LP's relatively in-depth review of Young Donald Duck

[Scrooge MacDuck]

Oct 11, 2019 11:17:59 GMT LP said:

…Neither should Mickey, Goofy, or the others for that matter. I’d imagine they come from average middle-class families. They’re not rich folk. Goofy’s father Amos was an explorer. Minnie’s parents were poor farmers and couldn’t even afford ice cream. Mickey probably also grew up on a farm. I don’t know too much about Daisy and Trudy’s backgrounds, but I doubt they would afford this kind of education.

Mickey is often depicted as pretty clever; he could imaginably have obtained a scholarship of some sort. This could be the case of Minnie, as well.

As for Goofy, being an explorer does not necessarily mean being poor — indeed, it's not just anyone who can afford regular expeditions to Africa and India on a whim. 

Per Scarpa, Trudy grew up knowing Pete and lived in the same neighborhood as Mickey's Aunt Topolinda, so yes, I'd agree it's unlikely her parents could afford such an education, but on the other hand, she is first introduced to us by Scarpa as a bit of a criminal mastermind; it stretches disbelief a bit, but it's not unimaginable that she got a scholarship too. 

Daisy, though, I've always thought of as coming from a very posh milieu, much moreso than Donald. And I've got evidence for that, too. Per this Jack Suter/Daniel Branca story, she's a British earl's niece, and in Barks's Not-So-Ancient Mariner, her aunt Drusilla can casually offer her a luxury cruise in reward for doing well at poetry or something. Present-day Daisy's not much wealthier than Mickey or Minnie (though clearly she doesn't have the same kinds of money-trouble as Donald), likely because her parents are still alive, but she was definitely a "rich kid". 

[LP]

Oct 11, 2019 12:26:22 GMT Scrooge MacDuck said:

Oct 11, 2019 11:17:59 GMT LP said:

…Neither should Mickey, Goofy, or the others for that matter. I’d imagine they come from average middle-class families. They’re not rich folk. Goofy’s father Amos was an explorer. Minnie’s parents were poor farmers and couldn’t even afford ice cream. Mickey probably also grew up on a farm. I don’t know too much about Daisy and Trudy’s backgrounds, but I doubt they would afford this kind of education.

Mickey is often depicted as pretty clever; he could imaginably have obtained a scholarship of some sort. This could be the case of Minnie, as well.

As for Goofy, being an explorer does not necessarily mean being poor — indeed, it's not just anyone who can afford regular expeditions to Africa and India on a whim. 

Per Scarpa, Trudy grew up knowing Pete and lived in the same neighborhood as Mickey's Aunt Topolinda, so yes, I'd agree it's unlikely her parents could afford such an education, but on the other hand, she is first introduced to us by Scarpa as a bit of a criminal mastermind; it stretches disbelief a bit, but it's not unimaginable that she got a scholarship too. 

Daisy, though, I've always thought of as coming from a very posh milieu, much moreso than Donald. And I've got evidence for that, too. Per this Jack Suter/Daniel Branca story, she's a British earl's niece, and in Barks's Not-So-Ancient Mariner, her aunt Drusilla can casually offer her a luxury cruise in reward for doing well at poetry or something. Present-day Daisy's not much wealthier than Mickey or Minnie (though clearly she doesn't have the same kinds of money-trouble as Donald), likely because her parents are still alive, but she was definitely a "rich kid". 

I agree with everything you say, Scrooge! It's definitely possible that the characters' cleverness got them scholarships. However, it is never mentioned that it is so, and therefore I assume the writers didn't think or care about it. And I also agree that Daisy might indeed come from a richer-than-average family.  
Both of your links just put me back here, so I don't know which Suter/Branca story you're referring to.

[Scrooge MacDuck]

Oct 11, 2019 17:34:40 GMT LP said:

I agree with everything you say, Scrooge! It's definitely possible that the characters' cleverness got them scholarships. However, it is never mentioned that it is so, and therefore I assume the writers didn't think or care about it. And I also agree that Daisy might indeed come from a richer-than-average family.  
Both of your links just put me back here, so I don't know which Suter/Branca story you're referring to.

D 8294, “The Ersatz Earl”. 

[Baar Baar Jinx]

So, at this point I don't know if I'm ever going to read these stories, but a few questions arise ...

What's with "Beagleberg"? It reminds me of the DuckTales '17 universe, although I know it has nothing to do with that.

Does this series explicitly say that Grandma raised Donald?

Is this series indeed supposed to be a successor to Donald Duckling, or its own thing?

[LP]

Oct 11, 2019 22:24:21 GMT Baar Baar Jinx said:

So, at this point I don't know if I'm ever going to read these stories, but a few questions arise ...

What's with "Beagleberg"? It reminds me of the DuckTales '17 universe, although I know it has nothing to do with that.

Does this series explicitly say that Grandma raised Donald?

Is this series indeed supposed to be a successor to Donald Duckling, or its own thing?

