I am replying to several Digests that have piled up...
J.K.HUNG:
Sorry... I do Disney comics. That means I'm among the only
freelance artists on earth who are not allowed to retain their art
despite the fact that it is our legal property. This is possible for
Disney to do since there are so few freelancers doing Disney comics and,
of them, only ONE of them makes an issue of it -- therefore, the archaic
and cruel (and illegal) system is perpetuated since no one can afford to
sue Disney nor afford the ILL WILL that move would result in from a
corporation like that.
In other words: no art for sale. No art for not selling. No art
period. Sorry.
MIKE P.:
I regard Barks' "magic Hourglass" as a story that simply didn't
happen since there's no other way to explain away its incongruities. You
shouldn't say it was a "mistake" on Barks' part -- he simply did not
realize what sort of character he would later develop this new $crooge
into. And it's not that the story involved magic -- as you say, other
$crooge/Barks stories involve magic. "The Magic Hourglass" stated that
$crooge owed his entire fortune to magical luck, whereas the key part of
$crooge is that he EARNED every cent he ever made and owes not a penny
of it to luck. (This also shows you how wrong-headed is the popular
stupid idea that his #1 Dime is a "LUCKY dime" to which he similarly
owes his success... that started with that "DuckTales" show, but I blast
the idea to smithereens in the last chapter of the "Lo$".) There are a
scant few other old Barks stories that I similarly regard as
non-existant... one is "Island in the Sky" if that's the one that opens
saying that Duckburg is a city advanced FAR beyond all other Earth
cities, with it's own space station and where rocket travel to the stars
is commonplace for everyone... that Duckburg is tantamount to a city
from the 23rd century or something. That's plain silly and I'm sure
resulted from a very dry idea period for Barks, or perhaps an order from
his editors to try to make the comics more like the SF or super-hero
comics that were slowly passing the Disneys in sales in the 60s.
Why do I set my stories in the 50s rather than shrug off the
glaring chronological impossibilities by saying that $crooge McDuck is
just a cartoon character? You mean, just say he's living in "Toontown"
or something? Ugh! 'Scuse me, but I have far more respect for these
characters and comics than that, and I hope you do as well! I would
never insult $crooge or Donald like that. Besides, that seems far more
contrived than simply saying (if asked) the stories take place many
years ago. No other writers make references to $crooge's past history so
they don't need to deal with the problem, which is fine for them; I'd
never expect them to model what they do after my stuff... why should
they?
Look back at that story where I mentioned a satellite... as I
recall, it was the "Curse of Nostrildamus". I specifically said a
"Brutopian Sputnik", Brutopia being Russia. That puts the story in 1957.
Now, I HAVE made a reference to a "lot" of satellites being in orbit in
another tale, but if you want to try to hang me on that one, I can
always simply say I've decided that story never happened (as I decided
about the Lillehammer Olympics story I did at Norway's request -- since
it had to have taken place in 1993, it was obviously an "imaginary
tale").
STEPHEN F.:
I think Gladstone might use my Donald Duck Family Tree in WDC&S
#600.
BOB W.:
The "D.U.C.K." on the cover of U$#290 was in the antelope horn
in the lower right corner, just above where you should see Mickey Mouse
poking his lil' head up (though I notice that MM is almost missing from
many covers due to the way the presses cut the cover pages).
Why wouldn't $crooge recall Flintheart later in life? You
should know better than to ask me a question that, as the writer, I can
always be free to come up with all manner of contrived explanations
for. But this one poses little problem. Do YOU think that young
Flintheart with his short hair and no glasses and cheap clothing looked
much like the 1950's Flintheart? And consider how briefly $crooge was
involved with him -- several hours on one day, then several minutes the
next... then never saw the guy again for over 70 YEARS! Naturally he
wouldn't recognize him!
HARRY:
Well, prepare to be offended, but I used Amsterdam simply
because there wouldn't be a single other city I could name that would
alert an American reader that I was referring to the Netherlands.
Actually, I'll bet 90% of younger Americans would never have heard of
even Amsterdam... and never be able to find the Netherlands on a map IF
they've ever heard of IT!
Anyway, surely there's someone somewhere in Amsterdam who grows
a few Tulips. I never said the guy had a huge farm. And besides that...
that story was taking place in 1886. No tulip fields near Amsterdam even
in 1886? (Probably not -- I'm just struggling to explain a poor choice
for a city where the guy is growing his tulips.) Should I have said
Rotterdam? Maybe .01% of Americans might know that name.
ED:
Before you go to a lot of trouble to get prices on your comic
books, be sure you understand how your insurance works. Insurance of a
comic collection, or ANY sort of "collectible", is NOT covered under a
standard home-owner policy as I often find that people assume. You must
have a special separate policy for such crazy stuff, and those policies
are VERY expensive... perhaps 1/10 of the full value per year. It stands
to reason that insurance companies will not allow policy holders to come
around and say "my house burnt down and I lost my vast collection of
used comic books that were worth "$175,000 according to the Overstreet
Price Guide" -- the adjuster would laugh in his face. Insurance policies
don't cover "alleged" values placed on silly stuff like used comic books
by wacky collectors. Now, if you have a rider on your policy that says
the "contents" of your house are covered up to umpteen thousand dollars
and you have a small comic collection which fits inside that umpteen,
you have a CHANCE of recovering some of it. But otherwise you'll need a
separate policy.
