Translated character Entries from the Italian Topopedia

[The KKM]

For those who don't know, the Italian Disney Comics site has an official encyclopaedia of characters, the Topopedia. I find it interesting, as it's a look at the official Italian view on all these characters. Therefore, I'll be translating some of them- maybe eventually all of them, but that's gonna take time. For a start, I've done these 10. Images are form the Topopedia except when the Topopedia artwork is oddly different from their usual depiction. I'm not fluent in Italian, so the translation isn't 100% accurate, but I think it's pretty close. Otherwise, I tried keeping the tone the same from the originals (Scarpa worshipping included!)

[Matilda]

Thanks much for translating and posting these--very interesting to see, and a nice supplement to my French "Who's Who in Duckburg" booklet. I was intrigued to read that the Italians originally meant Rockerduck to replace Glomgold--why was that, I wonder?

I want to see more of Paperetta in stories here, but I keep hoping the powers-that-be will give her a better English name. "Dickie Duck" just sounds really stupid to me. She's barely appeared in the USA, so I hold out the hope that the editors won't feel obligated to keep that name for her.

[Matilda]

OK, I've definitely got to figure out how to choose the picture that appears under my name...I can't really let Mickey stay there, I don't even *like* Mickey! Me for the Ducks! (And Eurasia Toft.)

[The KKM]

Quick reminder I didn't post, feel free to request characters for me to translate- the encyclopedia can be found here, with the Topi tab being Mickey-related characters, Paperi being Disney-related ones.

Matilda - I just went double-checking just to make sure I'm not spreading misinformation, and yeah, it states "con l'intento di sostituire in toto Cuordipietra." IE, "with the intent of replacing Glomgold in every way". So seems there was a specific intention behind it, instead of what I'd alwauys assumed of a natural "evolution" in preferring to use this character instead of another. Why? I've no idea. Maybe they felt a younger duck worked better as a rival, or maybe the South African backstory didn't interest them?

I'm generally fine with the name "Dickie Duck", although admittedly by this point it's probably habit. I'd be fine with a new name- in portuguese she had exactly that, being known as "Patinha Yé-Yé" in her first rare appearances in Brazil, and renamed with her final name of Pata Lee when she was reinvented for the Disney Teens stories. Were she to get a new US name, I think following the logic of the name "Pata Lee"'d be interesting- it's a reference to Rita Lee, popular rock singer in Brazil at the time. Maybe either a name based in some female singer of today, or of the 60's to fit better? "Duck Baez"? :V

EDIT: You should have a tab under the "The Feathery Society etc etc" banner up top saying "Profile", going there you should have to your right a button saying "Edit Profile".

[Matilda]

OK, did this work? Is it OK for me to use Rosa's Matilda as an avatar?

On naming Paperetta after a famous singer--Aretha? Tina? Joan? Cyndi? And I'd love her to have a last name that's not Duck. There are too many unrelated Ducks.

[The KKM]

The only restrictions in terms of avatars are the same in terms of general posting IE nothing offensive, etc. Otherwise feel free to have whatever you want as an avatar

[tonyduck]

If its alright, I saw Launchpad McQuack on there. (Under Jet McQuack, haha) I'm just curious what it says about him, ha!

[squeakyboots]

I'm noticing that there's an entry for Oswald on this site. Is he appearing in Italian comics now?

And there is also a character named Dynamite Smack and that name is just hilarious and awesome at the same time.

[The KKM]

Jan 29, 2016 5:11:33 GMT tonyduck said:

If its alright, I saw Launchpad McQuack on there. (Under Jet McQuack, haha) I'm just curious what it says about him, ha!

Nothing unexpected, I think. Of the Disney Afternoon characters Launchpad always seemed the most loved by me even by fans of "normal" Disney Comics.

Jan 29, 2016 7:18:22 GMT squeakyboots said:

I'm noticing that there's an entry for Oswald on this site. Is he appearing in Italian comics now?

Basically just seems to be a result of the Epic Mickey hype of the time. Disney Italy did make a couple of tie-in comics, and Holland had a new one-page strip made once, but otherwise there's been no new Oswald comics nor has he been integrated into the normal comics, no.

Jan 29, 2016 7:18:22 GMT squeakyboots said:

And there is also a character named Dynamite Smack and that name is just hilarious and awesome at the same time.

