why she should be related to
Donald at all - she could equally well be the paternal grandmother of HD&L _
and there are no references whatsoever, not to my knowledge at least, that
indicates any blood-relations between $crooge and Grandma (apart from the
Italian comics of course, but I mean original references), so on the whole I
think that Don's ideas makes so much more sense (not to mention when you take
the next step, and try to include Gladstone and various other more or less
spurious relatives of Donald).
And regarding maternal/paternal uncles and the Swedish translations, I don't
see the problem. The Swedish translation of American Donald Duck stories are
NOT, repeat NOT a valid source to donaldo-genealogy, for the very simple
reason that they are translations made without the slightest concern for such
matters! And the Swedish word "farbror", meaning paternal uncle, is from a
purely literary/ideomatic point of view the CORRECT, or at least BETTER
translation of the non-genderspecific "uncle" than the Swedish "morbror"
meaning maternal uncle which would be the genealogically correct translation.
This is so for a very simple reason too: the word "farbror" carries the same
ideomatic meaning as "uncle", namely "elder male, held in some respect", or
just "elder male".
Well...
Quack, quack, 'n all that!
Mattias
I think you went off at the deep end this time: of course Donald has a
mother! According to Don Rosa, it's $crooge's sister Hortensia who eventually
marries Grandma's son Quackmore, and together they have two children: Donald
and his sister Dumbella (or just Bella); the latter is of course the mother of
HD&L. Where on earth did you get the idea that DON should be using the
non-sexual donaldo-genealogical theory?
(the "you-don't-have-children-you-have-nephews" theory, I mean).
To me, this makes perfect sense - much more so than the idea that Grandma
should be Donald's mother, and the grandma of HD$L. If that was the case, by
the way, there would be absolutely NO reason why she should be related to
Donald at all - she could equally well be the paternal grandmother of HD&L _
and there are no references whatsoever, not to my knowledge at least, that
indicates any blood-relations between $crooge and Grandma (apart from the
Italian comics of course, but I mean original references), so on the whole I
think that Don's ideas makes so much more sense (not to mention when you take
the next step, and try to include Gladstone and various other more or less
spurious relatives of Donald).
And regarding maternal/paternal uncles and the Swedish translations, I don't
see the problem. The Swedish translation of American Donald Duck stories are
NOT, repeat NOT a valid source to donaldo-genealogy, for the very simple
reason that they are translations made without the slightest concern for such
matters! And the Swedish word "farbror", meaning paternal uncle, is from a
purely literary/ideomatic point of view the CORRECT, or at least BETTER
translation of the non-genderspecific "uncle" than the Swedish "morbror"
meaning maternal uncle which would be the genealogically correct translation.
This is so for a very simple reason too: the word "farbror" carries the same
ideomatic meaning as "uncle", namely "elder male, held in some respect", or
just "elder male".
Well...
Quack, quack, 'n all that!
Mattias
Fredrik Ekman
Grandma (again)
Message 23 -
1993-12-08 at 02:11:50
Nononononono! You got me all wrong, Mattias. Let me clarify:
1) I was trying to be sarcastic about the "biological mother" stuff.
Perhaps I should have added a few smileys to make that clear. :-)
2) I never meant to say that Don used this approach. I was trying to
refer to PREVIOUS works by OTHER writers. If you take the time to look
back to a letter I wrote just a few days ago, you will see that I am
very much aware that both Don and, before him, Carl Barks, had a clear
idea of who was the parent of whom.
3) I, too, think that Grandma is Donald's grandma. I have thought so
since long before I knew about Barks' family tree. But EVERYONE hasn't
ALWAYS thought so. See for example the previously discussed Italian
50th anniversary story.
4) Please clarify what you mean by "original references" to blood
relations between Scrooge and Grandma. Barks didn't create Grandma and
is no more original than the Italians. He may be better, but that's
not to the point at all. Did you mean Taliaferro? Well, what DID
Taliaferro have to say? I have previously claimed that he meant her to
be Donald's granny, but others seem to disagree...
5) Oh, and I never really meant that the Swedish translations should
carry any value in the Donaldistic research. On the contrary. But you
have to agree that it will be kind of confusing now that Lo$ will be
clarifying the true relationships to the average reader.
Well, I hope THAT makes sense in case my previous notes didn't... ;-)
/F
1) I was trying to be sarcastic about the "biological mother" stuff.
Perhaps I should have added a few smileys to make that clear. :-)
2) I never meant to say that Don used this approach. I was trying to
refer to PREVIOUS works by OTHER writers. If you take the time to look
back to a letter I wrote just a few days ago, you will see that I am
very much aware that both Don and, before him, Carl Barks, had a clear
idea of who was the parent of whom.
3) I, too, think that Grandma is Donald's grandma. I have thought so
since long before I knew about Barks' family tree. But EVERYONE hasn't
ALWAYS thought so. See for example the previously discussed Italian
50th anniversary story.
4) Please clarify what you mean by "original references" to blood
relations between Scrooge and Grandma. Barks didn't create Grandma and
is no more original than the Italians. He may be better, but that's
not to the point at all. Did you mean Taliaferro? Well, what DID
Taliaferro have to say? I have previously claimed that he meant her to
be Donald's granny, but others seem to disagree...
5) Oh, and I never really meant that the Swedish translations should
carry any value in the Donaldistic research. On the contrary. But you
have to agree that it will be kind of confusing now that Lo$ will be
clarifying the true relationships to the average reader.
