"So Dear to His Heart" A Donald and Uncle Scrooge Story

[texcap]

I don't know that there's a single Duck story that I'd like to see hit U.S. shores right now more than "So Dear to His Heart," a story that's been translated (and well received) across Europe, but has tragically never seen print in the West. Without spoiling the tale, let's just say that we learn a little about what (or who?) Uncle Scrooge values most when Magica comes calling with a unique spell. It can be found in 'Donald Duck Extra 2013-07,' but needs to find it's way to English speaking audiences as soon as possible.

I'm looking at you IDW! ; )

Has anyone here had the chance to read it?

[Scrooge MacDuck]

Oct 19, 2017 16:55:31 GMT texcap said:

Has anyone here had the chance to read it?

Yup! It was in the latest issue of Super Picsou Géant as well! (By the way, the Tumblr Side of the Fandom went crazy about that story. They're a very cutesy-feely and shippy crowd…)

[texcap]

Oct 19, 2017 17:19:58 GMT Scrooge MacDuck said:

Oct 19, 2017 16:55:31 GMT texcap said:

Has anyone here had the chance to read it?

Yup! It was in the latest issue of Super Picsou Géant as well! (By the way, the Tumblr Side of the Fandom went crazy about that story. They're a very cutesy-feely and shippy crowd…)

I try and stay far, far away. If I never hear the word "ship" (in that context) again...

That said, I'd love to see the story translated. Can I ask what you thought of it?

[Scrooge MacDuck]

Oct 19, 2017 17:42:13 GMT texcap said:

I try and stay far, far away. If I never hear the word "ship" (in that context) again... That said, I'd love to see the story translated. Can I ask what you thought of it?

• Oh, don't worry, they don't "ship" Donald and Scrooge in a romantic way (…as far as I know), they just really like the sweet sides of the relationships and dynamics in the Duck family. They're big on the Fethry/Gladstone/Donald trio and how they play off each other, for one thing. And yes, also Scrooge and Donald's interactions. For instance, they called attention to something I never really noticed before, namely how (starting in Barks stories) Donald is always halfway-supporting Scrooge by his arm when they're walking. Or how the Ducks often wag their tails in Don Rosa when excited. Stuff like that. May be too sickly-sweet for some people, but certainly not weird shipping to stay away from like some of, say, the Harry Potter fandom can be. 

• The story itself, it was… how to put this. It feels like the writer came up with the final twist and wrote backwards from there. It's really the only reason for the story to exist. The rest is fairly short and just your standard Magica Vs Scrooge story, playing all the tropes of the genre in a not-very-notable fashion. 

[texcap]

Oct 19, 2017 17:54:01 GMT Scrooge MacDuck said:

Oct 19, 2017 17:42:13 GMT texcap said:

I try and stay far, far away. If I never hear the word "ship" (in that context) again... That said, I'd love to see the story translated. Can I ask what you thought of it?

• Oh, don't worry, they don't "ship" Donald and Scrooge in a romantic way (…as far as I know), they just really like the sweet sides of the relationships and dynamics in the Duck family. They're big on the Fethry/Gladstone/Donald trio and how they play off each other, for one thing. And yes, also Scrooge and Donald's interactions. For instance, they called attention to something I never really noticed before, namely how (starting in Barks stories) Donald is always halfway-supporting Scrooge by his arm when they're walking. Or how the Ducks often wag their tails in Don Rosa when excited. Stuff like that. May be too sickly-sweet for some people, but certainly not weird shipping to stay away from like some of, say, the Harry Potter fandom can be. 

• The story itself, it was… how to put this. It feels like the writer came up with the final twist and wrote backwards from there. It's really the only reason for the story to exist. The rest is fairly short and just your standard Magica Vs Scrooge story, playing all the tropes of the genre in a not-very-notable fashion. 

Ha, thanks for the run down, and clarification. No, my trepidation with tumblr comes from seeing "ships" within numerous properties. Those few that I've had the misfortune of seeing in the Duck-verse I try to ignore as quickly as humanly possible. The insights you provide certainly don't bother me.

