Post by Monkey_Feyerabend on Feb 8, 2021 13:48:28 GMT
I think it support the idea that Gottfredson has forgotten about the change on the leg. (Which was decided by Disney when the animators started to complain on how hard was to animate Pete's limping...)
I think it support the idea that Gottfredson has forgotten about the change on the leg. (Which was decided by Disney when the animators started to complain on how hard was to animate Pete's limping...)
Not to mention they kept forgetting which leg it was(n't).
I think it support the idea that Gottfredson has forgotten about the change on the leg.
Yes, that's a fair interpretation.
Actually, I can confirm otherwise.
In his famous Nemo interview with Tom Andrae, Gottfredson explained that "when Pete faded out of the animation, we decided that he was much more colorful with a peg leg and, since we didn't like the name Black Pete [in the Comic Strip Department], we put his peg back on him. We explained it by saying that he had been wearing an artificial leg and didn't like it as well, so he went back to his peg."
Notably, there is never a description in the strip of Pete's disliking the artificial leg, so "we explained it by saying" seems to indicate the excuse Gottfredson's team used among themselves—never in a story!
Scarpa, at least once, would later have a seemingly two-legged Pete take off an artificial foot to reveal his peg under it (in "The Delta Dimension"). In modern times, I admit I've run with the idea that this was canon.
I agree with Gottfredson on the name Black Pete -- but that's mainly because Black Pete has very different connotations. Personally I'm still fond of Bootleg Pete for meta reasons, given Disney's extensive history with copyrighted and non-copyrighted materials and the confusion between the Disney Pete (AKA Terrible Tom) and the Lantz Pete.
I'm also kind of glad the Gottfredson didn't bother to explain why Pete went back to his peg leg. If anything, I would prefer multiple contradictory accounts. You know, that has the makings of a story. Detective Mickey tries to get a confession out of Pete, but every time the story doesn't match the evidence, Pete changes his tale (tail?). In one story he has a peg leg, in the next he doesn't, then it's on the other leg, it could even be on both legs! Mickey figures out the red thread running through Pete's explanations, but this forces him to accept that Pete both does and does NOT have a peg leg at the same time. Turns out Pete was Schroedinger's cat all along!
I agree with Gottfredson on the name Black Pete -- but that's mainly because Black Pete has very different connotations. Personally I'm still fond of Bootleg Pete for meta reasons, given Disney's extensive history with copyrighted and non-copyrighted materials and the confusion between the Disney Pete (AKA Terrible Tom) and the Lantz Pete.
I'm also kind of glad the Gottfredson didn't bother to explain why Pete went back to his peg leg. If anything, I would prefer multiple contradictory accounts. You know, that has the makings of a story. Detective Mickey tries to get a confession out of Pete, but every time the story doesn't match the evidence, Pete changes his tale (tail?). In one story he has a peg leg, in the next he doesn't, then it's on the other leg, it could even be on both legs! Mickey figures out the red thread running through Pete's explanations, but this forces him to accept that Pete both does and does NOT have a peg leg at the same time. Turns out Pete was Schroedinger's cat all along!
I agree with Gottfredson on the name Black Pete -- but that's mainly because Black Pete has very different connotations. Personally I'm still fond of Bootleg Pete for meta reasons, given Disney's extensive history with copyrighted and non-copyrighted materials and the confusion between the Disney Pete (AKA Terrible Tom) and the Lantz Pete.
I'm also kind of glad the Gottfredson didn't bother to explain why Pete went back to his peg leg. If anything, I would prefer multiple contradictory accounts. You know, that has the makings of a story. Detective Mickey tries to get a confession out of Pete, but every time the story doesn't match the evidence, Pete changes his tale (tail?). In one story he has a peg leg, in the next he doesn't, then it's on the other leg, it could even be on both legs! Mickey figures out the red thread running through Pete's explanations, but this forces him to accept that Pete both does and does NOT have a peg leg at the same time. Turns out Pete was Schroedinger's cat all along!
I'm also kind of glad the Gottfredson didn't bother to explain why Pete went back to his peg leg.
I suspect that was because the emphasis on continuity in the strip just wasn't as prevalent in 1947, when Bill Walsh had taken over the writing. In the 30s and early 40s, Pete's re-appearances usually came with an explanation of how he got out of the scrapes he was in when he and Mickey last fought. Walsh took a much looser approach to his storytelling. I have a feeling the return of the peg-leg might have been commented upon if Gottfredson and writers like Merrill de Maris were still in charge of the storylines in the late 40s.