Quote from user: Dutch Duckfan Down UnderInteresting thinking. I don't picture Mathilda as an archeaologist (at least, not the Indiana Jones / Arizona Goof type), because Rosa makes her so old. I mean, technically she's younger than Scrooge, but she feels more like a homebody in Rosa's stor(y/ies?).
Yeah, I realized as I was writing that comment that I was describing a female Indiana Jones. It's not my intent that she be some sort of action-hero-y type, but exactly how physically active she should be is really hard to say, since this is all so theoretical. I think it would take some tinkering with actual stories to figure out what worked and what felt weird.
Quote from user: Lars JensenIn Disney's 1960s TV cartoons, it was established Ludwig Von Drake is a bachelor.
Well, I don't think that we need to take those cartoons as gospel any more than we do Rosa's work. However, if we DID want to try to reconcile them ('cause we're crazy like that), we could perhaps stipulate that the two met later in life, post-cartoon. Also, that would explain why they're childless (not that anyone's morally required to have children in any case, of course).
Quote from user: Lars JensenAFAIK, Egmont writers aren't allowed to use Ludwig.
Well, that's neither here nor there for this sort of idle goofing around. Does seem like a bad rule, though. I like the guy.
Author
Topic: Matilda McDuck
(36 messages)
GeoX
Matilda McDuck
Message 16 -
2013-02-27 at 22:34:46
Mr. M
Matilda McDuck
Message 17 -
2013-02-27 at 22:35:07
I would love if Matilda would be oficialy ben acepted by editors as VonDrakes whife (can You imagine young boy-crazy Matilda chasing after young Von Drake ) The only problem here is how they would expect VonDrake being single all this time...
Just from a fan boy point of view - I wonder when Scrooge meet VonDrake in that one Carl Barks one-pager was he aware VonDrake is his broter in law... Actually it's interesting how they had good relation even if VonDrake know Scrooge and his wif hated each other. How ackward that hadb to be during all the Christmases they share together...
Just from a fan boy point of view - I wonder when Scrooge meet VonDrake in that one Carl Barks one-pager was he aware VonDrake is his broter in law... Actually it's interesting how they had good relation even if VonDrake know Scrooge and his wif hated each other. How ackward that hadb to be during all the Christmases they share together...
Matilda
Matilda McDuck
Message 18 -
2013-02-28 at 03:14:17
I am totally on board with GeoX's suggestions, and they happen to be very like what I have myself imagined, in my own personal Duckiverse. I have decided that Matilda is an academic, partly because that's one of the few areas where a woman could do something interesting in that era. (That, and journalism.) Two possible fields to give her world travel possilibilities: archaeologist or primatologist. Sometimes I like to imagine her as a Leakey girl (Jane Goodall, Birute Galdikas, Dian Fossey). But a career in archaeology would perhaps provide for more possible interactions with Scrooge in his treasure-seeking. I agree that her interaction with him in such settings could portray a relatively equal power dynamic, which would be welcome, and that it could play out interpersonally the issues that the comics have become more aware of since the 1960's. It would be fun for her to be an ally for HDL in their concern for culture, environment, history, etc. In fact, one could even imagine that her alienation from Scrooge was one of the motivating factors for her to get a degree in archaeology, since she was aware of his treasure-seeking attitude towards cultural artifacts, and wanted to stake out an opposing position on higher moral ground.
I also personally have thought of her as married to Ludwig ever since I first read Rosa's suggestion to that effect. In many marriages of two academics in my experience, the two partners spend a fair amount of time apart (some of these are commuting marriages, because how many couples find two tenure-track jobs in the same metropolitan area?), sabbaticals and so on, so the fact that you'll often see one without the other doesn't disturb my sense that they got married (as GeoX says, they could also have married rather late in life). One could assume they are married and still let them operate as independent individuals on expeditions or whatever. At the same time, I agree that their relationship also has lots of comic/dramatic possibilites in stories where they would both appear.
But I'd be happy to have Matilda the archaeologist appear in stories without having her married to LVD, too.
