Post by Scrooge MacDuck on Mar 1, 2018 17:30:59 GMT
I thought this might be of interest to those who don't like the idea of Mouseton/Mouseville being located in the same state as Duckburg: in Mickey Mouse and the Ghost of Man-Eater Mountain, reprinted by IDW in Mickey Mouse #314, we meet one of Mickey's old college professors, Professor Bernard, and are told that he taught "down at Mousechussets Tech".
It doesn't mean much to me (since I'm quite comfortable placing Mouseton near Duckburg), but there you have it. And Mousechusetts may not be such a great pun, but at least it doesn't have the same… unpleasant associations as Pennecticut. Erm.
Consider the name of a certain medical operation on a certain piece of male anatomy. It's really neither here nor there, but I can't hear that proposed Pennecticut name without thinking of it for some reason, and I think it makes it unlikely Disney would approve it.
Grossness aside, where does it even come from—"Pen"necticut because cartoon characters are drawn with a pen? Why not just throw out all this Duckburg and Mouseton stuff and say everyone lives in Toontown, Wackysconsin? "You know... for kids."
As both an editor and a fan, I'm really not in favor of any continuity that stresses the fictionality of the characters, especially in a manner that Roger Rabbit or any other studio's cartoon characters could use with equal accuracy.
Grossness aside, where does it even come from—"Pen"necticut because cartoon characters are drawn with a pen? Why not just throw out all this Duckburg and Mouseton stuff and say everyone lives in Toontown, Wackysconsin? "You know... for kids."
As both an editor and a fan, I'm really not in favor of any continuity that stresses the fictionality of the characters, especially in a manner that Roger Rabbit or any other studio's cartoon characters could use with equal accuracy.
I think you're missing the obvious. Pennecticut is meant to be a portmanteau of Pennsylvania and Connecticut, in the same vein as Calisota's Minnesota-California combo. I doubt that the "pen" thing crossed its creator's mind.
Consider the name of a certain medical operation on a certain piece of male anatomy. It's really neither here nor there, but I can't hear that proposed Pennecticut name without thinking of it for some reason, and I think it makes it unlikely Disney would approve it.
I have to be honest, I'm still not quite sure what is being alluded to here. Is the reference to circumcision? Honestly, I would never have made that connection until you pointed it out, and it still seems like a huge leap to me; perhaps others can chime in as to whether they were struck by any unwholesome associations with the name. Maybe it's a regional/dialectic thing, or a slang I never heard of?
As for "Mousechussets", it's ... okay, I guess. I mean, it'd put Mouseton in the Northeast, which is where I think it belongs. But "Mouseton, Mousechussets" seems a little too cheesy to my ears; the good thing about Pennecticut is at least it mirrors the dual state portmanteau template established by Calisota. Actually, you could argue that Gottfredson established that template when he put Prickly Heat in Wyozona! When I read that name in one of Gemstone's take-along Mickey Mouse Adventures books, I thought it was made up for that story to mirror Calisota ... I was fascinated to later learn that Gofftredson came up with the tradition. I wonder if that's what inspired Barks to create Calisota?
BTW, are there any visual references to where Mickey's home state is located in Gottfredson's stories? Maps, extreme long shots, etc.?
Coming to "Calidornia" ... I've always been curious about Scarpa's use of this name. Where did he first use it, and did he use it more than once? Did he put Duckburg and Mouseton in the US or Italy? Why didn't he just go with California? And was he aware or not of Barks' name for the Ducks' home state, Calisota (which one came first)? Even if Calisota preceded Calidornia, I wouldn't blame Scarpa for being unaware of that name; Barks only used it once and then seemed to forget about it himself.
EDIT: Okay, according to this source, Calisota came first, Calidornia was only used once, and Scarpa put his Ducks and Mice in the USA.
Consider the name of a certain medical operation on a certain piece of male anatomy. It's really neither here nor there, but I can't hear that proposed Pennecticut name without thinking of it for some reason, and I think it makes it unlikely Disney would approve it.
I have to be honest, I'm still not quite sure what is being alluded to here. Is the reference to circumcision? Honestly, I would never have made that connection until you pointed it out, and it still seems like a huge leap to me; perhaps others can chime in as to whether they were struck by any unwholesome associations with the name. Maybe it's a regional/dialectic thing, or a slang I never heard of?
Oh, I'm not by far implying that whoever came up with the name Pennecticut had anything like that in mind. It's just an accidental homophony, that's all there is to it. But… (relatively NSFM link!) And now that this is clarified let us close that part of the topic. Thank you.
I was fascinated to later learn that Gofftredson came up with the tradition. I wonder if that's what inspired Barks to create Calisota?
At least I know there's a Strobl-drawn story that gives Scrooge's home as San Fransornia, Califrisco. So this sort of name-related tomfoolery seemed quite widespread.
