HOME | DD
devilkais β The Good Duck Artist - Best Of Carl Barks
Published: 2013-05-05 00:50:26 +0000 UTC; Views: 22543; Favourites: 174; Downloads: 28
Redirect to original
Description
Well I guess it is time to rediscuss the master himself properly ! (Crummy old picture her for comparison ... [link] )Now, for those who don't know , Barks is one of the Disney LEGENDS. His contribution to comics (and later to cinema ...) can not be described .
First off, the man took various jobs but had little success in these occupations : farmer, woodcutter, turner, mule driver, cowboy and printer...
Then , he started at Disney Studios in 1935 as an inbetweener. ( Being teamed and supervised by one of the head animators who did the key poses of character action (often known as extremes) for which the inbetweeners did the drawings between the extremes to create the illusion of movement.)
He also submitted gag ideas for cartoon story lines being developed and showed a talent for creating comical situations . By 1937 he was transferred to the story department( His first story sale was the climax of Modern Inventions, which would be his first association with Donald Duck .)
In 1942, Barks was not at ease with wartime working conditions at Disney and was bothered by ongoing sinus problems caused by the studio's air conditioning. Shortly before quitting, he moonlighted as a comic book artist, contributing half the artwork for a one-shot comic book (the other half of the art being done by story partner Jack Hannah) titled Donald Duck Finds Pirate Gold (which was supposed to be a feature... God knows why they did not or why they are not adapting it now !...Boneheads ,,,)
From that point on, Carl would take what his predecessor Al Taliaferro established in the strips and what the more mature Donald from the cartoons (more on that below ) and CREATE one huge mythology around talking ducks and other funny animals ! The word "glorious' BARELY starts to describe the scope of this tooniverse ...and I am not exagerating .
He mainly had 2 types of stories :
- Ten-pagers: comedic stories (mostly about Donald )that were about the everyday life events in Duckburg. Due to his beautiful and vivid artwork , these would make (for any would-be animator reading my text here) great subject for cartoons. The storyboard are basically here , just imagine how you'd bring it to life.
- Big adventure stories, usually 24-32 pages in length. The 1940s-50s ones starred Donald and his nephews but they would later feature Scrooge more prominently due to his increasing popularity at the time. If I had one reason to describe my love for Barks's oeuvre, this would be it : He showed that with enough caring and logical development , you can increase the scope of your characters in a spectacular way ! That will be explained through the characters he created .
SCROOGE McDUCK [ Christmas on Bear Mountain (1947)]
If you don't know who he is , What the hell are you waiting for ? As I said , it will take me quite some time before doing an article on Scrooge himself. But let us say that he is BArks's GREATEST creation ; easily in the TOP 5 greatest Disney characters EVER .
Barks's Scrooge sort of has 3 variations depending on the eras of Barks's style (of course other writers and artists used the characters and can be linked to any of these eras ...)
- 40's-Early 50's Scrooge (where he is a bitter cheap miser with a dash of eccentricity...)
- Mid 50's Scrooge (much more adventurous and fleshed-out, yet still able to be a comedic bastard on occasion...)
- 60's Scrooge ( the meaner streaks are for the most part absent , just focusing on the adventurous and goofier traits of the old miser...)
Developped the superpower of diving into big amounts of cash without breaking his bones...
GLADSTONE GANDER [ Wintertime Wager (1948)]
Donald's obscenely lucky cousin and all-around smug and shallow jerk (so much that you wanna punch him !). Gladstone's incredible luck allows him to live a life of leisure without ever doing anything resembling working... OR DOES IT ?
GYRO GEARLOOSE [Gladstone's Terrible Secret (1952)]
Duckburg's local inventor, who frequently works on strange inventions that have a tendency to end up in the wrong hands. And before any misguided individual tells you otherwise , NO , Gyro is a completely different creature from Ludwig Von Drake ! (Byron Erickson LIED TO US !... why don't I have a "dramatic reveal " tune when I need one ?)
LITTLE HELPER [ The Cat Box (1956)]
Gyro's tiny, robotic assistant, who aids him with his many inventions and is sometimes hinted to be just as smart, if not even smarter, than Gyro.Isn't he the cutest robot ever ? Why aren't they plushies of helper !
THE BEAGLE BOYS [ Terror of the Beagle Boys (1951)]
A family of masked and usually (or occasionally) not-too-bright thugs that unsuccessfully seek to rob Scrooge of his fortune. Depicts how effective the law system is these days ... and I am not joking !
MAGICA DE SPELL [ The Midas Touch (1961)]
A shady sorceress who seeks to steal Scrooge's #1 dime and melt it in the fires of Mt. Vesuvius for a spell that could give her the power to turn any substance into gold...or tries to get another magical artifact . Basically Morticia Addams as a duck ...
