This. Barks specifically wrote that story so that kids fifty years from then could still believe Scrooge was still alive.
Do you have a source for this claim? Did Barks ever publicly state that that was his intent in writing the story? I find this hard to believe. From what I can see, Barks tended to write his stories in the "here and now", rather than think ahead. I don't think he even considered that people would be reading his stories fifty years after he wrote them, far less than that they would be printed and reprinted in deluxe prestige collections and that they would spawn an entire universe, be dissected, analyzed and be the basis for have dissertations. Frankly, Rosa's solution .. having the stories be based in the 1950s .. is the only one that gels with my "realistic" view of the Duckiverse. I therefore have to ignore elements in non-Rosa stories ... like cell phones, laptops, and the Internet ... when they appear (otherwise, in an era of search engines and smartwatches, what's so special about the Junior Woodchucks' Guidebook? I wonder how the new DuckTales is going to spin that?). You idea about being able to choose what age we want to be through sheer willpower is intriguing though ... wonder what most people would do with such an ability?
EDIT: Okay, I read your blog post in its entirety and see the quote from Barks that you were referring to. Not sure if that was really his original intent or something he came up with afterwards (as I said, it's at variance with the rest of his work. When and where exactly is this quote from?). Still, I have to disagree with the Duck Man here. In my mind, the citizens of Duckburg are all "real" humans, and they have normal lifespans. So, I have to stick with the Rosa theory. Well-argued post, however!
Carl told me, himself, the same story he told in interviews, that he wrote and drew each story using the characters, time and story elements that he needed for that ONE story. He had no idea that ANY kids read his stories and kept them in a collection until 1961, and until 1970 or so, he didn't know that more than a small handful of us (myself included 1966) cared much about his work. He retired from his regular story writing at the very end of 1966. It was by the middle of the 1970s, that he knew about themany fans he had in Europe, as many of them had made pilgrimage to California to visit him, and why he had to move to Oregon, and try to "hide from them" (only the most persistent could find him). By that time, he was even through with writing his Junior Woodchuck stories. So, for all of his regular career with Western Publishing, he did NOT envision any continuity within his block of stories. However, he wrote and drew "Go Slowly, Hands of Time" AFTER he found out that thousands of his fans made Duck Family trees, time lines of Scrooge's life, and DID care about the timing of events in "Duck History" (in the very late 1980s or early 1990s). So, heCOULD have written that with his time-oriented fans in mind. If he really said that he did, then, I believe him. He was NOT the type of person to tell little "white lies" to let people hear what they want to hear.
UNIVERSE 1 The universe where the stories of Barks and Rosa take place. The ducklings aged normally, so, by now, Scrooge and Donald are dead and the nephews are close to that as well. I'd love it if someone wrote stories about how things are in Duckburg nowadays in this universe, even if they're just unofficial novels at Fanfiction Net. Don Rosa himself would be the most suitable person for this task.
UNIVERSE 2 The universe where stories with modern inventions and no Klodike references take place. Everyone was born a lot later and Scrooge became a millionaire in a different way.
UNIVERSE 3 The universe where stories with modern inventions and Klodike references take place. Scrooge is immortal because of swimming in money. Donald was born much later, being the grandson or great grandson of Scrooge's sister (which still explains why he calls Scrooge ''uncle'').
UNIVERSE 1 The universe where the stories of Barks and Rosa take place. The ducklings aged normally, so, by now, Scrooge and Donald are dead and the nephews are close to that as well. I'd love it if someone wrote stories about how things are in Duckburg nowadays in this universe, even if they're just unofficial novels at Fanfiction Net. Don Rosa himself would be the most suitable person for this task.
UNIVERSE 2 The universe where stories with modern inventions and no Klodike references take place. Everyone was born a lot later and Scrooge became a millionaire in a different way.
UNIVERSE 3 The universe where stories with modern inventions and Klodike references take place. Scrooge is immortal because of swimming in money. Donald was born much later, being the grandson or great grandson of Scrooge's sister (which still explains why he calls Scrooge ''uncle'').
