According to Picsou Wiki, Daphnee and Goostave are probably dead, because in one 1950 story, Gladstone looks for his closest living relative and finds that it is Grandma Duck. And before you ask, no, the page does not say which story. On the other hand, in the (I think unfairly) generally disliked Dangerous Currency, she was shown, quite alive, in the streets of Duckburg, battling the Slime along with various other characters.
We also know that Fanny Goose, née Coot, is alive, since Donald receives a letter from her in Donald's Cousin Gus; a Dutch Disney website also claimed that Luke Goose was still alive as well and was a successful genealogist, who is the in-universe author of Don Rosa's Duck Family Tree.
As you said, Eider is known to still be alive, so there's no reason for Lulubelle Loon not to be as well.
Uncle Upsy Duck may or may not still be alive, as Huey, Dewey and Louie seem to have never heard of him when Donald first mentions him.
Speaking of parents, there's no reason why Gladstone's anonymous brother who fathered Shamrock could not be around.
April, May and June's parents are clearly still around, since it's pretty clear they don't live with Daisy and are just visiting. If, as some books state, their father is, in fact, Donald's cousin Fred Duck, then we've even already seen their father. That only leaves their supposedly-alive mother. There's still hope, after all, since Amelia Fieldmouse did appear.
If he COULD be around, why did Egmont not allow me to have Sadstone be Gladstone's brother, as I intended (which made more sense than having him be an identical "cousin"?
So let me get this straight: Donald tried to tell Scrooge that he and HD&L were all orphans? That's bizarre. Whether they are or not, it doesn't seem like something Scrooge would need to be told. You'd think Scrooge would at least know the basics of his own family's history! Since Donald was ultimately revealed to be lying, though, this story can't be cited as evidence of anything (or is it evidence that none of them actually are orphans?). And anyway, Donald is a grown man, and HD&L are being cared for by Donald, so do any of them meet the technical definition of "orphan" even if all their parents are dead?
On your last question: I would say that an orphan is still an orphan (someone whose original parents have both died) even when s/he is being cared for or has been adopted by a new parent. An adopted child wouldn't generally be *called* an orphan, though. The word might only be used in explaining the child's history--but it would still be used in the present tense. "She's an orphan--both her original parents are dead." The definition only gets complicated for me when a child had fewer/more than two biological parents (in this brave new world) or when s/he was raised from birth by other people, etc. Adults are not generally referred to as orphans--the word implies that you are still dependent on parental care. An adult will sometimes say when their last living parent dies, "Now I'm an orphan"--it's a way of expressing the significance of the transition you feel when you become parentless. But no one else will call them an orphan.
I became an orphan at 67 years old. And I need some kind of care. I can't remember anything from even just 5 minutes ago!
A grown adult can call himself or herself an orphan if he or she had been orphaned during childhood. According to The Disney Studios and Disney Comic books, Donald had been raised by his grandmother on her farm, and no cartoon, film or US comic book has shown Donald growing up with his birth parents. So, why shouldn't he refer to himself as an orphan?
But as far as I know the earliest source of this idea (Donald being raised by his grandmother) dates to 1960 (animated and comic version of "This is Your Life, Donald Duck"), while the comic you linked is from 1954. Back then, the idea of Donald being orphaned since childhood was not obvious at all. I'm not saying it is necessarily a bad idea (though I think it is), but if the writer wanted to use this idea, at least he should have pointed out he was giving the reader a new information, instead of mentioning it incidentally as if it was common knowledge (it was not).
My story about Scrooge's childhood is among a group of several of my co-productions with Jan Gulbransson, that have been held up because of the annual end-of-the-year freeze on acceptance of new submitted stories. We hope that freeze will be lifted by the end of January (as is the usual procedure). But that is uncertain.
Rosa did show Donald and Della with their parents at child-Gladstone's birthday party at Grandma's farm in "The Sign of the Triple Distelfink,"
Incidentally, Della's cameo in that story is so well hidden that Don seems to have forgotten about it, as in at least a couple of occasions he has provided an explanation for her absence!
I beg to differ from this statement, as all The Duck fans and artists and writers that I knew had already assumed that Donald was raised as an orphan because of Carl Barks' constant statements that Donald was Scrooge's nearest living relative. Had Donald's mother been alive, she would have been a living person, more closely related to Scrooge than Donald. Barks introduced Donald as Scrooge's "nearest living relative" in his 1949 story, "Race To The South Seas". He re-introduced that fact in a few other stories before 1954. I realise that given this scenario, Donald's parents could have died after he left their home as a very young adult (if you assume he is an adult in charge of his nephews-which we should). But, the fact that we never saw Donald's parents, nor any reference to them, made us assume that he was orphaned in childhood.
Oh, cool! Then David Gerstein independently had the same idea Lowell Handy did, that "Dumbella" was Donald's slightly insulting, teasing nickname for Della in their childhood. Great minds.... And Rosa has adopted that idea, at least since my 1998 exchange with him, if not before.
