Keskustelujen arkisto

DONALD MARKSTEIN on SCROOGE'S HEIRS --
<<Actually, I kinda like the idea of sinking the Money Bin,
intact, into the deepest part of the ocean. I see it as Scrooge
providing for future people like himself. He's pretty much
picked the world clean of ancient treasures, so that's his way
of giving them something to Quest after...>>

Shades of the DUCKTALES episode "The Billionaire Beagle Boys
Club," in which Scrooge's bin was sunk in the ocean, and the next
ep opened with a flotilla of Duckburgian citizens going after the
loot in anything that would float. But wouldn't Scrooge first want to
save out at least a portion of the fortune for his relatives?

KATIE SULLIVAN re Launchpad:
<<Point received and acknowledged. It's just my personal opinion. I
wouldn't have resented LP at all if he had been merely added to the
show. It was the exclusion of Donald which I lamented over, because, to
me, he's such a great part of the Duck/McDuck adventures. It's not LP's
fault, I guess.>>

I would have liked to have seen more of Donald in the DUCKTALES eps,
honestly. As the Egmont folks are proving, Donald and LP are NOT
duplicate characters. But LP brought enough to the DT world that I ended
up not minding Don's absence all that much.

KATIE re the DUCKTALES "Back to the Klondike":
<<...you'll notice that in the DuckTales
version, Scrooge and Goldie only worked together on the claim, not lived
there. In Barks' tale, she stayed there the whole month.>>

Yes, but on TV, the viewer was invited to draw the conclusion that S&G were
living together at the same time that they were working together. Even if you
dispute this, there's all those "rest periods" between work shifts to
consider...

DANIEL VAN EIJMEREN:
<<The (traditional) duck-universe is one of the few things I enjoy of life,
which I think sucks - not (nescessarily) personally, but by simply one
look at the daily news or the things I see around me. For this reason, it's
hard for me to see the duck-universe threatened the way it is now.>>

A piece of gentle advice (from one who's occasionally been accused of
taking the Ducks too seriously): get yourself out of this mindset, if at
all possible. No one can "threaten" the Duck universe unless YOU choose
to interpret some activity as being "threatening." Refusing to read "Lost in
the Andes" because you didn't like "Return to Plain Awful" and you think
that Barks' and Rosa's worlds have become too "melded together" is a personal
decision, not one forced upon you by some outside agency.

<<Instead of what has been said here before, I *do* think older stories are
changed whenever a sequel or a construction is made on them. The original
story itself will indeed always remain the same, but *not* the experience
of reading it.>>

Again, the "change" is not a function of what the artist or writer does.
Rather, it depends upon how the reader chooses to interpret what is
happening. "Return to Plain Awful" does not negate what happened in 1949.
It is certainly possible to regard the two stories as wholly separate, just
as it is possible to simultaneously enjoy a Barks story that was adapted for
TV
by DUCKTALES and the adaptation itself. But the READER is responsible for
making the distinction. If the reader cannot separate the circumstances
under which tales are told, that's hardly the artist's fault.

-- Christopher E. Barat
(Email removed)
http://members.aol.com/cebarat/home.htm

KATIE SULLIVAN --
I didn't mean to imply -- nor, I think, DID I imply --
that you were utterly lacking in any interest except Disney
Ducks. But you HAVE said, on more than one occasion, that you
have no other interest in Disney comics; and you HAVE said, on
more than one occasion, that you wish the ANTHOLOGY title,
WDC&S, would feature more Ducks, i.e., less variety.
Well, excuse me for viewing such suggestions in so
unfavorable a light, but VARIETY is exactly what has made WDC&S
such an excellent comic. As I've been saying for years -- since
before you were born, in fact -- WDC&S is the best American
anthology comic book of all time. It's gone down, some, since
its true heyday -- starting as early as the 1950s, in fact, when
the pagecount was cut. But recently, it's been back up to
something approximating its old quality; and it's the fact that
there's so much space in it, enough to show the TRUE range of
Disney comics, that has made that possible. I would truly hate
to see it turned into a Duck book, when there's so much other
good stuff to put in it.