Couldn't she have gotten her degree and have started her work in her field before A Letter from Home? I don't think her serving as the caretaker of Castle McDuck necessarily precludes that. She could live at the castle and still be working at some Scottish university, or doing scholarly research. It seems to me that she is a bit old to start her degree work after A Letter from Home: 70ish. Not that that should stop her from globetrotting! Grandma Duck is way more of a homebody than Matilda, and older besides, and even she believably did some globetrotting in the wonderful story "Bananas."
I also personally have thought of her as married to Ludwig ever since I first read Rosa's suggestion to that effect. In many marriages of two academics in my experience, the two partners spend a fair amount of time apart (some of these are commuting marriages, because how many couples find two tenure-track jobs in the same metropolitan area?), sabbaticals and so on, so the fact that you'll often see one without the other doesn't disturb my sense that they got married (as GeoX says, they could also have married rather late in life). One could assume they are married and still let them operate as independent individuals on expeditions or whatever. At the same time, I agree that their relationship also has lots of comic/dramatic possibilites in stories where they would both appear.
But I'd be happy to have Matilda the archaeologist appear in stories without having her married to LVD, too.
Couldn't she have gotten her degree and have started her work in her field before A Letter from Home? I don't think her serving as the caretaker of Castle McDuck necessarily precludes that. She could live at the castle and still be working at some Scottish university, or doing scholarly research. It seems to me that she is a bit old to start her degree work after A Letter from Home: 70ish. Not that that should stop her from globetrotting! Grandma Duck is way more of a homebody than Matilda, and older besides, and even she believably did some globetrotting in the wonderful story "Bananas."
Baar Baar Jinx
Matilda McDuck
Message 19 -
2013-02-28 at 04:04:51
Quote from user: MatildaFirst, on the plausibility of Rosa's storyline: I find it perfectly believable that Matilda's deep alienation from Scrooge would last till A Letter from Home, and that this alienation would keep her from visiting Duckburg. She *has* stayed in letter-contact with Donald, but her wish to keep it secret that she's the castle caretaker in order to keep distance from Scrooge (so she had sworn Donald to secrecy on that) is enough explanation for HDL not knowing about her. That would not be believable if they were her grandsons, but I think it is believable given that they are her grandnephews. And therefore, it is reasonable (for people who care about such things) for her to show up in stories when there are loads of past stories (incl. holiday gatherings et al.) at which she did not appear. We can just assume these new stories take place after A Letter from Home, and all the other stories took place before it.
But, again, Matilda wasn't the one who was estranged from her family, Scrooge was. And Scrooge was estranged from all of his family. When Hortense and Matilda stormed out of Scrooge's office at the end of Chapter XI of L&T, they dragged Quackmore, Donald and Della with them. We also see in Chapter XII that Scrooge has no further contact with Grandma or Gladstone until the events of "Christmas on Bear Mountain". Nobody in the extended Duck family likes Scrooge anymore. As such, there is absolutely no reason for Matilda to avoid Donald or HD&L. They should, rather, be united in their anti-Scroogeism! What Rosa tried to do was to paper over this glaring plothole in his desire to reintroduce a McDuck sister.
As to her proposed desire to keep the fact that she is the new caretaker of Castle McDuck after Scottie's death (and the dismissal of the imposter Diamond Dick) a secret from Scrooge, fine, but where was she before she took that position? Why not reveal her existence to HD&L before that, and visit her family in Duckburg? One has to perform a lot of contorting to accept Rosa's own back story for this character (who, like Hortense, is at this point a purely Rosa character). I agree that "Letter from Home" is a great story, but the revelation that Matilda was alive all along bothers me as a Duck fan who does desire some degree of continuity (although I seem to be in the minority here). I believe I read that Rosa even wanted Hortense to be in that story, but his editors shot him down. That would have complicated matters even further!
Quote from user: MatildaFrom the POV of the non-continuity-concerned reader, I fail to see why including Matilda in such a way would be any more odd than having Rumpus or (sob, shudder) Brigitta in certain stories and not in others.