FLINTHEART GLOMGOLD [ The Second-Richest Duck (1956) ]
The second richest duck in the world, Flintheart Glomgold, just like Scrooge is a cheap old miser who lives in a bin full of money, except in South Africa; and just like Scrooge, Flintheart started his fortune from nothing.... long story short : Scrooge's EVIL twin, will be perfected by Don Rosa and one of the greatest Disney baddies EVER !
JOHN D. ROCKERDUCK [ Boat Buster (1961) ]
He presumably holds the dubious honour of being the third richest duck in the world, or depending on the story, the second richest. John D. Rockerduck was created and used by Carl Barks in just one story BUT will be perfected later into the anti-thesis of Scrooge ...
APRIL , MAY AND JUNE [ Flip Decision (1952) ]
Derivative of Huey, Dewey and Louie ... but as girls. Will be improved in the Dutch comics though ...
NEIGHBOR JUGHEAD JONES [Good Neighbors (1943)]
Guy who should have been in a lot of Donald cartoons. Few people can turn a petty dispute into a goddamn neighborly WAR...
THE JUNIOR WOODCHUCKS ORGANIZATION [ Operation St. Bernard (1951) ]
In most stories, HD&L are the only named characters in the organization,full of good actions, intentions and silly titles. Mainly used to evolve and flesh the triplets.Also known for being the one organization with the most ridiculous titles like: O.G.U.F.O.O.L. (Omnipotent Giver of Unimpeachably Full-bodied Observations on Omniscient Logic), B.I.G.D.O.P.E (Brazenly Impressive and Grandiose Door Opener and Party Entertainer) and A.N.S.W.E.R.M.A.N (Awesome Noteworthy Senior Woodchuck, Expert Researcher, and Master Archaeological Nitpicker)
As for his treatment of characters he did not create but developped and flesh out (for the most part...)
GRANDMA DUCK
Donald, Fethry and Gladstone's grandmother and Huey, Dewey and Louie's great-grandmother. She lives at a farm outside Duckburg with her gluttonous, incredibly lazy farmhand Gus Goose (Donald's cousin), and kicks ass and takes names. Has Jaq and GusGus from the "Cinderella" movie in her farm too (and it makes her even cooler !)
GUS GOOSE
Carl gave him an actual voice rather than just honking. Besides, he's definitely more likable than before (while still being a gluttonous doofus...)
DAISY DUCK
Carl's take on Daisy may not be the best. We have to wait for the late 50's to flesh her out more, or at least make her more likable.
HUEY, DEWEY and LOUIE DUCK
The nephews that started out as absolute pests who enjoyed tormenting their uncle evolved into much more mature and resourceful kids, as well Woodchuck Juniors.If you know them from the DuckTales cartoon...they are basically like that in Barks's comics (with more mischief during the 40's and 50's though .
DONALD DUCK
Now I am going to commit what you would call a blasphemy (then again, I never saw myself as a donaldist due to my own idea of what is the TRUE essence of Donald. And also because most -ists , these days in Tunisia , tend to REEEAAAALLY irk me !) , but it is time to set the record straight . No, Barks's Donald is NOT a different Duck from the one you see in the cartoons .And bear in mind that I see it as the apex of the Duck (especially the 50's Barks Donald) !
No there are not 2 Donalds (why the fuck even call him Donald Duck in the first place then ? That is as ridiculous as me saying that my pancreas spits applesauce ! The same goes for Daffy . The problem comes from this separatist mentality people have ! Hybridism FTW Baybay ! Fuck it , you know what ? I will draw a comic that spoofs my opinion on donaldists!)
NO, Carl did not make any him less hot-tempered , aggressive , frustrated, slapsticky or lazy than he was in the cartoons.(I have a friend that commented that he found Don much more aggressive in the comics ! And that was hilarious . And yeah, because if there is anything Donald is known for , it is his patience and calm ! Just ask Gladstone ....)
Donald was ALREADY the symbol of humanity's everyday struggles and frustrations... and he already had a taste for adventure and a good heart in the cartoons,especially under the hands of the underrated Jack King. (The ACTUAL holder of the title "Donald's other daddy".The long version is here if you missed it [link] )
But what did Carl do then ? He took every trait you see in the cartoons I've listed and mixed them into one cohesive blend and gave us the PERFECTED Donald Duck (Both in aesthetic and spirit !). He gave Donald the chance to show us his depth as a character and that he is perfectly fit to be in big adventures (take that Mr Hannah ! You were completely wrong !).
In short, he took one the richest cartoon characters of the golden age and made him even GREATER ( cus that's how Carl ROLLS !).
And I repeat , to all moronic Disney execs out there : WE WANT a Donald movie ! TRUE Donald fans would not give a fuck about not getting everything he says , it is how he kicks ass, goes into adventures and takes names that is great about Don . Just use a little imagination to work in animation for fuck sake !
