Post by Baar Baar Jinx on Nov 10, 2019 1:07:26 GMT
This was a long thread, so will have to be done in parts. Part 1 below ...
Ryan_Wynns 2012-07-11, 05:59:01
David, if I'd asked, "What makes you state definitively that that'ss Grandma Duck?", I couldn't have gotten a more informative, eye-opening, Jedi Master answer! You're right on target...as DuckTales premiered when I was 5, I have virtually NO perspective of "how extensively the Duck 'supporting cast' was marketed in the years before DuckTales". That there ever has been a "Disney Standard Characters styleguide" is to me a revelation.
Thank you for linking to the brochure scan -- it's historically interesting, definitely giving insight as to Grandma being considered canon by Disney at large (as opposed to just in the comics). In December 1989, while I was in second grade, my parents took my sister and I on our first (of, ultimately, two) family vacation to Walt Disney World ... at that point, what would soon become Mickey's Starland was still Mickey's Birthdayland. Just seeing what wasn't much more than a cardboard cutout (okay, I'm exaggerating ... it was closer to plywood ...) of Scrooge's mansion was exciting... ("Hey, they were thinking of ME...!")
Baar Baar Jinx 2012-07-06, 23:44:37
Surprisingly, no one seems to have started a thread on this topic that I can see, so here we go ...
Say what you will about DuckTales, but there's no doubt it represented a milestone in Duck history. A lot of eventual Barks fans only learned about his work through this series. There is absolutely no way to reconcile the DuckTales universe with Barks' ... Boom's failed attempt to do that during their recent short-lived comic series notwithstanding. Fans who admired Barks' works before DuckTales came out ... myself included ... would be frustrated by the incompatibilities. No Donald, dissimilar Beagle Boys, Magica's accent, Gyro's redesign, and Webby ... can't help but gripe about how wonderful it would be if they just stuck to Barks' script.
But I've learned the best way to appreciate the series ... consider it an alternate universe. In the DuckTales world, Donald and Scrooge never really went on adventures together with the boys, and Scrooge hardly knew them when he took over their care; his distaste for that responsibility is evident in the introductory episode. That doesn't gel with Scrooge's respect for the nephews in Barks' world. And the events of Barks-inspired stories like "Back to the Klondike" and "Land Beneath the Ground" happened differently in the Barks universe and the Ducktales one. St. Canard, Darkwing Duck and Launchpad exist in Ducktales-land, but not Barks-land. Barks' Donald never serves in the navy, but Ducktales Donald does. He then returns to Duckburg and reclaims the boys as teenagers ... something we never see in Barks' universe. In other words, seeing DuckTales-Darkwing-Quack Pack as one continuity and Barks (and if you're so inclined, Rosa) as a separate, distinct continuity makes it easier to actually enjoy DuckTales. It's like "Flintstone Kids" rewriting the history of the Flintstones, or what Archie attempted to do with "The New Archies". Or the 1980s He-Man vs. the 2002 He-Man. These "retcons" tend to die out while the original universe endures ... I can't think of a single example where the rewritten universe erased the original. DuckTales is essentially of historic interest now, and Barks' version of events remain the canon.
Surprisingly, no one seems to have started a thread on this topic that I can see, so here we go ...
Say what you will about DuckTales, but there's no doubt it represented a milestone in Duck history. A lot of eventual Barks fans only learned about his work through this series. There is absolutely no way to reconcile the DuckTales universe with Barks' ... Boom's failed attempt to do that during their recent short-lived comic series notwithstanding. Fans who admired Barks' works before DuckTales came out ... myself included ... would be frustrated by the incompatibilities. No Donald, dissimilar Beagle Boys, Magica's accent, Gyro's redesign, and Webby ... can't help but gripe about how wonderful it would be if they just stuck to Barks' script.
But I've learned the best way to appreciate the series ... consider it an alternate universe. In the DuckTales world, Donald and Scrooge never really went on adventures together with the boys, and Scrooge hardly knew them when he took over their care; his distaste for that responsibility is evident in the introductory episode. That doesn't gel with Scrooge's respect for the nephews in Barks' world. And the events of Barks-inspired stories like "Back to the Klondike" and "Land Beneath the Ground" happened differently in the Barks universe and the Ducktales one. St. Canard, Darkwing Duck and Launchpad exist in Ducktales-land, but not Barks-land. Barks' Donald never serves in the navy, but Ducktales Donald does. He then returns to Duckburg and reclaims the boys as teenagers ... something we never see in Barks' universe. In other words, seeing DuckTales-Darkwing-Quack Pack as one continuity and Barks (and if you're so inclined, Rosa) as a separate, distinct continuity makes it easier to actually enjoy DuckTales. It's like "Flintstone Kids" rewriting the history of the Flintstones, or what Archie attempted to do with "The New Archies". Or the 1980s He-Man vs. the 2002 He-Man. These "retcons" tend to die out while the original universe endures ... I can't think of a single example where the rewritten universe erased the original. DuckTales is essentially of historic interest now, and Barks' version of events remain the canon.
Matilda 2012-07-07, 00:09:09
An alternate universe, definitely, and I agree that that attitude makes it possible for a Barks fan to enjoy DuckTales without being constantly annoyed by the inconsistencies. (Though I do really *hate* Magica's accent! She's Italian, dammit!) Isn't it Rosa's conceit that DuckTales is a TV show and comic book franchise in Duckburg that is "inspired by" the true stories of McDuck's life? (But inacccurate in lots of ways, as such things are.) So, Scrooge has a DuckTales comic in the bathroom, discovered by a Beagle in "The Beagle Boys vs. The Money Bin." Personally, I really like that way of thinking about it. DuckTales is the fiction produced in a fictional world! You can enjoy it and be amused by its inaccuracies, in the same way that you can imagine the ducks themselves enjoying it and being amused/irritated by its departure from Barksian "real life."
An alternate universe, definitely, and I agree that that attitude makes it possible for a Barks fan to enjoy DuckTales without being constantly annoyed by the inconsistencies. (Though I do really *hate* Magica's accent! She's Italian, dammit!) Isn't it Rosa's conceit that DuckTales is a TV show and comic book franchise in Duckburg that is "inspired by" the true stories of McDuck's life? (But inacccurate in lots of ways, as such things are.) So, Scrooge has a DuckTales comic in the bathroom, discovered by a Beagle in "The Beagle Boys vs. The Money Bin." Personally, I really like that way of thinking about it. DuckTales is the fiction produced in a fictional world! You can enjoy it and be amused by its inaccuracies, in the same way that you can imagine the ducks themselves enjoying it and being amused/irritated by its departure from Barksian "real life."
kimba_1962 2012-07-07, 17:38:00
Some of us DT "sourdoughs" are actually doing full-blown retrospectives of the series this Fall. I will be starting one myself soon, at my blog site.
As someone who had just started getting into Barks/Disney comics when the DT wave hit, I can appreciate the "alternate universe" argument. It was obvious from "ep one" that DT had a different take on Barks' world. But, considered as an entity in a completely different medium, was DT a successful take on Barks? Certainly, yes. I can hold both versions of the Duck universe in my mind and enjoy both with no difficulties, just as I can appreciate completely different comics versions of the classic Barks world (Italian, Brazilian, you name it).
Your analogies to "Flintstones" vs. "Flintstone Kids" (and all the other post-"Flintstones" series that PRECEDED "Flintstone Kids," all of which tweaked the world of Bedrock in their own way) and the two "He-Man" series are interesting, but you're comparing apples to oranges when you do that. With DT, we saw a transformation of a comics franchise to an animated franchise. Different versions of a single animated franchise aren't the same thing. Given the limitations of the TV-ep format and the difference in potential audience, what DT did well, it did VERY well.
If that's the case, then there seems to have been at least some osmosis between the DT world and the Rosa world. (Cf. "On Stolen Time.")
[Baar Baar Jinx] Surprisingly, no one seems to have started a thread on this topic that I can see, so here we go ...
As someone who had just started getting into Barks/Disney comics when the DT wave hit, I can appreciate the "alternate universe" argument. It was obvious from "ep one" that DT had a different take on Barks' world. But, considered as an entity in a completely different medium, was DT a successful take on Barks? Certainly, yes. I can hold both versions of the Duck universe in my mind and enjoy both with no difficulties, just as I can appreciate completely different comics versions of the classic Barks world (Italian, Brazilian, you name it).
Your analogies to "Flintstones" vs. "Flintstone Kids" (and all the other post-"Flintstones" series that PRECEDED "Flintstone Kids," all of which tweaked the world of Bedrock in their own way) and the two "He-Man" series are interesting, but you're comparing apples to oranges when you do that. With DT, we saw a transformation of a comics franchise to an animated franchise. Different versions of a single animated franchise aren't the same thing. Given the limitations of the TV-ep format and the difference in potential audience, what DT did well, it did VERY well.
[Matilda]Isn't it Rosa's conceit that DuckTales is a TV show and comic book franchise in Duckburg that is "inspired by" the true stories of McDuck's life? (But inaccurate in lots of ways, as such things are.) So, Scrooge has a DuckTales comic in the bathroom, discovered by a Beagle in "The Beagle Boys vs. The Money Bin." Personally, I really like that way of thinking about it. DuckTales is the fiction produced in a fictional world!
Baar Baar Jinx 2012-07-07, 18:13:35
While I see your argument, the point I was trying to make was that at some point during the series' conception, DuckTales writers sat down and said, "We're going to do a series based on Barks comics, but we think we should write Donald out, and have the nephews live with Scrooge, and have Gyro and the Beagle Boys look different, and create all these new characters." I understand how some of those decisions could have been necessitated by the fact that they were adapting the series from one medium (comics) to another (television). (Although honestly I see no reason why the Beagle Boys couldn't have all been similar-looking clones or why Gyro couldn't have looked like he did in the comics ... it worked fine in "Soccermania". The Donald issue is a discussion all its own). Maybe the Archies vs. New Archies comparison would apply better? They completely redesigned their comic book characters for a TV audience around the same time DuckTales debuted. While I doubt DuckTales/New Archies writers anticipated that their continuities would supplant the ones they were rewriting, the ultimate result was that these "new versions" of classic universes (New Archies for Archie, DuckTales for Barks) had no staying power, and the original versions remain the definitive ones.
[kimba_1962]Your analogies to "Flintstones" vs. "Flintstone Kids" (and all the other post-"Flintstones" series that PRECEDED "Flintstone Kids," all of which tweaked the world of Bedrock in their own way) and the two "He-Man" series are interesting, but you're comparing apples to oranges when you do that. With DT, we saw a transformation of a comics franchise to an animated franchise. Different versions of a single animated franchise aren't the same thing. Given the limitations of the TV-ep format and the difference in potential audience, what DT did well, it did VERY well.
Roger North 2012-07-07, 19:45:48
If you thought that Duck Tales had no staying power then why did they make 100 episodes? Not to mention two spinoffs and a feature film? Despite the fact that it was different from the Uncle Scrooge comics Duck Tales was quite popular when it was on the air. In fact if it wasn't for Duck Tales I never would started reading Disney Comics to begin with. It's hard to believe that it's been 25 years since Duck Tales first aired.
If you thought that Duck Tales had no staying power then why did they make 100 episodes? Not to mention two spinoffs and a feature film? Despite the fact that it was different from the Uncle Scrooge comics Duck Tales was quite popular when it was on the air. In fact if it wasn't for Duck Tales I never would started reading Disney Comics to begin with. It's hard to believe that it's been 25 years since Duck Tales first aired.
Baar Baar Jinx 2012-07-07, 20:39:17
It was popular at the time, but its long term impact on the Duck universe is debatable.
It was popular at the time, but its long term impact on the Duck universe is debatable.
Debbie 2012-07-07, 21:34:44
Attempts at unifying the Barks and DuckTales universes also can be found in the "Down, But Not Out" chapter of "Scrooge's Quest" in Scrooge's "fever dream" sequence, but the real problem is that they don't fit together well, much like BOOM's attempts to link the DuckTales and Darkwing Duck universes. None of these were written with a strict continuity in mind.
Did DuckTales have a long term effect on the Duck universe? That's hard to say. But I think DuckTales certainly helped to bring Uncle Scrooge to a larger audience than just comics fans.
Attempts at unifying the Barks and DuckTales universes also can be found in the "Down, But Not Out" chapter of "Scrooge's Quest" in Scrooge's "fever dream" sequence, but the real problem is that they don't fit together well, much like BOOM's attempts to link the DuckTales and Darkwing Duck universes. None of these were written with a strict continuity in mind.