DAVID:
Was that the first time you'd read "Horsing Around with
History"? I thought they were passing it out in San Diego.
Other questions people at Gladstone mentioned:
What did the albatross have to do with anything when that fake
button on $crooge's coat was doing all the transmitting?
Is there a slight similarity to "Treasure Under Glass", with
the pumping out of the water so the site can be inspected as if it were
dry land?
Why would $crooge think the Trojan Horse would be "the most
valuable treasure in the world"? After all, it was just wood. But LATER
he discovered that the shipwrecked sailors, rather than use the wooden
horse to construct a raft to save themselves, instead spent the rest of
their lives sheathing the thing in gold to "amuse themselves". Huh?!
Rather than immediately take the thing to his Bin upon reaching
Duckburg in order to protect it, $crooge left the golden horse, the
"most valuable treasure in the world", unguarded on a public dock to
convince would-be thieves that it was worthless. Huh?!
And right -- the main question... once the Beagle Boys had
their hands on "the most valuable treasure in the world" and could have
gotten away with it scott free, they instead simply use it to sneak
into the locked and guarded Money Bin, from which they would STILL need
to devise a means of escaping with even a few bags of money. Huh?!
FABIO:
I just learned some (alleged) facts about my family in Montiago
that maybe you have a means of checking for me! I'm told that my
relatives on the Mazzoli side of the family own a "multi-million dollar"
printing / publishing company there named "Lema". Why there would be a
major book or magazine publisher in such a remote village sounds dubious
to me, but that's what somebody is telling me. Ever hear of "Lema"???
About DAN SHANE:
I feel like telling you people something about this new Dan
Shane guy you've seen leave a few messages here. He lives here in
Louisville, is one of my dearest pals, and frequently gives me advice
on my stories and inspects the unfinished art for corrections. By gad,
he had DINNER here just a few hours ago! I'm not suggesting that puts
him in any sort of enviable position, but I noticed he wasn't popping
off about the fact, so I thought I'd do it for him. (Gosh, maybe it's
supposed to be secret? Oops.)
ALSO:
I hope I don't seem to ignore any questions when I disappear
from here for about a week after this Tuesday.
Author
Topic: 199412
(199 messages)
Don Rosa
Disney-comics digest #526.
Message 136 -
1994-12-19 at 07:12:28
Andreas Jansson
Horsing around...
Message 137 -
1994-12-19 at 13:08:40
Having read the new Barks/Van Horn story (Horsing around with history)
a couple of hours ago, I simply couldn't resist giving my own opinions
about it.
I agree with the person who said that Van Horn is better at "gag-
stories" and I would rather have read this story with Daan Jippes
as the artist. Anyway, all in all I'm very pleased with the result!
I don't really agree with David Gerstein when he says that there is a
big logic flaw in this story. He doesn't understand how the BB find
the Trojan Horse. That couldn't be so difficult since they hear
everything the ducks say, after having replaced $crooge's button with
a microphone. I then presume (although I'm not quite sure It's
obvious in the story) that the device carried by the BB's pet
albatross is a recorder, which the albatross returns to the BB every
night or maybe even more often. The albatross disappears from the boat
as it hears the ducks talking about going home (the BB returns home
too, with the albatross). One of H, D and L says that it couldn't
have flown by itself, indicating that the BB where nearby all the
time.
One of them also saw the albatross on some sort of radar equipment as
they came to Greece (BB knew excactly where they were to go).
I can more easely agree with Fabio Gadduci's point: why didn't the
Beagle Boys take the Trojan Horse for themselves? but I can think of
three explanations:
1) The value of the horse is extremely high. But why? It's not so
much because of the gold but for the historical value!
(Indeed, I find the fact that $crooge seems to intend to keep this
fantastic discovery a secret revolting and unethical, thus also making
it possible for the BB (or anyone else) to steal the horse and claim
they found it.)
So when I think of it maybe you're right Fabio, at least IF $crooge
intends to keep the horse a secret, and I presume he'll have to
unless he likes to mess with the Greek authorities.
2) Plated(?) gold is very thin and wouldn't give much money on the
market and the horse is also very big and hard to steal for the BB.
3) Trying to rob $crooge is what the BB live for. This is the
strongest argument.
By the way, I found the last half-page in the story most inviting!
Andreas Jansson, Boraas, Sweeden
A dark and rainy day in Boraas... Christmas is getting closer...
a couple of hours ago, I simply couldn't resist giving my own opinions
about it.
I agree with the person who said that Van Horn is better at "gag-
stories" and I would rather have read this story with Daan Jippes
as the artist. Anyway, all in all I'm very pleased with the result!
