So, how about Rocky and Bullwinkle? Pottsylvania and Brutopia are both part of the Eastern Block, 1960's style. And Original DuckTales' Monte Dumas reminded me not only of Grand Fenwick (as Chris Barat mentioned in his review) but of Applesauce Lorraine, from the "Mooseketeers" story in Rocky & Bullwinkle.
And while I am here, I will mention Baby Huey from Harvey Comics. I can imagine him being a relative of Gus Goose.
I suppose, when we discuss what "other comics could take place in the Disneyverse", there are two possible ways to approach it: (A) do the characters visually look like they could mix and (B) do the universes they exist in mesh well together. Many characters we discussed above ... Looney Tunes, Danger Mouse, Woody Woodpecker, etc., could easily walk the streets of Duckburg or Mouseton and not look out of place. But ... and it all comes down to the degree of anthropomorphism that the characters exhibit in their own universes ... not many would be able to import their relative MEAS levels the Duck/Mouse universes unmodified. For example, Baby Huey does look like a relative of Gus Goose, but from the few comic pages I could find on the internet, he's treated like a duck rather than a human being (a sentient wolf tries to eat him, a la the Li'l Bad Wolf stories). I admit I haven't watched any Baby Huey cartoons, but by all accounts, Gus Goose is a human being, and Baby Huey and the other characters in his stories clearly are not. It gets trickier with universes featuring real humans; for example, the Smurfs live in a human world. The Ducks have encountered many a Smurf-like population in their adventures, but can Gargamel and Magica work together (maybe so, since they're both humans, although one looks like a duck because of the "filter", or maybe Gargamel should be given a black nose to make him "Duck-compliant"; I favor the latter). How about Popeye? There's an all-human cast, but apart from that, Duckburg and Sweet Haven seem to be better fits for each other than the classic Danger Mouse or Looney Tunes which feature talking animals. What MEAS level to Rocky and Bullwinkle have in their universes? I know they're referred to as "Moose and Squirrel" but are those just their names or are they actually treated like animals? Boris and Natasha would of course have to have little black noses (as Rosa would say) if they ever met the Ducks.
The Ducks have encountered many a Smurf-like population in their adventures, but can Gargamel and Magica work together (maybe so, since they're both humans, although one looks like a duck because of the "filter", or maybe Gargamel should be given a black nose to make him "Duck-compliant"; I favor the latter). (…) Boris and Natasha would of course have to have little black noses (as Rosa would say) if they ever met the Ducks.
I disagree with you on these points; for me, as I think I have mentioned before, the characters are all "really" ducks and such as far as species go, they just don't act any more like regular ducks than we behave like monkeys. I never bought into the "filter" hypothesis. Either way, Gargamel would especially not look out of place because it's very traditional for wizards and witches to be fully human (take Mim, Hazel, etc.) even in stories that have no other Homo Sapiens characters. Even outside of magical beings, how about Hard-Haired Moe for a very enduring, ducks-only character who's a full-blown human?
The issue with a Smurfs crossover would not be in the Smurfs' environment itself, but in the facts that:
They markedly exist in medieval times, although some features of their own culture are anachronistical. Unless time-travel were involved, a crossover with the Duckburg folks would have to feature an entirely new generation of Smurfs, for whom the classic characters would only be distant history.
They perenially share a universe with Johan and Peewitt, whose world is solely populated by Homo Sapiens. While it's not improbable that most of the "on-screen" people the Smurfs meet in their remote forest would be humans, it would really strain belief for entire towns in the Duckverse to exist without a single dognose or anthropomorphic pig. Although I suppose Astérix and Tintin both had official crossovers which disregarded the issue entirely, so…
For example, Baby Huey does look like a relative of Gus Goose, but from the few comic pages I could find on the internet, he's treated like a duck rather than a human being (a sentient wolf tries to eat him, a la the Li'l Bad Wolf stories). I admit I haven't watched any Baby Huey cartoons, but by all accounts, Gus Goose is a human being, and Baby Huey and the other characters in his stories clearly are not.
Again our disagreement; I think there's enough precedent to say that with a generous view of continuity, Li'l Bad Wolf does indeed exist in the same universe as Donald and Mickey, and if he goes, then shouldn't Baby Huey go as well? I'll grant you that it may be weird to think Zeke Wolf & Co. are busy hunting each other during the events of Barks stories, but the frequent references to Duckburg and others in Forest stories are such that I'd say that we have a case of one-way continuity — the Forest stories aren't necessarily canon to "City" stories like Donald and Mickey comics, but the Forest universe does include a very much recognizable (if possibly slightly different) version of a Duckburg and its denizens. How about that?
Then how about the animals of the Okeefenokee Swamp, in Pogo? They're on about the same levels as the Forest inhabitants. Plus, Walt Kelly did draw Disney comics too!
I'd also say that Freddy Milton's Woody Woodpecker comics, as well as his own Gnuff comics (which was often shown to take place in the same world, even the same city, even if the Gnuffs and Woody never actually met) would fit in without much trouble.