What ? He is intelligible in comics ? OF COURSE , YOU GUYS ARE READING HIS SCRIPT ! XD (in fact , here is a funny competition to shake things up on youtube : Take any Donald comic and start reading his speech in Duck voice. Start training instead of whimpering about it, you'll see , it 'll be funny !). Besides most cartoon characters have their dialogues written normally in comics ! (In Looney Tunes comics , they don't write Daffy's speeches with STH or -ZTH sounds ! That does not make me hear him differently ...)
Oh and another thing , if you really wanna understand why he can WORK in animation (and that excluding him from DuckTales was utter shite ! Seriously, Fuck you Eisner...), here is how intelligible he can get when talking [link] . And more importantly , THIS IS HOW HE THINKS AND MONOLOGUES [link] (Yeah ! You can translate Barks's stories where Donald is the narrator by using this voice when he narrates exteriorly , and his normal voice when he speaks during the story action. All hail Jack Kinney ! He had the solution all along ! Isn't that a good compromise or what ? You can have a loquacious thinking Donald with , at the same time , his intact spoken quacks ! You TELL ME what you think ! I want your opinion on this idea ! )
Since I said that Carl had 2 types of stories , I guess we will have to present you both types differently. So I will start with the 10 pagers. These are short comedic stories for the most part , making them easier to turn into 7 minutes shorts . The way they are drawn make them practically story-boards, mainly thanks to Barks's fluid drawing style .
Let us properly start then ! [link]
20 TOYLAND (1948)
Santa Claus hires Donald and his nephews to test his new toys ...
19 THREE DIRTY LITTLE DUCKS (1944)
Huey , Dewey and Louie's fight against their weekly bath ! (aren't these little rascals cute ?)
18 FOXY RELATIONS (1948)
Scrooge wants to get a juicy contract from a millionaire who happens to be a fox-hunting fanatic. Who does Scrooge hire as a champion ? Well Donald of course ! And it SUCCEEDS ... a little too well ! .
17 BONGO ON THE CONGO (1961)
Scrooge wants to form Donald as his successor by showing him the fun life of a tycoon. Okay, who believes the old McDuck here ?
16 TERRIBLE TOURIST (1961)
Donald as an obnoxious tourist ? What comedic possibilities could such a set-up have ?
15 KNIGHTY RIVALS (1951)
Gladstone and Donald duke it out to determinate who will be the lead in a play along with Daisy ! Whoever loses , we all win !
14 DONALD'S GRANDMA DUCK (1950)
The first story to expand on Grandma Duck . Read it to know more about her !
13 NEW YEARS' REVOLUTIONS (1955)
The nephews promise to always go to school on time , Donald promises not to lose his temper
12 THE SUNKEN YACHT (1949)
Never call Scrooge dumb ! You may end up regretting it .
11 THE GOLDILOCKS GAMBIT (1949)
Excellent spoof of the Goldilocks story, involving soup , pranks and Gladstone !
10 FARMHANDS AND THE FLYING FARMHAND (1958)
Why yes , Dumbo exists in this universe. AND HE TALKS !?
9 OUTFOXED FOX (1954)
Scrooge tricks Donald and Mr Jones into thinking that a "Mr Fox" lived there and hid a treasure under their houses. And let us say the old duck will get the surprise of his life later ...
8 ATTIC ANTICS (1951)
Yeas ... Jaq and Gus Gus are much more competent and useful than Gus Goose.
7 GRANDMA'S PRESENT (1956)
Leaving Gyro to take some rest at the farm leads to some peculiar results .
6 THE HYPNO-GUN (1952)
Donald : only duds to be hypnotised by a toy gun !
5 THE OLYMPIC HOPEFUL (1956)
Out of all these short stories , this is the most heartwarming .
4 MONSTERVILLE (1961)
The quintessential Gyro story ! How too much progress can be a bad thing .
3 GLADSTONE'S TERRIBLE SECRET (1952)
People , you will never guess what it is, but trust me it is a hoot !
2 FLIP DECISION (1953)
Where Harvey Dent was the victim of flipism, Donald shows you how much you can fuck up with it !
1 A FINANCIAL FABLE (1950)
Out of all stories that have a morale, this is the best !
Now to the main course ! The stries where you expand your characters ! Music Maestro [link] (and yes , it IS FITTING !).
Top 20 stories (Big Adventures)
20) THE TITANIC ANTS ! (1958)
A Duckburg scientist's enlarged ants disrupt the Billionaires' Picnic. And yes, the fights between the Ducks and the ants are hilarious !