I don't really agree with David Gerstein when he says that there is a
big logic flaw in this story. He doesn't understand how the BB find
the Trojan Horse. That couldn't be so difficult since they hear
everything the ducks say, after having replaced $crooge's button with
a microphone. I then presume (although I'm not quite sure It's
obvious in the story) that the device carried by the BB's pet
albatross is a recorder, which the albatross returns to the BB every
night or maybe even more often. The albatross disappears from the boat
as it hears the ducks talking about going home (the BB returns home
too, with the albatross). One of H, D and L says that it couldn't
have flown by itself, indicating that the BB where nearby all the
time.
One of them also saw the albatross on some sort of radar equipment as
they came to Greece (BB knew excactly where they were to go).
I can more easely agree with Fabio Gadduci's point: why didn't the
Beagle Boys take the Trojan Horse for themselves? but I can think of
three explanations:
1) The value of the horse is extremely high. But why? It's not so
much because of the gold but for the historical value!
(Indeed, I find the fact that $crooge seems to intend to keep this
fantastic discovery a secret revolting and unethical, thus also making
it possible for the BB (or anyone else) to steal the horse and claim
they found it.)
So when I think of it maybe you're right Fabio, at least IF $crooge
intends to keep the horse a secret, and I presume he'll have to
unless he likes to mess with the Greek authorities.
2) Plated(?) gold is very thin and wouldn't give much money on the
market and the horse is also very big and hard to steal for the BB.
3) Trying to rob $crooge is what the BB live for. This is the
strongest argument.
By the way, I found the last half-page in the story most inviting!
Andreas Jansson, Boraas, Sweeden
A dark and rainy day in Boraas... Christmas is getting closer...
Daniel Shane
Disney-comics digest #526.
Message 138 -
1994-12-19 at 14:13:00
DON:
I certainly don't mind folks knowing who I am, where I live or what I do,
any more than you do. Please stress, though, that my contributions to the
best Duck stories drawn AND WRITTEN! these days are minimal. The opinions I
offer are mine, but that doesn't make them right. The little bit of
research I do could easily be done by yourself, and you do most all of it,
anyway.
I help in a very small way because it's fun, and I would support anyone who
was working to create something special for its own sake, not for gold or glory.
The assistance I offer might polish a few slightly rough edges, but the
inspiration and real work is pure Rosa.
I certainly don't mind folks knowing who I am, where I live or what I do,
any more than you do. Please stress, though, that my contributions to the
best Duck stories drawn AND WRITTEN! these days are minimal. The opinions I
offer are mine, but that doesn't make them right. The little bit of
research I do could easily be done by yourself, and you do most all of it,
anyway.
I help in a very small way because it's fun, and I would support anyone who
was working to create something special for its own sake, not for gold or glory.
The assistance I offer might polish a few slightly rough edges, but the
inspiration and real work is pure Rosa.
P.M. Floore
Disney-humans
Message 139 -
1994-12-19 at 15:19:44
This morning I was browsing the Disney E-mail messages about the
Notre Duck story. I read this story in the Dutch DD when I was about 6
or 7 and in fact it was the only story I kept before I started to
collect DD again. I always found it an intrigueing and 'gothic' story
but I never knew why. Maybe it was because it was published as a
sequel in the Dutch DD and the masked piper became more mysterious as
I had to wait a week for the end of the story.
But it made me think about the more mysterious Barks tales and to my
opinion they all featured humans (semi-caricatural to be sure). For
instance: Ancient Persia, Secret agent triple XXX, the strange geese
tendress in the Golden Feathers story, the northwest coast Indians in
Land of the Totempoles and there are more. Marten Toonder (NL)
(remember the Toonder discussion a few weeks ago?) also used humans
in his (mostly animal) stories to a greater effect.
To my opinion, the role of those humans made the Ducks look more alien
(or they were more alien for the Ducks) but also tinier,if you look
at the furniture and buildings, and in general they were pretty
threatening for the Duck family. It even looked if Uncle $ was less
powerfull in spite of his wealth.
When the humans disappeared and the dogs took over, it seemed that
the proportions in the Duck universum also shrunk to fit the Ducks.
Q: Was it a Barks development or was there an ukase from the office of
the big leveller WD Corp. and is it visible in other Disney output?
Groeten, Pieter Floore (from were they tulips grow)
PS:Speaking of Amsterdam, did anyone remember the dynamite HANS
BRINKER story with the enormous clog drifting around? Where there any
tulips involved?
PSPS: Willy Vandersteen (for foreigners: the Belgian
with an almost bigger
production than WD) used a similar idea for a SUSKE and WISKE story:
The Flying Clog.
Notre Duck story. I read this story in the Dutch DD when I was about 6
or 7 and in fact it was the only story I kept before I started to
collect DD again. I always found it an intrigueing and 'gothic' story
but I never knew why. Maybe it was because it was published as a
sequel in the Dutch DD and the masked piper became more mysterious as
I had to wait a week for the end of the story.
But it made me think about the more mysterious Barks tales and to my
opinion they all featured humans (semi-caricatural to be sure). For
instance: Ancient Persia, Secret agent triple XXX, the strange geese
tendress in the Golden Feathers story, the northwest coast Indians in
Land of the Totempoles and there are more. Marten Toonder (NL)
(remember the Toonder discussion a few weeks ago?) also used humans
in his (mostly animal) stories to a greater effect.