Beagleberg is my own attempt at translating the Swedish name, "Hundsberg". Literally, the translation would be "Dog's mountain", but I went with Beagleberg so that there would be alliteration. Also, since most dog-faced characters in Disney comics look like the Beagle Boys, I assume most dog-faces are in fact beagles.
I'm only vaguely familiar with the Ducktales reboot, but I can guarantee I didn't steal the name from there.

Donald lives at the farm, but we're not told how long he has been living there, if that's what you're wondering.

I actually have no idea if this is supposed to be related to Donald Duckling. I'm fairly sure i read somewhere on this forum that it was, but that's my only source for that. From what I gather, Donald Duckling isn't really a series either - it's mostly just a category of stories featuring Donald as a kid. So I don't know how Young Donald Duck could be a successor to a whole genre of Disney comics.

[Spectrus]

Oct 9, 2019 10:46:55 GMT LP said:

Anyways, you say you have mixed feelings about this, implying that some feelings you have are positive. What are those positives?

I liked some of the humour, evident in the art too (like the scene with the heart baloons, which I thought was a strong and unexpected visual idea, or when the shark clings to Donald, I thought that panel looked hilarious!). Kay-K as Donald's ruthless sports instructor, did not see that coming! I actually laughed when I saw her in that role. And I liked some of the character development, although the last episode was arguably the worst and most embarrassing.

I actually re-read it now and I felt the same way I first read it: Nice to leaf through, but ultimately not with much significance other than being a bit "different". I still think the Donald Duckling stories (on which the beginning is partially modelled) are more successful at portraying a young Donald and his friends.

I think there's worse, but essentially the basic premises are what's most problematic with this, not so much the execution IMO...

[drakeborough]

I haven't read this story already, but from LP's review I get the series is even worse than I thought when reading comments about it on the Papersera forum.

By the way, is it confirmed that Della doesn't appear? From the review, and from the Inducks pages about the induvidual chapters, I imagine the answer will be that she doesn't appear, but I'd like a confirmation since it was hinted otherwise in another thread:

Jun 16, 2019 23:04:15 GMT arzcena17 said:

In Young Donald Duck:
Donald and Della are 12
Goofy is 13 or 14
Daisy is 13
Mickey is 12
Minnie is 12
Trudy is 13
Louis is 12
Millicent is 12
Tom is 12
Betty Lou is 12
Fethry is 11
Gladstone is 13
Fenton is 13
Bum Bum Ghigno is possibly 12

Jun 17, 2019 10:04:01 GMT Scrooge MacDuck said:

Ooh, Della's in it?

Jun 17, 2019 11:34:15 GMT Matilda said:

And she and Donald are twins! There's one for Rosa...although there's PLENTY in the story that won't accord with Rosa's universe, starting with the existence of the Mouse characters....

Jun 17, 2019 19:44:31 GMT Baar Baar Jinx said:

Who raises Donald and Della in Young Donald Duck? Do we know? (And yes, props to them for featuring Della, whose absence is a major oversight on the part of Donald Duckling).

As for this question:

Oct 9, 2019 8:57:28 GMT LP said:

Speaking of Donald’s friends, this is supposed to be a sequel to Donald Duckling, right? Now, I haven’t read too much of the Duckling-series in my day, but I know that Donald has a few other friends in that series. Where are they? Why is out-of-character-Peter Pig here? How did they meet?

According to the Papersera forum, Artibani made a comment (maybe on his Facebook page?) in which he says that Young Donald Duck is not meant as a sequel to the Donald Duckling series and that they are two distinct worlds. Some people used these words to explain the lack of Donald's childhood friends from the Donald Duckling series. However, it has been mentioned that there are a few references, like Donald living with Grandma Duck in Quacktown, and a mention of Donald's teacher Miss Witchcraft.


Another thing: is it true that the school is named Jeremy Ratt? Can someone post a picture?

[LP]

Oct 27, 2019 20:48:11 GMT drakeborough said:

By the way, is it confirmed that Della doesn't appear? From the review, and from the Inducks pages about the induvidual chapters, I imagine the answer will be that she doesn't appear, but I'd like a confirmation since it was hinted otherwise in another thread:

***

According to the Papersera forum, Artibani made a comment (maybe on his Facebook page?) in which he says that Young Donald Duck is not meant as a sequel to the Donald Duckling series and that they are two distinct worlds. Some people used these words to explain the lack of Donald's childhood friends from the Donald Duckling series. However, it has been mentioned that there are a few references, like Donald living with Grandma Duck in Quacktown, and a mention of Donald's teacher Miss Witchcraft.

Another thing: is it true that the school is named Jeremy Ratt? Can someone post a picture?

I can confirm that Della doesn't appear at all, at least not in these 8 chapters. Donald starts out living with his grandmother, and there's no mention of any other relatives of his, except for Scrooge.
The series ends on a cliff-hanger, so Della might appear in possible future chapters that are not included in the Swedish volume. I don't know what that list of the characters' ages is based on. In the Swedish version, we're never told their ages. It seems they're all in the same class, implying that they are all the same age.

