Personal-Headcanon

[whitewater]

Does anyone know what happened to Molly Mallard? She obviously died, but apparently Rosa created a disturbing story behind her, and he only told it to a few people? I also heard a theory that she married when she was very young, so maybe this could be? Clearly her design shows she has stress or a backstory to her.

[TheMidgetMoose]

Sept 25, 2024 14:53:04 GMT whitewater said:

I thought he was Donald's uncle? (On the nephew's mother's side)

Donald does refer to him as "Uncle Zak" and "Uncle Zak McWak," but it is the triplets who introduce the character to the reader, referring to him as their famous uncle. The jealousy that Donald shows towards this uncle and the lack of pride Donald takes in Uncle Zak (unlike the triplets, who are very proud of their inventor uncle) reads well to me if Zak is a paternal uncle of the triplets, almost competition for the maternal uncle Donald. Why would he call him "Uncle Zak" then? Simply, that's what he heard the triplets call them. He doesn't have much of a personal relationship with Zak and so just uses the triplets' name for him. Of course, that's all just my theory. The most straightforward interpretation of Voyage to Azaltan would, I suppose, put Zak on Donald's side of the family. I'm open to more liberal interpretations of the story, though, and as I said, I think my interpretation fits well with Donald's attitude regarding Zak.

Sept 25, 2024 14:54:58 GMT whitewater said:

Does anyone know what happened to Molly Mallard? She obviously died, but apparently Rosa created a disturbing story behind her, and he only told it to a few people? I also heard a theory that she married when she was very young, so maybe this could be? Clearly her design shows she has stress or a backstory to her.

So interesting you brought this up. I was just thinking about Molly the other day! Was doing a little bit of fanfictiony writing (not actual writing, more like rough ideas I guess) about Fergus's childhood and began brainstorming Molly McDuck's story. I am very interested to know more about what you say about Rosa. I've never heard that before. Her design definitely implies that he had something about her character in mind. My headcanon exploration regarding Molly the other day did not delve into the issue of her death. I focused more on trying to figure out her personality and have decided that she (in my mind) must have been a poetic soul and bookworm with a love for knowledge. How did this image of Molly appear in my head? Through shards of her character seen in her sons, specifically Pothole and Fergus. Rosa depicted Pothole as becoming an author and Fergus as spending some of his latter years researching the treasury of the Knights Templar. I could not imagine Dirty Dingus McDuck as being interested in writing dime novels or studying history so meticulously, and while I know that not all personality traits are inherited, I like having my Ducks have similar traits to their relatives, especially their parents. That's how Molly has come, just over the last few days, the source of the McDuck thirst for knowledge and any love of poetry, writing, or storytelling seen in the McDuck Clan of post-1850. No thoughts about her death though. Would love to hear more about this that Rosa might had possibly said.

[whitewater]

Sept 27, 2024 0:21:34 GMT TheMidgetMoose said:

Sept 25, 2024 14:53:04 GMT whitewater said:

I thought he was Donald's uncle? (On the nephew's mother's side)

Donald does refer to him as "Uncle Zak" and "Uncle Zak McWak," but it is the triplets who introduce the character to the reader, referring to him as their famous uncle. The jealousy that Donald shows towards this uncle and the lack of pride Donald takes in Uncle Zak (unlike the triplets, who are very proud of their inventor uncle) reads well to me if Zak is a paternal uncle of the triplets, almost competition for the maternal uncle Donald. Why would he call him "Uncle Zak" then? Simply, that's what he heard the triplets call them. He doesn't have much of a personal relationship with Zak and so just uses the triplets' name for him. Of course, that's all just my theory. The most straightforward interpretation of Voyage to Azaltan would, I suppose, put Zak on Donald's side of the family. I'm open to more liberal interpretations of the story, though, and as I said, I think my interpretation fits well with Donald's attitude regarding Zak.

Sept 25, 2024 14:54:58 GMT whitewater said:

Does anyone know what happened to Molly Mallard? She obviously died, but apparently Rosa created a disturbing story behind her, and he only told it to a few people? I also heard a theory that she married when she was very young, so maybe this could be? Clearly her design shows she has stress or a backstory to her.