Well, here's hoping for a translation nonetheless! I do like the sentimentality of this particular happenstance, and would definitely like to have a chance to read it.

[RobbK1]

Oct 19, 2017 16:55:31 GMT texcap said:

I don't know that there's a single Duck story that I'd like to see hit U.S. shores right now more than "So Dear to His Heart," a story that's been translated (and well received) across Europe, but has tragically never seen print in the West. Without spoiling the tale, let's just say that we learn a little about what (or who?) Uncle Scrooge values most when Magica comes calling with a unique spell. It can be found in 'Donald Duck Extra 2013-07,' but needs to find it's way to English speaking audiences as soon as possible.

I'm looking at you IDW! ; )

Has anyone here had the chance to read it?

It can be found in Donald Duck Extra 2013-07 from which country(s), Denmark?, Sweden?, Norway?, The Netherlands?

Was this "Disney story" a parody adapted from the novel, "So Dear To My Heart", which also had a hit film made from it around the beginning of the 1950s?

[Scrooge MacDuck]

Oct 20, 2017 17:01:45 GMT RobbK1 said:

Was this "Disney story" a parody adapted from the novel, "So Dear To My Heart", which also had a hit film made from it around the beginning of the 1950s?

Not in the least. (And that would be a sight to behold, a Disney Parody of a Disney classic. Not to mention iffy on the continuity since Danny the Black Lamb from the movie appeared with Donald and Co. in a couple of vintage things.) Of course, the title may be an allusion to it. 

[Spectrus]

My Inducks collection (by the way: here's the link - inducks.org/story.php?c=D+2010-026 - always helpful so people can quickly see whether it's been released in their country and if so, where) tells me I must have it, but it can't have made a big impression on me because I don't remember it at all.

[Matilda]

Just got to read "So Dear to His Heart," and I liked it quite a bit. I agree with Scrooge MacDuck that it's all about the twist, but I'm OK with that. Even though the twist was perfectly foreseeable if you're familiar with the similar twist from a European folktale (sorta Spoiler ahead) about a woman misjudged by her royal husband. (This story element was also used in the movie "Ever After," there more directly following the folktale.)

Even so, I liked it enough to just now put it on my list on the "fave Scrooge stories" thread. I generally like stories that focus on character and relationships. This is one reason why I'm such a huge Korhonen fan. His stories And Then There Were Two, Another One for the Album, Mr. Gearloose Leaves Town, Date with a Munchkin and Which Is Witch? all are stories which satisfy me because of the way they reveal or develop character.

PLUS: Gattino's art here is terrific. Scrooge's facial expressions throughout reminded me of the wonderful array of Scrooge facial expressions Rota drew for Jensen's What Goes Around. Especially good--and crucial to how the story comes off--is his expression in panel 3 of the final page. I also loved Magica disinterestedly flipping through comics on p. 9, and Magica looking at her fingernails in panel 1 of p. 10, and Scrooge & Donald's face-off on p. 11, and Scrooge's reaction to Grandma Duck yelling at him on p. 11, and Magica and Scrooge in the first panel of p. 13. All in all, it's Gattino's art that lifts this from "a story with nice comment on character and a satisfying conceit" to a really, really good story.

[texcap]

Nov 7, 2017 15:16:38 GMT Matilda said:

Just got to read "So Dear to His Heart," and I liked it quite a bit. I agree with Scrooge MacDuck that it's all about the twist, but I'm OK with that. Even though the twist was perfectly foreseeable if you're familiar with the similar twist from a European folktale (sorta Spoiler ahead) about a woman misjudged by her royal husband. (This story element was also used in the movie "Ever After," there more directly following the folktale.)

Even so, I liked it enough to just now put it on my list on the "fave Scrooge stories" thread. I generally like stories that focus on character and relationships. This is one reason why I'm such a huge Korhonen fan. His stories And Then There Were Two, Another One for the Album, Mr. Gearloose Leaves Town, Date with a Munchkin and Which Is Witch? all are stories which satisfy me because of the way they reveal or develop character.