Did DuckTales have a long term effect on the Duck universe? That's hard to say. But I think DuckTales certainly helped to bring Uncle Scrooge to a larger audience than just comics fans.
Baar Baar Jinx 2012-07-07, 23:22:58
True, but with DuckTales now 25 years old, it officially belongs to the last generation. It doesn't strike me that Disney has done much to keep Scrooge in the public eye since then. How much of a presence does Scrooge have at the parks, for example, or on the Disney channel? Are kids today any more familiar with Scrooge than the pre-DuckTales generation was? If Scrooge is still relatively unknown, then I'm not sure what lasting impact the series really had. The fact that we haven't had a Duck comics publisher in the US for a year now is a sad testament to that fact.
True, but with DuckTales now 25 years old, it officially belongs to the last generation. It doesn't strike me that Disney has done much to keep Scrooge in the public eye since then. How much of a presence does Scrooge have at the parks, for example, or on the Disney channel? Are kids today any more familiar with Scrooge than the pre-DuckTales generation was? If Scrooge is still relatively unknown, then I'm not sure what lasting impact the series really had. The fact that we haven't had a Duck comics publisher in the US for a year now is a sad testament to that fact.
kimba_1962 2012-07-07, 23:40:23
"Archie" vs. "New Archies" doesn't strike me as the best analogy to use here, either. Among other things, you also have to consider the OLDER "Archies" TV series. Archie is perpetually trying to redesign, "reimagine," etc. their characters in an effort to keep up with their audience, and "New Archies" was just another example of that. By contrast, DT was a first-off attempt to ADAPT the world of the Duck comics to that of animation.
One thing that has complicated DT's "staying power" is the simple fact that, once the TV series went out of production, all that Duck fans had to do to get their subsequent Duck fixes was to go back to the world of the comics. It's pretty natural to expect that there would be a DT "washout effect" as a result of that. Even so, the positive reactions to Boom!'s use of DT material in UNCLE $CROOGE and the announcement of the new DT title -- as inconsistent as the former could be and as disappointing as the latter turned out to be -- suggest that there is a good deal of residual affection for the DT concept. It is simply too bad that the DT comics material that we got (in the US, at least) was not all that it could have been.
"Archie" vs. "New Archies" doesn't strike me as the best analogy to use here, either. Among other things, you also have to consider the OLDER "Archies" TV series. Archie is perpetually trying to redesign, "reimagine," etc. their characters in an effort to keep up with their audience, and "New Archies" was just another example of that. By contrast, DT was a first-off attempt to ADAPT the world of the Duck comics to that of animation.
One thing that has complicated DT's "staying power" is the simple fact that, once the TV series went out of production, all that Duck fans had to do to get their subsequent Duck fixes was to go back to the world of the comics. It's pretty natural to expect that there would be a DT "washout effect" as a result of that. Even so, the positive reactions to Boom!'s use of DT material in UNCLE $CROOGE and the announcement of the new DT title -- as inconsistent as the former could be and as disappointing as the latter turned out to be -- suggest that there is a good deal of residual affection for the DT concept. It is simply too bad that the DT comics material that we got (in the US, at least) was not all that it could have been.
Lars Jensen 2012-07-08, 00:18:02
I'm not sure I understand the last sentence. Do you mean: "If DuckTales had had a lasting impact, by now there would've been a new American publisher of Duck comics"?
[Baar Baar Jinx]If Scrooge is still relatively unknown, then I'm not sure what lasting impact the series really had. The fact that we haven't had a Duck comics publisher in the US for a year now is a sad testament to that fact.
Baar Baar Jinx 2012-07-08, 00:34:12
What I meant was DuckTales doesn't seem to have raised Scrooge awareness enough to the point where it has been sustained, and that the lack of Duck comics in the US now possibly reflects that. Of course, I do acknowledge that we still don't know the exact details of the demise of Boom Disney line.
What I meant was DuckTales doesn't seem to have raised Scrooge awareness enough to the point where it has been sustained, and that the lack of Duck comics in the US now possibly reflects that. Of course, I do acknowledge that we still don't know the exact details of the demise of Boom Disney line.
Mike Peraza 2012-07-08, 00:54:43
Enjoying all the obvious passion posted on these pages.
michaelperaza.blogspot.com/2010/08/days-of-ducktales.html
Enjoying all the obvious passion posted on these pages.
michaelperaza.blogspot.com/2010/08/days-of-ducktales.html
GeoX 2012-07-08, 03:22:01
I've said this before, but I think the problem with Ducktales is not that it made alterations to Barks for the change in medium--that was inevitable--but that it changed the tone, to something that, in spite of the initial inspiration, is less Barks and more the sort of careless, juvenile stuff that Western was putting out in the seventies. This is hardly a blanket condemnation; there are some good Ducktales episodes, and a few that are truly exceptional. But to the extent that the show failed to live up to its promise--which I think, ultimately, it kinda did--it's because of this.
I've said this before, but I think the problem with Ducktales is not that it made alterations to Barks for the change in medium--that was inevitable--but that it changed the tone, to something that, in spite of the initial inspiration, is less Barks and more the sort of careless, juvenile stuff that Western was putting out in the seventies. This is hardly a blanket condemnation; there are some good Ducktales episodes, and a few that are truly exceptional. But to the extent that the show failed to live up to its promise--which I think, ultimately, it kinda did--it's because of this.
Tightwad 2012-07-08, 09:27:12
I'm with GeoX here.
While not necessarily true for most Disney comics, Barks stories are quite notable for having mature value, being easily readable and enjoyable by adults. Ducktales, just doesn't do this for me. It's a show aimed for children alone, and having not first watched it until I was too old for its target group, I can't say I enjoyed it much.
That doesn't mean that it's bad, or subpar, or I-don't-know-what. For what it is, it most likely holds up. I can't be the judge of that anyway.
The only thing that really bothers me is its confused identity.
By the premise of the show, you are to expect an animated version of Barks' work, but by the time you have seen the intro and especially logo you get a feeling of the show trying to be, uh, Indiana Jones with ducks? Which if true is nonsensical, since Barks' work has captured and inspired Indiana Jones' style on many levels. And by the time that the show actually starts, you are confronted with characters such as Webby, Beakly, Booba, his pet triceratops and Doofus. It's just...confusing. They're not even slightly in line with Barks' or even Lucas' style.
At that point, it feels like the manifestation of dissociative identity disorder in animation, hehe.
That said, the main problem that I have with Ducktales is still its less than mature style. But that may be derived by what is stated above.
On a positive note, I think that the animation was pretty good for its time and still holds up today. The soundtrack is pretty good, with the theme song being, well, awesome. So my main problem is the confusing and dull style of the screenplay.
I'm with GeoX here.
While not necessarily true for most Disney comics, Barks stories are quite notable for having mature value, being easily readable and enjoyable by adults. Ducktales, just doesn't do this for me. It's a show aimed for children alone, and having not first watched it until I was too old for its target group, I can't say I enjoyed it much.
That doesn't mean that it's bad, or subpar, or I-don't-know-what. For what it is, it most likely holds up. I can't be the judge of that anyway.
The only thing that really bothers me is its confused identity.
By the premise of the show, you are to expect an animated version of Barks' work, but by the time you have seen the intro and especially logo you get a feeling of the show trying to be, uh, Indiana Jones with ducks? Which if true is nonsensical, since Barks' work has captured and inspired Indiana Jones' style on many levels. And by the time that the show actually starts, you are confronted with characters such as Webby, Beakly, Booba, his pet triceratops and Doofus. It's just...confusing. They're not even slightly in line with Barks' or even Lucas' style.
At that point, it feels like the manifestation of dissociative identity disorder in animation, hehe.
That said, the main problem that I have with Ducktales is still its less than mature style. But that may be derived by what is stated above.
On a positive note, I think that the animation was pretty good for its time and still holds up today. The soundtrack is pretty good, with the theme song being, well, awesome. So my main problem is the confusing and dull style of the screenplay.
Tightwad 2012-07-08, 09:35:51
Just something I'd like to note here.
Other comic-to-animation adaptations, like the original Lucky Luke series went ahead and even included the original dialogue into the script. The results of that are mostly subpar, it's true. Comic book dialogue doesn't transfer too well to any medium.
The funny thing is, that even those adaptations that try to stick to the original product so much, tend to still fall flat on their faces in that attempt, as they somehow still manage to change their style.
[GeoX]I've said this before, but I think the problem with Ducktales is not that it made alterations to Barks for the change in medium--that was inevitable--
Just something I'd like to note here.
Other comic-to-animation adaptations, like the original Lucky Luke series went ahead and even included the original dialogue into the script. The results of that are mostly subpar, it's true. Comic book dialogue doesn't transfer too well to any medium.
The funny thing is, that even those adaptations that try to stick to the original product so much, tend to still fall flat on their faces in that attempt, as they somehow still manage to change their style.
Lars Jensen 2012-07-08, 12:09:36
There were a number of differences between DuckTales and the Barks comics... but if I look at them in the context of what had to be done to make DuckTales work as a mid-1980s half-hour animated children's adventure series, I think Disney did a very, very good job. Mike, you should be proud of what you and your colleagues accomplished. Give yourself a pat on the back.
We were talking about whether DuckTales has had any lasting impact... Launchpad McQuack was established so well that lots of casual comic readers I've talked to believe he was a Duck comics character before he appeared in DuckTales. If the public believes Launchpad has always been part of the Duck universe it's a pretty strong indication he has made it as a permanent member of the Disney Duck pantheon, next to Donald, Daisy, Ludwig etc. (Of course, Launchpad having also been in Darkwing Duck helps.)
A question for Mike: did the DuckTales crew ever consider using comics characters not worked on by Barks (such as Brigitta MacBridge)?
There were a number of differences between DuckTales and the Barks comics... but if I look at them in the context of what had to be done to make DuckTales work as a mid-1980s half-hour animated children's adventure series, I think Disney did a very, very good job. Mike, you should be proud of what you and your colleagues accomplished. Give yourself a pat on the back.
We were talking about whether DuckTales has had any lasting impact... Launchpad McQuack was established so well that lots of casual comic readers I've talked to believe he was a Duck comics character before he appeared in DuckTales. If the public believes Launchpad has always been part of the Duck universe it's a pretty strong indication he has made it as a permanent member of the Disney Duck pantheon, next to Donald, Daisy, Ludwig etc. (Of course, Launchpad having also been in Darkwing Duck helps.)
A question for Mike: did the DuckTales crew ever consider using comics characters not worked on by Barks (such as Brigitta MacBridge)?
Tightwad 2012-07-08, 12:41:17
Well, there are plenty of Ducktales references in popular culture. And it does hold up better more than most 'nostalgic' shows.
I'd say that it has had quite the lasting effect. More so in the US than Europe, but still.
Well, there are plenty of Ducktales references in popular culture. And it does hold up better more than most 'nostalgic' shows.
I'd say that it has had quite the lasting effect. More so in the US than Europe, but still.
Arnaud 2012-07-08, 13:29:23
Reminds me that Romano Scarpa did a test on Ducktales : www.facebook.com/video/video.php?v=1092337676743
[Lars Jensen]A question for Mike: did the DuckTales crew ever consider using comics characters not worked on by Barks (such as Brigitta MacBridge)?
kimba_1962 2012-07-08, 23:55:08
I think that Lars sums things up quite well here. Is DT a completely satisfying substitute for the comics themselves, in all their variegated splendor? No. Is it a valuable, and appreciated, contribution to Duck-lore in general? Certainly, yes.
Just ran across this one the other day: ducktaleskitchen.com/
Check the spelling in the title!
[Lars Jensen]There were a number of differences between DuckTales and the Barks comics... but if I look at them in the context of what had to be done to make DuckTales work as a mid-1980s half-hour animated children's adventure series, I think Disney did a very, very good job. Mike, you should be proud of what you and your colleagues accomplished. Give yourself a pat on the back.
[Tightwad]Well, there are plenty of Ducktales references in popular culture.
Check the spelling in the title!
Debbie 2012-07-09, 00:48:46
They did use a few:
The Phantom Blot
In "The Pearl of Wisdom", Pete's (Sharkey in this episode) henchman resembles Pete's generic henchman in many Paul Murry stories
Ludwig Von Drake (although Barks did draw Von Drake once in a gag page, he didn't make extensive use of the character.)
The Beagle Brats
In some of the episodes, a few of the secondary dogface characters have a Paul Murry-ish look to them as well.