If Donald's nephews were 7-10 years old in the mid 1950s, I'm about the same age as they are. But, I wouldn't consider myself "near death". I still carry 50 kilos of suitcases (luggage), and run after trains, trams and in airports to catch airplanes, when I'm late. I can still work all day and night for 2 nights and 3 days, if I get behind in my work.
I don't mind being called "old". But, like Uncle Scrooge, I resent being determined "near death". Why don't we just say that Donald's nephews would be "old", and Donald MIGHT, possibly be dead, or, at least, ancient and feeble.
UNIVERSE 1 The universe where the stories of Barks and Rosa take place. The ducklings aged normally, so, by now, Scrooge and Donald are dead and the nephews are close to that as well. I'd love it if someone wrote stories about how things are in Duckburg nowadays in this universe, even if they're just unofficial novels at Fanfiction Net. Don Rosa himself would be the most suitable person for this task.
UNIVERSE 2 The universe where stories with modern inventions and no Klodike references take place. Everyone was born a lot later and Scrooge became a millionaire in a different way.
UNIVERSE 3 The universe where stories with modern inventions and Klodike references take place. Scrooge is immortal because of swimming in money. Donald was born much later, being the grandson or great grandson of Scrooge's sister (which still explains why he calls Scrooge ''uncle'').
If Donald's nephews were 7-10 years old in the mid 1950s, I'm about the same age as they are. But, I wouldn't consider myself "near death". I still carry 50 kilos of suitcases (luggage), and run after trains, trams and in airports to catch airplanes, when I'm late. I can still work all day and night for 2 nights and 3 days, if I get behind in my work.
I don't mind being called "old". But, like Uncle Scrooge, I resent being determined "near death". Why don't we just say that Donald's nephews would be "old", and Donald MIGHT, possibly be dead, or, at least, ancient and feeble.
The nehpews were already at least 7 years old in 1947 (12th episode of Scrooge's biography). I think in Rosa's stories that are supposed to take place in early-mid 50s, the nephews might as well be teens. I mean Scrooge was also a teen in the second episode of his biography and he didn't look much different from the ducklings in some Rosa's stories.
If Donald's nephews were 7-10 years old in the mid 1950s, I'm about the same age as they are. But, I wouldn't consider myself "near death". I still carry 50 kilos of suitcases (luggage), and run after trains, trams and in airports to catch airplanes, when I'm late. I can still work all day and night for 2 nights and 3 days, if I get behind in my work.
I don't mind being called "old". But, like Uncle Scrooge, I resent being determined "near death". Why don't we just say that Donald's nephews would be "old", and Donald MIGHT, possibly be dead, or, at least, ancient and feeble.
The nehpews were already at least 7 years old in 1947 (12th episode of Scrooge's biography). I think in Rosa's stories that are supposed to take place in early-mid 50s, the nephews might as well be teens. I mean Scrooge was also a teen in the second episode of his biography and he didn't look much different from the ducklings in some Rosa's stories.
If the stories take place between 1950 and 1959 (need that many different years to fit in all those adventure trips), The Nephews would have aged from 5 through 14 years old. If they weere 5 yearrs old in 1950, they were born in 1945. That makes them just about my age. So, I'd like to think they'd still hav another 25 to 35 years left in their lives, especially given the long lifespans among their ancestors, as well as Scrooge. Donald only weighed as much as a large turkey. So, The Ducks have very light weight, and little strain on their hearts. They also are not likely to acquire diabetes, and less likely to get several forms of cancer. On the other hand, The Duck Family timeline is not really possible, as having hundreds and hundreds of Uncle Scrooge adventure trips occurring within just 10 years is totally impossible.
As i said, judging from what the nephews looked like in 1947 (12th episode of Scrooge's biography), they were born in 1940. That means all the Barkses/Rosa's adventures took place at the very most till 1955 (even 15 years old seems a little stretched for the nephews' age). In the 11th episode of Scrooge's biography (1930), Donald looked younger than the nephews, so i have his birth year at 1924.
As i said, judging from what the nephews looked like in 1947 (12th episode of Scrooge's biography), they were born in 1940. That means all the Barkses/Rosa's adventures took place at the very most till 1955 (even 15 years old seems a little stretched for the nephews' age). In the 11th episode of Scrooge's biography (1930), Donald looked younger than the nephews, so i have his birth year at 1924.