Well, I hope THAT makes sense in case my previous notes didn't... ;-)
/F
David A Gerstein
Disney-comics digest #178.
Message 24 -
1993-12-08 at 04:36:28
Dear Folks,
Two comments today.
Mattias on my story in WDC&S 589
======= == == ===== == ===== ===
Gosh, I thought I made it clear that it was *John Clark*
who came up with the Danish pun on page 3... I don't want to lay
claim to that kind of brilliance.
For an example of a bit I'm proud of having thought of myself,
there's the literary pun on page 2 which ought to shock the Dickens
out of readers who caught it... ;-)
All in all, I'm glad you liked the story. But if you liked it,
you ought to *love* the story I rewrote for DDA 25, "The Hoard at the
Rainbow's End", coming up next month... it's far better. But then,
like Don Rosa, I usually look at my older stories as less advanced...
in a year I'll probably look at the Rainbow story and find a million
things I coulda done with more style.
Grandma Duck... why am I getting involved?
======= ======= === == = ======= =========
Please note that in Grandma's first appearance anywhere -- a
Taliaferro strip which was reprinted in 1987's WDC&S 522 -- Donald
refers to Grandma as such to the kids, then calls her "Grandma"
himself. Ambiguous? Yes.
The same issue has an article on Taliaferro which states that
he based Grandma on his own mother in law. If Taliaferro identified
with Donald, perhaps this says something. And then maybe it doesn't.
BECAUSE... please note the clincher. The "definitive" Barks
Grandma story -- the one in 1950's Vacation Parade #1 -- may have been
written by an unknown, but it crystallized Grandma's comic book life
for good, as well as stablizing how she lived with Gus, and so forth
and so on. Anyway, it is titled:
DONALD'S GRANDMA DUCK.
It couldn't be plainer than the... er, bill... on your face.
Sincerely,
David Gerstein
"GUS! Gus Goose! Didn't I tell you to go out and beat the
carpet?"
"Yes, Mum!"
<David.A.Gerstein at Williams.edu>
Two comments today.
Mattias on my story in WDC&S 589
======= == == ===== == ===== ===
Gosh, I thought I made it clear that it was *John Clark*
who came up with the Danish pun on page 3... I don't want to lay
claim to that kind of brilliance.
For an example of a bit I'm proud of having thought of myself,
there's the literary pun on page 2 which ought to shock the Dickens
out of readers who caught it... ;-)
All in all, I'm glad you liked the story. But if you liked it,
you ought to *love* the story I rewrote for DDA 25, "The Hoard at the
Rainbow's End", coming up next month... it's far better. But then,
like Don Rosa, I usually look at my older stories as less advanced...
in a year I'll probably look at the Rainbow story and find a million
things I coulda done with more style.
Grandma Duck... why am I getting involved?
======= ======= === == = ======= =========
Please note that in Grandma's first appearance anywhere -- a
Taliaferro strip which was reprinted in 1987's WDC&S 522 -- Donald
refers to Grandma as such to the kids, then calls her "Grandma"
himself. Ambiguous? Yes.
The same issue has an article on Taliaferro which states that
he based Grandma on his own mother in law. If Taliaferro identified
with Donald, perhaps this says something. And then maybe it doesn't.
BECAUSE... please note the clincher. The "definitive" Barks
Grandma story -- the one in 1950's Vacation Parade #1 -- may have been
written by an unknown, but it crystallized Grandma's comic book life
for good, as well as stablizing how she lived with Gus, and so forth
and so on. Anyway, it is titled:
DONALD'S GRANDMA DUCK.
It couldn't be plainer than the... er, bill... on your face.
Sincerely,
David Gerstein
"GUS! Gus Goose! Didn't I tell you to go out and beat the
carpet?"
"Yes, Mum!"
<David.A.Gerstein at Williams.edu>
Don Rosa
+Postage Due+Disney-comics digest #178.
Message 25 -
1993-12-08 at 07:09:31
Yow! What's this about there being a form of "uncle" in Sweden
that indicates the father's side of the family? That will make the use
of my Family Tree tricky in Sweden. Maybe they'll just ignore the Tree?
(Like they ignored parts 1 & 2 of the Lo$?) I know they have similar
sorts of problems with the whole idea of my Lo$ in certain countries --
in Germany, $crooge has always been said to be Grandma's sister also...
in fact, I think they planned to reword the balloons to say that
Hortense turns out to be Grandma Duck (this will get tricky in part 10
when Hortense meets Grandma Duck!). Another German problem is that
they've always written that $crooge is Austrian, rather than a Scot. I'm
not sure how they handled all my kilts and maps of Scotland in parts 1,
5 & 9.
And Mattias -- I don't use the (stupid) name "Dumbella" from the
animated cartoons. I use Taliaferro's "Della" which precedes the
cartoon.
...and "what the heck" might mean "so what?" as you say... but
it more often just means "what" as in "What the heck is goin' on?",
oftened shortened to just "What the heck...?" and further shortened to
the most popular form which I'm sure you've heard and that I use
constantly: "What the...?" It can't be shortened any further to "What?"
since that would be assumed to be short for "What did you say?" (or
perhaps "What the heck did you say?") and would be properly followed by
the response "Whatsamatterwithya'? Ya' DEAF?"
that indicates the father's side of the family? That will make the use
of my Family Tree tricky in Sweden. Maybe they'll just ignore the Tree?