[Lars Jensen]...did the DuckTales crew ever consider using comics characters not worked on by Barks (such as Brigitta MacBridge)?
They did use a few:
The Phantom Blot
In "The Pearl of Wisdom", Pete's (Sharkey in this episode) henchman resembles Pete's generic henchman in many Paul Murry stories
Ludwig Von Drake (although Barks did draw Von Drake once in a gag page, he didn't make extensive use of the character.)
The Beagle Brats
In some of the episodes, a few of the secondary dogface characters have a Paul Murry-ish look to them as well.
Tightwad 2012-07-09, 00:55:35
Haha. I'm almost convinced that the main component of that cheeseburger is duck meat. 
[kimba_1962]Just ran across this one the other day: ducktaleskitchen.com/
Check the spelling in the title!
Check the spelling in the title!
Lars Jensen 2012-07-09, 09:33:28
Oops, you're right. I'd completely forgotten about those appearances. Forgetting the Blot one is especially shameful.
The Beagle Brats showed up in "Take Me Out of the Ballgame", right? (Don't tell me I'm wrong on that one as well .)
[Debbie]
They did use a few:
The Phantom Blot
In "The Pearl of Wisdom", Pete's (Sharkey in this episode) henchman resembles Pete's generic henchman in many Paul Murry stories
Ludwig Von Drake (although Barks did draw Von Drake once in a gag page, he didn't make extensive use of the character.)
The Beagle Brats
They did use a few:
The Phantom Blot
In "The Pearl of Wisdom", Pete's (Sharkey in this episode) henchman resembles Pete's generic henchman in many Paul Murry stories
Ludwig Von Drake (although Barks did draw Von Drake once in a gag page, he didn't make extensive use of the character.)
The Beagle Brats
The Beagle Brats showed up in "Take Me Out of the Ballgame", right? (Don't tell me I'm wrong on that one as well
.)Baar Baar Jinx 2012-07-09, 14:37:14
What about (in my opinion, the most glaring omission,) Grandma Duck? Was there ever a plan to use her in DuckTales?
What about (in my opinion, the most glaring omission,) Grandma Duck? Was there ever a plan to use her in DuckTales?
Debbie 2012-07-09, 16:15:50
You are 100% correct on that one. That was their only DuckTales appearance. (I cheated, I looked that up on the DVD...).
I would imagine that the DuckTales crew wouldn't have used Grandma Duck as they already had a grandmotherly figure in Mrs. Beakley.
[Lars Jensen]The Beagle Brats showed up in "Take Me Out of the Ballgame", right? (Don't tell me I'm wrong on that one as well .)
.)You are 100% correct on that one. That was their only DuckTales appearance. (I cheated, I looked that up on the DVD...).
I would imagine that the DuckTales crew wouldn't have used Grandma Duck as they already had a grandmotherly figure in Mrs. Beakley.
Baar Baar Jinx 2012-07-09, 16:59:10
I would argue they are very different characters. Grandma has a frontiersman background, and is ruggedly independent. She lives on a farm, and several episodes could have sprung out of that. Plus, she is actually related to Scrooge (through marriage) and the boys. I think not using her was an opportunity lost. She also could have had a huge role on "Quack Pack", where there was no Mrs. Beakly (although I understand the tone of that show was very different from DuckTales).
I would argue they are very different characters. Grandma has a frontiersman background, and is ruggedly independent. She lives on a farm, and several episodes could have sprung out of that. Plus, she is actually related to Scrooge (through marriage) and the boys. I think not using her was an opportunity lost. She also could have had a huge role on "Quack Pack", where there was no Mrs. Beakly (although I understand the tone of that show was very different from DuckTales).
Lars Jensen 2012-07-09, 18:01:16
Are there any pre-Don Rosa sources for that? Remember, DuckTales came out before Rosa.
The problem with having Grandma in the DuckTales universe is this: since Scrooge in episode 1 was so unwilling to look after Huey, Dewey and Louie... why didn't Donald instead bring them to Grandma Duck? (The answer is of course that then there wouldn't have been a TV show.) Having Grandma not be a major presence in the DuckTales series removes that problem.
[Baar Baar Jinx][Grandma Duck] is actually related to Scrooge (through marriage)
Are there any pre-Don Rosa sources for that? Remember, DuckTales came out before Rosa.
The problem with having Grandma in the DuckTales universe is this: since Scrooge in episode 1 was so unwilling to look after Huey, Dewey and Louie... why didn't Donald instead bring them to Grandma Duck? (The answer is of course that then there wouldn't have been a TV show.) Having Grandma not be a major presence in the DuckTales series removes that problem.
Debbie 2012-07-09, 18:20:22
I think that the dated aspects of Grandma Duck's personality also would have kept her out of DuckTales. Even more so than Uncle Scrooge, Grandma is a throwback to another era, and always has been since she was introduced. Many of the changes made in DuckTales were done to try to give Barks' Duckburg a contemporary (circa 1987) feel, and apparently the writers felt that the show still needed updating despite being a hit when they opened with a time-traveling miniseries introducing Bubba and another serial introducing Fenton Crackshell and his robotic Superhero alterego, Gizmoduck (keeping up with Back to the Future and Robocop), so I can see why they'd be hesitant to include a Victorian era Grandma. Although I will give them credit for keeping Scrooge's Klondike gold rush days and his old flame Glittering Goldie as a part of his history, rather than omitting an important part of his life.
Or maybe there is an even easier answer...who else besides the most avid comics fans (like myself) remembers Grandma Duck? I think the DuckTales staff can be forgiven for not remembering her.
I think that the dated aspects of Grandma Duck's personality also would have kept her out of DuckTales. Even more so than Uncle Scrooge, Grandma is a throwback to another era, and always has been since she was introduced. Many of the changes made in DuckTales were done to try to give Barks' Duckburg a contemporary (circa 1987) feel, and apparently the writers felt that the show still needed updating despite being a hit when they opened with a time-traveling miniseries introducing Bubba and another serial introducing Fenton Crackshell and his robotic Superhero alterego, Gizmoduck (keeping up with Back to the Future and Robocop), so I can see why they'd be hesitant to include a Victorian era Grandma. Although I will give them credit for keeping Scrooge's Klondike gold rush days and his old flame Glittering Goldie as a part of his history, rather than omitting an important part of his life.
Or maybe there is an even easier answer...who else besides the most avid comics fans (like myself) remembers Grandma Duck? I think the DuckTales staff can be forgiven for not remembering her.
Roger North 2012-07-09, 19:20:28
I think Grandma was mentioned in one Quack Pack episode where Donald reverts to being a Teenager. Sadly Scrooge was never mentioned on that show.
I think Grandma was mentioned in one Quack Pack episode where Donald reverts to being a Teenager. Sadly Scrooge was never mentioned on that show.
Dutch Duckfan Down Under 2012-07-09, 20:19:41
And Donald being angry because he doesn't get to be in the show that often. Say, that almost sounds like a normal Duck comic. You know, one of those mid-90s Vicars. Donald gets his own TV show, and then doesn't appear in it himself. Real!Donald throws a fit, people think he's cosplaying as Fake!Donald (and being bad at that), HDL becoming famous, Scrooge not wanting to can the show because he makes money of it, the Beagle Boys being recognised in public, and people pointing out differences between the shows as being wrong in Real!Duckburg. "Hey Glomgold, why'd you move to South Africa?"
And Grandma was as far as I know used twice in Disney animation. She and Gus Goose had a cameo in the Fezziwig sequence in Mickey's Christmas Carol, and a Grandma-like character had a cameo in SportGoofy. (She appears right after Scrooge is scared through the roof sfter he learns he just gave away $1 million.)
[Matilda]DuckTales is the fiction produced in a fictional world! You can enjoy it and be amused by its inaccuracies, in the same way that you can imagine the ducks themselves enjoying it and being amused/irritated by its departure from Barksian "real life."
And Donald being angry because he doesn't get to be in the show that often. Say, that almost sounds like a normal Duck comic. You know, one of those mid-90s Vicars. Donald gets his own TV show, and then doesn't appear in it himself. Real!Donald throws a fit, people think he's cosplaying as Fake!Donald (and being bad at that), HDL becoming famous, Scrooge not wanting to can the show because he makes money of it, the Beagle Boys being recognised in public, and people pointing out differences between the shows as being wrong in Real!Duckburg. "Hey Glomgold, why'd you move to South Africa?"
And Grandma was as far as I know used twice in Disney animation. She and Gus Goose had a cameo in the Fezziwig sequence in Mickey's Christmas Carol, and a Grandma-like character had a cameo in SportGoofy. (She appears right after Scrooge is scared through the roof sfter he learns he just gave away $1 million.)
Lars Jensen 2012-07-09, 20:37:25
I might be wrong (sigh!), but... I have a vague recollection of Grandma making a cameo in either "Horse Scents" or "Take Me Out of the Ballgame".
I might be wrong (sigh!), but... I have a vague recollection of Grandma making a cameo in either "Horse Scents" or "Take Me Out of the Ballgame".
Baar Baar Jinx 2012-07-09, 23:40:17
Good point. Barks' family tree? But it really would be unfair to expect DuckTales writers to be aware of that.
She also appeared in "This is Your Life, Donald Duck", voiced by June Foray, where it was implied that she had raised Donald (although there was no new animation to depict that).
As for the Soccermania cameo, if that was meant to be her, the animators did an awful job of depicting her likeness. That character looks nothing like Grandma Duck. She looked just like she does in the comics in "Mickey's Christmas Carol" a few years earlier. Considering how Barksian Scrooge, Gyro and the Beagles look in that show, I have a hard time believing that was meant to be her.
[Debbie]Or maybe there is an even easier answer...who else besides the most avid comics fans (like myself) remembers Grandma Duck? I think the DuckTales staff can be forgiven for not remembering her.Barks used Grandma a lot. I can't believe the writers were unaware of her.
The former, I believe. I've looked everywhere for a screenshot. Does anyone have one?
Are there any pre-Don Rosa sources for that? Remember, DuckTales came out before Rosa.
[Dutch Duckfan Down Under]And Grandma was as far as I know used twice in Disney animation. She and Gus Goose had a cameo in the Fezziwig sequence in Mickey's Christmas Carol, and a Grandma-like character had a cameo in SportGoofy. (She appears right after Scrooge is scared through the roof sfter he learns he just gave away $1 million.)
She also appeared in "This is Your Life, Donald Duck", voiced by June Foray, where it was implied that she had raised Donald (although there was no new animation to depict that).
As for the Soccermania cameo, if that was meant to be her, the animators did an awful job of depicting her likeness. That character looks nothing like Grandma Duck. She looked just like she does in the comics in "Mickey's Christmas Carol" a few years earlier. Considering how Barksian Scrooge, Gyro and the Beagles look in that show, I have a hard time believing that was meant to be her.
[Debbie]Or maybe there is an even easier answer...who else besides the most avid comics fans (like myself) remembers Grandma Duck? I think the DuckTales staff can be forgiven for not remembering her.Barks used Grandma a lot. I can't believe the writers were unaware of her.
[Lars Jensen]I might be wrong (sigh!), but... I have a vague recollection of Grandma making a cameo in either "Horse Scents" or "Take Me Out of the Ballgame".
The former, I believe. I've looked everywhere for a screenshot. Does anyone have one?
Robb_K 2012-07-10, 01:24:38
It was implied (and actually showed her at work) that Grandma raised Donald in the "This is Your Life, Donald Duck" comic book, drawn by Tony Strobl. That was also shown in Marco Rota's Italian story for Donald's (50th?) birthday.
It was implied (and actually showed her at work) that Grandma raised Donald in the "This is Your Life, Donald Duck" comic book, drawn by Tony Strobl. That was also shown in Marco Rota's Italian story for Donald's (50th?) birthday.
Dutch Duckfan Down Under 2012-07-10, 13:37:50
It is shown that Grandma raised Donald in the Italian "Paperino Paperotto" (L'il Donny Duck) stories. As a kid, he lives with her on a farm in Quack Town, a small town not far from Duckburg.
coa.inducks.org/universe.php?c=Paperino+Paperotto
Funny stories, with completely new characters. The only 'old' characters are Donald, Grandma and occasionally Scrooge and young Gladstone.