Ironically, both the Van Horn-created Rumpus and the Scarpa-created Brigitta fit better in the Rosa universe than the newly resurrected Matilda does! There's no need to attempt to meld their backstories with pre-existing continuity, because they are introduced in the "here and present". Not that I'm advocating for either character, mind you. But Van Horn did try hard to conform to the Rosa universe when he introduced Rumpus.
Quote from user: MatildaBut I'd be happy to have Matilda the archaeologist appear in stories without having her married to LVD, too.
But again, as others have pointed out, the only reason to do that would be if one wanted to adopt this Rosa-created character wholesale, as is, into the mainstream Duck universe. For those who do not believe Rosa's universe is any more valid than, say, Scarpa's, why use her as an archeologist, rather than create a new character to fill that role?
Personally I always liked the idea of Von Drake as a lifelong bachelor ... seems fitting for his personality somehow. Also, if Matilda were married to Von Drake, how could she keep her whereabouts a secret from Scrooge and her existence a secret from HD&L (all of whom presumably interact with von Drake on a semi-regular basis)?
But, again, Matilda wasn't the one who was estranged from her family, Scrooge was. And Scrooge was estranged from all of his family. When Hortense and Matilda stormed out of Scrooge's office at the end of Chapter XI of L&T, they dragged Quackmore, Donald and Della with them. We also see in Chapter XII that Scrooge has no further contact with Grandma or Gladstone until the events of "Christmas on Bear Mountain". Nobody in the extended Duck family likes Scrooge anymore. As such, there is absolutely no reason for Matilda to avoid Donald or HD&L. They should, rather, be united in their anti-Scroogeism! What Rosa tried to do was to paper over this glaring plothole in his desire to reintroduce a McDuck sister.
As to her proposed desire to keep the fact that she is the new caretaker of Castle McDuck after Scottie's death (and the dismissal of the imposter Diamond Dick) a secret from Scrooge, fine, but where was she before she took that position? Why not reveal her existence to HD&L before that, and visit her family in Duckburg? One has to perform a lot of contorting to accept Rosa's own back story for this character (who, like Hortense, is at this point a purely Rosa character). I agree that "Letter from Home" is a great story, but the revelation that Matilda was alive all along bothers me as a Duck fan who does desire some degree of continuity (although I seem to be in the minority here). I believe I read that Rosa even wanted Hortense to be in that story, but his editors shot him down. That would have complicated matters even further!
Quote from user: MatildaFrom the POV of the non-continuity-concerned reader, I fail to see why including Matilda in such a way would be any more odd than having Rumpus or (sob, shudder) Brigitta in certain stories and not in others.
Ironically, both the Van Horn-created Rumpus and the Scarpa-created Brigitta fit better in the Rosa universe than the newly resurrected Matilda does! There's no need to attempt to meld their backstories with pre-existing continuity, because they are introduced in the "here and present". Not that I'm advocating for either character, mind you. But Van Horn did try hard to conform to the Rosa universe when he introduced Rumpus.
Quote from user: MatildaBut I'd be happy to have Matilda the archaeologist appear in stories without having her married to LVD, too.
But again, as others have pointed out, the only reason to do that would be if one wanted to adopt this Rosa-created character wholesale, as is, into the mainstream Duck universe. For those who do not believe Rosa's universe is any more valid than, say, Scarpa's, why use her as an archeologist, rather than create a new character to fill that role?
Personally I always liked the idea of Von Drake as a lifelong bachelor ... seems fitting for his personality somehow. Also, if Matilda were married to Von Drake, how could she keep her whereabouts a secret from Scrooge and her existence a secret from HD&L (all of whom presumably interact with von Drake on a semi-regular basis)?
GeoX
Matilda McDuck
Message 20 -
2013-02-28 at 04:42:55
Quote from user: Baar Baar JinxBut again, as others have pointed out, the only reason to do that would be if one wanted to adopt this Rosa-created character wholesale, as is, into the mainstream Duck universe. For those who do not believe Rosa's universe is any more valid than, say, Scarpa's, why use her as an archeologist, rather than create a new character to fill that role?
Well, maybe because one is interested in the brother-sister dynamic. But, more broadly, it seems to me that this entire argument is predicated on one liking Rosa's universe. If one doesn't, then one probably isn't going to care about this question.