(Like they ignored parts 1 & 2 of the Lo$?) I know they have similar
sorts of problems with the whole idea of my Lo$ in certain countries --
in Germany, $crooge has always been said to be Grandma's sister also...
in fact, I think they planned to reword the balloons to say that
Hortense turns out to be Grandma Duck (this will get tricky in part 10
when Hortense meets Grandma Duck!). Another German problem is that
they've always written that $crooge is Austrian, rather than a Scot. I'm
not sure how they handled all my kilts and maps of Scotland in parts 1,
5 & 9.
And Mattias -- I don't use the (stupid) name "Dumbella" from the
animated cartoons. I use Taliaferro's "Della" which precedes the
cartoon.
...and "what the heck" might mean "so what?" as you say... but
it more often just means "what" as in "What the heck is goin' on?",
oftened shortened to just "What the heck...?" and further shortened to
the most popular form which I'm sure you've heard and that I use
constantly: "What the...?" It can't be shortened any further to "What?"
since that would be assumed to be short for "What did you say?" (or
perhaps "What the heck did you say?") and would be properly followed by
the response "Whatsamatterwithya'? Ya' DEAF?"
Lasse Reichstein Nielsen
From RoC
Message 26 -
1993-12-08 at 09:01:43
EULOGY WARNING! ("Dutchland, Dutchland uber alles")
After holding my breath for a long month, I have finally recieved my
first issues of Dutch Donald Duck (DDD). IMHO it is the best of'em all.
Cover *art*, tasteful colors, beautiful lettering... and the stories
range from early american to modern dutch.
If I could only have one Donald Duck a week, this would be it!
ANOTHER RAINBOW (w/Bub and Bob)
Speaking of colors; Harry once said, that DDD relied on Egmont's staff
to do the colors. But this issue (93-46) prints a Vicar story (D 91374)
that was in Danish 93-05... and the colors don't match at all. Looking
closer, it appeared that the speech bubbles were differently sized and
shaped. Funny thing is, that though the Danish ones were usually way too
big - due to typed captions and the fact that they must fit all Nordic
languages including Finnish - both has parts that are covered in the
other. Mostly they are alike however. What *I* want to know is:
Does a Dutch editor have a Dutch edit the odds?
If you are still reading, Harry, I got hold of your personal message and
the "koffie pot" quote was from the flashback in "Terug naar Klondike."
Now, what is a "stavenuiter?"
GHOST STORY (Dane: "I did it!")
I witnessed another duckrelated item on TV. Lars Jacobsen has his
second album out in Denmark (no funny animals or whatever.) He also
admitted to doing pencils for Donald Duck, in order to eat every day.
A rough halfpage was shown, then the finished with Santanach's name on
it. I firmly believed that Vicar & Co. did it all by themselves.
I also used to believe that Mickey Mouse is pooh, that Carl Barks is
A Nice Guy and that there *is* a San'ty Clause...
SHOW AND TELL (Duck a la Gerstein)
Could you, David, please tell us all a little about how you go about
doing scripts for Disney? Or is it Egmont's payroll you are on? Have
you been briefed about - or even better, recieved a written law of -
"do-s and don't-s" like the infamous Gutenberghus Code of the 70'es?
You do the plots as well as the scripts? Do you have any contact with
the artists - or a choise of them?
OPI ENGLANTIA-KIRJOJA (Somebody misspelled your name, Topi!)
I have just filled in an order form for a 111 page English-Finnish
picture dictionary with illustrations from Al Taliaferro's DD strips.
At least that's what I *think* I did. I sure could use one!
Is it true that 'Roope-Set"a' (Finnish Uncle Scrooge pocket) has a one
pager by Barks *in English* every issue?!
Badalamenti.
- Ole Reichstein - Merry Christmas and Happy Chanukah -
After holding my breath for a long month, I have finally recieved my
first issues of Dutch Donald Duck (DDD). IMHO it is the best of'em all.
Cover *art*, tasteful colors, beautiful lettering... and the stories
range from early american to modern dutch.
If I could only have one Donald Duck a week, this would be it!
ANOTHER RAINBOW (w/Bub and Bob)
Speaking of colors; Harry once said, that DDD relied on Egmont's staff
to do the colors. But this issue (93-46) prints a Vicar story (D 91374)
that was in Danish 93-05... and the colors don't match at all. Looking
closer, it appeared that the speech bubbles were differently sized and
shaped. Funny thing is, that though the Danish ones were usually way too
big - due to typed captions and the fact that they must fit all Nordic
languages including Finnish - both has parts that are covered in the
other. Mostly they are alike however. What *I* want to know is:
Does a Dutch editor have a Dutch edit the odds?
If you are still reading, Harry, I got hold of your personal message and
the "koffie pot" quote was from the flashback in "Terug naar Klondike."
Now, what is a "stavenuiter?"
GHOST STORY (Dane: "I did it!")
I witnessed another duckrelated item on TV. Lars Jacobsen has his
second album out in Denmark (no funny animals or whatever.) He also
admitted to doing pencils for Donald Duck, in order to eat every day.
A rough halfpage was shown, then the finished with Santanach's name on
it. I firmly believed that Vicar & Co. did it all by themselves.
I also used to believe that Mickey Mouse is pooh, that Carl Barks is
A Nice Guy and that there *is* a San'ty Clause...