It is shown that Grandma raised Donald in the Italian "Paperino Paperotto" (L'il Donny Duck) stories. As a kid, he lives with her on a farm in Quack Town, a small town not far from Duckburg.
coa.inducks.org/universe.php?c=Paperino+Paperotto
Funny stories, with completely new characters. The only 'old' characters are Donald, Grandma and occasionally Scrooge and young Gladstone.
kimba_1962 2012-07-10, 14:51:30
You can see a Grandma-like character in the stands in "Ball Game," but I wouldn't be willing to bet that that WAS Grandma. I think you're on safer ground in assuming that the old lady duck in "Sport Goofy in Soccermania" was supposed to be Grandma, for two reasons:
(1) She appears immediately after Gyro and Helper make their cameo;
(2) Really, given the fact that she was given a whole (brief) scene to herself, who else could it BE but Grandma? (Though there's certainly nothing Grandma-distinctive about the characterization... I think that DT would have needed to devote a whole episode or two to introducing Grandma in order to include that.)
You can see a Grandma-like character in the stands in "Ball Game," but I wouldn't be willing to bet that that WAS Grandma. I think you're on safer ground in assuming that the old lady duck in "Sport Goofy in Soccermania" was supposed to be Grandma, for two reasons:
(1) She appears immediately after Gyro and Helper make their cameo;
(2) Really, given the fact that she was given a whole (brief) scene to herself, who else could it BE but Grandma? (Though there's certainly nothing Grandma-distinctive about the characterization... I think that DT would have needed to devote a whole episode or two to introducing Grandma in order to include that.)
Roger North 2012-07-11, 02:24:11
Grandma did make a cameo appearance in the Duck Tales episode Horse Sense where she appears as a spectator but she doesn't have a speaking role.
Grandma did make a cameo appearance in the Duck Tales episode Horse Sense where she appears as a spectator but she doesn't have a speaking role.
ramapith 2012-07-11, 03:59:15
Here is the Disney TV show episode Baar Baar mentioned. You can see (and hear) lots of Grandma at 1:55.
And here's a link to a Russian dub of HORSE SCENTS. You can see Grandma at 16:29. (Then you can go buy the authorized release in English. Thank you, and goodnight.)
[Update: I initially missed Baar Baar's mention of the Disney TV show, and acted like I was first with the info. I'm losing it.]
Here is the Disney TV show episode Baar Baar mentioned. You can see (and hear) lots of Grandma at 1:55.
And here's a link to a Russian dub of HORSE SCENTS. You can see Grandma at 16:29. (Then you can go buy the authorized release in English. Thank you, and goodnight.)
[Update: I initially missed Baar Baar's mention of the Disney TV show, and acted like I was first with the info. I'm losing it.]
Ryan_Wynns 2012-07-11, 05:09:16
Wow, thank you for posting that and point it out, David ... I had NO idea that Grandma Duck had ever been animated! Besides that she's decidedly more fawning than her wisened comics counterpart, her voice isn't as coarse and toughened as I'd always imagined it to be ... but by and large, it really works! (And if I'm not mistaken, that's June Foray, right?)
While it can't be proven that (the "Horse Scents" appearance is) NOT Grandma, it strikes me more as the DuckTales crew looking at the comics they had on hand for reference and using Grandma's visage for a background character...but who knows what they had in mind...
-- Ryan
Wow, thank you for posting that and point it out, David ... I had NO idea that Grandma Duck had ever been animated! Besides that she's decidedly more fawning than her wisened comics counterpart, her voice isn't as coarse and toughened as I'd always imagined it to be ... but by and large, it really works! (And if I'm not mistaken, that's June Foray, right?)
While it can't be proven that (the "Horse Scents" appearance is) NOT Grandma, it strikes me more as the DuckTales crew looking at the comics they had on hand for reference and using Grandma's visage for a background character...but who knows what they had in mind...
-- Ryan
Ryan_Wynns 2012-07-11, 05:22:22
...woah, I'm gonna have to take exception here, Geo...I would say that though the show had its bad episodes, at its best, it's WAY out of `70's Western's league! Of course, having grown up on the show, I'm partial to it... But still, by the time I was 10, I'd scrounged up some `70's Whitman back issues, and was of the cognizantly-formed opinion that they were junk...and Barks, Rosa, AND DuckTales were the standards I was holding them to. But had I grown up on Barks, and a potpourri of international Duck comics, and DuckTales were to come around during my adulthood, I very well may not take kindly to it ... so as we've both acknowledge there's good and bad episodes, my inclination, our quite different backgrounds incline us to see the series defined by the opposite of what the other does.
-- Ryan
[GeoX]I've said this before, but I think the problem with Ducktales is not that it made alterations to Barks for the change in medium--that was inevitable--but that it changed the tone, to something that, in spite of the initial inspiration, is less Barks and more the sort of careless, juvenile stuff that Western was putting out in the seventies. This is hardly a blanket condemnation; there are some good Ducktales episodes, and a few that are truly exceptional. But to the extent that the show failed to live up to its promise--which I think, ultimately, it kinda did--it's because of this.
...woah, I'm gonna have to take exception here, Geo...I would say that though the show had its bad episodes, at its best, it's WAY out of `70's Western's league! Of course, having grown up on the show, I'm partial to it... But still, by the time I was 10, I'd scrounged up some `70's Whitman back issues, and was of the cognizantly-formed opinion that they were junk...and Barks, Rosa, AND DuckTales were the standards I was holding them to. But had I grown up on Barks, and a potpourri of international Duck comics, and DuckTales were to come around during my adulthood, I very well may not take kindly to it ... so as we've both acknowledge there's good and bad episodes, my inclination, our quite different backgrounds incline us to see the series defined by the opposite of what the other does.
-- Ryan
ramapith 2012-07-11, 05:37:51
I think they legitimately had Grandma Duck on their mind, Ryan. At the time of DuckTales' development, Grandmaâ??specifically, this model of Grandmaâ??was still a part of the basic Disney Standard Characters styleguide; Grandma was still a fairly regular character in the Donald Duck newspaper strip; and Disney was actively producing new Grandma comic book stories as part of its S-coded comics production.
In the early 1990s, Walt Disney World had a "Grandma Duck's Farm" attraction in their Mickey's Starland area, though it's long since a thing of the past. Here's part of an old brochure, themed like a storybook for kids.)
From today's vantage point, it's often easy to forget how extensively the Duck "supporting cast" was marketed in the years before DuckTales.
I think they legitimately had Grandma Duck on their mind, Ryan. At the time of DuckTales' development, Grandmaâ??specifically, this model of Grandmaâ??was still a part of the basic Disney Standard Characters styleguide; Grandma was still a fairly regular character in the Donald Duck newspaper strip; and Disney was actively producing new Grandma comic book stories as part of its S-coded comics production.
In the early 1990s, Walt Disney World had a "Grandma Duck's Farm" attraction in their Mickey's Starland area, though it's long since a thing of the past. Here's part of an old brochure, themed like a storybook for kids.)
From today's vantage point, it's often easy to forget how extensively the Duck "supporting cast" was marketed in the years before DuckTales.
Ryan_Wynns 2012-07-11, 05:59:01
David, if I'd asked, "What makes you state definitively that that'ss Grandma Duck?", I couldn't have gotten a more informative, eye-opening, Jedi Master answer! You're right on target...as DuckTales premiered when I was 5, I have virtually NO perspective of "how extensively the Duck 'supporting cast' was marketed in the years before DuckTales". That there ever has been a "Disney Standard Characters styleguide" is to me a revelation.
Thank you for linking to the brochure scan -- it's historically interesting, definitely giving insight as to Grandma being considered canon by Disney at large (as opposed to just in the comics). In December 1989, while I was in second grade, my parents took my sister and I on our first (of, ultimately, two) family vacation to Walt Disney World ... at that point, what would soon become Mickey's Starland was still Mickey's Birthdayland. Just seeing what wasn't much more than a cardboard cutout (okay, I'm exaggerating ... it was closer to plywood ...) of Scrooge's mansion was exciting... ("Hey, they were thinking of ME...!")
Lars Jensen 2012-07-11, 10:31:03
The cap-wearing pig seated to the left of Grandma, three people down... Is that Peter Pig?
[ramapith]And here's a link to a Russian dub of HORSE SCENTS. You can see Grandma at 16:29.
JLG 2012-07-14, 03:26:21
I just want to chime in here on the original topic before it drifted off to Grandma, since the "compatibility" issue has always interested me a lot.
I've always felt that the DuckTales and Barks universes can pretty easily be combined using the principle of Broad Brushtrokes, as TVTropes.org puts it. I don't think there's any reason that both "versions" of the Duck world coudn't exist in one, "combo" universe, as long as things are kept broad and not too focused on specific details (like the Money Bin looking different). In my mind, DuckTales took place in a world where the Barks/Rosa stories all happened, and where Scrooge taking the boys in represented a family reconciliation after a brief but acrimonious falling out (thus his initial reluctance to take them in). Anything that contradicts that, as the direct Barks adaptation episodes do, I just write off as, itself, tangential alternate realities. The Barks stories took place when they were written, and Ducktales takes place in the late 1980s. As long as the non-aging thing doesn't bother anyone (which it really shouldn't, since it's taken for granted in so many other contexts), that explanation works fine as far as I can see.
The unique Beagle Boys of DuckTales? Well, the Beagles are a pretty large family, aren't they? Perfectly possible we just never happened to focus on those particular individuals before that point. Launchpad? Well, wasn't it Joe Torcivia who doped out some kind of timeline for when Scrooge initially hired him---sometime in the early 1970s, after the Barksian era was over?
(Duckworth, I admit, does complicate matters. Where did he come from, and then where did he go?)
Ironically what really gets in the way for me is the recent DuckTales revival comic (which I haven't read yet but heard was pretty bad), since I had always figured that DuckTales as a scenario ended in 1995, the last year any new DuckTales material appeared in print until just now. To my mind, after that was when Donald was finally discharged from the Navy, the boys moved back home, and Mrs. Beakley's services were no longer needed.
(Quack Pack? Now THAT'S an alternate universe if there ever was one. I ignore it completely. Always did, from the second I first saw it 15 years ago.)
I just want to chime in here on the original topic before it drifted off to Grandma, since the "compatibility" issue has always interested me a lot.
I've always felt that the DuckTales and Barks universes can pretty easily be combined using the principle of Broad Brushtrokes, as TVTropes.org puts it. I don't think there's any reason that both "versions" of the Duck world coudn't exist in one, "combo" universe, as long as things are kept broad and not too focused on specific details (like the Money Bin looking different). In my mind, DuckTales took place in a world where the Barks/Rosa stories all happened, and where Scrooge taking the boys in represented a family reconciliation after a brief but acrimonious falling out (thus his initial reluctance to take them in). Anything that contradicts that, as the direct Barks adaptation episodes do, I just write off as, itself, tangential alternate realities. The Barks stories took place when they were written, and Ducktales takes place in the late 1980s. As long as the non-aging thing doesn't bother anyone (which it really shouldn't, since it's taken for granted in so many other contexts), that explanation works fine as far as I can see.
The unique Beagle Boys of DuckTales? Well, the Beagles are a pretty large family, aren't they? Perfectly possible we just never happened to focus on those particular individuals before that point. Launchpad? Well, wasn't it Joe Torcivia who doped out some kind of timeline for when Scrooge initially hired him---sometime in the early 1970s, after the Barksian era was over?
(Duckworth, I admit, does complicate matters. Where did he come from, and then where did he go?)
Ironically what really gets in the way for me is the recent DuckTales revival comic (which I haven't read yet but heard was pretty bad), since I had always figured that DuckTales as a scenario ended in 1995, the last year any new DuckTales material appeared in print until just now. To my mind, after that was when Donald was finally discharged from the Navy, the boys moved back home, and Mrs. Beakley's services were no longer needed.
(Quack Pack? Now THAT'S an alternate universe if there ever was one. I ignore it completely. Always did, from the second I first saw it 15 years ago.)
GeoX 2012-07-14, 04:14:20
Maybe it's just 'cause I'm drunk, but I feel like the "specific details" are rather to the point here. As you have ably demonstrated, it is necessary to explain away a HELL of a lot to have that work. And when you start waving away SOME contradictions by explaining that those things, unlike all the OTHER ones, those ARE alternate realities...? My head hurts.
as long as things are kept broad and not too focused on specific details
Dutch Duckfan Down Under 2012-07-14, 10:41:56
Continuity is a strange thing. And with such a long running series as Disney comics, you can't make everything work. (Remember, Donald Duck is a World War II veteran. Try explaining that.) Basically, everything is compatible into one universe, as long as you don't start digging too deep. Donald may have served in the navy in 1987, but Flintheart Glomgold may not have lived in Duckburg at the time. It's confusing, but as long as you look at it on a basic level, it makes sense. If you can't live with that theory, then DuckTales is a parallel universe or something.