Well, maybe because one is interested in the brother-sister dynamic. But, more broadly, it seems to me that this entire argument is predicated on one liking Rosa's universe. If one doesn't, then one probably isn't going to care about this question.
Matilda
Matilda McDuck
Message 21 -
2013-02-28 at 06:47:23
You're right, Baar Baar Jinx, that Matilda's desire to conceal her position at the castle from Scrooge isn't enough to explain why HD&L don't know where she is before she takes that position. Part of why it's hard for Rosa or anyone to explain the family history coherently in a comic, of course, is that we are usually prevented from discussing characters' deaths, and there are four untimely deaths/disappearances here that have to be part of the story.
Given Scrooge's business prominence in Duckburg, I do think it's understandable that his sisters would want to leave Duckburg when they get fed up with him (as Rosa has Matilda say in Letter from Home). Hortense and Quackmore brought up Donald and Della until whenever it was they (H&Q) died, separately or together, at least by the time D&D were young adults. Donald at some point moves alone back to Duckburg. Della marries Mystery Duck, has HD&L, then both she and Mystery Duck die or (as Rosa hinted) disappear off the map in the vicinity of Tralla La, and HD&L come to live with Donald. At some point, Matilda moves back to Scotland. If that happens earlier than The Old Castle's Secret (after which she takes over as castle caretaker), just the distance itself is probably enough explanation for her not visiting Duckburg and HD&L not recognizing her; she doesn't have Scrooge's money to fly from Scotland to Calisota for Christmas. (And such travel was a bigger deal in the 1950's.) Alternatively, she could have been somewhere else far from Duckburg (in college, working at a job involving travel, watching chimps in Africa). She does stay in contact with Donald by letter. This accords well enough for me with Rosa's Letter from Home, especially considering that he couldn't insert into HD&L's dialogue with Matilda a whole elaborate history of how much they knew when and why, and given that HD&L serve as useful surrogates for the reader in their ignorance of who Matilda is and where she has been. And if we think of HD&L as being about 8 when they come to Donald, and about 10 or 11 during most of the adventures with Scrooge, I would contend that eight-year-old boys are not terribly interested in the existence of a great-aunt who lives far away, and might not register anything Donald would say about her. They would get more interested, though, as they become JWs, get interested in history, and get to know Scrooge on their adventures.
Why use her at all? Well, if you prefer to think that she also died quite a while ago, that's certainly your prerogative. Or if you prefer to think she never existed at all, for that matter (since for Barks she was just a name on a scribbled family tree). I like the idea of Scrooge having a living sister with whom he interacts. As GeoX points out, it would be a different dynamic than any of those we've seen in the stories, especially for Scrooge himself, but also in general (no other adult siblings, as far as I'm aware). It would be cool to have a female character who could stand up to Scrooge, challenge him when necessary, and still touch him emotionally on the basis of shared memories of childhood and of their parents. I like the idea of Donald and HD&L having another living source for memories of Scrooge's family of origin, including Hortense. And I generally want more strong, continuing female characters in the Duck comics. I want Belle Duck, too, and Madam Mim living in the Black Forest, and Dickie is fine with me, too. If someone wants to bring Ducky Bird (from Ghost Town Railroad) to Duckburg for a rodeo, so she can investigate some horsey mystery with HD&L, I'd welcome that as well.
It's certainly true that having Matilda married to LVD makes for more problems of the "why so-and-so didn't know about her" variety. I know that Rosa only originally came up with the idea because there was no other way on his (built on Barks') family tree for LVD to be Donald's uncle...and Rosa actually likes LVD much more than Barks did. He would have included him more in his stories if his editors had let him. I do think one could keep the Barks/Rosa tree and have LVD be Donald's "uncle" in some looser sense. I don't have a strong commitment to the idea that Matilda and LVD are married. But I do think it could make for some fun stories.