Then how about the animals of the Okeefenokee Swamp, in Pogo? They're on about the same levels as the Forest inhabitants. Plus, Walt Kelly did draw Disney comics too!
I'd also say that Freddy Milton's Woody Woodpecker comics, as well as his own Gnuff comics (which was often shown to take place in the same world, even the same city, even if the Gnuffs and Woody never actually met) would fit in without much trouble.
Very good point. And once one Woody Woodpecker is in, things resorb themselves with Oswald comics where Woody or Andy Panda occasionally guest-starred…
On Rocky & Bullwinkle's MEAS level: at least 4a (Daffy Duck, Zeke Wolf), verging on 4b. I'd have to watch some of the show with this question in mind to be sure, but I'd say that they are largely treated as human characters in behavior, motivation, living quarters, food preferences, etc. They wear less clothing than a 4b generally does: Rocky has his aviator's cap and Bullwinkle always wears gloves and (when he's acting as a magician) the top half of a suit. They are called "Moose" and "Squirrel" by Boris because it's funny, and because those are their last names, just as Donald's is "Duck." Rocky is a flying squirrel and he is able to fly, so that's behavior theoretically based on his animal nature (although of course flying squirrels actually just glide). But he is as tall as a human child (a bit shorter than short Boris), so definitely not in "flying squirrel" scale relative to humans. Bullwinkle attended Wossamotta U. on a football scholarship. He is sometimes shown to have superhuman strength, known as his "mighty moose muscle." His other "superpower" is his ability to remember everything he ever ate...which includes lots of stuff not in the normal moose diet.
On Rocky & Bullwinkle's MEAS level: at least 4a (Daffy Duck, Zeke Wolf), verging on 4b. I'd have to watch some of the show with this question in mind to be sure, but I'd say that they are largely treated as human characters in behavior, motivation, living quarters, food preferences, etc. They wear less clothing than a 4b generally does: Rocky has his aviator's cap and Bullwinkle always wears gloves and (when he's acting as a magician) the top half of a suit. They are called "Moose" and "Squirrel" by Boris because it's funny, and because those are their last names, just as Donald's is "Duck." Rocky is a flying squirrel and he is able to fly, so that's behavior theoretically based on his animal nature (although of course flying squirrels actually just glide). But he is as tall as a human child (a bit shorter than short Boris), so definitely not in "flying squirrel" scale relative to humans. Bullwinkle attended Wossamotta U. on a football scholarship. He is sometimes shown to have superhuman strength, known as his "mighty moose muscle." His other "superpower" is his ability to remember everything he ever ate...which includes lots of stuff not in the normal moose diet.
The cartoon Daffy Duck is certainly not a 4a — setting aside late efforts like The Looney Tunes Show, I don't recall Daffy ever living in human society at all.
Now about Rocky and Bullwinkle… For me "moose" and "squirrel" are excusable even if they weren't their last names — just like Jones calling Donald "duck", I always took it as a sorta-kinda-racist way to adress people in the Duckverse to reduce them to their species, precisely because what species they are doesn't actually matter in their behavior. On a different note entirely, the only problem with all of this is the movie, which establishes all the characters to be toons a la Roger Rabbit.
Now about Rocky and Bullwinkle… For me "moose" and "squirrel" are excusable even if they weren't their last names — just like Jones calling Donald "duck", I always took it as a sorta-kinda-racist way to adress people in the Duckverse to reduce them to their species, precisely because what species they are doesn't actually matter in their behavior.
Indeed, I believe it was you who suggested that MEAS 4b be split into 4b1, where characters are still referred to as their species on occasion (and not necessarily derogatorily, for example, "richest duck in the world") despite being human for all intents and purposes and not exhibiting any animal characteristics at all, and 4b2 where the character would never be called anything other than human (for example, Chief O'Hara). I think that's a great solution. With Rocky, the fact that he can fly automatically kicks him into 4a territory, and thus Bullwinkle as well by association, I guess.
Another thought, as Walt Kelly's Peter Wheat stories have just been issued in a hardcover collection: How would Bucky Bug and Company fit with Peter Wheat and his insect friends/enemies? True, the insectoid folks in Peter Wheat don't talk in rhyme, but that could be a cultural peculiarity of Bucky's community.
Another thought, as Walt Kelly's Peter Wheat stories have just been issued in a hardcover collection: How would Bucky Bug and Company fit with Peter Wheat and his insect friends/enemies? True, the insectoid folks in Peter Wheat don't talk in rhyme, but that could be a cultural peculiarity of Bucky's community.
To be honest, I mentally "screen out" the rhymes. After all, Donald rhymed to in the Silly Symphonies strip when clearly he wouldn't talk in rhyme in real life — I see it as a bit of flourish added in the "biography" of the bugfolk. I suppose a colleague of Dognose Barks was a bit of a poet at heart.