The one thing Lowell adds to this theory is the satisfying proof that an adult sister may actually use such a nickname in writing to her brother!
Yes, that might be a little "inside joke" (especially, if she is an intelligent, competent, successful adult, well-respected in their community.
Did Rosa ever reveal when and how Fergus' brothers died? Their passing is never mentioned in any stories. Was Fergus the oldest of the McDuck brothers? Also, how did Donald truly expect to get away with impersonating Jake McDuck in "A Christmas for Shacktown"? Did he really think that an uncle of Scrooge, himself a man in his 80s, was still alive? Then again, Scrooge never reveals that he saw through Donald's disguise ... are we to believe Barks intended for Jake to still be alive after all? On a related note, DuckTales introduced an uncle of Scrooge's, "Catfish McDuck", who was clearly based off of Barks' character, Pothole McDuck, from the "Great Steamboat Race". Barks never pictured him, and Life of Scrooge hadn't yet been released, so I understand why he looks different from Rosa's depiction (and Rosa had hardly made his mark yet when DuckTales was starting up), but why the name change?
YES! First of all, an uncle can actually be YOUNGER than his nephew. Secondly, in the late 1800s in Europe, the average family had many children. The ideal for farmers was to have a child every nine months during the wife's child bearing years, as they needed farm workers. My father's parents were one of 14 and one of 13 siblings born to their parents (and they were town folk, NOT farmers). Therefore, Jake could have been the youngest of Fergus' brothers. If he were even 6-7 years older than Scrooge, he could have "dandled Scrooge upon his knee" as Scrooge acknowledged in "A Christmas for Shacktown". When I was less than 5 years old, I remember a 104 year old great, great aunt of mine. She had a couple children in their 80s. Nieces and nephews of older siblings of hers could easily have been in their 80s. I still have 2 aunts (sisters of my father), in their upper 90s. My father died a couple years ago, at 93. So, it's not so uncommon for 80 year olds to have uncles and aunts still alive.
Did Rosa ever reveal when and how Fergus' brothers died? Their passing is never mentioned in any stories. Was Fergus the oldest of the McDuck brothers? Also, how did Donald truly expect to get away with impersonating Jake McDuck in "A Christmas for Shacktown"? Did he really think that an uncle of Scrooge, himself a man in his 80s, was still alive? Then again, Scrooge never reveals that he saw through Donald's disguise ... are we to believe Barks intended for Jake to still be alive after all? On a related note, DuckTales introduced an uncle of Scrooge's, "Catfish McDuck", who was clearly based off of Barks' character, Pothole McDuck, from the "Great Steamboat Race". Barks never pictured him, and Life of Scrooge hadn't yet been released, so I understand why he looks different from Rosa's depiction (and Rosa had hardly made his mark yet when DuckTales was starting up), but why the name change?
Well, it's not absurd that Jake would live until 1952. The disney ducks have a amazing longevity, as Scrooge himself lived for 100 years. But Pothole is dead. My canon: Pothole: 1828-1911 MacHavaro: 1830-1950 Midas : 1833-1963 Fergus: 1835-1902 Jake: 1840-1965
Longevity in the family, or even haplo-group (breeding group) is one thing. But going over 120 years of age is a bit too much, in my book.
I'd have Jake being perhaps 10-12 years older than Scrooge. I'd have him being born in 1849, and living until 1957.
I beg to differ from this statement, as all The Duck fans and artists and writers that I knew had already assumed that Donald was raised as an orphan because of Carl Barks' constant statements that Donald was Scrooge's nearest living relative. Had Donald's mother been alive, she would have been a living person, more closely related to Scrooge than Donald. Barks introduced Donald as Scrooge's "nearest living relative" in his 1949 story, "Race To The South Seas". He re-introduced that fact in a few other stories before 1954. I realise that given this scenario, Donald's parents could have died after he left their home as a very young adult (if you assume he is an adult in charge of his nephews-which we should). But, the fact that we never saw Donald's parents, nor any reference to them, made us assume that he was orphaned in childhood.
Well, inVolcano Valley(drawn 1946, printed 1947), Donald, thinking he'll spend his life in prison, tells Huey, Dewey and Louie to "take good care of their grandmother", which does seem to refer to his own mother.
Actually, I think this could fit somewhat nicely in Don Rosian continuity — Hortense dies in 1947, having survived Quackmore (Why would she need to be "taken care of" by her children/grandchildren, and her alone, if she was not a widow?) by several years; the news reach Scrooge, which is part of his motivation to reach out to Donald on Christmas of that same year to try and make up for the fact that he never did straighten things out with his sister.
Well, inVolcano Valley(drawn 1946, printed 1947), Donald, thinking he'll spend his life in prison, tells Huey, Dewey and Louie to "take good care of their grandmother", which does seem to refer to his own mother.