Given Scrooge's business prominence in Duckburg, I do think it's understandable that his sisters would want to leave Duckburg when they get fed up with him (as Rosa has Matilda say in Letter from Home). Hortense and Quackmore brought up Donald and Della until whenever it was they (H&Q) died, separately or together, at least by the time D&D were young adults. Donald at some point moves alone back to Duckburg. Della marries Mystery Duck, has HD&L, then both she and Mystery Duck die or (as Rosa hinted) disappear off the map in the vicinity of Tralla La, and HD&L come to live with Donald. At some point, Matilda moves back to Scotland. If that happens earlier than The Old Castle's Secret (after which she takes over as castle caretaker), just the distance itself is probably enough explanation for her not visiting Duckburg and HD&L not recognizing her; she doesn't have Scrooge's money to fly from Scotland to Calisota for Christmas. (And such travel was a bigger deal in the 1950's.) Alternatively, she could have been somewhere else far from Duckburg (in college, working at a job involving travel, watching chimps in Africa). She does stay in contact with Donald by letter. This accords well enough for me with Rosa's Letter from Home, especially considering that he couldn't insert into HD&L's dialogue with Matilda a whole elaborate history of how much they knew when and why, and given that HD&L serve as useful surrogates for the reader in their ignorance of who Matilda is and where she has been. And if we think of HD&L as being about 8 when they come to Donald, and about 10 or 11 during most of the adventures with Scrooge, I would contend that eight-year-old boys are not terribly interested in the existence of a great-aunt who lives far away, and might not register anything Donald would say about her. They would get more interested, though, as they become JWs, get interested in history, and get to know Scrooge on their adventures.
Why use her at all? Well, if you prefer to think that she also died quite a while ago, that's certainly your prerogative. Or if you prefer to think she never existed at all, for that matter (since for Barks she was just a name on a scribbled family tree). I like the idea of Scrooge having a living sister with whom he interacts. As GeoX points out, it would be a different dynamic than any of those we've seen in the stories, especially for Scrooge himself, but also in general (no other adult siblings, as far as I'm aware). It would be cool to have a female character who could stand up to Scrooge, challenge him when necessary, and still touch him emotionally on the basis of shared memories of childhood and of their parents. I like the idea of Donald and HD&L having another living source for memories of Scrooge's family of origin, including Hortense. And I generally want more strong, continuing female characters in the Duck comics. I want Belle Duck, too, and Madam Mim living in the Black Forest, and Dickie is fine with me, too. If someone wants to bring Ducky Bird (from Ghost Town Railroad) to Duckburg for a rodeo, so she can investigate some horsey mystery with HD&L, I'd welcome that as well.
It's certainly true that having Matilda married to LVD makes for more problems of the "why so-and-so didn't know about her" variety. I know that Rosa only originally came up with the idea because there was no other way on his (built on Barks') family tree for LVD to be Donald's uncle...and Rosa actually likes LVD much more than Barks did. He would have included him more in his stories if his editors had let him. I do think one could keep the Barks/Rosa tree and have LVD be Donald's "uncle" in some looser sense. I don't have a strong commitment to the idea that Matilda and LVD are married. But I do think it could make for some fun stories.
Opel Rekord1985
Matilda McDuck
Message 22 -
2013-02-28 at 12:56:05
Thank you Matilda, you bring up really good points, I'm with you on that it would be fun that Scrooge has one living sister, and you could explain her absence like you did above.
Matilda
Matilda McDuck
Message 23 -
2013-02-28 at 15:49:33
I just checked Inducks for Matilda stories, and I found that Byron Erickson recently wrote a Christmas story, "Donald's Homemade Christmas," in which she and the other members of Scrooge's family of origin appear. It's #3 of a series of stories about Donald's being obsessed with recovering/practicing various Christmas traditions (I have the first). I'm going to order this third story, but it'll take weeks to get here. Does anyone happen to know whether Donald and HD&L interact with Matilda *in the present* in this story? Or does she just appear in the past in flashbacks based on Scrooge's memories? Obviously there are flashbacks based on either Scrooge's or Matilda's memories, if the other members of the family (Downy, Fergus, Hortense) appear.