To my opinion, the role of those humans made the Ducks look more alien
(or they were more alien for the Ducks) but also tinier,if you look
at the furniture and buildings, and in general they were pretty
threatening for the Duck family. It even looked if Uncle $ was less
powerfull in spite of his wealth.
When the humans disappeared and the dogs took over, it seemed that
the proportions in the Duck universum also shrunk to fit the Ducks.
Q: Was it a Barks development or was there an ukase from the office of
the big leveller WD Corp. and is it visible in other Disney output?
Groeten, Pieter Floore (from were they tulips grow)
PS:Speaking of Amsterdam, did anyone remember the dynamite HANS
BRINKER story with the enormous clog drifting around? Where there any
tulips involved?
PSPS: Willy Vandersteen (for foreigners: the Belgian
with an almost bigger
production than WD) used a similar idea for a SUSKE and WISKE story:
The Flying Clog.
Wilmer Rivers
Dutch cities
Message 140 -
1994-12-19 at 16:16:07
Don Rosa writes (about Amsterdam):
> (Probably not -- I'm just struggling to explain a poor choice
> for a city where the guy is growing his tulips.) Should I have said
> Rotterdam? Maybe .01% of Americans might know that name.
Probably a lot more than that, if they're old enough to recall the
following example of schoolyard humor. This joke was VERY popular
when I was a kid:
Teacher: "Class, can anyone use the word 'Rotterdam' in a sentence?"
Student: "My sister has a bad case of poison ivy, and I wish it
would Rotterdam leg off!"
As I said, a VERY popular joke on the schoolyard when I was a kid
(back when wooly mammoths trod the earth).
Wilmer Rivers
> (Probably not -- I'm just struggling to explain a poor choice
> for a city where the guy is growing his tulips.) Should I have said
> Rotterdam? Maybe .01% of Americans might know that name.
Probably a lot more than that, if they're old enough to recall the
following example of schoolyard humor. This joke was VERY popular
when I was a kid:
Teacher: "Class, can anyone use the word 'Rotterdam' in a sentence?"
Student: "My sister has a bad case of poison ivy, and I wish it
would Rotterdam leg off!"
As I said, a VERY popular joke on the schoolyard when I was a kid
(back when wooly mammoths trod the earth).
Wilmer Rivers
H.W. Fluks
Database (Jo/rgen in digest #524)
Message 141 -
1994-12-19 at 19:15:11
J[some iso-8859-character]RGEN, about a (Norwegian) index:
> I use 1994 instead of 94, because the format otherwise will look a bit
> strange in about five years.
I never thought of that! I didn't even think our database would last that
long...
> If you (Harry) left that out to save space,
> why not remove plotter and inker instead?
In a lot of Egmont stories, plotter and writer are two different persons
(look at Ole's Danish index). In the MM newspaper stories, we also need
a Plotter and Inker column.
> How do you 'normalize' the story codes?
I have some undocumented algorithm... Apart from sorting, the main goal
is to find the same story in different files, to be able to make cross
references. And if I want to find D2572, I always grep on '2572', or look
in the file 'd-0-6999.stories', where all D-coded stories are listed
sorted by code.
> Too many comments can also make machine reading more difficult.
??? Most of the comments in my database are _generated_ by the machine.
Most of the others have a standard layout, such as [Ap: FE].
> [...] I would have to look through more files to find a certain story.
Are you planning to put the entire index in one file? When people asked for
smaller files on ftp, I limited the size of a file to 64K. In the new version
of the Database (to be expected in January..), the Swedish index will contain
7 files, the Dutch 16, the Gladstone index 6, and the Western (Dell/Gold Key)
index will contain 18 files!
> Maybe [empty columns] should be filled by something
I only learned about 'awk' a few weeks ago (really!). And I think it is more
readable to have spaces on a line. Of course, one could always make a program
that generates output that is more suitable for 'awk', and less suitable for
humans.
> Suggestions to solve the problem [...] Stop using MS-DOS ;-)
MS-DOS is not the problem. Most of the time, I work on a Unix machine. Only
when I do things at home, a transfer files to my PC. Latin-1 is no problem
there. The problem is in my mailer (HP's "SoftBench Mail") that seems to
convert those characters before I can do anything about it. Maybe I should
go back to "elm"...
> New Barks story in Italy
> Sounds interesting, but I would rather guess that the Italians haven't
> heard about a country far up in the north, than that Barks suddenly
> have become very productive ;-)
Possibly they meant it was the first publication in its ORIGINAL LANGUAGE.
BTW: I thought Luigi had left us. Nice to see you're still there, Luigi!
--Harry.
> I use 1994 instead of 94, because the format otherwise will look a bit
> strange in about five years.
I never thought of that! I didn't even think our database would last that
long...
> If you (Harry) left that out to save space,
> why not remove plotter and inker instead?
In a lot of Egmont stories, plotter and writer are two different persons
(look at Ole's Danish index). In the MM newspaper stories, we also need
a Plotter and Inker column.
> How do you 'normalize' the story codes?
I have some undocumented algorithm... Apart from sorting, the main goal
is to find the same story in different files, to be able to make cross
references. And if I want to find D2572, I always grep on '2572', or look
in the file 'd-0-6999.stories', where all D-coded stories are listed
sorted by code.