19) STATUS SEEKER (1963)
Scrooge wants to be part of the elite , thus he learns that the striped ruby is the best object to get the highest status . This does not fall in death ears; McSwine and the Beagle Boys will get it from him ! And jellyfishes love mint candies.
18) TRICK OR TREAT (1952)
I already mentioned it before . In the comics, Donald is still on complete jerk mode but even more stubborn than he is in the animated short ... it is just glorious !
17) OLD CALIFORNIA (1951)
Donald and his nephews are on a holiday in California. They take a small narrow road that seems deserted and Donald is momentarily distracted from his driving. The car crashes in a rock besides the road.When they regain consciousness, they find they are visitors of a local tribe of Native Americans. The tribe kindly offer to help them recover. The exhausted Ducks are offered a drink, and they fall sleep. When they wake again, they find themselves in Alta California in 1848.... But it was all a dream... OR WAS IT ?
16) FORBIDDEN VALLEY (1957)
Donald and his nephews are appointed to go in search of the natural predator of the pickle-destroying fleas: the wasp junglum ratibus. But this goes against the plans of a horrible guy: the owner of millions of cans of pickled turnips just waiting for it to invade the market. What's not to love about a story of ducks and dinosaurs.
15) RACE TO THE SOUTH SEAS (1949) / THE SECRET OF HONDORICA (1956)
The best Donald and Nephews against their cousin Gladstone;
- Donald and the nephews race Gladstone Gander to rescue Uncle Scrooge from a South Seas shipwreck ...
- Scrooge hires Donald and the boys to find valuable papers in a crashed mail plane in the thick and hostile jungle Hondorica. But Gladstone is way too curious and will make it harder for them .
14) GOLDEN FLEECING (1955)
Scrooge wants a coat made of solid gold, but the coat merchant tells him there is no such thing. Despite that, Scrooge still desires one, so he meets a strange man who is known as an Eikral who is from the country of Seikral.All is fine and dandy except that "Seikral" is "Larkies" spelled backwards ... Woops !
13) ODDBALL ODDYSSEY (1963)
My favorite Barks story with Magica ! Why ? Look at what happens when she finds Circe's magic rod !
12) LETTER TO SANTA (1949)
Donald fails to follow through on his promised delivery of a letter to Santa (due to his own forgetfulness), thus asks Scrooge for some help. After a money bags fight (yeah , it is a s you read it ! McDuck hits you with bags if you hit him with a dollar....), McDuck accepts ... and the rest of the story is one thrill ride !
11) MAGIC HOURGLASS (1950)
Scrooge gets rid of an old defective hourglass he had for 30 years by giving it to his nephews (and of a bill by offering a defective boat to Donald . And Don's expression is just that hilarious !). But after some time, the old miser realizes that his hourglass was the source of his success while his nephews find out that it has the power to help them find gems and gold ! But they need to renew the red sand of this hourglass while Scrooge wants to get it back . Bear in mind that we will talk about THIS particular story once we get to another maestro ...
10) THE MONEY CHAMP (1959)
My favorite out of the Glomgold trilogy ! Flintheart competes with Scrooge to see who can make the biggest pile of cash, which leads the old bastard to pull a dirty trick after another to beat McDuck ...
9) LOST IN THE ANDES (1949)
Take a silly idea : square eggs, and make a story around it ! And while it is quite a funny adventure for Don and the boys, the ending is just PRICELESS !
8) GOLDEN HELMET (1952)
Donald, bored guard at the Museum of Duckburg, is intrigued by a visitor searching a former Viking longship.There he discovers a map leading to the gold helmet Olaf Blue. Said helmet can confer on its owner the sovereignty of America, leading to race to the helmet. And NO ONE is safe , NO one is safe from the temptation of possessing this object .
And to whoever will tell me " Just try and see the main character from The Golden Helmet being the same one as the hothead who's a punching bag for Chip n' Dale...."... Well.. is it me or is Donald not only brash and impulsive in this story ? Doesn't he slam his head against the wall when his nephews don't get why he wants them to come with him ? And besides, we all saw a power-drunk Donald prior to this story . Don't believe me ? [link] at 4:22 is exactly how I imagine Donald when he realises that he can become king of the USA XD ... This just deserves to be animated !
7) ONLY A POOR OLD MAN (1952) / BACK TO KLONDIKE (1953)
The 2 stories that literally PERFECTED Scrooge's character in the 50's:
- His best confrontation against the Beagle Boys and where we learn why he loves his money so much .
- Where we get to know a bit more about his past life and meet Goldie O'Gilt ...
6) BACK TO LONG AGO (1956)
An hypnotist helps Scrooge and Donald discover that their ancestors were pirates and that they buried a treasure chest in a remote island. What ensues is race between both of them to try to get the treasure ....