So interesting you brought this up. I was just thinking about Molly the other day! Was doing a little bit of fanfictiony writing (not actual writing, more like rough ideas I guess) about Fergus's childhood and began brainstorming Molly McDuck's story. I am very interested to know more about what you say about Rosa. I've never heard that before. Her design definitely implies that he had something about her character in mind. My headcanon exploration regarding Molly the other day did not delve into the issue of her death. I focused more on trying to figure out her personality and have decided that she (in my mind) must have been a poetic soul and bookworm with a love for knowledge. How did this image of Molly appear in my head? Through shards of her character seen in her sons, specifically Pothole and Fergus. Rosa depicted Pothole as becoming an author and Fergus as spending some of his latter years researching the treasury of the Knights Templar. I could not imagine Dirty Dingus McDuck as being interested in writing dime novels or studying history so meticulously, and while I know that not all personality traits are inherited, I like having my Ducks have similar traits to their relatives, especially their parents. That's how Molly has come, just over the last few days, the source of the McDuck thirst for knowledge and any love of poetry, writing, or storytelling seen in the McDuck Clan of post-1850. No thoughts about her death though. Would love to hear more about this that Rosa might had possibly said.

I just thought it was kind of strange that Donald talks about him in such a way it seems as if he is on Donald's side of the family. Also Donald has a portrait of Zak hanging in his house, so I would assume he is either related, or he may have known Zak.

As for Molly Mallard, I have read some theories that she could have been a very young mother, or possibly dealt with personal problems, I can see poetry being an escape from all of that hardship. In Ducktales 2017, she has her own statue, having a statue evidently means they are the greatest of Clan McDuck, so she had to have done something special for a McDuck, plus it makes since like you said, her son Pothole wrote his own novel series, and Fergus researched the Knights Templar, I'm sure Jake McDuck could have done it in his free time, we don't really know that much about him anyways, maybe he became an author, and later moved to the U.S. after Downy's death? I'd just like to give him something to be, instead of always being with his brother Fergus, pretty much mooching off of him. 

[shlomo]

How's this for a head-canon? Donald's Diary is the real Duck-verse. Donald's real voice is Leslie Denison's. He is an actor and uses the quacking voice in the pictures. Daisy is his real-life girl friend/wife, and he gave her three kid brothers a role as his nephews, before she was ready to appear in them herself.

[whitewater]

Oct 2, 2024 17:38:30 GMT shlomo said:

How's this for a head-canon? Donald's Diary is the real Duck-verse. Donald's real voice is Leslie Denison's. He is an actor and uses the quacking voice in the pictures. Daisy is his real-life girl friend/wife, and he gave her three kid brothers a role as his nephews, before she was ready to appear in them herself.

That was a strange cartoon, I don't know why Daisy has three brother who resemble Donald's nephews. One theory someone could have is, if they were the sons of Daisy's brother, then HDL were raised as "brothers" to Daisy, given they appear the same age as HDL. 

[whitewater]

Hello everyone, I have been trying to “recreate” the Duck family tree by Rosa, as I believe it is slightly outdated (by over 30 years), and there could be many changes to the tree.

So I here are my changes and other details related to the Duck family members:

I would move Whitewater Duck to being a second cousin of Donald Duck, even though he is the nephew of Douglas McDuck, Scrooge is said to be the last living member of Clan McDuck, so I would move Whitewater to Humperdink’s side, and finally changing his name back to Whitewater, not Abner. I would also change Dingus McDuck’s name to Titus McDuck.
I would add some other relatives created by Barks, not in this tree, first there is cousin Mehitabel Mudhen, I have previously stated that Mudhens are related to Coots, so maybe Mehitabel is related to the Coot Kin. Although, on this forum maybe she could be the daughter of Matilda McDuck, through an Uncle Mudhen?
Other relatives include Cousin Coot, who I would add as Cuthbert’s brother (which I will bring up later), Grandma’s uncle Eider could be added as Gertrude Gadwall’s brother, given that Don Rosa has stated Clinton Coot was Cornelius’s only child. Poncey De Loon, could be a very distant cousin, Simon McDuck and the other many McDuck ancestors created by Rosa should be added as ancestors of the McDucks.
Diamond Dick, who’s third wife was the great-granddaughter of a McDuck could also be added, although that would be unnecessary.
I would also consider adding other relatives, like Bhaltair McDuck (Scrooge’s uncle), and maybe Quagmire McDuck’s wife Elizabeth.
I would add some of the Taliaferro relatives, given that Barks had worked on some of these strips, and there is no reason they couldn’t be added, although I am less inclined to add the later strips, including Scrooge’s Aunt Sarah, although maybe she could be Downy’s sister.
I would add the cousin of HDL, Cousin Sock, making him the nephew of Gus Goose, I probably won’t add Pepper, but I would make Sock the son of HDL’s Aunt Gertie (Goose), and I would suggest her husband’s name could be ‘Grover Gosling’.
I have also talked about adding parents of Downy and Humperdink, I like hearing theories on them, but if I had to create names (based on some stories featuring Scrooge’s grandparents, and Donald’s great-grandparents), Downy’s parents could be named Roger “Seabass” O’Drake a Captain from Ireland, and Joanna “Jenny” MacGoose. Humperdink’s parents could be Danial Duck and his wife, who I will call her ‘Martha Muddlequack’. Humperdink and Downy’s parents could have other children too.
Gertrude Gadwall’s parents could be named Gottlieb Gadwall and Hortensia Henduck (if they were German). The Gadwalls could also have other children, and add maternal cousins to Grandma.
Other relatives I would add are Grandma’s sister, who is mentioned as living in Duckburg, and she is briefly seen in Grandma’s childhood. I don’t know if she married or not, so I’ll just say she never married, her name could be “Cecilia Coot”.
Grandma Duck also has a niece Betsie, so she could be Casey and Gretchen’s daughter.
I would not add Gideon or Rumpus, they don’t appear enough recently to be made relatives.
I would also not like any Ducktales 2017 relatives, specifically Webby Vanderquack.
I would add Clinton Coot’s second cousin Clara Calhoon to the tree, along with Cornelius Coot’s Dutch family, Jeroen, Els and Marteen.
If there is any room left on the tree, I’ll probably add the Ganders and Swans, such as Susibelle and Disraeli Duck.
Matilda would possibly be made the adoptive mother of Gladstone, as she was originally intended to be, but if that doesn’t work out, I would just add Ludwig or another uncle of Donald, that could be added instead.
As for the Coot Kin, I would move Cuthbert down a generation and make him the brother of Cousin Coot, he would therefore be the second cousin of Donald, which is distant enough. The reasons why I moved him down a generation, was because of his age, his species, and he is not called an uncle of Donald, although he is in the German translation! He could be the son of another ‘uncle’ and ‘aunt’ I created for Donald, Chester Coot and his wife Mabel Moorhen, the Cousin Coot’s name could be ‘Curtis Coot’.
I would also move Fethry and Lulubelle to be more distantly related, as it was said in one comic, plus the only reason why Whitewater and Fethry are brother was because the editor pressured Rosa to add Fethry, but Fethry could be a second cousin. As for Eider, you could remove him to be a more distant ‘uncle’ of Donald, but I’ll leave him as is, and I’ll add Donald and Gladstone’s Aunt Agnes, as his wife (which is on the Duck family tree), and they can have Fred and Lizzie, that’s ok with me.
As for any other theories, Robb has stated he would move Scrooge McDuck to be a great-uncle of Donald, and I assume Ludwig would be as well, although in this tree they are still just uncles. Barks also created a D. Duck Esq. who swam along the Mayflower, I guess I’ll add him, and he can be named ‘David Duck Esq.” I guess you could also add Rufus Duck, as a great-great-grandfather, and his wife, and Scrooge’s great-grandparents who could be named “Ebenezer McDuck” and “Diana Dabbler”.


Now here is some other head canon;

Given that Ludwig Von Drake has been described as Donald’s father’s brother (specifically by Walt Disney himself), Von Drake also shares an ancestor with Donald named Colombust Duck, I have been more inclined to believe (from theories on this forum), that Donald’s adoptive father was Ludwig Von Drake’s brother, and he left Hortense for another woman, Donald then “retook his mother’s maiden name”, which would actually be his father’s family name, Duck, and he kept it. Ludwig’s brother’s name could be Dietrich (Von) Drake, now doesn’t that sound like an Austrian name? I believe he could also be the pilot Donald mentioned in Donald Gets Drafted, the uncle could be Ludwig, not sure about the cousin, it could be any one of Donald’s distant cousins.

As for Della and her husband, I don’t believe it was Daisy’s brother, or he was Daffy Duck, I think he was a man maybe from another country, and they married, later disappeared over Tralla La, the rest is history, but who knows what really happened, in this classic comics canon, Barks said they abandoned them, although Della has recently been shown (Ducktales 2017) to be a loving mother, so it’s anybody’s guess.

Clinton Coot was the Founder of the Junior Woodchucks, he was born in the early 1830s, and died in the early 1910s, in my head-canon, he loved nature, as well as learning about the Three Caballeros, his widow, Gertrude Gadwall (probably from Germany or Austria, and immigrated to Calisota in the 1840s or 1850s), was born in the mid-late 1830s, and she died in the early 1920s, living long enough to meet her great-grandchildren (Donald, Della and Gladstone).

Daphne and Goostave could have divorced, Daphne marrying Uncle Denton, and they had three sons. Goostave could have married Matilda, but it appears that Matilda is much older than Goostave, so maybe not.