I don't go by Rosa's timeline, just by Barks' stories and deciding that they took place in the 1950s. But, even if Donald's nephews had been born in 1940, I would just say that they were old enough to be grandparents now. I wouldn't say they were near death. I'd like to think I have 25-30 years left.
Lol, i came up with an even crazier idea. How about this... Scrooge of the stories with modern inventions is the same Scrooge as in Barkses/Rosa's stories (who is immortal). Donald and nephews from Barkses/Rosa's stories are now old and reside somewhere far away (in some retirement home probably) whereas the Donald and nephews of modern stories are their descendants (you know, like Beagle Boys who are duplicates of their fathers).
UNIVERSE 1 The universe where the stories of Barks and Rosa take place. The ducklings aged normally, so, by now, Scrooge and Donald are dead and the nephews are close to that as well. I'd love it if someone wrote stories about how things are in Duckburg nowadays in this universe, even if they're just unofficial novels at Fanfiction Net. Don Rosa himself would be the most suitable person for this task.
UNIVERSE 2 The universe where stories with modern inventions and no Klodike references take place. Everyone was born a lot later and Scrooge became a millionaire in a different way.
UNIVERSE 3 The universe where stories with modern inventions and Klodike references take place. Scrooge is immortal because of swimming in money. Donald was born much later, being the grandson or great grandson of Scrooge's sister (which still explains why he calls Scrooge ''uncle'').
UNIVERSE 4 The univers where stories with modern inventions and Klondike references can take place. The characters are immortal because of some as-of-yet-unexplained Applied Phlebotinum (possibly a spell or a Gyro Gearloose invention gone out of control), or simply because of the same phenomenon as is observed with Scrooge or El Capitan, which is that physical age seems largely dependant on mental age in this universe.
As i said, judging from what the nephews looked like in 1947 (12th episode of Scrooge's biography), they were born in 1940. That means all the Barkses/Rosa's adventures took place at the very most till 1955 (even 15 years old seems a little stretched for the nephews' age). In the 11th episode of Scrooge's biography (1930), Donald looked younger than the nephews, so i have his birth year at 1924.
If you say HDL were born in 1940, then 1924 would be a late date for Donald's birth: his twin sister Della would have become a teen mother at the age 16, which is definitely not what Don had in mind while writing "Life and Times" (his timeline has Donald and Della born around 1920 and HDL born around 1940). Sure, Donald looks young in the 11th episode, but that's because we don't see him speak (unlike "The Sign of the Triple Distelfink", set a few years earlier, in which he does speak). There's a line in some version of the 12th episode where Donald tells HDL that 17 years earlier "I was younger than you are", but Don confirmed this was a mistake he made in the script, though I'm not sure if it was corrected in reprints.
A related topic: how many authors set "present-time" stories in the past? Don Rosa wrote stories that take place in the early-mid 1950's, even though they were published between 1987 and 2006. He is generally thought to be the only one to do so, but apparently he is/was not the only one, as I've learned in another thread:
I grew up in the late 1940s and early 1950s. That is the "classic period" of my life. All my stories take place in that era. I have been writing stories and drawing storyboards since the late 1950s, and, professionally, since 1984. And I have only first used any modern (post 1950s) technology in a story starting 2 years ago, and, so far, only in 2 or 3 stories. That action was precipitated by Egmont's policy of striving to "modernise" their stories (e.g. keep their stories up with the times, and not seem dated to their young readers). Too many kids these days, first discovering Barks stories, wonder why the characters don just take out their mobile telephones and warn their colleagues of the impending danger, or send them the needed information, or use their mobile telephone's Internet to get instant answers to any question?
So, Rob Klein's stories take place in the late 1940's and early 1950's, except a few recent stories that take place in modern times because the editor demanded so.
Are there other authors who create stories set in the past? And as for those who create stories set in the present: do they all want to do so, or is there some editorial obligation that prevents you to do otherwise?
Universe 1: Barks' stories. Scrooge born in 1867 and beacame rich in 1897. Universe 2: Italian stories. Scrooge born in 1897 and find a gold mine in 1909. Universe 3: The modern stories took place here.