5) ANCIENT PERSIA (1950)
A mad scientist (who looks like Dr Cortex if he was fused with Peter Lorre ) kidnaps the ducks to help him revive an ancient Persian court. Barks's most disturbing story.... AND IT'S SO DAMN COOOOOL !
4) VACATION TIME (1950)
Donald and his nephews go into a camping trip to the woods , not knowing that it will be full of dangers . Despite having a first part full of hilarious gags , the climax is just epic: a bully's carelessness causes a forest fire that traps the Duck family alone and Donald's sense of improvisation and quick thinking are needed to ensure their survival. Basically the Duck at his apex !
3) THE MENEHUNE MYSTERY (1953)
Scrooge has decided to move his entire fortune on an island he bought, but despite all precautions he took. He and his nephews will end up as hostages to, the Beagle Boys at their cruelest ! BUT, something supernatural will save them !
2) DANGEROUS DISGUISE (1951)
While on a beach in the French Riviera, Donald and his nephews are in a spy story with the lovely Mrs. triple X . And let's say that you will never guess who is an ally or not through the whole damn thing ! And it ends with a suicide... I am not joking , it is a Disney style suicide, making it even more disturbing !
HONORABLE MENTIONS :.... Way too much to list... I will pass this time...or update it another time...
1) A CHRISTMAS FOR SHACKTOWN (1952)
THIS is to me what encapsulates everything I love about Carl's works : It is both funny and heartwarming! This story revolves around the Duck family attempting to raise money to throw a Christmas party for the poor children of the slums of Duckburg.Scrooge , however, refuses his nephew's request for a donation, but nevertheless offers to give Donald the remaining 25 dollars, BUT ONLY if he can manage to raise that much....
I won't spoil the rest, but let me tell you that the rest of the story is beyond great ! Not only is it a fantastic Ducks story but also the Saint Patron of all christmas specials (and I don't celebrate Christmas... just to give you a hint at how great it is ! It can't be said enough !).
And to conclude my pariah status among Barks fans I will say that I love his paintings... Yeah, I never saw them as ugly ! They were part of what influenced me to draw stuff ! Up until we meet again , we'll leave you with this poem , AND GOOD NIGHT :
They ride tall ships to the far away,
and see the long ago.
They walk where fabled people trod,
and Yetis trod the snow.
They meet the folks who live on stars,
and find them much like us,
With food and love and happiness
the things they most discuss.
The world is full of clans and cults
abuzz as angry bees,
And Junior Woodchucks snapping jeers
at Littlest Chickadees.
The ducks show us that part of life
is to forgive a slight.
That black eyes given in revenge
keep hatred burning bright.
So when our walks in sun or shade
pass graveyards filled by wars,
It's nice to stop and read of ducks
whose battles leave no scars.
To read of ducks who parody
our vain attempts at glory,
They don't exist, but somehow leave
us glad we bought their story.
β Carl Barks, 1999
Related content
Comments: 45
π: 0 β©: 1
π: 0 β©: 0
"these would make (for any would-be animator reading my text here) great subject for cartoons."
I guess it's better reveal that i am,in about some days,receive a drawing table and i am going to use to make animations and the first animation is gonna be a part of a remake of One Piece that removes everything that ruined the sense of adventure
π: 0 β©: 1
Well Good luck with that XD Though I'd say you're safe till about the end of Thriller Bark !
π: 0 β©: 1
....
I was actually planning to do the entire series
π: 0 β©: 1
Thanks
...
(stretches)Some things are gonna be influenced by your opinions
π: 0 β©: 0
Awesome work man. I never got to read any old Donald comics as a kid, but I did love Ducktales. Carl Barks is definitely a legend.
π: 0 β©: 0
very nice tribute 
π: 0 β©: 1
Indeed ! NOw to show the other greats !
π: 0 β©: 0
Donald sure has more than his fair share of troubles!
And I doubt Scrooge will want to loan him the cash...
π: 0 β©: 1
No, Scrooge won't lend him a cent ... but he won't mind eating at his place .
π: 0 β©: 1
Heh, no doubt about that... any chance of getting something free...
π: 0 β©: 0
You should probably do a article that explains the differences between Gyro and Ludwig. That way your argument can be better.
π: 0 β©: 1
I will think about it .
π: 0 β©: 0
Wauw! Its so wonderful! How can you draw so good?
Very good job!
π: 0 β©: 1
No problem ! What do you think of the stories I ve selected ?
π: 0 β©: 1
You've really made some good choices! I love them
π: 0 β©: 0
ow this may be weird to ask you this but, what did you think about the part I wrote about Donald ?
π: 0 β©: 1
I dunno,you mean Donald isn't getting too much attention and needs a movie, or what?
π: 0 β©: 1
Yep ! And which is unfortunate since he's Disney's best character (not to mention that there is a huge market for the Disney comicsverse out there !). It is sort of amazing that they keep ignoring this sort of material while it is right under their noses for 50 years ....