DuckTales question: If Donald joined the navy, the nephews go to their closest living relatives. Isn't that their parents? Of course we don't know what happened to them, so they may not be able to take care of their kids anymore. But aren't their any other relatives other than Scrooge? I don't know much about this, but could they have moved in with Gladstone or Fethry? Or Grandma?
Continuity is a strange thing. And with such a long running series as Disney comics, you can't make everything work. (Remember, Donald Duck is a World War II veteran. Try explaining that.) Basically, everything is compatible into one universe, as long as you don't start digging too deep. Donald may have served in the navy in 1987, but Flintheart Glomgold may not have lived in Duckburg at the time. It's confusing, but as long as you look at it on a basic level, it makes sense. If you can't live with that theory, then DuckTales is a parallel universe or something.
DuckTales question: If Donald joined the navy, the nephews go to their closest living relatives. Isn't that their parents? Of course we don't know what happened to them, so they may not be able to take care of their kids anymore. But aren't their any other relatives other than Scrooge? I don't know much about this, but could they have moved in with Gladstone or Fethry? Or Grandma?
Lars Jensen 2012-07-14, 11:09:21
In the DuckTales cartoons, Gladstone was a peripheral character, Grandma was a cameo... and Fethry may not even have existed.
And if we need to explain how DuckTales fit with the Barks comics universe, I prefer the "parallel universe" explanation. It's much simpler than the alternative explanation.
In the DuckTales cartoons, Gladstone was a peripheral character, Grandma was a cameo... and Fethry may not even have existed.
And if we need to explain how DuckTales fit with the Barks comics universe, I prefer the "parallel universe" explanation. It's much simpler than the alternative explanation.
Debbie 2012-07-14, 16:05:03
Would YOU leave kids with someone like Gladstone or Fethry? Honestly, Grandma would have been a better choice than Uncle Scrooge, but that wouldn't have made nearly as much fun a TV series (see any issue of Grandma Duck's Farm Friends...I'll take DuckTales over those any day!)
As for fitting DuckTales into Barks' continuity...it just wasn't meant to be done. Both DuckTales and Barks' work contradict themselves sometimes. Until Don Rosa came along, continuity in Duck stories was never really a big issue. While he has drawn many good stories, I think that his continuity obsession really ruined some of the fun of these comics.
Would YOU leave kids with someone like Gladstone or Fethry? Honestly, Grandma would have been a better choice than Uncle Scrooge, but that wouldn't have made nearly as much fun a TV series (see any issue of Grandma Duck's Farm Friends...I'll take DuckTales over those any day!)
As for fitting DuckTales into Barks' continuity...it just wasn't meant to be done. Both DuckTales and Barks' work contradict themselves sometimes. Until Don Rosa came along, continuity in Duck stories was never really a big issue. While he has drawn many good stories, I think that his continuity obsession really ruined some of the fun of these comics.
Robb_K 2012-07-14, 17:36:22
As Grandma raised Donald, one would think he would have sent his nephews to her. She is the one to whom they were sent whenever Barks had Donald not wanting to leave them alone.
As Grandma raised Donald, one would think he would have sent his nephews to her. She is the one to whom they were sent whenever Barks had Donald not wanting to leave them alone.
kimba_1962 2012-07-14, 17:53:31
This is a very fair-minded way of looking at the DuckTales vs. Duck comics issue. The only tetchy point is probably the idea of a family spat producing the negative vibes that we got at the start of "Don't Give Up the Ship." What might cause such a drastic estrangement? Donald asking for 75 cents an hour?
Joe and I presented this theory in our DUCKTALES INDEX when we commented on the episode "Launchpad's First Crash." We argued that, based on the evidence of Launchpad's age, Scrooge must have hired him in the mid- to late 1970s. The problem with this explanation is that Scrooge claims during the TV adventure that finding the Lost City of Diamonds WILL (emphasis on present tense) make him the richest duck in the world. We had to stretch to accommodate this factoid and were ultimately reduced to arguing that Glomgold must have momentarily surpassed Scrooge in money-count at some point during the 1970s. That was a rough period for $CROOGE comics in America, what with the lack of new stories. Perhaps Scrooge's empire hit a brief period of "malaise" to match the Carter era, and Scrooge needed the jump-start provided by a new adventure with LP in order to get back into the swing of treasure-hunting and get ahead of Flinty once more.
The kaboom! DT comic DID complicate matters, assuming that one actually took it seriously as an extension of the DT (and Darkwing) world. Of course, they were fairly complicated already. There was at least one story printed during the Disney Comics era "Coffee, Louie or Me?" in which it was explicitly stated that Donald had returned from the Navy. I figured that that was when things began to return to "the way they were," with Mrs. Beakly and Webby moving out, and perhaps Duckworth getting another butler job as well. But new DT comic-book stories continued to be produced for several years after that. Unfortunately, I don't think that there is a satisfactory resolution of this issue.
[JLG]I just want to chime in here on the original topic before it drifted off to Grandma, since the "compatibility" issue has always interested me a lot.
I've always felt that the DuckTales and Barks universes can pretty easily be combined using the principle of Broad Brushstrokes, as TVTropes.org puts it. I don't think there's any reason that both "versions" of the Duck world coudn't exist in one, "combo" universe, as long as things are kept broad and not too focused on specific details (like the Money Bin looking different). In my mind, DuckTales took place in a world where the Barks/Rosa stories all happened, and where Scrooge taking the boys in represented a family reconciliation after a brief but acrimonious falling out (thus his initial reluctance to take them in). Anything that contradicts that, as the direct Barks adaptation episodes do, I just write off as, itself, tangential alternate realities. The Barks stories took place when they were written, and Ducktales takes place in the late 1980s. As long as the non-aging thing doesn't bother anyone (which it really shouldn't, since it's taken for granted in so many other contexts), that explanation works fine as far as I can see.
I've always felt that the DuckTales and Barks universes can pretty easily be combined using the principle of Broad Brushstrokes, as TVTropes.org puts it. I don't think there's any reason that both "versions" of the Duck world coudn't exist in one, "combo" universe, as long as things are kept broad and not too focused on specific details (like the Money Bin looking different). In my mind, DuckTales took place in a world where the Barks/Rosa stories all happened, and where Scrooge taking the boys in represented a family reconciliation after a brief but acrimonious falling out (thus his initial reluctance to take them in). Anything that contradicts that, as the direct Barks adaptation episodes do, I just write off as, itself, tangential alternate realities. The Barks stories took place when they were written, and Ducktales takes place in the late 1980s. As long as the non-aging thing doesn't bother anyone (which it really shouldn't, since it's taken for granted in so many other contexts), that explanation works fine as far as I can see.
[JLG]The unique Beagle Boys of DuckTales? Well, the Beagles are a pretty large family, aren't they? Perfectly possible we just never happened to focus on those particular individuals before that point. Launchpad? Well, wasn't it Joe Torcivia who doped out some kind of timeline for when Scrooge initially hired him---sometime in the early 1970s, after the Barksian era was over?
Joe and I presented this theory in our DUCKTALES INDEX when we commented on the episode "Launchpad's First Crash." We argued that, based on the evidence of Launchpad's age, Scrooge must have hired him in the mid- to late 1970s. The problem with this explanation is that Scrooge claims during the TV adventure that finding the Lost City of Diamonds WILL (emphasis on present tense) make him the richest duck in the world. We had to stretch to accommodate this factoid and were ultimately reduced to arguing that Glomgold must have momentarily surpassed Scrooge in money-count at some point during the 1970s. That was a rough period for $CROOGE comics in America, what with the lack of new stories. Perhaps Scrooge's empire hit a brief period of "malaise" to match the Carter era, and Scrooge needed the jump-start provided by a new adventure with LP in order to get back into the swing of treasure-hunting and get ahead of Flinty once more.
[JLG]Ironically what really gets in the way for me is the recent DuckTales revival comic (which I haven't read yet but heard was pretty bad), since I had always figured that DuckTales as a scenario ended in 1995, the last year any new DuckTales material appeared in print until just now. To my mind, after that was when Donald was finally discharged from the Navy, the boys moved back home, and Mrs. Beakley's services were no longer needed.
The kaboom! DT comic DID complicate matters, assuming that one actually took it seriously as an extension of the DT (and Darkwing) world. Of course, they were fairly complicated already. There was at least one story printed during the Disney Comics era "Coffee, Louie or Me?" in which it was explicitly stated that Donald had returned from the Navy. I figured that that was when things began to return to "the way they were," with Mrs. Beakly and Webby moving out, and perhaps Duckworth getting another butler job as well. But new DT comic-book stories continued to be produced for several years after that. Unfortunately, I don't think that there is a satisfactory resolution of this issue.
Baar Baar Jinx 2012-07-14, 18:16:53
I think Boom missed the boat with their whole Darkwing/DuckTales amalgamation effort. If it had been better thought out, it could have been a very nice extension of that universe. Their Darkwing book was set several years after the series ended (that's what the storyline dealt with). Then they marketed the DuckTales title as being "set in the same universe". I initially assumed this meant we would see the nephews as teenagers (perhaps in their Quack Pack versions) under Donald's care, Launchpad living in St. Canard and Scrooge having moved on from being a guardian to living, essentially, alone again. Scrooge's isolation could have mirrored Drake Mallard's sense of purposelessness at the beginning of the Darkwing series. It might actually have been an interesting effort. However, nothing really seemed to have changed on the DuckTales side of things, with the nephews still living with Scrooge and Launchpad still somehow being in his employ. And Donald seems to live in Duckburg again but hasn't taken over guardianship of the boys? The whole thing was a mess, and add to it the awful cut-and-paste art in the DuckTales book, and throw the naive attempt to include elements of the Barks/Rosa universe into the mix, and the whole thing turned out to be an opportunity lost.
I think Boom missed the boat with their whole Darkwing/DuckTales amalgamation effort. If it had been better thought out, it could have been a very nice extension of that universe. Their Darkwing book was set several years after the series ended (that's what the storyline dealt with). Then they marketed the DuckTales title as being "set in the same universe". I initially assumed this meant we would see the nephews as teenagers (perhaps in their Quack Pack versions) under Donald's care, Launchpad living in St. Canard and Scrooge having moved on from being a guardian to living, essentially, alone again. Scrooge's isolation could have mirrored Drake Mallard's sense of purposelessness at the beginning of the Darkwing series. It might actually have been an interesting effort. However, nothing really seemed to have changed on the DuckTales side of things, with the nephews still living with Scrooge and Launchpad still somehow being in his employ. And Donald seems to live in Duckburg again but hasn't taken over guardianship of the boys? The whole thing was a mess, and add to it the awful cut-and-paste art in the DuckTales book, and throw the naive attempt to include elements of the Barks/Rosa universe into the mix, and the whole thing turned out to be an opportunity lost.
GeoX 2012-07-15, 02:49:54
I'm afraid my comments here make it sound as though I dislike Ducktales a lot more than I do, but what the hell: even aside from the obvious discrepancies, I don't think the show should be considered to be in the same continuity as Barks because it's not flippin' good enough. You can't put out as many seriously half-assed episodes as Ducktales did and then expect to be mentioned in the same breath as one of the greatest cartoonists ever. That's just ridiculously presumptuous. If the show HAS to exist in the same continuity as some comics or other--though I'm not sure I see why it should--I'd put it with the increasingly leaden seventies Gold Key/Whitman stuff. Hell, that even resolves the issues with the individuated Beagle Boys, as Vic Lockman was all about creating novelty Beagles.
I'm afraid my comments here make it sound as though I dislike Ducktales a lot more than I do, but what the hell: even aside from the obvious discrepancies, I don't think the show should be considered to be in the same continuity as Barks because it's not flippin' good enough. You can't put out as many seriously half-assed episodes as Ducktales did and then expect to be mentioned in the same breath as one of the greatest cartoonists ever. That's just ridiculously presumptuous. If the show HAS to exist in the same continuity as some comics or other--though I'm not sure I see why it should--I'd put it with the increasingly leaden seventies Gold Key/Whitman stuff. Hell, that even resolves the issues with the individuated Beagle Boys, as Vic Lockman was all about creating novelty Beagles.