SHOW AND TELL (Duck a la Gerstein)
Could you, David, please tell us all a little about how you go about
doing scripts for Disney? Or is it Egmont's payroll you are on? Have
you been briefed about - or even better, recieved a written law of -
"do-s and don't-s" like the infamous Gutenberghus Code of the 70'es?
You do the plots as well as the scripts? Do you have any contact with
the artists - or a choise of them?
OPI ENGLANTIA-KIRJOJA (Somebody misspelled your name, Topi!)
I have just filled in an order form for a 111 page English-Finnish
picture dictionary with illustrations from Al Taliaferro's DD strips.
At least that's what I *think* I did. I sure could use one!
Is it true that 'Roope-Set"a' (Finnish Uncle Scrooge pocket) has a one
pager by Barks *in English* every issue?!
Badalamenti.
- Ole Reichstein - Merry Christmas and Happy Chanukah -
LARS
No subject
Message 27 -
1993-12-08 at 10:28:41
Hello everybody,
Being a new subscriber to the list, I hope you forgive me if the
following is an FAQ.
One of the first things I noticed in Don Rosa's stories was his
"graphic quotations" from Barks. Many of his panels contained
almost exact copies of poses, expressions etc. from famous Barks
stories. My question to Don is: Was this done as a kind of "secondary
gag" for the insiders, or maybe as a tribute
to the Old Master, or, as some of your critics claim, simply because
you weren't able to make up your own art from scratch?
It seems to me that this kind of quotations have become more rare in
later years, and Don Rosa is in my opinion the one artist after Barks
who has showed most creativity in exposing the characters in new
situations and expressing their feelings through vivid facial
expressions.
About Grandma Duck: This kind of genealogical questions occupied me a
lot some 20-25 years ago. It is difficult enough to sort such things
out when you base your study on "canonical" sources like Taliaferro,
Barks and Rosa. If you, in addition, try to make up some consistent
theory by including Italian material, the task becomes impossible.
(Can somebody tell me why they waste their time on Italian Duck
stories at all?) Don's famliy tree has finally cleared up things, at
least for Norwegian readers. Anyway, a Duck genealogy must be
*invented*, not "reconstructed".
OK. I think this is enough for a starter.
Lars Lundheim
Lars Lundheim, Phone: +47-7-896284
Trondheim College of Engineering, Fax: +47-7-896286
Department of Electrical Engineering e-mail: lars at elektro.tih.no
N-7005 Trondheim
NORWAY
Being a new subscriber to the list, I hope you forgive me if the
following is an FAQ.
One of the first things I noticed in Don Rosa's stories was his
"graphic quotations" from Barks. Many of his panels contained
almost exact copies of poses, expressions etc. from famous Barks
stories. My question to Don is: Was this done as a kind of "secondary
gag" for the insiders, or maybe as a tribute
to the Old Master, or, as some of your critics claim, simply because
you weren't able to make up your own art from scratch?
It seems to me that this kind of quotations have become more rare in
later years, and Don Rosa is in my opinion the one artist after Barks
who has showed most creativity in exposing the characters in new
situations and expressing their feelings through vivid facial
expressions.
About Grandma Duck: This kind of genealogical questions occupied me a
lot some 20-25 years ago. It is difficult enough to sort such things
out when you base your study on "canonical" sources like Taliaferro,
Barks and Rosa. If you, in addition, try to make up some consistent
theory by including Italian material, the task becomes impossible.
(Can somebody tell me why they waste their time on Italian Duck
stories at all?) Don's famliy tree has finally cleared up things, at
least for Norwegian readers. Anyway, a Duck genealogy must be
*invented*, not "reconstructed".
OK. I think this is enough for a starter.
Lars Lundheim
Lars Lundheim, Phone: +47-7-896284
Trondheim College of Engineering, Fax: +47-7-896286
Department of Electrical Engineering e-mail: lars at elektro.tih.no
N-7005 Trondheim
NORWAY
Mattias Hallin
Grandma Duck revisited
Message 28 -
1993-12-08 at 10:45:40
Fredrik:
I'm sorry if the "ton" of my last posting was not quite "bon"; I
certainly didn't mean to be rude, BUT I didn't quite catch the (obviously)
underlying irony of your statements - now, whether this is because YOU weren't
clear enough in writin' 'em, or because I am just plain thickheaded, I don't
know, really, nor do I care, really. But: please accept my tender apologies if
I seemed a bit offensive in my reply.
Now, concerning "original references", the choice of words are perhaps a little
unwise, because there is of course no such thing as REAL original references in
donaldism; i.e. since the ducks and their universe has no REAL, physical
existence in OUR universe, but is a work of fiction, there can be no absolute
truths about such matters as who is related to who, and so on and so forth. In
theory, therefore, any writer can claim that his version is the better one, and
we can agree or disagree as it pleases us.
I think, however, that there is certain guidelines, albeit weak ones, for us to
follow if and when we feel that we have to chose between conflicting versions.
Some of these are, to my mind:
a) priority
b) major influence on consolidating
c) creative consciousness and/or integrity.
I shall try to think this through, but for the time there's no time (it's back
to the salt mines for me, me lads)...
And David: I'll get back to you, too...