π: 0 β©: 2
Donald has had several movies focused on him in the past, but a recent movie would be fun.
π: 0 β©: 1
Oh I will get to that , trust me . There are so many comics that can be adapted !
π: 0 β©: 1
Did you hear about the new Mickey Mouse movie being made in production? Perhaps this will lead to the technique they used in Paperman to give a half traditional-CGi film. I'd love to see more CGI done in the style of Dragon Quest(look up Dragon Quest 8[dragon quest 9 opening] on youtube, it's gorgeous).
π: 0 β©: 0
Maybe he's a short cartoon sort of character. And they did a lot of short cartoons with him anyway.
I mean, look at Tom and Jerry - they are good for short cartoons, but the movie was kind of weird.
π: 0 β©: 1
Well that depends ... Most of his comics can be easily be story-boards for animated movies . That sort of implies that the characters in modern animated features are somewhat more complex/interesting/funnier/deeper than him or his family, which is simply not true (this goes for other character like Mickey or even the Looney Tunes...).
Hell, even the princessy stuff Disney seems to be obsessed with was done with him and better than most (like the Reginella stories by Cimino !)
As for Tom & Jerry , they are purely made for violence and classical music parodies ... toning them down for kids is just wrong . The sherlock Holmes and Tom & Jerry movie was not bad (though would be better if it were a bit darker in the humor ...)
π: 0 β©: 0
Hey, I got your message and I kinda got the hind that I should read your article about Carl Barks. So I did.
Here in the Netherlands, there is a big collection about 130 albums with only Carl Barks comics, each 48 pages (with some exceptions). I don't own the whole collection, but I got album No. 102 first. It was the first Donald Duck album I owned and I loved it. I got more of these albums now and I must say, I still love Barks' stories the best. It's kind of sad. A few weeks after I started (really) reading Donald Duck comics, Barks died. But he will be remembered.
When I read the sentence "SCROOGE McDUCK: If you don't know who he is , what the hell are you waiting for?", I got a bit sad. Recently, Disney, Capcom and WayForward decided to remake the well received DuckTales game (originally released on the Nintendo Entertainment System). It stars Scrooge as the main character. I have read an interview with the developers of the remake and they said they have tested the game with children. It turns out no child knew who this "Grandpa Duck" was [link] . I guess Donald Duck isn't as big as he used to be anymore, at least in America. They don't air DuckTales anymore and, besides the stories of Barks and Don Rosa, I don't know any Donald Duck comic written in America. Most comics I read are from Europe. Mostly from the Netherlands, Denmark and Italy.
In Finland and in my home country, the Netherlands, the production of Donald Duck magazines and albums is the highest in the world, so I guess children would still know who Scrooge is here. The chief editor of the Dutch Donald Duck magazine claimed that Donald Duck is popular in the Netherlands because it became a part of parenting. Parents want to give their kids the same experience of the timeless comics as they did in their youth. Not only that, but in the Netherlands and Finland, people like to subscribe for magazines more than in other countries. Now something interesting. Research showed that a lot of older men like to read Donald Duck in the Netherlands. Those older men are people who subscribed for the magazine in their youth and never stopped the subscription, but they kept reading. While I think most people in the Netherlands, including children, know who Scrooge is, but he is probably more famous with people form older generations.
According to the editors of the Dutch Donald Duck magazines: Carl Barks was quite clumsy before he became a Duck Artist. He had many different jobs, but wasn't good at them. Barks may have reflected his own experiences on Donald Duck. Donald is clumsy and the way Donald acts in Barks' comics may be really similar to how Barks would act.
You clearly said in your article that there are no two Donalds. This may be true, however Donald does change and evolve over the years and even every artist handles Donald Duck differently. I once said that I thought Scrooge was different in Italian comics compared to Barks' comics. Well, he is Scrooge in both comics, but one focuses more on adventure (Barks) and the other on slapstick (Italian). While Scrooge is Scrooge, I do feel do feel that one Scrooge is different from the other. The same counts for Donald. Each artist highlights another feature of Donald's personality or put more emphasis on it. In one comic, Donald can be very bright and smart and in another, he always makes the wrong decisions. Things like this can make one 'version' of Donald feel different from the other, yet all the core elements of the character remain the same. So even though one Donald may feel different from the other, you still recognise the one and only Donald in it. In conclusion, I both agree and disagree with your statement about two Donalds.
I must say it's a great (and long) article you wrote about Carl Barks and his creations and improvements. Congratulations. The drawing is also pretty good.