Sorry if this was too long, I just wanted to share my thoughts.

[shlomo]

Oct 2, 2024 17:38:30 GMT shlomo said:

How's this for a head-canon? Donald's Diary is the real Duck-verse. Donald's real voice is Leslie Denison's. He is an actor and uses the quacking voice in the pictures. Daisy is his real-life girl friend/wife, and he gave her three kid brothers a role as his nephews, before she was ready to appear in them herself.

Also, his real name, per Walt Disney, is Donald Drake (Ludwig his his father's older brother). Duck is just his stage name, in honor of his mother.

[whitewater]

Oct 8, 2024 22:43:58 GMT shlomo said:

Oct 2, 2024 17:38:30 GMT shlomo said:

How's this for a head-canon? Donald's Diary is the real Duck-verse. Donald's real voice is Leslie Denison's. He is an actor and uses the quacking voice in the pictures. Daisy is his real-life girl friend/wife, and he gave her three kid brothers a role as his nephews, before she was ready to appear in them herself.

Also, his real name, per Walt Disney, is Donald Drake (Ludwig his his father's older brother). Duck is just his stage name, in honor of his mother.

Correct, he says "I forgot to mention he is actually Donald Duck's uncle, now you see the Drakes are the paternal side of the family the Continental Branch, they're the Eggheads of the clan. The Professor being Don's father's brother is a Drake of course..."

The story about Donald being a Drake comes from a 1935 radio broadcast, which mentions that Donald's father left his family for another woman, and he took his mother's name Duck, I believe they described Ludwig as the paternal uncle, because Uncle Scrooge was already popular at the time, and there was already the first Duck family tree, which showed Scrooge as Donald's mother's brother. 

[sim]

Oct 9, 2024 2:34:18 GMT whitewater said:

I believe they described Ludwig as the paternal uncle, because Uncle Scrooge was already popular at the time, and there was already the first Duck family tree, which showed Scrooge as Donald's mother's brother. 

I must remind you that "the first Duck family tree" you speak of was sketched by Barks for his own personal use and was not officially published until 1990 (by Another Rainbow/Gladstone). Worden's version (the one with pictures) was published in 1981 (and maybe in 1976, but I cannot confirm that) so it's likely that somebody saw Barks' before (I guess in some fanzine?), but I am 100% confident that nobody at Disney Studios took that 1950s tree in consideration, and 1000% not by 1961, when Ludwig was introduced.

[whitewater]

Oct 9, 2024 9:08:12 GMT sim said:

Oct 9, 2024 2:34:18 GMT whitewater said:

I believe they described Ludwig as the paternal uncle, because Uncle Scrooge was already popular at the time, and there was already the first Duck family tree, which showed Scrooge as Donald's mother's brother. 

I must remind you that "the first Duck family tree" you speak of was sketched by Barks for his own personal use and was not officially published until 1990 (by Another Rainbow/Gladstone). Worden's version (the one with pictures) was published in 1981 (and maybe in 1976, but I cannot confirm that) so it's likely that somebody saw Barks' before (I guess in some fanzine?), but I am 100% confident that nobody at Disney Studios took that 1950s tree in consideration, and 1000% not by 1961, when Ludwig was introduced.

You are right, however my point was that Ludwig was supposed to be Donald's paternal uncle, and not maternal, as there was already a tree showing this relationship. Even though the tree wasn't published, I think people could tell Uncle Scrooge was Donald's maternal aunt, due to the fact they shared different cultures and last names, and because of this, this is why Ludwig is the paternal uncle of Donald. 

[whitewater]

When discussing the family tree, Robb has given his own personal theories on what his family tree could look like, although I understand he doesn't want to work on one, although I will give the relatives which might fit into this tree:

In this tree, Ludwig and Scrooge would become great-uncles of Donald, they would probably be related to Donald on his maternal side, as I am guessing the paternal side is Grandma Duck's family, along with the Coots and Gus. Ludwig could have a brother or sister who married a sister or brother to Scrooge and had Donald's mother and Matilda who married Goostave.

I'm guessing in this tree, Cousin Sock would be Gus Goose's nephew probably through his sister, and Fethry could be Donald's distant cousin like Whitewater Duck. Uncle Eider Duck could be Donald's distant uncle, along with a few other Duck relatives who are mentioned in Barks and Taliaferro's strips.

This would be an interesting tree, even if you included Sadstone Gander as Gladstone's twin brother, and Sadstone left maybe even while Luke and Daphne were alive, other distant relatives could be Susiebelle Swan, Badluck Gander (Gladstone's cousin), and Gladstone's nephew Shamrock Gander, (who could be his cousin's son), as HDL do not recognize Shamrock.

