Carl Barks

robert gibson robgsb at rain.org
Tue Aug 29 05:24:44 CEST 2000


    Both Steven Spielberg and George Lucas have credited Carl Barks with
influencing their work. Spielberg mentions "Seven Cities of Cibola" as
inspiring his opening sequence in "Raiders of the Lost Ark.". "Jurassic
Park" reminds me of a Barks story written in 1957.

    I remember "reading" Barks as a six year old, and wanting badly to
understand what was being said in the bubbles. He deserves some credit
for my learning to read, and for my love of reading at an early age.

       He was known as the "good artist", because Disney artisits were
not permitted to sign their work. His paintings have gone for as much as
$450,000.  But his storytelling was his strength, in my opinion. My
early love of History and Geography was due to stories like "Ancient
Persia", "Back to the Klondike", and  "Old California".  Stories like
"Christmas for Shacktown" helped me develop a sense of values.

    I've laughed and cried while reading his stories. He understood
human nature. William Shakespeare also comes to my mind as a writer who
had a good sense of humor and  a deep understanding of  the human
condition ( Interestingly, Shakespeare's contemporaries did not
appreciate his significance, which is perhaps another similarity time
will reveal).  I believe Barks' work and influence will be with us for
a  very long time.

    Rob Gibson





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