LUNA STORTA --
So, in your view, Goldie had kids, then stashed them in
an institution so she could run off to the Klondike and pursue
her dream of becoming a dance-hall girl?
Sorry, but I'd like to think she's a better person than that.
>>"What is making you think that in Europe Donald and Mickey live
>> in the same city?"
Oh, I dunno -- the fact that Egmont gives Mickey's town's
name as "Duckburg"? (If it's different in Italy, all that shows
is the absurdity of concerns that anyone might co-opt, say,
Scrooge's personal history, and set a particular sequence of
events in concrete -- there's plenty of room in Disney comics
for alternate views.)
There no longer seems to be a location called
"Mouseton".
>>"UNCLE Ludwig Von Drake????? I always considered LVD not as a
>> relative to the ducks."
I clearly recall his introduction, in the late 1950s or
early '60s. He was clearly and unequivocally introduced as
Donald Duck's uncle. Nothing that has appeared in the U.S. since
that time has contradicted that, and much has confirmed it. And
this isn't just in comics; he was first used in animation. Again,
if it's different in Italy, that simply shows how broad a scope
Disney comics offer for differing interpretations.

RICH BELLACERA --
Bucky Bug didn't actually SEE Mickey Mouse -- as I
recall, Mickey "appeared" in a thought balloon when Bucky and
Bootle Beetle were discussing humans. (I could look up the issue
number, if you're really curious, but don't recall it offhand.)
I don't recall any reference, by any creator, anywhere,
that lists Gyro as a relative of the Ducks.

Quack, Don

The Finnish Roope-seta (Uncle Scrooge) magazine recently published this
article on Don Rosa's trip to Finland. I mailed the translation to Don and
he asked me to send it to the list as well, as it could then serve as his
travel report from Finland. You may also notice how he, in this interview,
makes a point of NOT wanting to be the "Voice of God" on Scrooge's history
or the Duck universe. If something sounds funny in the translation, it's
because I've tried to maintain much of the style of the original article
with my limited skill of English language.

Mike - The Finnish Trekkie

x x x

An eventful turn of the year

Happy New Year, readers! The above title has no connection to any specific
party, but rather to /all/ the excitin happenings that have brought color
to the lives of Disney fans in the dark nights of autumn and early winter.
Just think about all the things that have happened! In the end of last
year a biography of Scrooge McDuck was published, the duck artist Don Rosa
visited our country, and the movie Hercules begun its conquest of Finland.
And the speed is about to accelerate during this year! Next month the
popular "Walt Disney's World On Ice" ice show will come to our country,
this time with Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs.

Celebration for Hercules

[I'm not translating this since it's just a few chapters about some
banquet they threw for Hercules' premier.]

Don Rosa's visit

The greatest media event of the year's end was, however, Don Rosa's visit
to Finland. The artist arrived to the country on Wednesday, 5th of
November, and early next morning begun giving interviews for radio and tv.

On the second day of the visit Rosa visited the editorial offices of Aku
Ankka and Roope-setä, giving dozens of autographs to the employees of the
publishing house. Some people even got him talked into drawing a small
picture of Uncle Scrooge on his scetch pad.

The artist was slightly shocked when he was asked to sign a wooden cannon
which a fan had built. As a model he had used the cannon that was
portrayed in the1951 Carl Barks story [which's English name escapes me -
the cannon was the one Scrooge got from the Bour War, however]. I trust
you remember that swell story? That was the one where the Beagle Boys
premiered, and it could well be the only one where the Beagles end up
having victory over Scrooge. The cannon ball, you see, didn't shove off
the villains, but made a big hole in the Money Bin wall. From there the
coins and bills were easy for the robbers to shovel to their buckets.

Third degree from the press

That same morning a press conference was held in the hotel Marski. There
Rosa was happy to answer all the questions concerning his new book "The
Life and Times of Scrooge McDuck".