In this tree, the grandmother from Best Christmas could be Donald's maternal grandmother, and Donald's maternal grandfather could be the Grandpa who owned the buggy from The Hard Loser.

Note that Grandma Duck's family may not be from the Coot Kin but they still could be related, maybe her sister could be Donald's Aunt Fanny, like Rosa wanted to do with his original tree, they could be related to Donald's uncle Willie Waddle or perhaps Zak McWak, Webfoot McWaddle or another uncle of Donald's'.

[jhv81]

My personal headcanon fits all the authors but if there's problem then the better the story/author is that one fits the headcanon.
Characters not in my headcanon: Pinoccio characters exept Jiminy Cricket, Bambi Characters, Snow White characters, Bucky Bug characters

[whitewater]

Oct 13, 2024 4:44:39 GMT jhv81 said:

Characters not in my headcanon: Pinoccio characters exept Jiminy Cricket, Bambi Characters, Snow White characters, Bucky Bug characters

Why do you not accept them? Some of them appear in other Duck stories and make appearances or crossovers. 

[jhv81]

I think living wooden puppet makes no sense but I like Jiminy Cricket as Duckburg TV show leader, Snow White has the problem of not-fitting to my duck universum with dwarfs and monarchy (Ducks are American although I'm european Monarchist) and in one story Mad Madam Mim was watching Snow White from TV so in my duck universum Snow White happended in 1870's germany and so cannot crossover with Ducks, Hiwatha, Mice or Forest characters

[TheMidgetMoose]

Oct 8, 2024 16:11:18 GMT whitewater said:

...
Given that Ludwig Von Drake has been described as Donald’s father’s brother (specifically by Walt Disney himself), Von Drake also shares an ancestor with Donald named Colombust Duck, I have been more inclined to believe (from theories on this forum), that Donald’s adoptive father was Ludwig Von Drake’s brother, and he left Hortense for another woman, Donald then “retook his mother’s maiden name”, which would actually be his father’s family name, Duck, and he kept it. Ludwig’s brother’s name could be Dietrich (Von) Drake, now doesn’t that sound like an Austrian name? I believe he could also be the pilot Donald mentioned in Donald Gets Drafted, the uncle could be Ludwig, not sure about the cousin, it could be any one of Donald’s distant cousins.
...

Now this I like a lot! Dietrich Von Drake is a swell name for Donald's stepfather/Ludwig's brother! Right now, my headcanon has a lot of stuff in it that is contingent upon Quackmore being the aviator father of Donald Gets Drafted and Eider being the aviator uncle. These identifications furnish my theories for how Quackmore died and why Donald and Fethry knew each other in childhood (Donald's Buzzin' Cousin, among other sources) but Donald and Whitewater, based on their lack of familiarity with one another in Log Jockey, seem to have not known each other as kids. So much of my headcanon relies on this "Quackmore as aviator father and Eider as aviator uncle" identification that switching the aviator father to "Dietrich" and the aviator uncle to Ludwig would be difficult, but it tracks given that Ludwig was officially a pilot as per the old TV special Fly with Von Drake. We know that Ludwig was once an aviator. We don't know that Eider once was. Your identification makes more sense, but it would require me to totally recharacterize my headcanon Quackmore and Eider.

To elaborate on a certain point, yes, I do still maintain that Fethry and Whitewater are brothers. I know that it has been a trend on this forum to separate them, but I see no reason in doing so. They are both reckoned by their original creators to be "distant cousin(s)" of Donald, so they do not need to occupy different places on the family tree. The real "issue" would be with having them as children of Eider, whom Rosa depicts as a son of Grandma and Grandpa Duck. This would make them only Donald's first cousins, not distant cousins, but I have rectified this issue with a theory that Eider is actually a more distant relative who was adopted as a child by Grandma and Grandpa after his biological parents passed. I place him as a son of Donald's granduncle Swashbuckle Duck from Outer Space Safari. I do not like splitting up Eider and Lulubelle as a couple. They were always intended to be a couple. Their features mix together perfectly to create Whitewater and Fethry's features, the only noticeable issue being Whitewater's dark hair not shared by either parent. Otherwise, they all fit together so well. Lulubelle's small, unconjoined-from-beak eyes not only reflect Fethry but also Whitewater. She fits as the mama of both. Again, there's really no reason to separate Fethry and Whitewater as brothers. The only genealogical issue we have with the Eider-Lulubelle-Whitewater-Fethry family is with Eider himself, and, as I have stated, I think there are ways around that. Keep this family together as Rosa intended, I say!

[/s][/div]