One thing I noticed about reading Donald Duck comics is that the colours of some characters are different, depending in which country the comic is coloured. Sometimes Gyro has brown hair, sometimes blond and sometimes red. Also Scrooge's cloathing never have the same colours. He often wears red , but in DuckTales and some Italian comics, he wears blue. Also the colour if his dressing gown's collar, sleeves and his gaiters (his sock-like things) are always different. In the comics I grew up with, Scrooge's clothing where coloured like this [link] , while the same thing may be coloured somewhere else like this [link] . I also see Scrooge often coloured like this [link] . Why is it always different? Can't it be the same everywhere?
Oh, and just for fun, here is a list of the characters names that changed in Dutch. I will tell what it means and sometimes give an English variation of the name.
Donald Duck = Donald Duck (Donald kept his name, but a duck is actually called an "eend" in Dutch)
Scrooge McDuck = Dagobert Duck (same name as in German)
Daisy Duck = Katrien Duck (Catherine Duck)
Huey, Dewey & Louie Duck = Kwik, Kwek & Kwak Duck (Kwik, Kwek and Kwak sound like the noises a duck makes)
Gladstone Gander = Guus Geluk (Gus Luck)
Gyro Gearloose = Willie Wortel (Wortel means both "carrot" and "square root")
Little Helper = Lampje (Lampy or Lightbulby)
Beagle Boys = Zware Jongens (Zwaar means Tough, Heavy, Strong or Hard and Jongens means Boys)
Magica de Spell = Zwarte Magica (Black Magica)
Flintheart Glomgold = Govert Goudglas (Goudglans means Goldgloss)
John D. Rockerduck = John D. Rockerduck (not every name is different)
April, May & June Duck = Lizzy, Juultje & Babetje Duck (Dutch girl names)
Grandma Duck = Oma Duck (Grandma Duck)
Gus Goose = Gijs Gans (Gus Goose)
Jughead Jones = Bertus Bolderbast (no idea what it means actually, but he appears a lot in Dutch comics)
Junior Woodchucks = Jonge Woudlopers (Young Rangers)
π: 0 β©: 1
" I guess Donald Duck isn't as big as he used to be anymore, at least in America."
I told a friend about that and the idiocy of Disney execs ! I just can't comprehend why Disney doesn't seem to care about the wonderful characters as major
characters anymore and don't see the wealth of potential that still rests in their "fab 5" ( Pfah ! Fab 5 ? Gimme a break ! The last time I watched an INTACT
and multi-layered Donald in cartoons was in "Quack Pack" and that show was vastly underrated. But I will talk about it another time just as I talked about
the greatest cartoons series of the 00's [link] . It is worthy of
discussion !)
" Carl Barks was quite clumsy before he became a Duck Artist. He had many different jobs, but wasn't good at them. Barks may have reflected his own
experiences on Donald Duck."
True , from what I heard he also tended not to take heavy criticism very well, just like the duck (though he was shier ) ! XD Donald is somewhat an amalgam
of the contributions of animators and cartoonists. Bear in mind that he had a personality from the begining ; Donald may be one of the best characters to
capture the perennial nare do well in most humans. He was created during the depression, so the best symbol is a character that is angry at the mishaps
threw at him. ( The only other character to achieve such a pinnacle of polyvalence but in a different fashion is Daffy ... Ducks generally make for the best
characters XD )
"I both agree and disagree with your statement about two Donalds."
What I meant by that is that I was personally sick and tired to see Donald cartoons being constantly belittled and ignored. In any comics forum, you see them
only speak about Hannah's contribution (freaking Chip & Dale... boy do I hate them !) , which literally ruined Donald's animated career in the fifties, and
use that to say that Donald was nothing beore Barks. But what about the toons from 39 to 48 ? No one talks about it ! So I want people who forgot or didn't
know, to remember that Donald was never a one note character . He was already one of the greats and Barks perfected him ( and I stand by what I said : He can
be used in animation ! And to whoever complains about the voice ? Deal with it !If you came to watch Donald in action, you knew already what you were in
for... To me , he always sounded like that, even in the comics .)
" One thing I noticed about reading Donald Duck comics is that the colours of some characters are different, depending in which country the comic is
coloured"
As a kid I always thought that he had clothes of different colours. XD And maybe Gyro is contantly testing a new way to dye his hair XD.
Thanks for your comment ! And here are the names in french
Donald Duck = Donald Duck
Scrooge McDuck = Balthazar Picsou
Daisy Duck = Daisy Duck
Huey, Dewey & Louie Duck = Riri, Fifi & Loulou
Gladstone Gander = Gontran Bonheur
Gyro Gearloose = GΓ©o Trouvetou
Little Helper = Filament
Beagle Boys = Les frères Rapetou
Magica de Spell = Miss Tick
Flintheart Glomgold = Archibald Gripsou
John D. Rockerduck = John CrΓ©sus Flairsou
April, May & June Duck = Lili , Lulu & Zizi
Grandma Duck = Grand-Mère Duck
Gus Goose = Gus Glouton
Jughead Jones = Lagrorne
Junior Woodchucks = Les Castors Juniors (junior beavers)
π: 0 β©: 1
Quack Pack is now re-airing on Disney XD here in the Netherlands, so at least one of your underrated cartoons gets a bit of attention here.