Mattias
I'm sorry if the "ton" of my last posting was not quite "bon"; I
certainly didn't mean to be rude, BUT I didn't quite catch the (obviously)
underlying irony of your statements - now, whether this is because YOU weren't
clear enough in writin' 'em, or because I am just plain thickheaded, I don't
know, really, nor do I care, really. But: please accept my tender apologies if
I seemed a bit offensive in my reply.
Now, concerning "original references", the choice of words are perhaps a little
unwise, because there is of course no such thing as REAL original references in
donaldism; i.e. since the ducks and their universe has no REAL, physical
existence in OUR universe, but is a work of fiction, there can be no absolute
truths about such matters as who is related to who, and so on and so forth. In
theory, therefore, any writer can claim that his version is the better one, and
we can agree or disagree as it pleases us.
I think, however, that there is certain guidelines, albeit weak ones, for us to
follow if and when we feel that we have to chose between conflicting versions.
Some of these are, to my mind:
a) priority
b) major influence on consolidating
c) creative consciousness and/or integrity.
I shall try to think this through, but for the time there's no time (it's back
to the salt mines for me, me lads)...
And David: I'll get back to you, too...
Mattias
Torsten Wesley Adair
Mickey and Goofy at EPCOT
Message 29 -
1993-12-09 at 03:00:46
A friend of mine who works as a school librarian gave me a copy of Mickey
and Goofy Explore the Universe of Energy at EPCOT Center.
First, the technical aspects. There are no production codes on the cover
or on the first page. There is no indicia, and the copyright is 1985 Walt
Disney Productions. The publisher is Walt Disney Educational Media
Company. It is in color, and sixteen pages long. The inside front cover
has a crossword puzzle, the inside back cover is a one panel picture of
Exxon's Energy Exchange. The back cover is an advertisement for Exxon (do
they still have a service station near the Magic Kingdom entrance?).
Now for the content (SPOILERS AHOY FOR THOSE OF YOU WHO ARE WAITING FOR
GLADSTONE TO PRINT THIS).
Page One to Three Mickey and Goofy enter the UoE, and go on the ride
(no lines!!). Page three uses a flashback balloon, but it is unclear how
it or why it is used. It seems that M&G are walking through the exhibit,
and then leave Florida for other places. Perhaps all this takes place in
the UoE? (Could someone enlighten me?)
Page Six M&G fly to Prudhoe Bay, Alaska.
Page Eight In panel one, Mickey shows how crude petroleum is shipped from
Prudhoe Bay to Valdez. (This one panel will probably make this comic book
a sought-after collectible.)
Page Eleven In panel six, Mickey finally starts talking about other
forms of fuel.
Page Twelve Electricity is discussed.
Page Thirteen Coal produced electricity is discussed.
Page Fourteen Nuclear energy.
Page Fifteen Hyroelcetricity, synthetic fuels, oil shale.
Page Sixteen Solar energy.
The information is presented clearly, in a logical manner, and I learned a
few things I didn't know. Mickey was "on model" most of the time, and
Goofy had some bad jokes. About two-thirds of this comic book is used to
discuss petroleum. The only mention of wind energy is in the crossword
puzzle, and some of the more interesting sources of energy (geothermal,
mirror farms, electric cars) are omitted. Of course, since this is
DisneyWorld, nothing bad or good is said about oil spills, pollution, or
nuclear waste.
My friend picked up her copies while she was at EPCOT. If she has any
copies left over after her students get them, she will let me know. She
says there is also one about machines.
Torsten Adair torsten at cwis.unomaha.edu Omaha, NE, USA
"Yes! And experts say that by the year 2000, one-fifth of our nation's
electricity may come from nuclear power!" Mickey Mouse
and Goofy Explore the Universe of Energy at EPCOT Center.
First, the technical aspects. There are no production codes on the cover
or on the first page. There is no indicia, and the copyright is 1985 Walt
Disney Productions. The publisher is Walt Disney Educational Media
Company. It is in color, and sixteen pages long. The inside front cover
has a crossword puzzle, the inside back cover is a one panel picture of
Exxon's Energy Exchange. The back cover is an advertisement for Exxon (do
they still have a service station near the Magic Kingdom entrance?).
Now for the content (SPOILERS AHOY FOR THOSE OF YOU WHO ARE WAITING FOR
GLADSTONE TO PRINT THIS).
Page One to Three Mickey and Goofy enter the UoE, and go on the ride
(no lines!!). Page three uses a flashback balloon, but it is unclear how
it or why it is used. It seems that M&G are walking through the exhibit,
and then leave Florida for other places. Perhaps all this takes place in
the UoE? (Could someone enlighten me?)
Page Six M&G fly to Prudhoe Bay, Alaska.
Page Eight In panel one, Mickey shows how crude petroleum is shipped from
Prudhoe Bay to Valdez. (This one panel will probably make this comic book
a sought-after collectible.)
Page Eleven In panel six, Mickey finally starts talking about other
forms of fuel.
Page Twelve Electricity is discussed.
Page Thirteen Coal produced electricity is discussed.
Page Fourteen Nuclear energy.
Page Fifteen Hyroelcetricity, synthetic fuels, oil shale.
Page Sixteen Solar energy.
The information is presented clearly, in a logical manner, and I learned a
few things I didn't know. Mickey was "on model" most of the time, and
Goofy had some bad jokes. About two-thirds of this comic book is used to
discuss petroleum. The only mention of wind energy is in the crossword
puzzle, and some of the more interesting sources of energy (geothermal,
mirror farms, electric cars) are omitted. Of course, since this is
DisneyWorld, nothing bad or good is said about oil spills, pollution, or
nuclear waste.