Debbie 2012-07-15, 05:44:26
You've put it better than I could have...Carl Barks IS one of the greatest cartoonists ever, and comparing DuckTales to a Barks story, with all due respect to the staff that created the show, it's going to fall flat. Unlike most cartoon series, Barks' work is far more personal than a weekly show that at times feels as cranked out as much of the Gold Key/Whitman and Egmont material does. Barks worked with far more freedom than any of the other Duck writers and artists, and it shows. As much as I enjoy DuckTales, or Tony Strobl's work or that of any other artist who followed in Barks' footsteps, Scrooge McDuck is always going to be Carl's creation, and anything not by Barks is non-cannonical as far as I'm concerned. Does that mean I don't enjoy other versions of Uncle Scrooge? No, far from it. I quite enjoy rewatching DuckTales now and again. It's much like A.A. Milne's Winnie the Pooh and Disney's version. Disney's is fun, but Milne's is the REAL Pooh, and I enjoy both of them on their own terms.
You've put it better than I could have...Carl Barks IS one of the greatest cartoonists ever, and comparing DuckTales to a Barks story, with all due respect to the staff that created the show, it's going to fall flat. Unlike most cartoon series, Barks' work is far more personal than a weekly show that at times feels as cranked out as much of the Gold Key/Whitman and Egmont material does. Barks worked with far more freedom than any of the other Duck writers and artists, and it shows. As much as I enjoy DuckTales, or Tony Strobl's work or that of any other artist who followed in Barks' footsteps, Scrooge McDuck is always going to be Carl's creation, and anything not by Barks is non-cannonical as far as I'm concerned. Does that mean I don't enjoy other versions of Uncle Scrooge? No, far from it. I quite enjoy rewatching DuckTales now and again. It's much like A.A. Milne's Winnie the Pooh and Disney's version. Disney's is fun, but Milne's is the REAL Pooh, and I enjoy both of them on their own terms.
Dutch Duckfan Down Under 2012-07-15, 15:57:23
No... why do you think I mentioned them? That could make for a 'fun' What If episode... (I know they're not good parental figures, but Donald doesn't have many other close relatives.)
What's with those novelty Beagles anyway? It takes the entire Beagle-ness away from them. Part of their identity is that they're so identical, and that they refer to each other by their number. Lockman/DuckTales Beagles don't have that, and that's why they're not "real" Beagles to me. (I do support the Italian theory that the Beagle Boys is a world-wide organisation, because that just makes them more badass.)
[Debbie] Would YOU leave kids with someone like Gladstone or Fethry?
[GeoX]If the show HAS to exist in the same continuity as some comics or other--though I'm not sure I see why it should--I'd put it with the increasingly leaden seventies Gold Key/Whitman stuff. Hell, that even resolves the issues with the individuated Beagle Boys, as Vic Lockman was all about creating novelty Beagles.
What's with those novelty Beagles anyway? It takes the entire Beagle-ness away from them. Part of their identity is that they're so identical, and that they refer to each other by their number. Lockman/DuckTales Beagles don't have that, and that's why they're not "real" Beagles to me. (I do support the Italian theory that the Beagle Boys is a world-wide organisation, because that just makes them more badass.)
GeoX 2012-07-15, 17:01:47
Thousand percent agreement on that from me. The specialty Beagles are the thing I hate most about Ducktales
Thousand percent agreement on that from me. The specialty Beagles are the thing I hate most about Ducktales
Baar Baar Jinx 2012-07-15, 19:04:43
I remember a letter published in the letter column of Disney Comics' DuckTales title in the early nineties from a reader who asked why the DuckTales Beagles were heterogeneous, unlike the comic book clone Beagles. Editor Bob Foster's response was something to the effect that on the printed page, we had the luxury of reading the Beagle Boys' prison numbers to differentiate them from one another, whereas on the screen, they moved around too fast and they needed to look different from one another so we could tell who was who. To which I countered (and still do) why do we need to distinguish them from one another? Part of their charm comes from their cartoony sameness (as well as from their pointless masks, but we've had that discussion before. They are, essentially, one character. Like Huey, Dewey and Louie (Rosa's joke with the Beagle Boys laughing at the nephews for being identical cracks me up every time). For the same reason, it always amuses me when someone says that Dewey is their favorite character. I can't tell if that's meant to be tongue-in-cheek or not.
I remember a letter published in the letter column of Disney Comics' DuckTales title in the early nineties from a reader who asked why the DuckTales Beagles were heterogeneous, unlike the comic book clone Beagles. Editor Bob Foster's response was something to the effect that on the printed page, we had the luxury of reading the Beagle Boys' prison numbers to differentiate them from one another, whereas on the screen, they moved around too fast and they needed to look different from one another so we could tell who was who. To which I countered (and still do) why do we need to distinguish them from one another? Part of their charm comes from their cartoony sameness (as well as from their pointless masks, but we've had that discussion before. They are, essentially, one character. Like Huey, Dewey and Louie (Rosa's joke with the Beagle Boys laughing at the nephews for being identical cracks me up every time). For the same reason, it always amuses me when someone says that Dewey is their favorite character. I can't tell if that's meant to be tongue-in-cheek or not.
Ryan_Wynns 2012-07-16, 00:30:00
I would hope it'd go without saying that I, too, consider Barks one of the greatest cartoonists of all time. And Debbie is right on the money in asserting that Barks' work was incredibly personal, something that's not possible with an animated TV series produced by a large crew -- one might even say by committee. They're two different mediums, two different, and can't really be compared on the exact same scale.
When I said that I grew up thinking of at least DuckTales' better epsiodes being up there with Barks, I should've stressed that it was as a matter of personal favorites, not an objective assessment of craftsmanship. It's more that, on a hypothetical, arbitrary ascending measurement of greatness, DuckTales' better episodes were at least above the line where "bad" ends and "good" starts, while Barks' is so high, he's off the charts. However, I'd still contend that, say, "Raiders of the Lost Harp" or "Bermuda Triangle Tangle" are above the "good" line, and certainly above your average Vick Lockman story. On the other hand, "The Curse of Castle McDuck", "Dime Enough for Luck", "Ducky Horror Picture Show", or "Bubbeo and Juliet" aren't much better than a `70's Whitman story, no. We all agree that there are good episodes and bad episodes. I'm just more partial to DuckTales, because of my personal history with it. No, it's not Barks. It's not E.C. Segar, Winsor McKay, Hergé, George Herriman, Walt Kelly, Edgar P. Jacobs, Jack Kirby, or Jean "Moebius" Giraud, either. But I feel it deserves better than to be written off as being as a whole on par with Whitman's `70's and early `80's Duck stories.
-- Ryan
I would hope it'd go without saying that I, too, consider Barks one of the greatest cartoonists of all time. And Debbie is right on the money in asserting that Barks' work was incredibly personal, something that's not possible with an animated TV series produced by a large crew -- one might even say by committee. They're two different mediums, two different, and can't really be compared on the exact same scale.
When I said that I grew up thinking of at least DuckTales' better epsiodes being up there with Barks, I should've stressed that it was as a matter of personal favorites, not an objective assessment of craftsmanship. It's more that, on a hypothetical, arbitrary ascending measurement of greatness, DuckTales' better episodes were at least above the line where "bad" ends and "good" starts, while Barks' is so high, he's off the charts. However, I'd still contend that, say, "Raiders of the Lost Harp" or "Bermuda Triangle Tangle" are above the "good" line, and certainly above your average Vick Lockman story. On the other hand, "The Curse of Castle McDuck", "Dime Enough for Luck", "Ducky Horror Picture Show", or "Bubbeo and Juliet" aren't much better than a `70's Whitman story, no. We all agree that there are good episodes and bad episodes. I'm just more partial to DuckTales, because of my personal history with it. No, it's not Barks. It's not E.C. Segar, Winsor McKay, Hergé, George Herriman, Walt Kelly, Edgar P. Jacobs, Jack Kirby, or Jean "Moebius" Giraud, either. But I feel it deserves better than to be written off as being as a whole on par with Whitman's `70's and early `80's Duck stories.
-- Ryan
Ryan_Wynns 2012-07-16, 04:25:58
When I was younger, as you may remember, I was somewhat obsessed with reconciling Duck comics-DuckTales continuity. But over the years, I've completely "mellowed out" on that issue, and it's no longer a pet cause of mine, heheh. "Don't Give Up the Ship" plays much like "Christmas on Bear Mountain" -- at least the impression that's given is that until now, Scrooge has been a miserly, misanthropic relative who preferred to keep his distance from Donald and the nephews, and they rarely if ever saw him.
Also, there's the nephews becoming Junior Woodchucks over the course of "Treasure of the Golden Suns", and Donald's stated reason for joining the Navy, "to see the world!" If "Treasure of the Golden Suns" were in the same continuity as and subsequent to all of Barks stories (and not to mention thousands of Duck comic stories from the world over), I suspect that as far as "seeing the world", what the Navy had to offer would pale in comparison to his experiences on all those adventures and treasure hunts his uncle dragged him along on!
As for last year's short-lived comic book revival of DuckTales ... I'm not even touching that one!
[kimba_1962]The only tetchy point is probably the idea of a family spat producing the negative vibes that we got at the start of "Don't Give Up the Ship." What might cause such a drastic estrangement? Donald asking for 75 cents an hour?
Also, there's the nephews becoming Junior Woodchucks over the course of "Treasure of the Golden Suns", and Donald's stated reason for joining the Navy, "to see the world!" If "Treasure of the Golden Suns" were in the same continuity as and subsequent to all of Barks stories (and not to mention thousands of Duck comic stories from the world over), I suspect that as far as "seeing the world", what the Navy had to offer would pale in comparison to his experiences on all those adventures and treasure hunts his uncle dragged him along on!
As for last year's short-lived comic book revival of DuckTales ... I'm not even touching that one!
Ryan_Wynns 2012-07-16, 04:29:31
By coincidence, tonight I noticed something I never had before while watching "Sweet Duck of Youth", DuckTales adaptation of Barks' "That's No Fable": in the birthday party scene at the episode's beginning, there's a background character, with no lines, who resembles Fethry. Might it have been supposed to be him?
[Lars Jensen]and Fethry may not even have existed.
MustangRockstar 2012-07-16, 04:41:11
I treat Ducktales the same way I treat Batman The Animated Series, as its own entity. I don't try to recon them, nor do I feel the need to. I like different interpretations of characters and do not feel like I need to take stabs or make backhanded comments at either to prop up the other one.
For many of us, Ducktales was what exposed us to Carl Barks. Without Ducktales, there is no interest in the comics. I still enjoy the show. In fact I am watching it right now as I type this message.
Now if only Disney would release the fourth volume of the series.
I treat Ducktales the same way I treat Batman The Animated Series, as its own entity. I don't try to recon them, nor do I feel the need to. I like different interpretations of characters and do not feel like I need to take stabs or make backhanded comments at either to prop up the other one.
For many of us, Ducktales was what exposed us to Carl Barks. Without Ducktales, there is no interest in the comics. I still enjoy the show. In fact I am watching it right now as I type this message.
Now if only Disney would release the fourth volume of the series.
Lars Jensen 2012-07-16, 08:43:15
Thanks for the tip-off.
I've now looked at that beginning, however, and I only see Gladstone, Quacky McSlant (with the green lumberjack cap), Vacation Van Honk (the Gus Goose look-alike wearing sunglasses), Doofus, Gyro, Helper, Webby, Mrs. Beakly and HDL.
So no Fethry, unfortunately.
By coincidence, tonight I noticed something I never had before while watching "Sweet Duck of Youth", DuckTales adaptation of Barks' "That's No Fable": in the birthday party scene at the episode's beginning, there's a background character, with no lines, who resembles Fethry. Might it have been supposed to be him?
Thanks for the tip-off.
I've now looked at that beginning, however, and I only see Gladstone, Quacky McSlant (with the green lumberjack cap), Vacation Van Honk (the Gus Goose look-alike wearing sunglasses), Doofus, Gyro, Helper, Webby, Mrs. Beakly and HDL.
So no Fethry, unfortunately.
Ryan_Wynns 2012-07-16, 09:35:40
Lars,
Oh, it was Quacky McSlant who I thought resembled Fethry. I've never heard of Quacky McSlant until now. Thanks for confirming who it actually was!
Lars,
Oh, it was Quacky McSlant who I thought resembled Fethry. I've never heard of Quacky McSlant until now. Thanks for confirming who it actually was!
Lars Jensen 2012-07-16, 10:48:12
You're welcome.
Quacky is a very obscure character, so it's no wonder you didn't recognize him. According to Inducks, he (and Vacation) have only appeared in one comic book story: coa.inducks.org/story.php?c=D+2003-170 . (Don't get your hopes up; they merely make a cameo.)
You're welcome.