> Too many comments can also make machine reading more difficult.
??? Most of the comments in my database are _generated_ by the machine.
Most of the others have a standard layout, such as [Ap: FE].
> [...] I would have to look through more files to find a certain story.
Are you planning to put the entire index in one file? When people asked for
smaller files on ftp, I limited the size of a file to 64K. In the new version
of the Database (to be expected in January..), the Swedish index will contain
7 files, the Dutch 16, the Gladstone index 6, and the Western (Dell/Gold Key)
index will contain 18 files!
> Maybe [empty columns] should be filled by something
I only learned about 'awk' a few weeks ago (really!). And I think it is more
readable to have spaces on a line. Of course, one could always make a program
that generates output that is more suitable for 'awk', and less suitable for
humans.
> Suggestions to solve the problem [...] Stop using MS-DOS ;-)
MS-DOS is not the problem. Most of the time, I work on a Unix machine. Only
when I do things at home, a transfer files to my PC. Latin-1 is no problem
there. The problem is in my mailer (HP's "SoftBench Mail") that seems to
convert those characters before I can do anything about it. Maybe I should
go back to "elm"...
> New Barks story in Italy
> Sounds interesting, but I would rather guess that the Italians haven't
> heard about a country far up in the north, than that Barks suddenly
> have become very productive ;-)
Possibly they meant it was the first publication in its ORIGINAL LANGUAGE.
BTW: I thought Luigi had left us. Nice to see you're still there, Luigi!
--Harry.
H.W. Fluks
Amsterdam
Message 142 -
1994-12-19 at 19:44:47
DON:
You are right about Amsterdam, of course. It doesn't even have a million
inhabitants. Why would anyone outside the Netherlands know about Amsterdam?
Most foreigners probably don't even know that The Netherlands and Holland
are just aliases for the same country.
> No tulip fields near Amsterdam even in 1886?
No, that won't help you... Amsterdam was a lot smaller at that time. They
annexed other towns and villages after that.
> Should I have said Rotterdam?
That would have been even worse... (But Rotterdam was at least mentioned once
in a Barks story, so "real" Barks fans should know it!)
--Harry.
(Den Haag - Nederland)
You are right about Amsterdam, of course. It doesn't even have a million
inhabitants. Why would anyone outside the Netherlands know about Amsterdam?
Most foreigners probably don't even know that The Netherlands and Holland
are just aliases for the same country.
> No tulip fields near Amsterdam even in 1886?
No, that won't help you... Amsterdam was a lot smaller at that time. They
annexed other towns and villages after that.
> Should I have said Rotterdam?
That would have been even worse... (But Rotterdam was at least mentioned once
in a Barks story, so "real" Barks fans should know it!)
--Harry.
(Den Haag - Nederland)
H.W. Fluks
Disney-humans
Message 143 -
1994-12-19 at 19:56:16
Welkom, Pieter! Finally another un-lurking Dutchman! We haven't had that
since Andreas Gammel started the International Disney characters names list,
loong ago.
> But it made me think about the more mysterious Barks tales and to my
> opinion they all featured humans (semi-caricatural to be sure).
Barks' editor once told him to stop using real humans in his stories. That
must have been in the early 50s. I don't remember that the goose woman was
human. Didn't she have a little dog-nose?
> Speaking of Amsterdam, did anyone remember the dynamite HANS
> BRINKER story with the enormous clog drifting around? Where there any
> tulips involved?
You mean "Hero of the Dike" (WDC 288, reprinted in WDC 431, Dutch DD 1981-41,
"DD en andere verhalen" 17, and Swedish KA 65-28)?
Quite impossible for Duckburg to be in a below-sea-level place, giving
the other Barks stories. Don Rosa once placed Duckburg in the north of
California. He probably would say that this story was just a fairy tale,
"It never really happened".
I don't remember seeing any tulips in that story.
Groeten,
--Harry.
since Andreas Gammel started the International Disney characters names list,
loong ago.
> But it made me think about the more mysterious Barks tales and to my
> opinion they all featured humans (semi-caricatural to be sure).
Barks' editor once told him to stop using real humans in his stories. That
must have been in the early 50s. I don't remember that the goose woman was
human. Didn't she have a little dog-nose?
> Speaking of Amsterdam, did anyone remember the dynamite HANS
> BRINKER story with the enormous clog drifting around? Where there any
> tulips involved?
You mean "Hero of the Dike" (WDC 288, reprinted in WDC 431, Dutch DD 1981-41,
"DD en andere verhalen" 17, and Swedish KA 65-28)?
Quite impossible for Duckburg to be in a below-sea-level place, giving
the other Barks stories. Don Rosa once placed Duckburg in the north of
California. He probably would say that this story was just a fairy tale,
"It never really happened".
I don't remember seeing any tulips in that story.
Groeten,
--Harry.
M. Mitchell Marmel
Dutch cities
Message 144 -
1994-12-19 at 20:51:04
Wilmer reminisces:
>Student: "My sister has a bad case of poison ivy, and I wish it
>would Rotterdam leg off!"