I don't know much about the cartoons. I saw some and just liked them, even the once you dislike. I do know something about the cartoons though. When Donald first appeared in a cartoon, he was directly a fan favourite. I once heard that Walt Disney was disappointed because of the popularity of Donald. Donald overshadowed his personal favourite character: Mickey Mouse. The reason why Donald was more popular than Mickey was because Mickey was the embodiment of goodness. In other words: he was 'boring' compared to the lively and funnier Donald. Donald was also more human and people could connect with Donald. I don't know why, but most of the Donald cartoons I watched usually shows the negative sides of Donald more than his good sides. He appeared as the antagonist (to Chip and Dale and his nephews) in many cartoons and Donald rarely wins. Maybe Disney didn't want Donald as a hero or good guy or something.
I knew some of the French names already, but not all. One of the not so many thing I remembered from the French lessons I got was that the name of Scrooge was Picsou, but I forgot what it meant. I am not so good in French. Later, I also learned the names Riri, Fifi & Loulou because of the theme song of "La Banda Γ Picsou" [link] . They sing the names Picsou, Riri, Fifi and Loulou a lot. Also, the Dutch Donald Duck likes to give their readers a lot of information and sometimes give the names of various characters in different languages. It's kind of funny to see how many names differ between language. A lot gets changed.
Oh, do you want to something interesting about the names of Disney characters? In Belgium, they both speak Dutch and French. In 1950 the "Mickey Magazine" started in Belgium, two years before France got "Le Journal de Mickey" and the Netherlands "Donald Duck". Most of the Disney characters had different names in both the French and the Dutch version of Mickey Magazine. Most of these Belgium Dutch names were similar or the same as the Belgium French names. I don't know many names, but I know that Scrooge was called Oncle JΓ©rΓ©mie in French and Oom Jeremias in Dutch. Some Belgium French names are the same as the usual French though. Goofy was called Dingo in both the French and Dutch version of Mickey Magazine. I know that Goofy's usual French name is Dingo, but Goofy's usual Dutch name is Goofy. Strange.
π: 0 β©: 1
Well , truth be told , Walt did not know how to handle Mickey or the mythology surrounding the mouse . Hell, the best Mickey director was Reilly Thomson and he got very rare occasions to work with the rodent. And I love Mickey, he 's a great character and I thought so ever since I was a kid. The problem is that they never use the TRUE Mickey in animation( except in the wonderful " Runaway Brain" or "Prince and the pauper" or " Mickey and the beanstalk"); but hey,"execs are morons and all that".Walt should have let the animators use Floyd's Mickey ...
Walt actually liked Donald : the duck opened a floodgate of potential new storylines and scenarios.( that is until Jack Hannah butchered that potential. To this day I don't think Hannah was the right director for Donald. A character like Donald,Daffy or Sylvester can't work if the user does not sympathise or has a connection with said character, if so they should not be writing or animating them ...). However , neither he nor Barks liked Goofy (while Floyd Gottfredson , Scarpa, Art Babbit and director Jack Kinney proved what a superb character the Goof is XD ! More on that another day....)
Picsou is actually a worldplay on Pique-sou ( someone who steals coins XD ). Well Goofy holds the record for number of french names Before they agreed on Dingo ; Quenotte, Piloche, Achille Nigaudot or Moule Γ Gauffres (waffle maker XD ), still it's part of why I just adore the guy .
π: 0 β©: 1
Those titles you mentioned are the best 'mickey and friends' films up to date. Though I wish they could complete Mickey and the Beanstalk. There's some material that needs to be added.
π: 0 β©: 1
There is a whole lot to do with the mouse ! I will eventually get to it
π: 0 β©: 1
If you ever find the time to look up classic Disney books, there's a entire story that has the completed Mickey and the Beanstalk. Not sure for Bongo(even though there's a lot for concept art for that film as well).
π: 0 β©: 0
Now this may be weird to ask you this but, what did you think about the part I wrote about Donald ?
π: 0 β©: 1
Thanks , there will be more .
π: 0 β©: 0
I just love the look on Donald's face about his bill!
π: 0 β©: 1
Man, if you ever get the occasion to get some Barks comics , trust me you won't regret it ! But we will deal with other writers who used the PERFECTED Donald .
π: 0 β©: 1
I'm not sure if they sell them here in the UK.
π: 0 β©: 0
Thank you man , I am honored !
π: 0 β©: 0