My friend picked up her copies while she was at EPCOT. If she has any
copies left over after her students get them, she will let me know. She
says there is also one about machines.
Torsten Adair torsten at cwis.unomaha.edu Omaha, NE, USA
"Yes! And experts say that by the year 2000, one-fifth of our nation's
electricity may come from nuclear power!" Mickey Mouse
David A Gerstein
Disney-comics digest #179.
Message 30 -
1993-12-09 at 05:54:03
Hi, Folks!
Two topics today.
Don Rosa on German Ducks (Ich Bin Ein Entenhausener!)
=== ==== == ====== ===== ==== === === ===============
"in Germany, $crooge has always been said to be Grandma's
sister also... in fact, I think they planned to reword the balloons
to say that Hortense turns out to be Grandma Duck (this will get
tricky in part 10 when Hortense meets Grandma Duck!). Another German
problem is that they've always written that $crooge is Austrian,
rather than a Scot."
In Germany, Grandma Duck's first name is often used, and there
it's not Elvira but Dorette (pronounced Doretta). If you see Hortense
being renamed Dorette in the German version, there's a clue that
they're definitely going with that plan. I'm wondering what they're
going to do to part ten though! Cut it up to remove the
Hortense/Grandma encounter?
As for Scrooge's nationality, never ONCE do I find a reference
to Scrooge as being Austrian in the German comics. Anyway, he's
definitely Scottish now that the Lo$ appears here. Whether the
Germans place Duckburg in America is unknown to me. In the early
1950s translations, it was located in Germany (references to Brooklyn
being changed to Frankfurt, and so forth).
In 1985 the series "Geschichte aus Onkel Dagoberts
Schatztruhe" was published. This original German series, in issue #5,
showed Scrooge travelling around the U. S. -- and while he was
outside of Duckburg, his name went from Dagobert Duck to Dagobert
MCDUCK!! I can't think of a story with a more convoluted angle
on things. I'm not gonna *try* to explain it. Anyone else see this?
Anyone else want to try to explain it?
RoC discusses "Duck a la Gerstein"
=== ========= ===== = == =========
"Could you, David, please tell us all a little about how you
go about doing scripts for Disney? Or is it Egmont's payroll you are
on? Have you been briefed about - or even better, recieved a written
law of "do-s and don't-s" like the infamous Gutenberghus Code of the
70s? You do the plots as well as the scripts? Do you have any contact
with the artists - or a choice of them?"
I have two jobs.
A) For GLADSTONE Comics I take foreign stories and rewrite
them in English. These include Egmont, Oberon, and Italian stories.
1. Egmont's stories are all available in English.
a. If I want to rewrite a story right when I first see
it in a foreign comic, I find a German edition and
translate my own English from that. Then I send my
version to Gladstone, and they order the proofs from
Egmont so they can print the story.
b. If I want Gladstone to see the foreign story before
I make my version, I have them order it from Egmont
BEFORE I do any work on it. A script also comes,
a script which is prepared in English by Egmont.
Unfortunately, Egmont's English scripts are usually
quite flat, as English is not the first language for
most of their writers. So I rewrite the story from
their English into my English.
c. I prefer to work from German because the Egmont
English scripts are flat, while the German ones have
been made juicer over in Deutschland, giving me
ideas to work with.
2. Oberon's stories are only available in Dutch.
a. Sometimes I will choose a Dutch story to translate
on my own (as I recently did when Harry sent me one
I liked). I'll translate it from either Dutch or
German, then send my translation to Gladstone, and
they'll use the code number on it to order the proofs.
b. Sometimes Gladstone will choose a Dutch story for me
to do. They'll already have the proofs ordered, and
just send me copies of them to use in making my
version. Then when I send it back to them, they're
all ready to print it.
3. Italian stories are only available in Italian.
a. My method here is just like Dutch method (a) above,
except that I have a translator translate it into
rough English (I know no Italian), then I rewrite
that as I would rewrite an English Egmont script.
b. If Gladstone chooses an Italian story for me to do,
it's just like method (a) except that the process
starts with them sending me the story, not my
finding it in an Italian comic.
c. Once in a while I will find an Italian story I want
to do in a German edition... like method (a) only I
don't have to have someone else do the rough
translation, I do it all.
B) For EGMONT Publishing, with whom I have a separate
contract, I do two different things.
1. I make original comic stories in script form. That is,
I first write a summary... if it's approved, then a
plot synopsis, breaking the story's plot down into
pages. Then, finally, a script, which reads like this:
_Pic 1_ Scrooge leans into Donald's face,
bellowing loudly. Donald cringes
back in shock.
Scrooge: When I want your opinion, I'll *ask*
for it, nephew!
Sound (Scrooge): *SNORT!*
2. I am also an archivist for Egmont. For example: Last
summer I was told, "We are hiring new Mickey Mouse
writers and we want you to make a guidebook for them,
describing all the locales -- western settings, African
settings, and such -- that Mickey's Gottfredson stories
took place in; heroes and villains local to those
places; important cities and sites in those places; and
a list of the stories in which all of these are relevant."
Hence a thing like this:
AFRICAN LOCALES.
PLACES: Aita Klah Kurfu ("Mickey Mouse Joins the
Foreign Legion"), Jujubwa Jungle ("In Search of Jungle
Treasure"), Tom-Tom Island ("An Education for
Thursday").