>
>As I said, a VERY popular joke on the schoolyard when I was a kid
>(back when wooly mammoths trod the earth).
Don't remember that one, but it does bring to mind an old song:
"They all went off to Amster-SHHH!
They all went off to Amster-SHHH!
Amster! Amster! SHHH! SHHH! SHHH!
Amster! Amster! SHHH! SHHH! SHHH!
They all went off to Amster-SHHH!"
The song goes on to say how you shouldn't say that naughty word, the
singers reply that they're going to sing it anyhow, then sing, " They all
went off to Amster-DAM!!!" with great relish...
-MMM-
============================================================================
M. Mitchell Marmel \ Scattered, smothered, covered, chunked,
Drexel University \ whipped, beaten, chained and pierced.
Department of Materials Engineering \ *THE BEST HASHBROWNS IN THE WORLD!*
Fibrous Materials Research Laboratory\ marmelmm at dunx1.ocs.drexel.edu
============================================================================
>Student: "My sister has a bad case of poison ivy, and I wish it
>would Rotterdam leg off!"
>
>As I said, a VERY popular joke on the schoolyard when I was a kid
>(back when wooly mammoths trod the earth).
Don't remember that one, but it does bring to mind an old song:
"They all went off to Amster-SHHH!
They all went off to Amster-SHHH!
Amster! Amster! SHHH! SHHH! SHHH!
Amster! Amster! SHHH! SHHH! SHHH!
They all went off to Amster-SHHH!"
The song goes on to say how you shouldn't say that naughty word, the
singers reply that they're going to sing it anyhow, then sing, " They all
went off to Amster-DAM!!!" with great relish...
-MMM-
============================================================================
M. Mitchell Marmel \ Scattered, smothered, covered, chunked,
Drexel University \ whipped, beaten, chained and pierced.
Department of Materials Engineering \ *THE BEST HASHBROWNS IN THE WORLD!*
Fibrous Materials Research Laboratory\ marmelmm at dunx1.ocs.drexel.edu
============================================================================
Dwight Decker
Dutch cities
Message 145 -
1994-12-19 at 21:21:37
>
> Sing-Along-With Mitch reminisces:
>
>
> Don't remember that one, but it does bring to mind an old song:
>
> "They all went off to Amster-SHHH!
> They all went off to Amster-SHHH!
> Amster! Amster! SHHH! SHHH! SHHH!
> Amster! Amster! SHHH! SHHH! SHHH!
> They all went off to Amster-SHHH!"
>
> The song goes on to say how you shouldn't say that naughty word, the
> singers reply that they're going to sing it anyhow, then sing, " They all
> went off to Amster-DAM!!!" with great relish...
>
I remember that song from my larval phase! It was a group-song kind of
thing to keep the kids occupied on long bus rides or sitting around the
fire at summer camp. Even then I thought it was kind of stupid, as the
whole point was being woefully cute about not saying a naughty word --
"damn" -- that by the '60s was already pretty weak as far as cussing
went. But, an earlier day thought that kind of humor -- hinting at
something naughty but not quite coming out and saying it -- was the
cat's pajamas. I have a laserdisc called "Landmarks of Early Film"
that collects surviving scraps of film footage from the turn of the
century, and there's a short on it based entirely on the premise of
a family with the last name of "Dam" -- "The Whole Dam Family and the
Dam Dog." Well, that's actually coming out and saying it, but changing
the context so that it's acceptable and yet playing on the forbidden
meaning as well.
These days, "damn" has pretty well lost its power. Still can't say it
in Disney comics, though. In my occasional editorial work for Egmont,
I was once given a script to rewrite that had been written in English
(sort of) by a native Dane. At one point he had Donald yelling at HD&L:
"You damned kids!" Uh...no. Not in Disney comics!
--Dwight Decker
> Sing-Along-With Mitch reminisces:
>
>
> Don't remember that one, but it does bring to mind an old song:
>
> "They all went off to Amster-SHHH!
> They all went off to Amster-SHHH!
> Amster! Amster! SHHH! SHHH! SHHH!
> Amster! Amster! SHHH! SHHH! SHHH!
> They all went off to Amster-SHHH!"
>
> The song goes on to say how you shouldn't say that naughty word, the
> singers reply that they're going to sing it anyhow, then sing, " They all
> went off to Amster-DAM!!!" with great relish...
>
I remember that song from my larval phase! It was a group-song kind of
thing to keep the kids occupied on long bus rides or sitting around the
fire at summer camp. Even then I thought it was kind of stupid, as the
whole point was being woefully cute about not saying a naughty word --
"damn" -- that by the '60s was already pretty weak as far as cussing
went. But, an earlier day thought that kind of humor -- hinting at
something naughty but not quite coming out and saying it -- was the
cat's pajamas. I have a laserdisc called "Landmarks of Early Film"
that collects surviving scraps of film footage from the turn of the
century, and there's a short on it based entirely on the premise of
a family with the last name of "Dam" -- "The Whole Dam Family and the
Dam Dog." Well, that's actually coming out and saying it, but changing
the context so that it's acceptable and yet playing on the forbidden
meaning as well.