He named chapter 11 the most difficult episode of the series. That's
because it involves such a long period in Scrooge's life, spanning almost
30 years. All the parts had their own difficulties. While they had to be
amusing, Rosa tried to include /all/ the facts concerning that time ever
appearing or mentioned in Barks stories.

"In Barks' stories there were perhaps five things I could place on my
biography. One of them was the magic hour glass in an early Uncle Scrooge
story. That hour glass brought Scrooge luck in monetary business, and was,
therefore, the reason for his great wealth. I didn't see that fit for
Scrooge's character. After all, he made his fortune with hard work and
frugality. Thus, I left the magic hour glass off my history."

Only very rarely did Rosa change an idea used by Barks. One of them was
changing the name of Donald's sister, or Huey, Dewey and Louie's mother.
In his own family tree Barks had named her /Thelma/. However, in the first
Huey, Dewey and Louie movie from 1938 the letter coming with the ducklings
was signer /Dumbella/.

"I saw that name foolish and even insultive. No one's mother could be
called Dumbella! So I chose the name Della, which really was the original
name used in the newspaper strip appearing a few months before, in October
1937. Della Duck sounded good to me, so I decided to go for it. (In
Finland Donald's sister Della is also known as Sanelma. Compositor's
note.)

Here in Finland the most enthusiastic Duck fans have been wondering the
absence of Ludwig van Drake from Don Rosa's chronicle and his Duck Family
Tree.

"Ludwig von Drake is included in my own private family tree, but the
Danish publisher wanted me to remove me from the official family tree. On
the other hand, they wanted me to include Fethry Duck, Donald's foolish
beatnick cousin. Fethry, however, is hardly known at all in America. And
when it comes to Ludwig, I think he should be married to Scrooge's sister
Matilda. There's no other way for me to include him in the Duck family. He
is probably of the European branch of the family. Even the name implies
Austria. Ludwig would thus be Scrooge's brother-in-law or Donald's aunt's
spouse."

Rosa ensured also, that his book was in no means intended to become an
official Scrooge Bible. It is only his own view of the miser's history,
and other artists are free to add their own views and ideas to it. He
himself was already planning on making new chapters to Scrooge's story. To
the question if a similar chronicle of Donald or perhaps even of Grandma
Duck could be expected, Rosa answered:

"I'd like to create stories of Grandma Duck, for example of his life with
the cowboys as a young duck maiden. Donald on the other hand is a typical
john doe who can't really be chronicled. Scrooge, on the other hand, is an
unending well of stories."

Many Finns were surprised hearing, that in America, the true birth country
of comics, no comic books can be found from the news stands, as they can
in Europe.

"Donald Duck of the comic books is completely unknown in the United States
nowadays. We have lost several generations of comics users. But especially
in Northern Europe Donald and Scrooge seem to be like national heroes."

Rosa told also, that the co-operation with the Egmont publishing company
located in Denmark is fractionless.

"It feels as if it were a small, nice family business, although it, in
truth, is quite a mega corporation. I'm allowed to work rather freely.
Even though they didn't want Ludwig in the family tree, they let me place
him sitting with the other ducks among the guests of honor in Scrooge's
50th anniversary story (Aku Ankka 28/1997). They don't bother to pick nits
in such trivial matters."

All attendance records broken

In the signing events in the book stores of Helsinki and Tampere the
artist was an unbelievable success. The first night in the Akateeminen
kirjakauppa of Tapiola the new books went out of stock during signing.
Luckily Rosa's previous work "The Guardians of the Lost Library" was still
in to be signed. In the Akateeminen kirjakauppa of Helsinki he broke all
previous attendance records. The line of customers went around the store
and reached the street outside the store. Not even Pavarotti or Mauno
Koivisto [the previous president of Finland, now writing books] managed to
draw this much fans.