Mr. M
Matilda McDuck
Message 24 -
2013-02-28 at 17:28:03
I fear it would be tricky to make Matilda not a "less interesting Grandma duck" but I think a good writer could make her work in a interesting way...
Matilda
Matilda McDuck
Message 25 -
2013-02-28 at 17:39:36
I should have noted earlier that there are loads of European stories in which Scrooge and Grandma Duck are assumed to be siblings. But I fear that my commitment to the Barks/Rosa family tree makes those stories unreal to me (and I haven't read that many of them). Even though I often enjoy and re-read stories which don't fit into the mostly-aligned-with-Rosa Duckburg I believe in, I just can't give credence to a story that makes Grandma Duck a transplanted Scot. (The one exception: the aforementioned "Bananas," which does assume GD and Scrooge are siblings....but I can mentally re-script it to avoid that aspect.)
Baar Baar Jinx
Matilda McDuck
Message 26 -
2013-02-28 at 17:43:11
Quote from user: MatildaI just checked Inducks for Matilda stories, and I found that Byron Erickson recently wrote a Christmas story, "Donald's Homemade Christmas," in which she and the other members of Scrooge's family of origin appear. It's #3 of a series of stories about Donald's being obsessed with recovering/practicing various Christmas traditions (I have the first). I'm going to order this third story, but it'll take weeks to get here. Does anyone happen to know whether Donald and HD&L interact with Matilda *in the present* in this story? Or does she just appear in the past in flashbacks based on Scrooge's memories? Obviously there are flashbacks based on either Scrooge's or Matilda's memories, if the other members of the family (Downy, Fergus, Hortense) appear.
Regardless of whether Matilda appears "in the present" or in flashback, this seems to represent the first use of Scrooge's family of orgin unconnected to the work of Rosa.
Regardless of whether Matilda appears "in the present" or in flashback, this seems to represent the first use of Scrooge's family of orgin unconnected to the work of Rosa.
Mr. M
Matilda McDuck
Message 27 -
2013-03-04 at 23:30:15
Quote from user: MatildaI just checked Inducks for Matilda stories, and I found that Byron Erickson recently wrote a Christmas story, "Donald's Homemade Christmas," in which she and the other members of Scrooge's family of origin appear. It's #3 of a series of stories about Donald's being obsessed with recovering/practicing various Christmas traditions (I have the first). I'm going to order this third story, but it'll take weeks to get here. Does anyone happen to know whether Donald and HD&L interact with Matilda *in the present* in this story? Or does she just appear in the past in flashbacks based on Scrooge's memories? Obviously there are flashbacks based on either Scrooge's or Matilda's memories, if the other members of the family (Downy, Fergus, Hortense) appear.
I shall awnser this Puzzling question :
You can see the picture of Young Matilda from the story here (the very last one ) :
http://coa.inducks.org/character.php?c=Matilda%20McDuck&view=2
Hortense (who appears to be in-character with Rosa version ) :
http://coa.inducks.org/character.php?c=Hortense%20McDuck&view=2
Fergus :
http://coa.inducks.org/character.php?c=Fergus%20McDuck&view=2
Downy O'Drake (more dirty then usual) :
http://coa.inducks.org/character.php?c=Downy%20O'Drake&view=2
and Rosa-style little Scrooge here
http://coa.inducks.org/character.php?c=US&view=2&range=201
(no Jake McDuck at the Christmas party, ey?)
So we can safly say Scrooges sisters (& parents) will only appear in a flashback. Still it great to see Rosa-continiutiy use by other artits...
I shall awnser this Puzzling question :
You can see the picture of Young Matilda from the story here (the very last one ) :
http://coa.inducks.org/character.php?c=Matilda%20McDuck&view=2
Hortense (who appears to be in-character with Rosa version ) :
http://coa.inducks.org/character.php?c=Hortense%20McDuck&view=2
Fergus :
http://coa.inducks.org/character.php?c=Fergus%20McDuck&view=2
Downy O'Drake (more dirty then usual) :
http://coa.inducks.org/character.php?c=Downy%20O'Drake&view=2
and Rosa-style little Scrooge here
http://coa.inducks.org/character.php?c=US&view=2&range=201
(no Jake McDuck at the Christmas party, ey?)