These days, "damn" has pretty well lost its power. Still can't say it
in Disney comics, though. In my occasional editorial work for Egmont,
I was once given a script to rewrite that had been written in English
(sort of) by a native Dane. At one point he had Donald yelling at HD&L:
"You damned kids!" Uh...no. Not in Disney comics!
--Dwight Decker
Bror Hellman
Artists rights again
Message 146 -
1994-12-19 at 23:33:47
> I also want to point out something about the situation with Marvel, which
> doesn't relate to Don Rosa at all. If Marvel and DC had actually bought
> the rights to the artwork and not just to reproduce it, they would have
> owed New York State a fortune in sales tax for all the art. Apparently,
> buying reproduction rights didn't get taxed but buying original art did.
>
> This was one of the main reasons that Marvel and DC started returning
> art on a regular basis.
So... With a bit of luck, IRS could make Disney fall...
--
---
Steamboat Willie Data: +46 (0)8 626 84 09 (V34)
hellman at proxxi.uf.se
> doesn't relate to Don Rosa at all. If Marvel and DC had actually bought
> the rights to the artwork and not just to reproduce it, they would have
> owed New York State a fortune in sales tax for all the art. Apparently,
> buying reproduction rights didn't get taxed but buying original art did.
>
> This was one of the main reasons that Marvel and DC started returning
> art on a regular basis.
So... With a bit of luck, IRS could make Disney fall...
--
---
Steamboat Willie Data: +46 (0)8 626 84 09 (V34)
hellman at proxxi.uf.se
Don Rosa
Disney-comics digest #527.
Message 147 -
1994-12-20 at 06:01:23
TO ?:
I have been forgetting to mention this the last 37 times (or so)
that I've posted messages here, but someone discussing "The Isle of
Golden Geese" finally reminded me...
Who was it that wanted to know where Barks had ever used "Egg's
Tooth Rock" as a Duckburg landmark? I think they heard him mention it
on the Euro tour, or read an interview?
It would seem astounding that Barks would recall this minute
detail, but in that "Isle of G.G." in the first panel is mentioned a
ship floundering on "HAG'S Tooth Rock"... that would very easilly sound
like "EGG'S Tooth" when spoken.
I have been forgetting to mention this the last 37 times (or so)
that I've posted messages here, but someone discussing "The Isle of
Golden Geese" finally reminded me...
Who was it that wanted to know where Barks had ever used "Egg's
Tooth Rock" as a Duckburg landmark? I think they heard him mention it
on the Euro tour, or read an interview?
It would seem astounding that Barks would recall this minute
detail, but in that "Isle of G.G." in the first panel is mentioned a
ship floundering on "HAG'S Tooth Rock"... that would very easilly sound
like "EGG'S Tooth" when spoken.
Fredrik Ekman
Disney-humans
Message 148 -
1994-12-20 at 15:10:49
On Mon, 19 Dec 1994, H.W. Fluks wrote:
> > But it made me think about the more mysterious Barks tales and to my
> > opinion they all featured humans (semi-caricatural to be sure).
>
> Barks' editor once told him to stop using real humans in his stories. That
> must have been in the early 50s. I don't remember that the goose woman was
> human. Didn't she have a little dog-nose?
The story where Barks stopped using "real" humans was "In Old California"
(W-OS 328), which the database dates November 2nd, 1950 so early 50s is
quite on the mark.
/F
> > But it made me think about the more mysterious Barks tales and to my
> > opinion they all featured humans (semi-caricatural to be sure).
>
> Barks' editor once told him to stop using real humans in his stories. That
> must have been in the early 50s. I don't remember that the goose woman was
> human. Didn't she have a little dog-nose?
The story where Barks stopped using "real" humans was "In Old California"
(W-OS 328), which the database dates November 2nd, 1950 so early 50s is
quite on the mark.
/F
James Williams
Disney-comics digest #527.
Message 149 -
1994-12-20 at 15:27:39
Jorgen wrote "In the earlier series there were made intermezzos by".
I've seen you mention those horrible intermezzos done in the Italian
pocket books on multiple ocassions. What exactly is an intermezzo?
Jorgen described a Detroit Electric: "The cabin, or living room, has
seats for four people. The front seats are heading backwards, and the
back seats are heading forward. The driver is sitting in the back seat."
So there are two people sitting in front of the driver and facing
them? Where were the controls, just in the isle?
Wilmer asked "[Bark's newest oil painting] appears to be a painting of
some kind of "money mine", with Scrooge hauling out carts full of
coins. Has anyone seen this painting in more detail, or at least for
more than 3 seconds? What exactly is it all about? Is it an original
concept, or is it based on a Barks story?" I've seen the lithiograph
based on the oil painting. Oddly enough, it and one based on "The
Golden Fleecing" appeared in the catalog for the Disney Store. I
don't remember the name of the lithiograph, but I do distintly remember
not being able to tell which story it came from. Scrooge and company
are standing in front of a gold mine inspecting a cart. What's odd
is that the cart is full of gold coins instead of nuggets.