SITES: Cannibal Village (in Jujubwa Jungle, "In Search
of Jungle Treasure"), Foreign Legion Outpost (in Aita
Klah Kurfu, "Foreign Legion").
NATIVE HEROES: Abdomah ("In Search of Jungle
Treasure"), M'Jumjo (elephant, "An Education for
Thursday"), Piekh Abou ("Foreign Legion"), Thursday
("An Education for Thursday").
NATIVE VILLAINS: Cannibals ("In Search of Jungle
Treasure"), Yussuf Aiper ("Foreign Legion").
IMPORTANT FACTS: Pegleg Pete was once a sergeant at
the Foreign Legion outpost of Aita Klah Kurfu.
IMPORTANT STORIES: "An Education for Thursday," "In
Search of Jungle Treasure," "Mickey Mouse Joins the
Foreign Legion."
I did this for all the Gottfredson and Walsh stories
(being more detailed with pre-Walsh ones, BTW)
with about 20 different locales. Now, when a new
writer does, say, a story set in Africa, they can
easily make it a sequel to a Gottfredson story by
looking up the characters who Mickey knows in the
region, then including them in the new story. In
other words, my list is used to make "canonical"
Mouse stories like Scarpa does.
I did another such list for Donald and Scrooge, using
Barks and Rosa as my sources, at about the same time.
*GAAAAAASP!* There's what I do for Gladstone and Egmont.
Things may change of course... for example, there's a distinct
possibility that I will be writing an original long Duck adventure for
Gladstone in the next year. If so, it will be made in the Egmont
script format.
Egmont has guidelines on use of Disney characters, but they
are rather few. Hardly any are given to a new writer. The writer
usually finds them out the hard way.
A) Avoid having guns actually fired whenever possible.
Showing them is fine, though. (This IS a written guideline.)
B) Try not to use Mickey's nephews, as MM becomes a dull
figure of authority when they're around.
C) Try not to have Mickey constantly lecturing Goofy... he
should not be the straight man to Goofy.
D) Mickey is not to be motivated by a quest for money.
E) Goofy is not aware that he is dumb.
I ran afoul of rule (D) in my very first Egmont MM story, in
which Mickey planned to get rich quick. I was told: "Though Mickey
would have done this in pre-1935 stories, we don't want Mickey to seem
greedy. The Mickey we use is that of 1936... in personality."
Egmont is *VERY* serious about changing MM in their comics
now. They are trying to get away from the older Danish stories and
into Gottfredson-like ones. Right now they're slowly easing Mickey
from his long pants back to short ones -- they MAY have to stop if
their publishers in many countries object. My story will be the
second where he has the shorts... If they can get him into his
shorts, the next goal is to get rid of his shirt...
That's all for now, folks. Quack! Squeak! says
David Gerstein
"The only way to get ahead of Mickey Mouse is to *run* in
*front* of him!"
<David.A.Gerstein at Williams.edu>
Two topics today.
Don Rosa on German Ducks (Ich Bin Ein Entenhausener!)
=== ==== == ====== ===== ==== === === ===============
"in Germany, $crooge has always been said to be Grandma's
sister also... in fact, I think they planned to reword the balloons
to say that Hortense turns out to be Grandma Duck (this will get
tricky in part 10 when Hortense meets Grandma Duck!). Another German
problem is that they've always written that $crooge is Austrian,
rather than a Scot."
In Germany, Grandma Duck's first name is often used, and there
it's not Elvira but Dorette (pronounced Doretta). If you see Hortense
being renamed Dorette in the German version, there's a clue that
they're definitely going with that plan. I'm wondering what they're
going to do to part ten though! Cut it up to remove the
Hortense/Grandma encounter?
As for Scrooge's nationality, never ONCE do I find a reference
to Scrooge as being Austrian in the German comics. Anyway, he's
definitely Scottish now that the Lo$ appears here. Whether the
Germans place Duckburg in America is unknown to me. In the early
1950s translations, it was located in Germany (references to Brooklyn
being changed to Frankfurt, and so forth).
In 1985 the series "Geschichte aus Onkel Dagoberts
Schatztruhe" was published. This original German series, in issue #5,
showed Scrooge travelling around the U. S. -- and while he was
outside of Duckburg, his name went from Dagobert Duck to Dagobert
MCDUCK!! I can't think of a story with a more convoluted angle
on things. I'm not gonna *try* to explain it. Anyone else see this?
Anyone else want to try to explain it?
RoC discusses "Duck a la Gerstein"
=== ========= ===== = == =========
"Could you, David, please tell us all a little about how you
go about doing scripts for Disney? Or is it Egmont's payroll you are
on? Have you been briefed about - or even better, recieved a written
law of "do-s and don't-s" like the infamous Gutenberghus Code of the
70s? You do the plots as well as the scripts? Do you have any contact
with the artists - or a choice of them?"
I have two jobs.
A) For GLADSTONE Comics I take foreign stories and rewrite
them in English. These include Egmont, Oberon, and Italian stories.
1. Egmont's stories are all available in English.
a. If I want to rewrite a story right when I first see
it in a foreign comic, I find a German edition and
translate my own English from that. Then I send my
version to Gladstone, and they order the proofs from
Egmont so they can print the story.
b. If I want Gladstone to see the foreign story before
I make my version, I have them order it from Egmont
BEFORE I do any work on it. A script also comes,
a script which is prepared in English by Egmont.