Why were Pennsylvania and Connecticut chosen anyway?
Probably just because they're northeastern states whose names are combinable. There are not that many other options: Vermaine? Delachusetts?
I suppose you could combine Penn and Conn in other ways: Connsylvania or Pennsyllicut. Those sound weirder to me than Pennecticut, though. And Pennecticut doesn't sound to me at all like penectomy. You folks are all aware that the first "c" in "ecticut" is not pronounced, aren't you? (The name of the state Connecticut is pronounced "Conneticut".) Would you be happier if we wrote it as "Penneticut"?
Happily, we don't have to take any of this discussion with much seriousness, since Mouseton is going to be officially near to Duckburg in Calisota in American comics for the foreseeable future.
I do agree with BBJ that "Mouseton, Mousechusetts" sounds cheesy. Though I like "Mousechusetts" on its own fine. There could easily be a Mousechusetts Tech or a Mousechusetts University in Calisota, even if we imagine Mousechusetts to be another state in Duck USA; there's an Indiana University in Pennsylvania (named for being in Indiana County). It's a nice shout-out to those of us who associate Mickey with the Northeast.
Post by Baar Baar Jinx on Mar 3, 2018 16:01:57 GMT
Borrowing this image from another thread ... apparently the creators of "The Zodiac Stone" continuity got Duckburg and Mouseton's relative placements absolutely as per my headcanon:
Apparently the German translation (above) erased the names rather sloppily since they don't have the Ducks and Mice living in separate cities (let alone separate states, let alone separate universes as they do in the opinions of extreme splitters like me); does anyone remember what IDW did with this panel?
But on the map they show Duckburg forming the southern half of The San Joaquin Valley (Bakersfield to Fresno), and including the foothills and peaks of the western side of The Sierra Nevada Mountains, and California's coast from Santa Barbara toBig Sur. While Mouseville takes up the western half of Florida's peninsula, a lot closer to hickey Pensacola, rather than the much further south Tampa-St. Petersburg Metropolitan Area.
I would place Duckburg near Eureka, and Mouseville near The Mississippi River (eastern) boundary between Calisota and Minnesota (not too far from Duluth). I have no USA (as we know it) in my Duck/Mouse Universe, an ALTERNATE Universe, with a different Planet Earth, and a different development path and history.
But on the map they show Duckburg forming the southern half of The San Joaquin Valley (Bakersfield to Fresno), and including the foothills and peaks of the western side of The Sierra Nevada Mountains, and California's coast from Santa Barbara toBig Sur. While Mouseville takes up the western half of Florida's peninsula, a lot closer to hickey Pensacola, rather than the much further south Tampa-St. Petersburg Metropolitan Area.
I would place Duckburg near Eureka, and Mouseville near The Mississippi River (eastern) boundary between Calisota and Minnesota (not too far from Duluth). I have no USA (as we know it) in my Duck/Mouse Universe, an ALTERNATE Universe, with a different Planet Earth, and a different development path and history.
Ugh, how stupid of me, of course you're right ... I was too hasty and ended up looking at that map wrong, I initially thought it had Mouseton somewhere in the Northeast, possibly somewhere in MA or NH (where I would imagine Pennecticut to approximately be) but now I see the map is at an angle. I don't think Mouseton is in FL. And I agree that Duckburg is where Eureka is in our world (although a much bigger city which would change the demographics/culture accordingly). But ... Calisota-Minnesota border? Do you imagine MN in a different place in this universe than it is in ours? And why did Barks choose MN as the state to combine with CA in the first place?
And why did Barks choose MN as the state to combine with CA in the first place?
Well, Barks wanted Duckburg to be wherever it needed to be for any particular storyline, right? With palm trees, nearby mountains or desert or swampland, blizzards or "northeasters"! So the placement of the two states whose names he combined to make "Calisota" was probably irrelevant to him.
Well, Barks wanted Duckburg to be wherever it needed to be for any particular storyline, right? With palm trees, nearby mountains or desert or swampland, blizzards or "northeasters"! So the placement of the two states whose names he combined to make "Calisota" was probably irrelevant to him.
Makes sense. Calisota sounds good, of course, but I wondered if there was something in Barks' personal history that led him to go with MN as the second part of the portmanteau.
But on the map they show Duckburg forming the southern half of The San Joaquin Valley (Bakersfield to Fresno), and including the foothills and peaks of the western side of The Sierra Nevada Mountains, and California's coast from Santa Barbara toBig Sur. While Mouseville takes up the western half of Florida's peninsula, a lot closer to hickey Pensacola, rather than the much further south Tampa-St. Petersburg Metropolitan Area.
But, curiously, in that story, Mickey and Goofy have to make a trip to Florida (and Goofy makes a big change of clothes because of the trip - indicating that the weather was much more hot in Floride than where he lives)