HDL's parents are probably the most mysterious characters in the Duckverse and many believe they are dead.
But are they though? In many stories (like The Health Nut) Donald seems to live alone. Perhaps Della had disappeared, but she eventually returned and the stories in which HDL does not appear are set after Della returned (they went live with her)?
What do you think about Della? Do you think she is alive or dead?
I believe thats the 2014 story where Della is shown to be alive, right?
Well, this is not very helpful because not everyone consider this story canon, i mean, i met a fan once that only considered as canon the classic shorts and the cartoons (like Ducktales), and for her, all the comics stories were not canon.
So, while i see Family Ties as canon, many do not. Thats why i want to hear everyone's opinion
Well, this is not very helpful because not everyone consider this story canon, i mean, i met a fan once that only considered as canon the classic shorts and the cartoons (like Ducktales), and for her, all the comics stories were not canon.
So, while i see Family Ties as canon, many do not. Thats why i want to hear everyone's opinion
Sure, not everyone believes it to be canonical, but that wasn't what you asked. You asked "could Della be alive?". And to this the answer is objectively "yes, there's a whole comic showing how that could be possible, even".
I always assumed she was in prison for child abandonment or something.
The idea of Della being in prison (rather than dead) has been seriously floated before, on the DCF I believe, although it wouldn't be for child abandonment (her being in prison is why she can't raise HD&L). There's nothing against it, but what could she possibly have done that earned her such a long incarceration? Don't say murder or bank robbery ... even I couldn't accept that.
For those who came in late, "Family Ties" is the fan-conceived title of an English fan translation for "80 is Prachtig!". We should probably point out that it isn't official in case someone tries to search for it on INDUCKS or on the internet.
Post by TheMidgetMoose on Sept 25, 2019 1:39:27 GMT
Della certainly could still be alive, but I don't think Donald being seen home alone sometimes is the best of evidence for it. Huey, Dewey, and Louie probably have a bit of Junior Woodchuck outings offscreen, and I'd imagine they also have friends and maybe relatives from their father's side of the family that they visit and spend the night with sometimes.
Outside of Family Ties, there are other little bits of evidence to suggest Della is alive, though the stories with these suggestions can (in most cases) be written off as having occurred before Della died or went to space. Carl Barks's Trick or Treatseems to imply that Huey, Dewey, and Louie don't live with Donald. It has them talking about going to "Unca Donald's house" as opposed to "our house." Also, they go trick-or-treating at their own house. Maybe I'm wrong as I'm not a trick-or-treater, but I think people usually go to houses besides their own. Them going to Donald's house and referring to it as Donald's house seems to imply they live elsewhere.
YD 40-11-08 could also arguably be used as evidence that HDL do not live with Donald. Here, Donald to "go home" once they've eaten their treat. Of course, it's unclear whether the story takes place in Donald's or Daisy's house. If it takes place in Daisy's house, he may have just been telling them to go back to his and their house. If it takes place in Donald's house, though, the implication seems to be that they don't live there.
Despite all this, there is some solid evidence out there that HDL do belong to Donald at the time. In The New Spirit, Donald lists Huey, Dewey, and Louie as his dependents. This story has Donald explicitly state that HDL were given to him by a judge (as noted here). Then there's Family Ties, y'know.
No matter what I say or do, know that Jesus loves you.
I always assumed she was in prison for child abandonment or something.
The idea of Della being in prison (rather than dead) has been seriously floated before, on the DCF I believe, although it wouldn't be for child abandonment (her being in prison is why she can't raise HD&L). There's nothing against it, but what could she possibly have done that earned her such a long incarceration? Don't say murder or bank robbery ... even I couldn't accept that.
For those who came in late, "Family Ties" is the fan-conceived title of an English fan translation for "80 is Prachtig!". We should probably point out that it isn't official in case someone tries to search for it on INDUCKS or on the internet.
There's actually a pretty interesting fanfiction that works from this premise, though it goes at it from a DuckTales Classic point of view. The story in question is The Sincere Fraud. It's been a while since I read this story, but, just as a warning, I believe, though I may be misremembering, it does have some fowl language in it and may not be totally appropriate for all reading this.
No matter what I say or do, know that Jesus loves you.
As far as I know, there's no official story supporting the idea that Della and her husband would be dead. On the contrary, there is 80 is Prachtig!, which was mentioned before. And it should be noted that Della sends HDL to Donald twice in the Taliaferro-strips: The first time is in ZS 37-10-17, at which point they only stay at Donald's for a few strips, before being sent home again in ZS 37-11-21. Della sends them to Donald once again during YD 38-05-23. This time it seems they stay for the long haul. Della tells Donald over the phone: "-and I have to go out of town for a while and I knew you'd love to keep the little dears!" The nephews are under the impression that they'll only be staying for "just a few days".
I've always thought 80 is Prachtig! is really silly, what with Della being an astronaut and everything surrounding comic books, so I'd prefer another reason for her absence. I do like her being a pilot though (which seems more reasonable than an astronaut). Don Rosa had an idea that HDL's parents were somehow connected to Tralla La. I guess my not-very-thought-out head-canon is that her going out of town was her taking an airplane trip and crashing in Tralla La. Maybe the inhabitants thought she was some sort of god since she fell from the sky? I don't know.
I assume the father is still in the hospital from the nephews blowing him up or something. But he shouldn't be super hurt, since then HDL would feel really guilty all the time. I like the idea that he's just a jerk, living off of tax-payer money and pretending to be in pain all the time. Of course the American health care system doesn't work like that, but I haven't given this that extra amount of thought.