Some opportunities to meet Finnish artists and collectors of the genre
were also arranged for Don Rosa. He was a bit down for not being able to
attend the publication party of the Asterix in Savo dialect in the
restaurant Kellarikrouvi in Helsinki. They offered real 'kalakukko' from
Savo. [don't worry, you didn't miss much] In the comics festival in the
Old Students' House Rosa and Asterix's Savo dialect translator Olavi
Rytkonen had a chance to meet one another. In the picture below the master
writers from both sides of The Pond are showing each the work of the
other.

This was Don Rosa's second visit to our country, and we'll surely see the
sympatethic artist here again. If not before, then surely when he writes a
story about Scrooge and Donald in Santa Claus' land. He got this idea when
he was reading a traveling magazine in the aeroplane on his way to
Finland. A story about Scrooge and friends seeking proof of the historical
Santa Claus, and finding Santa's true homeland from Finnish Lapland. Let's
hope this plan becomes reality.

Did you notice, by the way, that with this issue, a new exciting series of
pictures begings? It consists of the most exciting American Scrooge covers
by Carl Barks. So long, dear readers!

--------------------------------
End of Disney comics Digest V98 Issue #24
*****************************************

DON MARKSTEIN:
I've made an interesting discovery - that the original versions
of the S-coded stories (1960s to mid-1980s) have Mickey living in
Mouseville, which is the *original* name of his town from "Mickey Mouse
Outwits the Phantom Blot." Some D-coded stories from the 1980s let this
name slip through, too, in their English versions (published in the UK).
A publicity announcement from winter 1989 mentions
(then-upcoming) Disney Comics' intention to set the stories in
Mouseville, too. I think it was shortly after the publication of that
article that a threat of legal problems came up. A new Mighty Mouse
series was then on television, and it called him "the hero of
Mouseville" in practically every episode - a slogan that effectively
made the city-name legally part of the Terrytoons property. Hence the
new name of Mouseton, which was gleaned from someone's suggestion in an
old Gladstone letter column (!). I think it was spelled "Mouston" there,
though.

David Gerstein
<(Email removed)>

ALL:
Isn't Dumbella obviously a silly nickname for Della - the kind
of thing Donald might have called her as a kid? Brothers and sisters
have, after all, been throwing joking insults each other's way for
centuries by now.
In the past I've never seen this suggested (while there have
been *many* suggestions that Della is a nickname for Dumbella - unlikely
in my eyes, as Della is a real name while Dumbella of course isn't).

David Gerstein
<(Email removed)>

MIKE POHJOLA:

> You may also notice how he, in this interview, makes a point of NOT
> wanting to be the "Voice of God" on Scrooge's history or the Duck
> universe. [article:] In the end of last year a biography of Scrooge
> McDuck was published,

In 1984, the year of Donald's 50th birthday, his life-story by Marco Rota
was published here. Being 11, I was very glad to finally learn more on
the life of Donald. The booklet contained an article with more information
on Donald and it also said that the life-story was just one version and
that countless others exist. The family-tree on the backside was called
'an attempt'. Because of this explanation I've always enjoyed this life-
story: The things I didn't like in it, might just be the interpretation of
the artist.

Now that I see that the article calls the "Life of Scrooge" a *biography*,
maybe a lot of disappointments could have been solved if the life-series
would have had 'unauthorized' (or something like that) in its title? No
matter how much I like Rota's version, it would never have been the case
if the article didn't say it was just a version.

After John Garvin's letter (to which I replied with "Scrooge's bragging")
my personal view on the "Life of Scrooge" is that it's Scrooge's *own*
version. This would be what Scrooge tells the nephews if they would ask
him! Since he can't contradict all the stories he told (bragged?) before,
he had to include them or else the nephews would notice it. Maybe he heard
Donald and the nephews tell about the square eggs and the gilded man?
Nice, because *he* had seen it before! A famous president? He has met him,
while scaring away an army! The Northpole? He has been there first!

