Keskustelujen arkisto

FRANCOIS:

>The two stories you described in your last message were drawn by Miquel
>Pujol (a Spanish artist). I know six stories in the same
>("Hollywoodian") style, all by Pujol and Kabatek:
>
>GA 1 O:The Rain God of Uxmal (44 p.)
>GA 2 O:White Gold of the Matterhorn (44 p.)
>GA 3 O:Pirates on Key West (44 p.)
>GA 4 O:The Picasso Robbery in Barcelona (44 p.)
>GA 5 O:Five times Grand Canyon and back (44 p.)
>GA 7 O:The poor old man of Manhattan (44 p.)

Thanks a lot for the interesting info. I wonder if this guy Miquel Pujol has
done any more Disney stories. He can surely draw those Ducks!

As I were reading the "Matterhorn" story (GA 2), I was struck by the
similarities between a 10-page sequence in that story where the Ducks scale
the Matterhorn, and Don Rosa's "Fortune on the Rocks". That sequence begins
with a shot of the Matterhorn, proceeds with the Ducks' climbing efforts as
they are all roped together, interjects a couple of encounters with a wild
goat, and ends with the Ducks sliding down the Matterhorn on a glacier on
bags full of milkweed. Someone can detect many similarities (with important
variations) in the staging and action of that 10-page sequence and Rosa's
12-pager "Fortune on the Rocks" (USA #9, November 1988), where the Ducks
scale a rock mountain in the Arizona (?) desert that Scrooge bought from the
local Indians, searching for precious gems. "Fortune on the Rocks" again
starts with a shot of the rock mountain, proceeds with the Ducks scaling
that mountain all roped together, throws in a number of (literal)
cliff-hangers, interjects a meeting with a wild goat, and finally ends with
the Ducks sliding down the mountain on flat rocks.

I wonder if Don had seen Kabatek and Pujol's "Matterhorn" story and was
inspired by it, or if the many similarities I described above are just a
coincidence--great minds meet! I'm not forgetting that there's also a
"Matterhorn" story drawn (but not written) by Barks that includes a number
of elements described above--like the standard goat for example!

Archontis

FRANCOIS:

>The two stories you described in your last message were drawn by Mique=
l
>Pujol (a Spanish artist). I know six stories in the same
>("Hollywoodian") style, all by Pujol and Kabatek:
>
>GA 1 O:The Rain God of Uxmal (44 p.)
>GA 2 O:White Gold of the Matterhorn (44 p.)
>GA 3 O:Pirates on Key West (44 p.)
>GA 4 O:The Picasso Robbery in Barcelona (44 p.)
>GA 5 O:Five times Grand Canyon and back (44 p.)
>GA 7 O:The poor old man of Manhattan (44 p.)

I just checked these stories in the database and the result was very
different. The first stories GA 1-5 are (according to the Database) dr=
awn
by Francisco Bargad=E0. The credits for no. 6 and 7 have gone to the Co=
micup
Studio. Who's right?

Best Wishes
Per-Erik
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Have anyone outside USA/Canada who ordered the LoS book from Gladstone,
with or without extra drawings received it yet?

MARTIN:
> I was able to secure a couple of beautiful full color
> drawings.....something I hear is impossible for you Europeans due to the
> enormous amount of fans he encounters.

You bet!!
I met Don during his last visit in Helsinki and was lucky enough to get
three head sketches.;-) Most of the time Don worked like a maniac so that
all his fans would get a signature, so even quick head sketches was very
hard to get. I was present on all the signing occasions and yet, I only saw
two full-figure drawings, the first one was a b/w drawing of Scrooge in a
wheel chair and the second one was probably one of the most beautiful full-
color drawings of Goldie that has ever been made. The drawing, that was
made on Don's hotel(I think) was in the end of the weekend traded to a
tie(with Disney motives), both Don and the ML member who got the drawing
seemed very happy afterwards...

So, america isn't such a bad country for Duck-fans after all ;-)

NILS:

And perhaps
> I admit to some personal hesitation in defining van Horn as important
> enough to warrant "special one-artist albums treatment", up there with
> Barks and Rosa. van Horn at his best is good and enjoyable, but is best
> when taken in as a short story in the midst of other stories in a
> well-packed WDC&S, for example, and a full album with van Horn and
> nothing but van Horn... will be a little monotonous.

I don't agree! IMO an album with only Van Horn stories sounds great, while
the picking of stories doesn't. Van Horn's duck- drawings has improved *a
lot* since 88' so it would probably be more fun for everyone if the album
printed newer stories, but as you said; most of the readers probably
already have those stories. The best think would IMO be if a story could be
done exclusively for that album,... but that's not likely to happen;-(
Anyway, I'm really looking forward to that album;-)

Best regards
Per-Erik
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I find the recent discussions on these albums very refreshing. I remember
them well from the 80's. I believe that seven have been mentioned on the
list so far; but an eighth album, set in Venice, was released at least in
Sweden (in 1991).