PLUS: Gattino's art here is terrific. Scrooge's facial expressions throughout reminded me of the wonderful array of Scrooge facial expressions Rota drew for Jensen's What Goes Around. Especially good--and crucial to how the story comes off--is his expression in panel 3 of the final page. I also loved Magica disinterestedly flipping through comics on p. 9, and Magica looking at her fingernails in panel 1 of p. 10, and Scrooge & Donald's face-off on p. 11, and Scrooge's reaction to Grandma Duck yelling at him on p. 11, and Magica and Scrooge in the first panel of p. 13. All in all, it's Gattino's art that lifts this from "a story with nice comment on character and a satisfying conceit" to a really, really good story.

Thank you for your perspective on the story, Matilda. And for a few other stories that I'll need to track down it appears!

[Monkey_Feyerabend]

I read it yesterday, it was just published in France*. I agree with MacDuck's comment on the plot: the author created the whole story backward starting from the final twist (which is fine, you must start from somewhere), but without adding much to that...as a matter of fact this little tale would have been more effective as a 10-pager rather than a 14 pages long story. Also, I agree with Matilda on the art, since here Gattino does a good job with Scrooge and sometimes Donald, and an amazing job with Magica.



(*texcap, it is the first time in my life that I see someone putting Europe out of "the West" - except if we are talking of a Ford's movie, of course. Is it common in the US to call (only) North America"the West"? I ask out of genuine curiosity, I like this kind of little facts...)

[Matilda]

Nov 10, 2017 21:58:48 GMT Monkey_Feyerabend said:

(*texcap, it is the first time in my life that I see someone putting Europe out of "the West" - except if we are talking of a Ford's movie, of course. Is it common in the US to call (only) North America"the West"? I ask out of genuine curiosity, I like this kind of little facts...)

FWIW, I would include (most of) Europe in "the West." I don't hear other folks in the USA using "the West" to exclude Western Europe...except, as you say, when it's the American West that is the subject.

[Spectrus]

Shortly after reading this thread I bought a book which also contained that story. It's not bad. But... it's a downright stolen idea! I just came across the original, it's in I TL 1929. The story starts out completely different but comes to the *exact* same conclusion!

[Matilda]

Mar 14, 2018 10:08:51 GMT Spectrus said:

Shortly after reading this thread I bought a book which also contained that story. It's not bad. But... it's a downright stolen idea! I just came across the original, it's in I TL 1929. The story starts out completely different but comes to the *exact* same conclusion!

I haven't read the Michelini story, so I'm not sure exactly what element of Astrup's story you think is stolen from the Michelini story...but if it's what I think it is, then, as I said above, that element is taken from European folklore. So both authors could easily have taken it from the folklore source (adapting it similarly to Scrooge's mythos), rather than Astrup taking it from Michelini.

[Spectrus]

Mar 31, 2018 2:37:30 GMT Matilda said:

Mar 14, 2018 10:08:51 GMT Spectrus said:

Shortly after reading this thread I bought a book which also contained that story. It's not bad. But... it's a downright stolen idea! I just came across the original, it's in I TL 1929. The story starts out completely different but comes to the *exact* same conclusion!

I haven't read the Michelini story, so I'm not sure exactly what element of Astrup's story you think is stolen from the Michelini story...but if it's what I think it is, then, as I said above, that element is taken from European folklore. So both authors could easily have taken it from the folklore source (adapting it similarly to Scrooge's mythos), rather than Astrup taking it from Michelini.

SPOILER: Click to show

{Spoiler}
Magica is searching for a magic "smokestack" that is actually a witch, which can fulfill a wish. Scrooge gets wind of it and actually finds the right one (there's a whole valley filled with similar-looking mountain peaks), but Magica caught Donald and turned him into stone. The kids obviously convince Scrooge to trade in his wish for Donald's life (Magica promises to give him the spell that undoes her spell), so he tells the witch to "give Magica, what is the thing most loved by me". Cue Donald landing in Magica's arms.