Keskustelujen arkisto

I'll join Don Shane in recommending "The Devil & Daniel Webster" as one of the
all-time best (if currently little known) motion pictures.

Among its many charms is Walter Huston's impish glee as the devil. Huston's
award-nominated uncanny physicalization evokes not so much an immediately
malevolent demon, but rather an icon of secular theism, free from responsibility
and consequence, both an unrestrained goat-rutting Pan and some
ancient-from-the-dawn-of-time sprite cleverly accreted with cute Irishisms, a
simple anti-Puritan temptation of relaxation from the rigid codes of Yankee
behavior. In short, the embodiment of the quintessential contradiction of the
American immigrant, driven by ambition to succeed and sick at heart from the
honest effort required.

Though the theme is as large as history and timeless as human experience, it is
refined and simple in delivery. Its cinematic effects are limited compared to
today's standards of computer designed fantasy, but all the more effective for
their black-and-white techniques of character lighting and brilliant editing
(especially the restored Salomesque dance sequence -- usually subjected to
censorious scissors -- presaging by more than a half-decade Minnelli's dizzying
waltz in Madam Bovary, itself a parallel secular Faustian compact, albeit
feminine in character). I also seem to recall an effective sort of pixilated
sequence of the frenetically reactive Mr. Scratch on hearing the final verdict
of the jury of hand-picked American peers.

BTW, the incandescent chiaroscuro uplighting of this jury, Americans all, as
they slowly shamble up from their sulfurous sepulcher (the headstone of which is
essentially the jury box), announced in litany, one by one, was breathtaking and
hackle-raising to this ten-year-old-at-the-time who had only recently learned of
Blackbeard and Simon Girty and Benedict Arnold. The music won an Academy Award
for Bernard Hermann (of later "Psycho" fame).

Regardless, the film is memorable at many, many levels and I recommend it to
anyone, especially those who are modern and breezy about the law of unintended
consequences. A simple tale well-told.

Faustian compacts are nothing new. Work-for-hire creators trade their efforts
for the wide-spread recognition that working on well-known characters can bring,
but the fame is hollow because the characters are not one's own (which would
likely never attain such fame and recognition on their own) and exploitation is
the rule, not the exception in gaining mass-appeal.

Goethe and Shakespeare are among the most famous dramatists of these kinds of
tales, but ancient texts of short-term gain sacrificing long-term goals are
a'plenty. Aeosop aside, the ravenous, thick-headed, contemptuous Esau trading
away his entire future beneficence for the moment's satisfaction of a bowl of
hearty porridge from his scheming younger brother, Jacob, comes to mind as does
the very Fall of Man, himself, gaining an all-knowing self-consciousness and
sensate nature, bounded by this very distinction as an irrevocable separation
from the immortal immateriality that both precedes and succeeds it, heightened
to poignancy by the inarguable evidence that the gift of temporality is
inevitably, well, temporary. Thus, the conscious or unconscious choices as to
how to spend one's time, literally how one redeems one's life itself, is central
to every being.

Frankly, I think a down-on-his-luck, none-too-bright duck is ripe for such a
re-telling of this most ancient of all tales of temptation. Say, "The Duck &
Daniel Webfoot" or some such.

I'd like to take a moment to thank this community for the many hours of
interesting discussion that takes place here and for the almost infinite
patience and care of those who compile the all-things-Disney-character-comics
databases.

Likely those of us, especially writers who are not instantly recognizable on
sight by the style of artwork that contains our tales, and, thus, the inevitably
more hidden toilers in the midst of the more famous -- we are likely to be
little remembered in passing, save within the scant credits a few interested
souls choose to record.

For that small, fleeting recogniton we give thanks!

It may be that hope is the smallest and most fragile of all gifts given to man,
but it is simlutaneously the most enduring and acessible. Any may have it at any
time from any circumstance for the simple seeking of it, and that seeking is, in
itself, everything.

May you all find the coming holidays bright and filled with hope.

The Dec Previews from Diamond Comics has Tokyopop
soliciting for Kim Possible and Lizzie McGuire
'cine-magic' comics. I suspect these are photonovels
w/ screen shots from the tv shows.

Mike

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Many thanks to all who opined on the etymology of the word "Wuwelak" found
in the German translation of Barks' The Golden Christmas Tree. My students
will have some things to debate and consider. Professor Gerd Griese
thought perhaps it was just a nonsense word made up by Dr. Fuchs, the
translator. Given all the possibilities mentioned by Rob Klein and others,
one might wonder if a Jungian cultural consciousness did indeed influence
Dr. Fuchs in her translation.

Nils:
>1. I haven't seen the "Don Rosa Calendar" yet. Where
>can it be bought? In bookstores, or kiosks, or both? I
>understand it is being sold in four countries. Would these
>be the Nordic ones, except Finland? And what about
>Germany?

Actually the calendar was originally done for Finland so it is
very much sold in here.

--
Ari Seppi (ari.seppi at iki.fi)
http://www.iki.fi/mani/

Two points, both with somewhat low dcml-correlation:

1. Calling HEIDI: you wrote a nice email to me after my
three-point Don Rosa related message yesterday. I tried to
reply, but my emailing attempts bounced back with error
messages, and I'm led to think there's something wrong with
your email account, or address. Could you write me once
more, spelling out your email address?
[Sorry about having to place this here. Others: please disregard;
delete the last fifteen seconds of your reading life, and replace
with e.g. something Dostoyevskogo.]

2. Sigvald G, in his remarks to my question about the DR Calendar:
<<c) There may be to many people prefering simple short gag
comics, and thus prefering calendars showing *non-Disney-[word removed by NLH]*
(like Calvin & Hobbes, Ernie, Pondus, Betle Bailey, etc.)
in stead of real quality like Donald Duck comics.
...
PS! Please notice that my personal views about what I above
discribes as "*non-Disney-[word removed by NLH]*" is not meant as an offence
against anybody or anything. It's only included to to make
my statement clear and concrete. >>

In that case, please choose a less derogatory, disparaging,
discrediting, depreciatory vulgar word.

Nils Lid Hjort

Sigvald:

> *non-Disney-poo* (like Calvin & Hobbes, Ernie, Pondus, Beetle Bailey,
> etc.) in stead of real quality like Donald Duck comics.

I wonder if you've ever read Calvin & Hobbes? Now, *that*'s a comic I
would definitely describe as 'real quality'. And as for Donald Duck: you
know as well as I do that there are many Duck stories of 'very poor quality'
out there. (Without suggesting, of course, that your beloved Don Rosa
calendar might be of 'inferior quality'. I haven't seen it.)

Is it possible to define 'quality', or is it just personal?
(I think it must be possible to define it, but I wouldn't know how.)

Michiel Prior.

"The trash is out there."

3. At the same time we are blessed with a new Don Rosa
story, appearing as a special bonus issue accompanying DD & Co
#49 (issue of December 2nd). It's a tribute to Scrooge, on
what might be defined as his 55th anniversary. This is Don's
most Jungian story so far, and I enjoyed it thoroughly.

Nils Lid Hjort

Could you give us the title of this story?

Thank you!

Timo wrote:
>Anyway they used more or less pen like this for inking:
>http://www.geocities.com/timoro2/pen.html
>Steel tip dipped in bottle of ink. For penciling most often used pen was
>blue pencil.

I know how easy it is to accidently make a blob or a smear with that kind
of pen. How did they make corrections back in those days before correction
fluid and felt-tip pens became common? Did they have to start the drawing
over?

Sonia