So we can safly say Scrooges sisters (& parents) will only appear in a flashback. Still it great to see Rosa-continiutiy use by other artits...
Matilda
Matilda McDuck
Message 28 -
2013-03-05 at 02:18:19
Thanks, Mr. M! I'm definitely looking forward to seeing the story when it finally gets here. As you say, it's great to have other writers/artists using Rosa's version of the characters. It's funny, I believe that some time ago on GeoX's blog I wrote that I'd really love to see a Christmas in Scrooge's childhood in Scotland...and now it appears! (It's true that in my next post I admitted that people didn't actually celebrate Christmas in 19th-century Scotland...just Hogmanay, and that was hardly a family-friendly holiday. But hey, though Rosa would doubtless research that and feel bound to the historical setting, I don't expect that of other writers! And it's possible that while Erickson uses Rosa's McDucks, he might not feel bound to Rosa's timeline, so Scrooge's childhood might not be set in the 19th century. In other stories Erickson has certainly set the Ducks in the present (present at the time of writing--e.g. computers in The Lost Treasure of Cornelius Coot).
I note that Matilda may have reddish hair in this coloring. In the American edition of the L&T, Matilda is a blonde and Hortense is a redhead (red hair being culturally associated with temper). I have the Danish edition of the L&T, and in that, Hortense is a blonde and Matilda is a redhead (well, not bright orange, but auburn).
I note that Matilda may have reddish hair in this coloring. In the American edition of the L&T, Matilda is a blonde and Hortense is a redhead (red hair being culturally associated with temper). I have the Danish edition of the L&T, and in that, Hortense is a blonde and Matilda is a redhead (well, not bright orange, but auburn).
Opel Rekord1985
Matilda McDuck
Message 29 -
2013-03-06 at 14:27:48
That's great, thank you so much.
Matilda
Matilda McDuck
Message 30 -
2013-03-14 at 22:02:14
Ha! Byron Erickson did indeed stick to the historical facts of Christmas in Scotland, which is to say, there wasn't any until comparatively recently (long after Scrooge's childhood). In the story "Donald's Homemade Christmas" there is a flashback via Scrooge's memory/tale of Scrooge's childhood. Scrooge has told Donald that Christmas was forbidden for centuries in Scotland, and that they only had Hogmanay, which did not involve presents for children. But! One day when young Scrooge is shining the shoes of Americans, they are talking about Christmas in London and at home, and Scrooge then asks his parents for a Christmas celebration. They don't have much money for gifts, but they get a tree, and Downy makes dolls for the two girls and Fergus makes a money box out of a cigar box for Scrooge (to hold the money he's making shining shoes). That's the flashback (just over one page), and it inspires Donald to insist on homemade presents all around this year.
So, not much to the flashback, but I am chuffed that Erickson stuck to the facts and didn't give us a Scottish Christmas, and that he (and the artist) presented Scrooge's family consistently with Rosa's timeline (so we Rosa fans can accept this as Scrooge's childhood in the 19th century), and that despite the historical challenge he came up with such a clever and satisfying way to provide Scrooge and his sisters with a childhood Christmas. Plus, psychologically I'm attracted to the idea (my own, the story doesn't explicitly suggest this) that the money bin might play such a huge role in Scrooge's life not only because it holds his precious money, but also because it bears a certain continuity of function with his father's handmade gift to him, the only Christmas gift he received in childhood.
So, not much to the flashback, but I am chuffed that Erickson stuck to the facts and didn't give us a Scottish Christmas, and that he (and the artist) presented Scrooge's family consistently with Rosa's timeline (so we Rosa fans can accept this as Scrooge's childhood in the 19th century), and that despite the historical challenge he came up with such a clever and satisfying way to provide Scrooge and his sisters with a childhood Christmas. Plus, psychologically I'm attracted to the idea (my own, the story doesn't explicitly suggest this) that the money bin might play such a huge role in Scrooge's life not only because it holds his precious money, but also because it bears a certain continuity of function with his father's handmade gift to him, the only Christmas gift he received in childhood.