Quacky is a very obscure character, so it's no wonder you didn't recognize him. According to Inducks, he (and Vacation) have only appeared in one comic book story: coa.inducks.org/story.php?c=D+2003-170 . (Don't get your hopes up; they merely make a cameo.)
Roger North 2012-07-16, 12:37:54
Actually Quacky McSlant made a cameo appearance in the Duck Tales/Darkwing Duck Crossover Story Dangerous Currency. He was in the two page scene where Donald was rallying everyone to fight back the slime.
Actually Quacky McSlant made a cameo appearance in the Duck Tales/Darkwing Duck Crossover Story Dangerous Currency. He was in the two page scene where Donald was rallying everyone to fight back the slime.
Lars Jensen 2012-07-16, 13:16:17
Thanks, Roger. I had no idea he had been used in that story.
I've now added his cameo appearance in "Dangerous Currency" to Inducks.
Thanks, Roger. I had no idea he had been used in that story.
I've now added his cameo appearance in "Dangerous Currency" to Inducks.
Roger North 2012-07-16, 19:55:47
You're welcome Lars. I'm glad I could have been able to help.
You're welcome Lars. I'm glad I could have been able to help.
kimba_1962 2012-07-16, 20:44:10
Remember the mail-duck carrying the big sack of mail at the start of "Home Sweet Homer"? Could that have been Quacky?
Remember the mail-duck carrying the big sack of mail at the start of "Home Sweet Homer"? Could that have been Quacky?
ramapith 2012-07-16, 23:06:43
Fethry-like eyesâ??I'd say yes.
Fethry-like eyesâ??I'd say yes.
Lars Jensen 2012-07-18, 11:01:14
Roger, are you referring to the panel where Dimwitty and someone else looks at Donald in a car, shouting: "Attention Duckburg! We will not have anyone tell us who runs our town!"?
Roger, are you referring to the panel where Dimwitty and someone else looks at Donald in a car, shouting: "Attention Duckburg! We will not have anyone tell us who runs our town!"?
Roger North 2012-07-18, 11:35:53
Yes Lars That's exactly what I'm referring to. Quacky McSlant is the second person who looks at Donald's Car.
Yes Lars That's exactly what I'm referring to. Quacky McSlant is the second person who looks at Donald's Car.
Mr. M 2012-08-03, 23:15:46
Duck Tales was a great show. Ow it had some poor episodes but many, many great one.
To be fair I see why they made most of the changes they did and while I would prefer if Magica had an Italian acent as well this show has this amazing retro charm that makes it timless.
It's hard for me to explain why but while the first seaons is more like Barks duck stories the second season is more like Italian duck stories... but that's my wird interpretation of it...
Duck Tales was a great show. Ow it had some poor episodes but many, many great one.
To be fair I see why they made most of the changes they did and while I would prefer if Magica had an Italian acent as well this show has this amazing retro charm that makes it timless.
It's hard for me to explain why but while the first seaons is more like Barks duck stories the second season is more like Italian duck stories... but that's my wird interpretation of it...
kimba_1962 2012-08-04, 15:56:56
Your last statement is a fascinating take on the difference between the first and second seasons. I don't have THAT much experience with Italian Duck stories, but the wilder gags, wordplay, etc. of season two are certainly very different from the more "classical" approach of season one. Just compare the Barks story adaptations of season one to those of season two!
Your last statement is a fascinating take on the difference between the first and second seasons. I don't have THAT much experience with Italian Duck stories, but the wilder gags, wordplay, etc. of season two are certainly very different from the more "classical" approach of season one. Just compare the Barks story adaptations of season one to those of season two!
Debbie 2012-08-04, 19:41:54
The shift in the writing in DuckTales second season isn't entirely out of nowhere. In episodes like "The Uncrashable Hindentanic" and others, you can see the writers developing more of their own style vs. the "Barks meets Hanna-Barbera" style of some of the earlier scripts.
Speaking of season two, in the Gizmoduck episodes, you can see the beginnings of the style of humor that led to Darkwing Duck (as well as the most out of nowhere plot twist in the last episode of the "Super DuckTales" serial!)
The shift in the writing in DuckTales second season isn't entirely out of nowhere. In episodes like "The Uncrashable Hindentanic" and others, you can see the writers developing more of their own style vs. the "Barks meets Hanna-Barbera" style of some of the earlier scripts.
Speaking of season two, in the Gizmoduck episodes, you can see the beginnings of the style of humor that led to Darkwing Duck (as well as the most out of nowhere plot twist in the last episode of the "Super DuckTales" serial!)
Mr. M 2012-08-04, 20:15:49
Season two episodes got more satirical and focus more around daily life in Duckburg, rather then big Indiana Jones type adventures.
A good example of what I'm talking about is the episode "The Big Flub" where Fenton makes a bunch of commercial to impres Scrooge, all for a fake product (you don't know what the product is, we just know the name), the comercials get sent to TV by mistake and very soon the whole town gets insane about the product and whant to get it despite the fact nobody has idea what it is. Or there the episode "Dough Ray Me" that center around Inflation. HD&L uses Gyro invention that start duplicating money and soon whole Duckburg is floodet with cash, all people get rich like Scrooge and money starts to become worthless. Heck, even some of Gizmoduck-episodes focus on the way media see him.
BTW. I love episode "Allowance Day" which actually explores how much power a person like Scrooge has. In the episode HD&L trick Scrooge to think it's Saturday instead of Friday in order to get their allowance a day earlier. Scrooge gets fooled however when he gets angry on his buisness bodies for mistaking a date it creates a domino effects that makes whole word to think its Friday which coses various terrible messes.
It was incredible clever plot whitch some good plost twists and many funny lines. I usually don't care that much for Gizmoduck but that was one episode I enjoy him from begining to end.
Season two episodes got more satirical and focus more around daily life in Duckburg, rather then big Indiana Jones type adventures.
A good example of what I'm talking about is the episode "The Big Flub" where Fenton makes a bunch of commercial to impres Scrooge, all for a fake product (you don't know what the product is, we just know the name), the comercials get sent to TV by mistake and very soon the whole town gets insane about the product and whant to get it despite the fact nobody has idea what it is. Or there the episode "Dough Ray Me" that center around Inflation. HD&L uses Gyro invention that start duplicating money and soon whole Duckburg is floodet with cash, all people get rich like Scrooge and money starts to become worthless. Heck, even some of Gizmoduck-episodes focus on the way media see him.
BTW. I love episode "Allowance Day" which actually explores how much power a person like Scrooge has. In the episode HD&L trick Scrooge to think it's Saturday instead of Friday in order to get their allowance a day earlier. Scrooge gets fooled however when he gets angry on his buisness bodies for mistaking a date it creates a domino effects that makes whole word to think its Friday which coses various terrible messes.
It was incredible clever plot whitch some good plost twists and many funny lines. I usually don't care that much for Gizmoduck but that was one episode I enjoy him from begining to end.
MustangRockstar 2012-08-05, 05:12:44
I think Bubba and Gizmo could've been good additions if they were used sparingly.
Ducktales is similar to another show from that period of time - The Real Ghostbusters
Both have excellent first seasons, but they tweaked the formula and things were never quite the same. Characters that should've been used in moderation took center stage and the show's original premise, which proved popular, was altered.
I think Bubba and Gizmo could've been good additions if they were used sparingly.
Ducktales is similar to another show from that period of time - The Real Ghostbusters
Both have excellent first seasons, but they tweaked the formula and things were never quite the same. Characters that should've been used in moderation took center stage and the show's original premise, which proved popular, was altered.
Mr. M 2012-08-05, 07:16:09
Unlike Gizmo/Fenton who had potential and personality and they could mad many episodes around him, Bubba was pretty much a one-time character that they forced to be in more episode.
His just a dumb but very strong caveduck that has problems to interprate stuff in the modern day with a pet dinosaurs... Basically a younger, male version of Vicar's Princess Oona. Did we really needed a five-part episode to introduce him? Heck, after they introduce him only two episodes center around him and all other episodes just kind-off force him in as a secondary characters.
Unlike Gizmo/Fenton who had potential and personality and they could mad many episodes around him, Bubba was pretty much a one-time character that they forced to be in more episode.
His just a dumb but very strong caveduck that has problems to interprate stuff in the modern day with a pet dinosaurs... Basically a younger, male version of Vicar's Princess Oona. Did we really needed a five-part episode to introduce him? Heck, after they introduce him only two episodes center around him and all other episodes just kind-off force him in as a secondary characters.
Mr. M 2012-08-10, 13:10:17
BTW ->
newsandviewsbychrisbarat.blogspot.com/2012/07/ducktales-retrospective-episode-3-sweet.html
Soembody here wrote an article when he mentione "Duck Tales show bible" and even pointed out some characters that where in that oryginal "shows bilbe" and didn't appear on the show (or just for a cameo) and post some pitctures from it.
Dose any body know where I can find this qote on quote 'Shows Bible" On-line?
BTW ->
newsandviewsbychrisbarat.blogspot.com/2012/07/ducktales-retrospective-episode-3-sweet.html
Soembody here wrote an article when he mentione "Duck Tales show bible" and even pointed out some characters that where in that oryginal "shows bilbe" and didn't appear on the show (or just for a cameo) and post some pitctures from it.
Dose any body know where I can find this qote on quote 'Shows Bible" On-line?
Monochrome 2012-08-22, 07:17:43
I've never heard of this show bible myself. It might be a fan-site.
DuckTales is actually one of my favourite cartoons, despite the changes they made to the characters, which sometimes really got to my nerves. Sometimes it got the point where one has to wonder who this duck on the screen is and where did the real Scrooge go. DuckTales Scrooge just doesn't seem to have the same dynamics and comic Scrooge and the DuckTales Scrooge is usually more likely to commit acts of great stupidity, horrendous lack of logic, and general OOC moments like when he fell in love with Millionara Vanderbucks really randomly and really quickly in "Till Nephews do us part". Just wow Scrooge, why don't you join a book club and ride a narwhale over the moon while you're at it? Also, while writing it is obvious enough, I'm not sure why Scrooge just didn't learn to fly a plane rather than have Launchpad destroy everything all the time. It didn't seem to be as big of deal as you would think it would be in that world.
On the other hand, I saw DuckTales first, so that might be why I have a fondness for it. However despite the shortcomings it has to Barks!Scrooge, it still holds up it's own. The animation itself is pretty good, the theme song is ridiculously catchy, and it has some really good gags in it in my opinion, and for the rest of the time, the writing is usually enough to keep me happy (sometimes not, but it keeps me amused anyway). And Scrooge's car was really awesome looking, perhaps one of the few things I approved of of his obvious spending habit differences (the mansion, Duckworth etc.) I like both the comics and the show for different reasons because they are different things as far as I'm concerned that just use the same characters.
As for the long term impact, I think that depends where you live. Here, people still know and remember DuckTales. Why just this Christmas, I found seasons one to three at Wal-Mart. DuckTales apparently still overshows it's comic counterpart as I found out. There was an article about a Duck Comic and almost everyone commenting was talking about DuckTales. Only a handful of people actually seemed to know the difference and acknowledged who drew the comic. For extra salt in the wound, it was actually Don Rosa's "A Dream of a Lifetime" they were talking about, who hates DuckTales I've heard.
Also, I wish Disney would release the last season of DuckTales. I really, really do.
I've never heard of this show bible myself. It might be a fan-site.
DuckTales is actually one of my favourite cartoons, despite the changes they made to the characters, which sometimes really got to my nerves. Sometimes it got the point where one has to wonder who this duck on the screen is and where did the real Scrooge go. DuckTales Scrooge just doesn't seem to have the same dynamics and comic Scrooge and the DuckTales Scrooge is usually more likely to commit acts of great stupidity, horrendous lack of logic, and general OOC moments like when he fell in love with Millionara Vanderbucks really randomly and really quickly in "Till Nephews do us part". Just wow Scrooge, why don't you join a book club and ride a narwhale over the moon while you're at it? Also, while writing it is obvious enough, I'm not sure why Scrooge just didn't learn to fly a plane rather than have Launchpad destroy everything all the time. It didn't seem to be as big of deal as you would think it would be in that world.
On the other hand, I saw DuckTales first, so that might be why I have a fondness for it. However despite the shortcomings it has to Barks!Scrooge, it still holds up it's own. The animation itself is pretty good, the theme song is ridiculously catchy, and it has some really good gags in it in my opinion, and for the rest of the time, the writing is usually enough to keep me happy (sometimes not, but it keeps me amused anyway). And Scrooge's car was really awesome looking, perhaps one of the few things I approved of of his obvious spending habit differences (the mansion, Duckworth etc.) I like both the comics and the show for different reasons because they are different things as far as I'm concerned that just use the same characters.