Actually, I think this could fit somewhat nicely in Don Rosian continuity — Hortense dies in 1947, having survived Quackmore (Why would she need to be "taken care of" by her children/grandchildren, and her alone, if she was not a widow?) by several years; the news reach Scrooge, which is part of his motivation to reach out to Donald on Christmas of that same year to try and make up for the fact that he never did straighten things out with his sister.
That's a fascinating tidbit I never read until now. Can someone post a panel? In 1947, Hortense would be in her late sixties ... not that old, yet she seems to be out of commission. She doesn't appear at family gatherings and plays no part in HD&L's upbringing, the way you'd expect her to. So perhaps she's physically unable to do so? Dementia, a stroke or some similar neurological impairment? Thus needing to be "taken care of" by the boys? Perhaps living in an extended care facility of some kind, and dying soon after the events of "Volcano Valley"? The idea makes perfect sense and would indeed fit with Rosa's timeline. Okay, this is now officially part of my headcanon.
EDIT:
So it's "be good to your Grandma", not "take care of your Grandma", which changes the meaning slightly. I suppose, in this case, you could argue that the reference is to Grandma Duck, but then, similar to Donald's reference to "the boys' grandmother" in "Sales Resistance", that would imply that Barks thought Grandma Duck was Donald's mother.
Well, inVolcano Valley(drawn 1946, printed 1947), Donald, thinking he'll spend his life in prison, tells Huey, Dewey and Louie to "take good care of their grandmother", which does seem to refer to his own mother.
Actually, I think this could fit somewhat nicely in Don Rosian continuity — Hortense dies in 1947, having survived Quackmore (Why would she need to be "taken care of" by her children/grandchildren, and her alone, if she was not a widow?) by several years; the news reach Scrooge, which is part of his motivation to reach out to Donald on Christmas of that same year to try and make up for the fact that he never did straighten things out with his sister.
That's a fascinating tidbit I never read until now. Can someone post a panel? In 1947, Hortense would be in her late sixties ... not that old, yet she seems to be out of commission. She doesn't appear at family gatherings and plays no part in HD&L's upbringing, the way you'd expect her to. So perhaps she's physically unable to do so? Dementia, a stroke or some similar neurological impairment? Thus needing to be "taken care of" by the boys? Perhaps living in an extended care facility of some kind, and dying soon after the events of "Volcano Valley"? The idea makes perfect sense and would indeed fit with Rosa's timeline. Okay, this is now officially part of my headcanon.
EDIT:
So it's "be good to your Grandma", not "take care of your Grandma", which changes the meaning slightly. I suppose, in this case, you could argue that the reference is to Grandma Duck, but then, similar to Donald's reference to "the boys' grandmother" in "Sales Resistance", that would imply that Barks thought Grandma Duck was Donald's mother.
I think Barks purposely left it ambiguous whether Grandma Duck was Donald's or Huey, Dewey, and Louie's grandmother.
So it's "be good to your Grandma", not "take care of your Grandma", which changes the meaning slightly. I suppose, in this case, you could argue that the reference is to Grandma Duck, but then, similar to Donald's reference to "the boys' grandmother" in "Sales Resistance", that would imply that Barks thought Grandma Duck was Donald's mother.
Oh, dang it. My memories were based on the French translation, you see. Incapacitated Hortense or no, however, it still very probably refers to Hortense in-universe from a DonRosan point of view.
... and in the first panel of a longer Ducth story, but only as a picture of her and Donald as children:
The latter was written by four writers, but I think the inclusion of that picture was decided by artist Carmen Pérez, the same artist of the 1-pagers written by Geradts. Even the inkers are the same people, i.e. the Comicup Studio.
Last Edit: Oct 28, 2017 21:52:31 GMT by drakeborough
I see what you mean. But to me this seems kind of inconsistent with the perception that I get when I watch Donald animation appearances.
That's because in animation he speaks with a duck voice, while in the comics he is strongly implied to have a normal voice. If it weren't for the voice, we could see that Donald's roles in animation could be filled by a human being.
Donald's voice in animation is often treated, by other characters at least, like a personal speech impediment rather than a reflection of his underlying species. This was particularly true in DuckTales '87. On the flip side, HD&L, and in early cartoons, Daisy, were also voiced by Clarence Nash; however, in those cartoons, the voices aren't made an issue.
... and in the first panel of a longer Ducth story, but only as a picture of her and Donald as children:
The latter was written by four writers, but I think the inclusion of that picture was decided by artist Carmen Pérez, the same artist of the 1-pagers written by Geradts. Even the inkers are the same people, i.e. the Comicup Studio.
I need scans of these one-pagers!! They're not available in my country!!
I need scans of these one-pagers!! They're not available in my country!!
Well, the "Paper Bat" Facebook page has high-quality pictures of these one-pagers, both in the original Dutch version and in a fanmade Italian translation.