Harry wrote: "I'm eyeing a grouping of $crooge Comic, Photo of Carl, and
his Autograph, all in a nice 11 x 14 frame under glass. It's about the
only thing close to my price range." I've seen this and I thought it
was overpriced. From what I remember, it isn't even a real issue of
US, just a facimilie made for this item. If I remember correctly,
the comic is suppose to be "Only a Poor Old Man".
Don wrote: "Sorry... I do Disney comics. That means I'm among the only
freelance artists on earth who are not allowed to retain their art
despite the fact that it is our legal property." I know this is a
touchy subject with you and righfully so. But, I like to know why
your artwork is your legal property. I thought that when Egmont
purchased that artwork from you, that Egmont was now the legal owner of
the artwork. Hence what happens at Egmont and Gladstone may be
immoral, it isn't illeagle. I'm not trying to split hairs. If Disney
is really breaking laws, then something should and can be done about it.
Also, a year ago, I would have agreed with you that Disney was unbeatable.
But recent events around here have shown that they can be forced to
change their policies. Disney purchased land and got the proper
licenses to build a theme park in Virginia. But, the public
outcry and bad press against Disney was so bad that they changed
their minds and sold the land. I'm pretty certain Disney lost
a bit of money in all of this.
James Williams
I've seen you mention those horrible intermezzos done in the Italian
pocket books on multiple ocassions. What exactly is an intermezzo?
Jorgen described a Detroit Electric: "The cabin, or living room, has
seats for four people. The front seats are heading backwards, and the
back seats are heading forward. The driver is sitting in the back seat."
So there are two people sitting in front of the driver and facing
them? Where were the controls, just in the isle?
Wilmer asked "[Bark's newest oil painting] appears to be a painting of
some kind of "money mine", with Scrooge hauling out carts full of
coins. Has anyone seen this painting in more detail, or at least for
more than 3 seconds? What exactly is it all about? Is it an original
concept, or is it based on a Barks story?" I've seen the lithiograph
based on the oil painting. Oddly enough, it and one based on "The
Golden Fleecing" appeared in the catalog for the Disney Store. I
don't remember the name of the lithiograph, but I do distintly remember
not being able to tell which story it came from. Scrooge and company
are standing in front of a gold mine inspecting a cart. What's odd
is that the cart is full of gold coins instead of nuggets.
Harry wrote: "I'm eyeing a grouping of $crooge Comic, Photo of Carl, and
his Autograph, all in a nice 11 x 14 frame under glass. It's about the
only thing close to my price range." I've seen this and I thought it
was overpriced. From what I remember, it isn't even a real issue of
US, just a facimilie made for this item. If I remember correctly,
the comic is suppose to be "Only a Poor Old Man".
Don wrote: "Sorry... I do Disney comics. That means I'm among the only
freelance artists on earth who are not allowed to retain their art
despite the fact that it is our legal property." I know this is a
touchy subject with you and righfully so. But, I like to know why
your artwork is your legal property. I thought that when Egmont
purchased that artwork from you, that Egmont was now the legal owner of
the artwork. Hence what happens at Egmont and Gladstone may be
immoral, it isn't illeagle. I'm not trying to split hairs. If Disney
is really breaking laws, then something should and can be done about it.
Also, a year ago, I would have agreed with you that Disney was unbeatable.
But recent events around here have shown that they can be forced to
change their policies. Disney purchased land and got the proper
licenses to build a theme park in Virginia. But, the public
outcry and bad press against Disney was so bad that they changed
their minds and sold the land. I'm pretty certain Disney lost
a bit of money in all of this.
James Williams
Fredrik Ekman
Database (Fredrik and Ed in digest #526)
Message 150 -
1994-12-20 at 15:37:42
On Mon, 19 Dec 1994, H.W. Fluks wrote:
> Shall I send you the "original" files?
No, I will get them from Anders. Or are you saying that your files are
even *more* original?
> > Ouch! Who invented this crap about me being the local Van Horn expert?
>
> I did. 8-) At least you seem to be his biggest fan. You never denied that...
No, and noone challenged it. I suppose I am one of the bigger on this
list, anyway. But expert? Nah, don't think so.
About the database: I came to think of another thing that would be nice
to have. How about the month of release for a particular book (or year or
week or whatever is applicable)? That would enable searches for
information such as "What Barks stories were published during the
eighties?" or "When did Van Horn have his first Uncle Scrooge story
published?" This information already exists for most of the Swedish and
Dutch comics, but would need to be added for special books and all
American titles. What do you think?
/F
> Shall I send you the "original" files?
No, I will get them from Anders. Or are you saying that your files are
even *more* original?
> > Ouch! Who invented this crap about me being the local Van Horn expert?
>
> I did. 8-) At least you seem to be his biggest fan. You never denied that...
No, and noone challenged it. I suppose I am one of the bigger on this
list, anyway. But expert? Nah, don't think so.
About the database: I came to think of another thing that would be nice
to have. How about the month of release for a particular book (or year or
week or whatever is applicable)? That would enable searches for
information such as "What Barks stories were published during the
eighties?" or "When did Van Horn have his first Uncle Scrooge story
published?" This information already exists for most of the Swedish and
Dutch comics, but would need to be added for special books and all
American titles. What do you think?
/F