I translated three of the albums into Swedish (Matterhorn, Key West, and
Grand Canyon), and I remember being disappointed that I wasn't assigned the
rest as well. I liked these albums very much. They were much more fun and
challenging to work with than most of the other stuff that appeared around
this time. Also, they were overstuffed with panoramic views and genuine
geographical facts, which always interested me. Each album even carried an
informative, illustrated page after the story, giving facts and background
on the local venue and the adventures in question. I also liked the artwork,
both characters and background. Even though I was always a better judge of
scripts and dialog than of art, I found the drawings fresh, spirited, and
lively. Great stuff!

The series was entitled, in Swedish, "Ur Farbror Joakims skattkammare",
meaning something like "From the Treasury of Uncle Scrooge". About the same
time, Egmont produced a similar album series called "Donald Duck and the
Time Machine". These stories focused on history rather than geography by
having Donald and the kids travel through time, landing in a different
adventurous era each time. Some of these were also above average, for that
time, and it was originally planned that a different writer and artist would
produce each story. I believe I did all those albums in Swedish (six of
them), but I always liked the "Scrooge's Treasury" stories a little bit=
more!

As for the origin of the Scrooge albums, my first information was that they
were drawn by Francisco Bargad=E0, who ran an artist's studio in Barcelona
(and perhaps still does??). Then, if memory serves, it was Spanish
Duck-expert Alfonso Molin=E9 who told me that most of the albums were in=
fact
by Miguel Pujol, who worked with that studio. I seem to recall some hints
that Bargad=E0 and Pujol even might have cooperated in places, perhaps
something like one doing the characters and the other the background. In any
case, note the especially detailed backgrounds in the album set in
Barcelona, the artists' hometown!

Somewhere around here, I also learned that at least the first few albums
were written by Adolf Kabatek, whom I understood to hold some high position
at the German Disney editors (Ehapa?). Please note, however, that all of
this information is second-hand at best, and also taken from memory! Perhaps
some German, Spanish, or any other reader will have more exact and
up-to-date information.

BROR: I had forgotten our discussion about Pujol the artist and Pujol the
female character... "His girlfriend"? Did I say that? Heh-heh... Well, if I
did, it was certainly more of a joke than an informed opinion... Today I
might add that I don't think Pujol is a very uncommon name in Spain, so it
needn't arouse suspicion. (Also, if Scrooge is off character, which
certainly may be true, shouldn't the writer be blamed more than the artist?)

I can add another in-joke from the Matterhorn album. Again, if memory
serves, I believe that the Japanese businessman was originally called "Mr.
Kaba Teki". When I worked with that album, I had not yet heard of Adolf
Kabatek, and presumed that the name might mean something in Japanese. So I
searched the library for a Japanese dictionary, but I couldn't trace the
meaning of such a name any further than... what was it again? "Enemy of
Hippopotami", or something like that! So, once again unknowingly disrupting
a fine in-joke that only a very select few would understand, I replaced the
name with something I found a little more Japanese.

All in all, I didn't do a very good job translating the Matterhorn album. I
was over-eager, filling it with too many German words and accents that made
the dialog more cumbersome than funny. I was much more pleased with the Key
West one... except for the fact that this is where I added a Latin phrase
with a footnote, like I mentioned some weeks ago, and got the Latin slightly
wrong! Now, these albums teem with footnotes!

Finally, before I ramble away and astray, ARCHONTIS asked whether Miguel
Pujol had done any more stories. I can remember two, published almost
simultaneously: D92383 in Egmont's DD weekly #28, 1993, a 12-pager about a
tramway in Lisbon; and the less memorable D92119 in the DD *monthly* #7,
1993, where Mickey and Goofy encounter aliens (also 12 pages). I can't check
any writers' credits for these stores without some *major* attic
excavating... a task I wouldn't wish my worst enemy. (Note that the issue ##
given above are Swedish, but should be similar for at least the Scandinavian
countries.)

Thanks, everyone, for the information on these albums, and for bringing the
pleasant memories thereof back to mind!

Stefan Dios
Malmo, Sweden

ROB GIBSON:

>I used to love Gyro Gearloose. He always seemed to stimulate ny mind
>about what is possible. Why not have a machine that can turn dirt into
>Peppermint frappe ice cream? What WOULD happen if one designed and built
>a steam rocket?

Gyro was favorite character for me as well--I think the first Gyro story I
remember reading was the "think box" episode where he gave wild animals
human intelligence. Of course that distinction in a "funny animal" comic
was always a bit blurry, and it was quite humorous how the wolf's appetite
changed from chicken to roast duck once he became sentient.