I would like it if these characters returned (or rather, were introduced!) in the comics. There's much potential in them, and it would shake up the dynamic with HDL... which is exactly why I don't think Disney will bring them into the mainstream. I'm still surprised Della was a thing in Ducktales.
Carl Barks's Trick or Treatseems to imply that Huey, Dewey, and Louie don't live with Donald. It has them talking about going to "Unca Donald's house" as opposed to "our house." Also, they go trick-or-treating at their own house. Maybe I'm wrong as I'm not a trick-or-treater, but I think people usually go to houses besides their own. Them going to Donald's house and referring to it as Donald's house seems to imply they live elsewhere.
This is a good point, that strange detail had never occurred to me. It won't work from the point of view of the story taking place in 1952, but in a more fanciful timeline theory, we might propose that Trick or Treat is the first Halloween after HDL came to live to Donald's, such that they do live with him but still don't think of his house as "their" home, just as the place they're staying now.
Carl Barks's Trick or Treatseems to imply that Huey, Dewey, and Louie don't live with Donald. It has them talking about going to "Unca Donald's house" as opposed to "our house." Also, they go trick-or-treating at their own house. Maybe I'm wrong as I'm not a trick-or-treater, but I think people usually go to houses besides their own. Them going to Donald's house and referring to it as Donald's house seems to imply they live elsewhere.
This is a good point, that strange detail had never occurred to me. It won't work from the point of view of the story taking place in 1952, but in a more fanciful timeline theory, we might propose that Trick or Treat is the first Halloween after HDL came to live to Donald's, such that they do live with him but still don't think of his house as "their" home, just as the place they're staying now.
As far as I know, there's no official story supporting the idea that Della and her husband would be dead. On the contrary, there is 80 is Prachtig!, which was mentioned before. And it should be noted that Della sends HDL to Donald twice in the Taliaferro-strips: The first time is in ZS 37-10-17, at which point they only stay at Donald's for a few strips, before being sent home again in ZS 37-11-21. Della sends them to Donald once again during YD 38-05-23. This time it seems they stay for the long haul. Della tells Donald over the phone: "-and I have to go out of town for a while and I knew you'd love to keep the little dears!" The nephews are under the impression that they'll only be staying for "just a few days".
I've always thought 80 is Prachtig! is really silly, what with Della being an astronaut and everything surrounding comic books, so I'd prefer another reason for her absence. I do like her being a pilot though (which seems more reasonable than an astronaut). Don Rosa had an idea that HDL's parents were somehow connected to Tralla La. I guess my not-very-thought-out head-canon is that her going out of town was her taking an airplane trip and crashing in Tralla La. Maybe the inhabitants thought she was some sort of god since she fell from the sky? I don't know.
I assume the father is still in the hospital from the nephews blowing him up or something. But he shouldn't be super hurt, since then HDL would feel really guilty all the time. I like the idea that he's just a jerk, living off of tax-payer money and pretending to be in pain all the time. Of course the American health care system doesn't work like that, but I haven't given this that extra amount of thought.
I would like it if these characters returned (or rather, were introduced!) in the comics. There's much potential in them, and it would shake up the dynamic with HDL... which is exactly why I don't think Disney will bring them into the mainstream. I'm still surprised Della was a thing in Ducktales.
exactly. Della was so important in Ducktales and she was so well-received that maybe -just maybe- she could return in the comics, even if for only one issue. About HDL's father, i must say that i don't like the idea of him being Daisy's brother because that would mean AMJ are their cousins. Perhaps Della was a single mother and didn't even had contact with their sons' father? I would see no problem if he was dead though
Perhaps Della was a single mother and didn't even had contact with their sons' father?
…an idea just took root in my mind and won't let go and I apologize because it is an absolutely preposterous idea but… what if anthropomorphic ducks are capable of parthenogenesis?
Carl Barks's Trick or Treatseems to imply that Huey, Dewey, and Louie don't live with Donald. It has them talking about going to "Unca Donald's house" as opposed to "our house." Also, they go trick-or-treating at their own house. Maybe I'm wrong as I'm not a trick-or-treater, but I think people usually go to houses besides their own. Them going to Donald's house and referring to it as Donald's house seems to imply they live elsewhere.
This is a good point, that strange detail had never occurred to me. It won't work from the point of view of the story taking place in 1952, but in a more fanciful timeline theory, we might propose that Trick or Treat is the first Halloween after HDL came to live to Donald's, such that they do live with him but still don't think of his house as "their" home, just as the place they're staying now.
Yes, that is odd. Maybe Trick or Treat occurred between the first time Della dropped the boys off at Donald's, and the second (which was permanent)? Or maybe this story occurred in the DuckTales '87 universe where the boys are living with Scrooge and Donald is home from the Navy on shore leave?
Post by Baar Baar Jinx on Sept 25, 2019 18:00:31 GMT
Sept 25, 2019 13:10:12 GMT -4 TitusMcDuck said:
Perhaps Della was a single mother and didn't even had contact with their sons' father?
This is what I believe personally, but others have pointed out that it would have been quite an unusual and difficult (for all involved) thing back in the 1940s/50s, if you believe that is when most Duck stories are set (as Rosa does). Also, there was at least one reference to HD&L's "papa" in the early Taliaferro strips (not to mention the whole firecracker story).