As for the long term impact, I think that depends where you live. Here, people still know and remember DuckTales. Why just this Christmas, I found seasons one to three at Wal-Mart. DuckTales apparently still overshows it's comic counterpart as I found out. There was an article about a Duck Comic and almost everyone commenting was talking about DuckTales. Only a handful of people actually seemed to know the difference and acknowledged who drew the comic. For extra salt in the wound, it was actually Don Rosa's "A Dream of a Lifetime" they were talking about, who hates DuckTales I've heard.
Also, I wish Disney would release the last season of DuckTales. I really, really do.
Mr. M 2012-08-22, 11:50:10
I grow up watching (and enjoying) DuckTales to the changes in the show from the comic books never bother me since it was always an alternet version to me, which was very good (and enjoyable) on it's own.
There are few bad episodes buth plenty incredible good as well - Heck! I love their version of "The Land of Tra-la-la" which while has the Gizmoduck character in it actually spent more time exploring the way people in Tra-la-la live and how the whole bottle cab thing alter their lives.
To be honest I see while they made most of the choises they did...
- They needed a character who would apply to young girls (since it is a pretty male-center cast) so they created Webby
- Donald voice was hard to undestand for younger kids plus they wanted to have more focuse on Scrooge/the boys relation, so off the navy he went
- The Bealge Boys being all identical is something that only wokrs in comic book but not on the screen;
- They wanted Scrooge to be more sympathethic since... well, to play it safe. It's hard to have a protagonist who abuse his family members, especially in a show that younger kids may watch.
As for "Don Rosa Ducktales hate" - I actually remeber him writing on DCML mailing list that he enjoy DuckTales and he consider it the best thing they had on television in the year it air for the first time... He simply don't find DuckTales characters the same characters as Carl Barks ducks and for him those are two diffrent worlds.
At one point - as mentioned more then once - he wanted to make a DuckTales-tribiute story in which he would show "DuckTales" exisisting in duck universe as a TV show base on Scrooge's life, a show which McDuck hates (as only person in Duckburg) and allways trying to sue it, sabotage etc.
I grow up watching (and enjoying) DuckTales to the changes in the show from the comic books never bother me since it was always an alternet version to me, which was very good (and enjoyable) on it's own.
There are few bad episodes buth plenty incredible good as well - Heck! I love their version of "The Land of Tra-la-la" which while has the Gizmoduck character in it actually spent more time exploring the way people in Tra-la-la live and how the whole bottle cab thing alter their lives.
To be honest I see while they made most of the choises they did...
- They needed a character who would apply to young girls (since it is a pretty male-center cast) so they created Webby
- Donald voice was hard to undestand for younger kids plus they wanted to have more focuse on Scrooge/the boys relation, so off the navy he went
- The Bealge Boys being all identical is something that only wokrs in comic book but not on the screen;
- They wanted Scrooge to be more sympathethic since... well, to play it safe. It's hard to have a protagonist who abuse his family members, especially in a show that younger kids may watch.
As for "Don Rosa Ducktales hate" - I actually remeber him writing on DCML mailing list that he enjoy DuckTales and he consider it the best thing they had on television in the year it air for the first time... He simply don't find DuckTales characters the same characters as Carl Barks ducks and for him those are two diffrent worlds.
At one point - as mentioned more then once - he wanted to make a DuckTales-tribiute story in which he would show "DuckTales" exisisting in duck universe as a TV show base on Scrooge's life, a show which McDuck hates (as only person in Duckburg) and allways trying to sue it, sabotage etc.
kimba_1962 2012-08-22, 21:05:19
Plus, you can still find all seasons of DT, plus most of the other collected DTVA shows, at Best Buy. There must still be a level of buying interest to justify keeping these titles on the shelves.
[Monochrome]As for the long term impact, I think that depends where you live. Here, people still know and remember DuckTales. Why just this Christmas, I found seasons one to three at Wal-Mart.
Furienna 2012-08-31, 04:25:00
Well, Bubba maybe didn't need a five-part episode to introduce him. But those were good episodes, at least in my opinion. I agree with you though, that he pretty much was dead weight afterwards. And of course, Fenton is my favorite character on this show, so I'm not that sad about him getting the spotlight instead.
Well, Bubba maybe didn't need a five-part episode to introduce him. But those were good episodes, at least in my opinion. I agree with you though, that he pretty much was dead weight afterwards. And of course, Fenton is my favorite character on this show, so I'm not that sad about him getting the spotlight instead.
Monochrome 2012-08-31, 08:10:10
I saw those as well the other day! They come with a beach ball and everything, though sadly not of the characters of the show
Oh really? Well then I stand corrected, I guess. It seems that most people's impression is that he doesn't like it though...
I don't think that Bubba needed a five episode introduction for him either, it seemed like they just forced him into a show were he really didn't fit. It would have been better if they maybe had a two episode of him or so and called it a day. I enjoyed the five intro episodes of him as well, but they could have been done without him if my memory serves me correctly.
Though even though he was a cave duck, he STILL managed to get a better name than Doofus at least. Really, what kind of name is that? (either that, it strengthens the notion that everyone in Duckberg is a jerk). Speaking of Doofus, to be honest, I didn't really like him as a character. I suppose he did add a little bit to the show, and there was a couple funny gags where he was in, but he seemed too much like the lame fat guy (and how this was done was either kind of good or just most of the time bad, with occasional sparks of greatness) with not too much to offer, and the episode that was more or less centered around him "Superdoo" is one of my least favourite DuckTales episodes ever.... and it seems that he is unable to name himself anything presentable to save his life either.
Plus, you can still find all seasons of DT, plus most of the other collected DTVA shows, at Best Buy. There must still be a level of buying interest to justify keeping these titles on the shelves
As for "Don Rosa Ducktales hate" - I actually remeber him writing on DCML mailing list that he enjoy DuckTales and he consider it the best thing they had on television in the year it air for the first time... He simply don't find DuckTales characters the same characters as Carl Barks ducks and for him those are two diffrent worlds.
At one point - as mentioned more then once - he wanted to make a DuckTales-tribiute story in which he would show "DuckTales" exisisting in duck universe as a TV show base on Scrooge's life, a show which McDuck hates (as only person in Duckburg) and allways trying to sue it, sabotage etc.
At one point - as mentioned more then once - he wanted to make a DuckTales-tribiute story in which he would show "DuckTales" exisisting in duck universe as a TV show base on Scrooge's life, a show which McDuck hates (as only person in Duckburg) and allways trying to sue it, sabotage etc.
Oh really? Well then I stand corrected, I guess. It seems that most people's impression is that he doesn't like it though...
I don't think that Bubba needed a five episode introduction for him either, it seemed like they just forced him into a show were he really didn't fit. It would have been better if they maybe had a two episode of him or so and called it a day. I enjoyed the five intro episodes of him as well, but they could have been done without him if my memory serves me correctly.
Though even though he was a cave duck, he STILL managed to get a better name than Doofus at least. Really, what kind of name is that? (either that, it strengthens the notion that everyone in Duckberg is a jerk). Speaking of Doofus, to be honest, I didn't really like him as a character. I suppose he did add a little bit to the show, and there was a couple funny gags where he was in, but he seemed too much like the lame fat guy (and how this was done was either kind of good or just most of the time bad, with occasional sparks of greatness) with not too much to offer, and the episode that was more or less centered around him "Superdoo" is one of my least favourite DuckTales episodes ever.... and it seems that he is unable to name himself anything presentable to save his life either.
Mr. M 2012-08-31, 09:36:37
I agree Doofus was weakest of Duck Tales characters (with exeption of Bubba) I just hate a character whos personality is reduce to the joke "hes fat so he eats all the time" (didn't Burger Beagle already got this part?) at the same time I like how he serve the role of Lunchpad solo fan base and there where few sweet moments betwen the two once a while...
I agree Doofus was weakest of Duck Tales characters (with exeption of Bubba) I just hate a character whos personality is reduce to the joke "hes fat so he eats all the time" (didn't Burger Beagle already got this part?) at the same time I like how he serve the role of Lunchpad solo fan base and there where few sweet moments betwen the two once a while...
Roger North 2012-08-31, 12:51:33
Maybe so but Doofus is a good character and Burger is a bad character. It's funny how Doofus idolized Launchpad. It's too bad he disappeared during the second season. I think Bubba was a replacement character for Doofus.
Maybe so but Doofus is a good character and Burger is a bad character. It's funny how Doofus idolized Launchpad. It's too bad he disappeared during the second season. I think Bubba was a replacement character for Doofus.
Furienna 2012-08-31, 12:55:13
Since I'm not that familiar with the earlier episodes, I'm not that familiar with Doofus either. So I won't comment on him.
Since I'm not that familiar with the earlier episodes, I'm not that familiar with Doofus either. So I won't comment on him.
Mr. M 2012-08-31, 18:22:47
I'm puting my head down in shame admiting... I like Burger. Heck I like DucKTales, Beagles. I understand why people complain about how they change the Beagle Boys but I think they where amusing characters on their own and to be honest giving Beagles diffrent apperances works better in animation rather if they where simple clone of each others...
I'm puting my head down in shame admiting... I like Burger. Heck I like DucKTales, Beagles. I understand why people complain about how they change the Beagle Boys but I think they where amusing characters on their own and to be honest giving Beagles diffrent apperances works better in animation rather if they where simple clone of each others...
Roger North 2012-08-31, 19:59:59
I agree with you there Mr M. The Duck Tales Beagles are more distuinguishable than the ones from the non Duck Tales comic book stories.
I agree with you there Mr M. The Duck Tales Beagles are more distuinguishable than the ones from the non Duck Tales comic book stories.
Furienna 2012-08-31, 20:41:53
I too feel the change was good. Giving the different Beagles different personalities made them much more enjoyable to watch on TV.
I too feel the change was good. Giving the different Beagles different personalities made them much more enjoyable to watch on TV.
Mr. M 2012-08-31, 20:54:44
They try to make Beagle Boys look all alike in "Sport Goofy" cartoon www.youtube.com/watch?v=ggmVm2ljDuw
and in my opinion it simply dosen't work half as good.
BTW -> I wonder was the sequence at 09:22 inspiration for the "Beagle Boys vs. the Money Bin" story ending...
They try to make Beagle Boys look all alike in "Sport Goofy" cartoon www.youtube.com/watch?v=ggmVm2ljDuw
and in my opinion it simply dosen't work half as good.
BTW -> I wonder was the sequence at 09:22 inspiration for the "Beagle Boys vs. the Money Bin" story ending...
Monochrome 2012-09-01, 01:27:51
Personally I think the greatest moment with Doofus in it was when they were going under the sea for Scrooge's money, and there was that inflatable balloon incident. Haha I find that moment hilarious. Personally I found him being Launchpad's fanboy moments to be annoying, but I suppose he's suppose to represent those kids that are "#1 fan" of someone.
I agree that for screen purposes, it worked out better that the Beagle boys were separate, but in the comic I am quite happy with them being the way they are. I liked the addition to Ma Beagle though, she is my favourite of the female added characters, which I don't believe she was in the comics at any point, was she?
Personally I think the greatest moment with Doofus in it was when they were going under the sea for Scrooge's money, and there was that inflatable balloon incident. Haha I find that moment hilarious. Personally I found him being Launchpad's fanboy moments to be annoying, but I suppose he's suppose to represent those kids that are "#1 fan" of someone.
I agree that for screen purposes, it worked out better that the Beagle boys were separate, but in the comic I am quite happy with them being the way they are. I liked the addition to Ma Beagle though, she is my favourite of the female added characters, which I don't believe she was in the comics at any point, was she?
Furienna 2012-09-01, 02:01:45
Not that I know, but I'm no expert.
I agree with you about Ma Beagle. She could be really funny.
Not that I know, but I'm no expert.
I agree with you about Ma Beagle. She could be really funny.
Mr. M 2012-09-03, 23:05:34
I sometimes wonder was this panel from "Only poor old man" inspiration for Burger desing :
So yhe, Carl Barks created Burger Beagle Go figure...
I sometimes wonder was this panel from "Only poor old man" inspiration for Burger desing :
So yhe, Carl Barks created Burger Beagle
Go figure...
Part of me doesn't wants to get "new" copies of "still factory-sealed" original, sans-beach ball sets, and resell these ... because "hiding" the extraneous slipcase and the beach ball seems inauthentic. But I think such considerations are just way too picky, on my part. 