> One of my favorites is the time he and his helper decide
>to solve all the "problems" associated with picnicking, and their
>solution winds up contradicting the whole premise of picnicking. One

Mine too! He went through what seemed like a logical sequence of steps to
make the "perfect picnic" and ended up with a house in its stead.

>usually got two stories for the price of one( the main tale and the
>little helper's ). These stories stimulated my curiosity and made me
>more inclined to want to learn as a youth.

I would read each gyro story twice--first for the Gyro story arc and then
for the antics of the helper. It was almost like they were each in two
parallel universes that would intersect at critical moments. The outcome
of those collisions was that either the helper would unwittingly get Gyro
into trouble or save his butt.

On of my favorite Gyro stories when he builds an "answer machine" and asks
it why the little bird in the tree is singing. The machine answers, "Maybe
he is happy, maybe he is sad, maybe he is just a little mad." Gyro being
unhappy with "maybe" for an answer sets out to capture the bird and subject
it to his mind reading machine. Of course when he finally manages to
capture the bird, you know what answer he gets! Great stuff!

Tryg

"You can never build a machine so smart there some jerk too dumb to run it"
--Gyro Gearloose

I just saw an interesting little brochure, sent out by our famous
ex-managers Grandey and Morby, about an interesting birthday party
in late March, about various expensive merchandise for sale, and so on,
"just like before"... but now featuring MARC DAVIS in lieu of Carl B,
and calling themselves "Marc Davis Studio" instead of Carl Barks Studio.
Amazing!

Marc Davis is an old Disney-animation hand of some stature, I understand,
having had an important role in the making of Bambi, Alice in
Wonderland, and other films; and he also helped create popular Disney
versions of Snow White, Cinderella, Sleeping Beauty, and might
just possibly be the creator of the very memorable Cruella de Vil.
And his birthday is celebrated 28th of March, instead of Carl's
27th of March (and Davis will be turning 85, not 97).
[So this is *not* the Equally Excellent Marc Davis ending ninth
in the 3,000m steeplechase at the Atlanta OG, and whose personal best
in this event is a full three seconds faster than that of the Kenyan
skier who ended 20 minutes and 1 second after Daehlie in the 10km
classic, a feat noted by the Pope.]

The amazing aspect of this, to me, is the similarity between the two
identities (MD Studio instead of CB Studio) and their profiles (come to
the expensive birthday party! buy these pieces of merchandise!), and the
apparent ease with which Grandey & Morby have moved from one to the other.
Also possibly qualifying as amazing is the full absence of explanations
given; for someone having innocently bought merchandise from G & M
alias CB Studio over several years (I haven't), and having perhaps
heard nothing about the still low-profile law cases, it must appear
a bit strange to suddenly get this similar-but-totally-different
type of offers, from the same old persons.

In a way I suppose it makes perfect business sense. This is what they
can and have been doing for the past five years, and I suppose they
have worked hard, and I presume they have made money for their endeavours.
So when a piece of business land suddenly crumbles under their feet,
it makes sense to jump to a different but similar spot. They have
simply text-edited their usual brochures a little bit (replace "Barks"
by "Davis"...), seemingly; even their logo looks very similar to the
old one. One must perhaps admire them for their swift and precise
jumping skills.

I have no inclination of how well they can expect to do in this
different Disney terrain, which might look odd and less interesting
and half-deserted to many of us on the Disney Comics mail-list.
But we should remind ourselves that there *is* a very different
Disney-Disneyana world out there, with different people, and perhaps
emphasis on anything from old Disney animation movies, and for whom
whatever related to Cinderella or Fantasis is intensely interesting
(and we should respect that, of course). So all in all perhaps
G&M will be doing well in their recently changed careers.

Nils L.H.

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End of Disney comics Digest V98 Issue #62
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Nils wrote:

>But we should remind ourselves that there *is* a very different
>Disney-Disneyana world out there, with different people, and perhaps
>emphasis on anything from old Disney animation movies, and for whom
>whatever related to Cinderella or Fantasis is intensely interesting

In the comic book collecting field we used to refer to "Marvel Zombies"
----someone who would buy *anything* with the Marvel logo.
So it often is with the Disney product...put a number on it, call it a
special limited edition, make 10,000 of them (real limited) and charge a
month's pay.
Have a special convention that charges outrageous prices for you to attend
(so that you can have the *privilege* of spending your money) take a
number, line up for hours ahead of time...watch the glazed look on their
faces....and there you
have it...the Disney Zombie!

Well, there seems to be a few problems about
the disney web-ring. Your should put

.........numero=3D[your number] TARGET=3D"_top"....

and remember the spaces!!!

Katie, you need to put in ......numero=3D4

and there is some strange address to geocities that
does not work on number 6 or 7...or... Number 5, however
is a great tribute to the one and only Don Rosa.

S=F8ren