That sounds pretty decisive—and yet later he purportedly claimed to have been involved with the thing, if only peripherally. I wonder whether he could have been *shown* the film at some later point, and whether that's what rang a bell in his brain...
Hmm. Here's another possibly stupid question: when did Barks sketch the famous draft family tree which named an "Old 'Scotty' McDuck", relative to when this exchange occurred? I'm now vaguely wondering if in deciding that Scrooge's father was a "Scotty McDuck", Barks was making a sort of meta joke because this whole business about a secret-even-to-him "ancestor" of the character who was known by that name.
That sounds pretty decisive—and yet later he purportedly claimed to have been involved with the thing, if only peripherally. I wonder whether he could have been *shown* the film at some later point, and whether that's what rang a bell in his brain...
Hmm. Here's another possibly stupid question: when did Barks sketch the famous draft family tree which named an "Old 'Scotty' McDuck", relative to when this exchange occurred? I'm now vaguely wondering if deciding that Scrooge's father was a "Scotty McDuck", Barks was making a sort of meta joke because this whole business about a secret-even-to-him "ancestor" of the character who was known by that name.
Hmmm... I doubt it. That sketch should be from the '50s, according to all the sources I have seen.
That sounds pretty decisive—and yet later he purportedly claimed to have been involved with the thing, if only peripherally. I wonder whether he could have been *shown* the film at some later point, and whether that's what rang a bell in his brain...
That would make sense - but he very clearly stated that he did not have anything to do with any of the propaganda films. Did Barks have really bad memory or something like that? Thats the only explanation i can come up with.
That sounds pretty decisive—and yet later he purportedly claimed to have been involved with the thing, if only peripherally. I wonder whether he could have been *shown* the film at some later point, and whether that's what rang a bell in his brain...
That would make sense - but he very clearly stated that he did not have anything to do with any of the propaganda films. Did Barks have really bad memory or something like that? Thats the only explanation i can come up with.
It is entirely reasonable to think that someone in his 70s might not remember whether or not he worked on something from 1943. Barks worked on so many cartoons and comics that he couldn’t be expected to remember all of them, especially as he got further away from them in time.
I also thought that Barks got the idea for Junior Woodchucks from the shorts: Good Scouts (1938) and Sea Scouts (1939), both of which Barks is credited as a writer.
I also thought that Barks got the idea for Junior Woodchucks from the shorts: Good Scouts (1938) and Sea Scouts (1939), both of which Barks is credited as a writer.
Thats possible, although Barks said he created The Junior Woodchucks because the nephews were getting nicer in his stories, and he needed a reason for that. But i guess the idea of them as scouts started here.
I'd say the idea of young boys being scouts was such a natural idea in the 40s it didn't have to "come from" anywhere other than living in the real world.
I also thought that Barks got the idea for Junior Woodchucks from the shorts: Good Scouts (1938) and Sea Scouts (1939), both of which Barks is credited as a writer.
Thats possible, although Barks said he created The Junior Woodchucks because the nephews were getting nicer in his stories, and he needed a reason for that. But i guess the idea of them as scouts started here.
Where did Barks say that? In the WDC ten-pagers, the portrayal of the nephews could vary greatly from story to story -- from michievous children to more responsible, mature ones, and anything in-between. Likewise, Donald's portrayal was also highly varied. (Michael Barrier sees these variations in the characters as one of the best qualities of Barks' work in its prime. He wrote about it on his blog in 2009, when he was deep into work on "Funnybooks", where the same analysis can be found.)
There are certainly many stories in the early 50s where the kids act responsibly. But I'd say there are also plenty of stories, after the Junior Woodchucks organization first gets introduced in 1951, that make it clear they are still kids, whereas Donald is an adult. I think the nephews became generally nicer and more mature from 1955 onwards, after Western sent Barks that letter from an upset mother and told him not to do more parent-child conflict stories about Donald and the boys.