Unfortunately, Egmont's English scripts are usually
quite flat, as English is not the first language for
most of their writers. So I rewrite the story from
their English into my English.
c. I prefer to work from German because the Egmont
English scripts are flat, while the German ones have
been made juicer over in Deutschland, giving me
ideas to work with.
2. Oberon's stories are only available in Dutch.
a. Sometimes I will choose a Dutch story to translate
on my own (as I recently did when Harry sent me one
I liked). I'll translate it from either Dutch or
German, then send my translation to Gladstone, and
they'll use the code number on it to order the proofs.
b. Sometimes Gladstone will choose a Dutch story for me
to do. They'll already have the proofs ordered, and
just send me copies of them to use in making my
version. Then when I send it back to them, they're
all ready to print it.
3. Italian stories are only available in Italian.
a. My method here is just like Dutch method (a) above,
except that I have a translator translate it into
rough English (I know no Italian), then I rewrite
that as I would rewrite an English Egmont script.
b. If Gladstone chooses an Italian story for me to do,
it's just like method (a) except that the process
starts with them sending me the story, not my
finding it in an Italian comic.
c. Once in a while I will find an Italian story I want
to do in a German edition... like method (a) only I
don't have to have someone else do the rough
translation, I do it all.
B) For EGMONT Publishing, with whom I have a separate
contract, I do two different things.
1. I make original comic stories in script form. That is,
I first write a summary... if it's approved, then a
plot synopsis, breaking the story's plot down into
pages. Then, finally, a script, which reads like this:
_Pic 1_ Scrooge leans into Donald's face,
bellowing loudly. Donald cringes
back in shock.
Scrooge: When I want your opinion, I'll *ask*
for it, nephew!
Sound (Scrooge): *SNORT!*
2. I am also an archivist for Egmont. For example: Last
summer I was told, "We are hiring new Mickey Mouse
writers and we want you to make a guidebook for them,
describing all the locales -- western settings, African
settings, and such -- that Mickey's Gottfredson stories
took place in; heroes and villains local to those
places; important cities and sites in those places; and
a list of the stories in which all of these are relevant."
Hence a thing like this:
AFRICAN LOCALES.
PLACES: Aita Klah Kurfu ("Mickey Mouse Joins the
Foreign Legion"), Jujubwa Jungle ("In Search of Jungle
Treasure"), Tom-Tom Island ("An Education for
Thursday").
SITES: Cannibal Village (in Jujubwa Jungle, "In Search
of Jungle Treasure"), Foreign Legion Outpost (in Aita
Klah Kurfu, "Foreign Legion").
NATIVE HEROES: Abdomah ("In Search of Jungle
Treasure"), M'Jumjo (elephant, "An Education for
Thursday"), Piekh Abou ("Foreign Legion"), Thursday
("An Education for Thursday").
NATIVE VILLAINS: Cannibals ("In Search of Jungle
Treasure"), Yussuf Aiper ("Foreign Legion").
IMPORTANT FACTS: Pegleg Pete was once a sergeant at
the Foreign Legion outpost of Aita Klah Kurfu.
IMPORTANT STORIES: "An Education for Thursday," "In
Search of Jungle Treasure," "Mickey Mouse Joins the
Foreign Legion."
I did this for all the Gottfredson and Walsh stories
(being more detailed with pre-Walsh ones, BTW)
with about 20 different locales. Now, when a new
writer does, say, a story set in Africa, they can
easily make it a sequel to a Gottfredson story by
looking up the characters who Mickey knows in the
region, then including them in the new story. In
other words, my list is used to make "canonical"
Mouse stories like Scarpa does.
I did another such list for Donald and Scrooge, using
Barks and Rosa as my sources, at about the same time.
*GAAAAAASP!* There's what I do for Gladstone and Egmont.
Things may change of course... for example, there's a distinct
possibility that I will be writing an original long Duck adventure for
Gladstone in the next year. If so, it will be made in the Egmont
script format.
Egmont has guidelines on use of Disney characters, but they
are rather few. Hardly any are given to a new writer. The writer
usually finds them out the hard way.
A) Avoid having guns actually fired whenever possible.
Showing them is fine, though. (This IS a written guideline.)
B) Try not to use Mickey's nephews, as MM becomes a dull
figure of authority when they're around.
C) Try not to have Mickey constantly lecturing Goofy... he
should not be the straight man to Goofy.
D) Mickey is not to be motivated by a quest for money.
E) Goofy is not aware that he is dumb.
I ran afoul of rule (D) in my very first Egmont MM story, in
which Mickey planned to get rich quick. I was told: "Though Mickey
would have done this in pre-1935 stories, we don't want Mickey to seem
greedy. The Mickey we use is that of 1936... in personality."
Egmont is *VERY* serious about changing MM in their comics
now. They are trying to get away from the older Danish stories and
into Gottfredson-like ones. Right now they're slowly easing Mickey
from his long pants back to short ones -- they MAY have to stop if
their publishers in many countries object. My story will be the
second where he has the shorts... If they can get him into his
shorts, the next goal is to get rid of his shirt...
That's all for now, folks. Quack! Squeak! says
David Gerstein
"The only way to get ahead of Mickey Mouse is to *run* in
*front* of him!"
<David.A.Gerstein at Williams.edu>