Maybe it would be nice to make a story of the nephews going to Grandma,
asking what *her* version on his life-story is? Grandma is in a way as
as old and as strong as Scrooge (possibly she even brags in her own way).
Maybe she could even tell her more down-to-earth version in Scrooge's
presence? I think that would be fun! :-)

Greetings,

--- Daniel

- "Stop! Unca Scrooge! This rock belongs to the *bald eagles*!"
- "It does *not*! It belongs to a *whiskery duck*!" (JW 11)

SHAUN M. KNOWLER --
Nah, The Big Bad Wolf is WAY more recognizable to an
American audience than Horace Horsecollar. Practically everybody
has seen THREE LITTLE PIGS at one time or another, even if they
don't know he appeared in other cartoons, or was a supporting
character in his son's comic book stories for decades. And the
song, "Who's Afraid of the Big Bad Wolf", has been a well-known
ditty for generations. If there's any doubt he'd be recognized
by his physical appearance, just play a few chords of the song
when he first shows up, and everybody will know him instantly.
Horace, on the other hand, is just a bit player in a bunch of
old black & white cartoons. I don't think either his name or his
appearance is known to anybody but the likes of us.

CHRISTOPHER BARAT --
Re: sequels and their effect on enjoyment of the original
story:
Well said! It's too bad some people think a story is
spoiled if someone else comes along and adds to it, but truly,
it's nobody's fault but the one who LETS it be spoiled. "Lost in
the Andes" is still there, exactly the same as it always was --
and it WILL still be there even if a dozen people write a dozen
sequels, each of which contradicts all the others.
Some years ago, I heard a story about a popular American
author (I forget which one), who had a book adapted into a very
bad movie. A friend, in the spirit of commiseration, asked him
what he thought of what they'd done to his book. "They didn't do
anything to my book," he replied, holding up a copy. "See? It's
still there."
One hates to say "get a life" to someone whose only
"crime" is liking the same things I like, but in a different way
-- but geez, it's possible to take this stuff too seriously!

DANIEL VAN EIJMEREN --
It might be a good idea to just let this subject drop,
because every time you try to explain what you've said, it
sounds worse. I'm sorry to hear your enjoyment of "Lost in the
Andes" has been impaired since the publication of "Return to
Plain Awful". But it IS, strictly and exclusively, YOUR
enjoyment of it that has been impaired -- and it is your
own attitude causing the impairment, not the mere fact of the
story's existence. As for "It even might even threaten Don's own
work, because one day he will run out of history and revelations
and what can he do then?" -- you should live so long!
I can kind of see where you're coming from, because I
myself hold that certain stories don't need sequels. I view
Glittering Goldie, for example, as a one-shot character whose
ENTIRE story was told in "Back to the Klondike". That story is
so perfect, it needs no elucidation. To my way of thinking,
letting Goldie be a continuing character would merely dilute it
-- IF I allowed it to be diluted in my mind.
When I re-read that story, tho, I don't think of any
others. Barks wrote only one story about her, so one story about
her is all there is. The more recent ones are mere pastiches --
quite enjoyable in their own right, but having no effect
whatsoever on THE Goldie story.

DON ROSA --
I think most of us have some idea how you feel; and while
we regret your decision to lurk, we can understand. I do hope
your feelings abate before too long. If they do, hopefully,
you'll reconsider -- but even if you decide to continue lurking,
at least, we hope you'll feel better about the whole situation.

Quack, Don=

On Jan 20, 9:22am, Donald D. Markstein wrote:

> Horace, on the other hand, is just a bit player in a bunch of
> old black & white cartoons. I don't think either his name or his
> appearance is known to anybody but the likes of us.
>
Heck, they did use Horace as a character of some importance in the
Mickey version of "The Prince and the Pauper," and I didn't realize
who it was. Maybe a more astute or knowledgeable viewer would have
spotted Horace immediately, but I just assumed it was a generic
character made up for the occasion on first viewing. Poor Horace
does seem to suffer from a lack of distinctiveness, especially
when he isn't wearing his yoke.

--Dwight Decker