Originally published at: Why wasn't Donald Duck in the original DuckTales? | Boing Boing
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I kept mishearing Carl Barks as Karl Marx in the video (which would have been funny to see him write a comic about a billionaire)
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That’s a whole different post.
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That would be too on the beak.
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Great book. I also recommend The Empire’s Old Clothes: What the Lone Ranger, Babar, and Other Innocent Heroes Do to Our Minds. (Hmmm… that title used to mention Reader’s Digest…)
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I highly recommend checking out some of the Fantagraphics collections of the Carl Barks Ducks comics. They are really wonderful: The Complete Carl Barks Library – Fantagraphics
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Oh, man, if you think Mickey Mouse needs to be retired, you have definitely got to watch the Mickey Mouse and The Wonderful World of Mickey Mouse shorts on Disney+. Hilariously weird stuff with great Easter eggs and callbacks over the whole history of Disney animation.
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There was a long period when Mickey did behave himself too well, but his early history is full of naughty and sometimes wicked behavior. Disney toned him down and he lost much of his appeal for me when they modified his eyes.
In the newer Mickey Mouse series, he’s a LOT more fun. And Mickey’s eyes and ears behave more like they originally did.
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I see that I owe @Haikumatt a coke.
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Lots of duck content on BB today. (Well, two posts.) Here’s my opportunity to share a relevant map. OC!
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I distinctly remember a Donald cameo once or twice in Duck Tales. Isn’t he in the very first episode, essentially sending the kids off to stay with their uncle?
Edit: Ah, it’s in the video. Cool.
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The title of this post is a little clickbaity. The video only briefly mentions the fact that Donald was in very few episodes of the 80s shows and other than saying maybe they were afraid kids wouldn’t be able to understand him, they don’t really offer a real answer. Most of the video is about Donald’s changing and evolving character in the cartoons, comics and new series (in which he appears much more than the 80s show)
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So duckburg is likely somewhere between Ohio and Michigan. I’ve heard about “Michiganders” before…
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I miss the old Goofy´s cartoon such as the “How To Series”.
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I fully agree with your assessment about Mickey Mouse; he’s a Mary Sue of a character.
Also I tried to watch the Ducktales reboot, but it didnt hold my attention… whereas the original is considered a classic in my household, despite my negative feelings about Disney as a company.
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One senses that by naming Donald’s billionaire uncle “Scrooge” and dressing him up like a 19th century Robber Baron that the Disney authors and artists weren’t entirely propagandizing for American capitalism, though.
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I always saw it as a light-hearted populist downplaying of his miserliness and greed, sort of like the Monopoly guy. He was and remains a sympathetic character as presented to the American audience.
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Also, Disney doesn’t use visual gags the way other cartoons do. Like, Bugs will hit Elmer’s head with a tennis racket or something, and his pupils will bounce around the whites of his eyes like a Wimbledon match after the blow.
Disney characters just get hit. There’s no second gag except violence.
Disney had/has better animation due to budget, but they’re woefully uninspired when it comes to content…except the ducks. The ducks are always great.
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If the reboot were terrible it would all be worth it for this interview moment alone:
But I’ve found the reboot quite good! I enjoyed watching it with my kids. There are a lot of winks to the original series throughout, so I get the sense that the people working on it were fans of the original too. The animation is also quite good. I liked how they expanded Donald a bit, he’s the same hothead but also a caring, chronically unlucky, uncle. I love the detail of having Donald live in his boat… in Scrooge’s pool.
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