Grandma; "gag" stories

Wilmer Rivers rivers at seismo.CSS.GOV
Thu Oct 13 07:59:11 CET 1994


I don't see a problem with Grandma's calling Donald "son."  Since
in "This Is Your Life, Donald Duck," we see that Grandma raised
Donald on the farm, so it is natural that she would call him "son" even
if in fact he were really her grandson.  There are several examples
that come to mind of the word "son" being applied to a grandson in
this context.  Of course, this raises the question of what happened
to Donald's parents, but then as we have discussed many times before,
parents are conveniently absent from most Disney comics.  Maybe that's
one reason that kids have always liked them!

Don writes:
> I see these as ADVENTURE characters -- and only
> adventure stories seem worth dealing with. "Gag" stories are too
> forgetable.
I don't think they're forgettable.  I shall always remember "The Master
Landscaper", for instance, quite fondly.  It's just like with the
movies; heavy dramas are always rewarded with Academy Awards, and
funny movies are dismissed as being "only comedies".  But you look at
which movies have stood the test of time, say over the last 50 years
or so, and aren't there just about as many "madcap comedies" you
remember as well as more depressing "film noire"?  If ANYTHING tends
to be forgettable, it's action/adventure.  Movies in that format are
all so much alike.  You keep saying, "Was that the one where...  No,
wait, that happened in...".  (This of course does not apply to Barks,
since his adventures were so inventive.)  Anyway, there are so few
FUNNY funnybooks on the shelves these days, so don't give up on writing
the 10-page "gags"!

Wilmer Rivers



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