This description probably doesn't make much sense unless you know who Hard Haid Moe is in the first place- he's basically a redneck parody, an old man living isolated in his mount whom Fethry likes to go bother.

[squeakyboots]

Forgive me if the quotes look messed up. Still getting used to this forum.

Jan 29, 2016 9:10:55 GMT The KKM said:

Basically just seems to be a result of the Epic Mickey hype of the time. Disney Italy did make a couple of tie-in comics, and Holland had a new one-page strip made once, but otherwise there's been no new Oswald comics nor has he been integrated into the normal comics, no.

There have been Oswald comics including some stuff that was tying in to Epic Mickey (Which as far as I know, have only been released in English through an iphone app) as well as another story in Walt Disney's Comics #726 that was of Norwegian origin. The fact that the Topolino website had a new illustration made for him in their style just had me curious. I guess he's just there for the same reason Launchpad is. Italy has gotten DuckTales/Epic Mickey at some point and they're basing it off that.

I'm shocked that they would mention whatever that thing from 1935 is since that would definitely not be the Disney version of the character.

[tonyduck]

Kind of interesting about Launchpad, how he is intergreted into the wiki, while say, Darkwing, Fenton, and others are nowhere to be seen, even under their Italian names, haha! I guess Launchpad is just that respected to be remembered in the comic continuity from italy?

[The KKM]

squeakyboots - Those are the Oswald comics I mentioned, yeah, although I mixed Norway with Holland. Sorry, people from Northern Europe, my Southern Europe sensibilities tend to just agglomerate it all as one group of countries!

tonyduck - as I mentioned, Launchpad seems to have been much more easily adopted by the "normal Duck comics" artists worldwide than anyone else- you'd see Barks-style stories with him, Rosa even wrote him IIRC (although probably not out of choice), and he makes cameos sometimes. Darkwing, Fenton, etc. just never caught on as well- well, maybe Darkwing did, but that's a completely different license and by the time it came out it was treated as such, you'd never see in terms of writing and art him integrated into the "normal Duck world" like Launchpad was.

[Matilda]

Reginella next, please! I've managed to read the Reginella stories in French...wonder if I'll ever see them in English. They seem to work better in Italian than in French translation, though--the flowery-poetic romantic stuff in the end narration, for instance, was effective in Italian but they felt they had to tone it down in French. So maybe the stories wouldn't survive the translation to English so well, either.

[The KKM]

Jan 29, 2016 15:27:43 GMT Matilda said:

Reginella next, please! I've managed to read the Reginella stories in French...wonder if I'll ever see them in English. They seem to work better in Italian than in French translation, though--the flowery-poetic romantic stuff in the end narration, for instance, was effective in Italian but they felt they had to tone it down in French. So maybe the stories wouldn't survive the translation to English so well, either.

Here she is. Have to admit, not the best profile... for one, it's hardly about her, but mostly about Donald and about how Status Quo won't allow them to be together. And even when it's about her, it doesn't give much of an impression of her personality, just that she's there to love Donald. Eh. Being fair, when I read her first story (don't think I've read others), it WAS fairly barebones anyways, so eh.

Anyways did three others, too:


Another boring character who therefore just gets described by his gimmick. Hell, they just switch to talking about Max instead! Have to doubt Topopedia in the connection between Gilbert and Max, don't know if the animators even knew Gilbert.


Speaking of Goofy and Max, here he is! I decided to add small notes when there's a sentence I had trouble translating- in this case, "i bis-bis a palate", which to me just looks like gibberish.


And finally, here's Minnie! In case someone doesn't get the "Topolina" mention, Mickey is named Topolino in Italian, but Minnie is Minni. Since she looked so much like Mickey though, people who didn't know better often just turned TopolinO into a female name (TopolinA) to refer to her.

The mention in the end of Pippo Reporter is worthwhile- it was a great subseries of comics in the last few years, focusing entirely on Mickey's expanded cast but WITHOUT Mickey (who'd often be said to be busy on police work off-panel), recast as inhabitants of New York circa 1930. It's amazing stuff, and some of my favourite character work for these characters- Minnie in particular is great in it, as is Pete, for an example.

[Scrooge MacDuck]

Yes, I know "Pippo Reporter". I decided to take it as a "prequel" to the comics we know and love… Mr Blackspot being the Phantom Blot's real identity before he became a spy.