I don't get why they wouldn't want to connect the two series, even if just by little references? I mean, Peter Pig has no business at all being there in chapter 1. I would have preferred it if they used one of Donald's friends from Donald Duckling. Why would they want to think of them as two separate worlds? Why not connect as much as possible? I can't imagine they were worried that readers would be confused if Duckling-characters appeared. Most people who read Young Donald Duck will be less familiar with Peter Pig than with Donald's Duckling-friends, so why not have those friends there instead to show the transition from child-Donald to young-adult-Donald?
I'm still curious what the pitch was for this project. What was the writers' goal? If it was to show us a previously unexplored part of Donald's life, I would imagine they'd want to connect it to the character of Donald Duck, whom we are familiar with, and thus connect it to other series featuring the character.
I just don't get it. That being said, I'm glad that I'm not the only one who prefers to think of Young Donald Duck as its own thing - existing only in an alternate universe, far far away from the universe containing my own head-canon.

I have never heard of or read Jeremy Ratt before in my life. The school is named "Hundsberg" in Swedish.

[deb]

Oct 28, 2019 13:22:12 GMT LP said:

I don't get why they wouldn't want to connect the two series, even if just by little references? I mean, Peter Pig has no business at all being there in chapter 1. I would have preferred it if they used one of Donald's friends from Donald Duckling. Why would they want to think of them as two separate worlds? Why not connect as much as possible? I can't imagine they were worried that readers would be confused if Duckling-characters appeared. Most people who read Young Donald Duck will be less familiar with Peter Pig than with Donald's Duckling-friends, so why not have those friends there instead to show the transition from child-Donald to young-adult-Donald?
I'm still curious what the pitch was for this project. What was the writers' goal? If it was to show us a previously unexplored part of Donald's life, I would imagine they'd want to connect it to the character of Donald Duck, whom we are familiar with, and thus connect it to other series featuring the character.
I just don't get it. That being said, I'm glad that I'm not the only one who prefers to think of Young Donald Duck as its own thing - existing only in an alternate universe, far far away from the universe containing my own head-canon.

As this was produced for Disney Publishing Worldwide, perhaps there are no references to Donald Duckling so they could sell it in countries where Donald Duckling DOESN'T appear. 

[LP]

Oct 28, 2019 18:40:35 GMT deb said:

As this was produced for Disney Publishing Worldwide, perhaps there are no references to Donald Duckling so they could sell it in countries where Donald Duckling DOESN'T appear. 

Why would the inclusion of Duckling-characters stop them from selling it to countries where there has been no Duckling-characters before? Just as people might be unfamiliar with Duckling-characters, they might be unfamiliar with Peter Pig.

Let's say that Donald's friend in Young Donald Duck chapter 1 was Millicent instead of Peter Pig. As long as you show her together with Donald, the reader would understand that they are friends, even if people haven't read any Duckling-comics. And introducing new people to these characters would possibly cause an interest in the Duckling-comics in countries that haven't been exposed to them before, which would be good for marketing purposes for Disney. This in addition to the more natural transition from duckling to young adult that I mentioned before, means that there's really no reason to exclude the Duckling-friends from Young Donald Duck.

That's my point; that's what I was trying to say before. I hope this clears things up. I just don't understand the reasoning behind... anything related to this project.

[Scroogerello]

Apparently, Sanoma has started publishing this printed book series about Donald’s youth called “Club Donald Duck”. Kinda looks like those “Young Donald”-comics, despite being written and drawn by different people. Weird.



m.youtube.com/watch?feature=emb_title&v=MjgcNC9UWeA&time_continue=14

[LP]

I agree with the "weird". I can't decide if I like the art style or not... but it doesn't seem to fit Donald and the others!
Based on the characters' apparent ages, I assume that this is not a sequel to Young Donald Duck, but rather yet another retelling of Donald's school years. Can't say I have a craving for more of that. 

[Baar Baar Jinx]

Jun 6, 2020 22:45:59 GMT Scroogerello said:

Apparently, Sanoma has started publishing this printed book series about Donald’s youth called “Club Donald Duck”. Kinda looks like those “Young Donald”-comics, despite being written and drawn by different people. Weird.

Yeah, but it can't hold a candle to DuckTales '17's version of young Donald! Just ask Frank Angones!

[arzcena17]

When I looked up to a Club Donald Duck: Nieuw Vrienden image last month, it was young Donald who appear in every new book series. Then, new images of him along with his characters showed up and that's why this is a retelling story of Donald's youth and not the Italian version of Young Donald Duck (mini-series) or Paperino Paperotto. Young Della rarely appeared in comic strips last year and left in Duckburg. Donald is alone. The younger characters were changed in this new book series after the mini-series was not good so they re-fix it.

I think the book series will possibly be permanent if they had to say.

[LP]

I think it's odd that they would remake Young Donald Duck so close to its original publishing. Another odd thing is that by doing this, they seemingly admit that the original wasn't good, which seems very not-Disney.
This whole project confuses me. Oddly enough, that's the same reaction I had to the original Young Donald Duck, but for completely different reasons.