Donald Duck's Creator

Gerstein, David DK - ECN DGE at ECN.egmont.com
Mon May 15 15:13:49 CEST 2000


	Hey Rich,

>Based on the original question, I would definitely add to Donald's "creator
>credits" the book "The Adventures of Mickey Mouse" published by David McKay

>of New York and the poem entitled "More HooZoo" from the "Mickey Mouse
Annual"
>published by the English firm, Dean & Son, both printed in 1931
	The Dean MM ANNUAL in question was really published in 1932, as
explained in several reference books. British annuals are traditionally
published for the Christmas season each year; the copy in my collection has
a holiday inscription dated 1932.
	The poem in it, illustrated with comic art and some speech balloons,
is really titled "Mickey's 'Hoozoo', Witswitch, and Wotswot." The running
title "More Hoozoo" is just printed on the later pages of the poem so
readers will know that it's continuing.

>Oddly, another character, who seems to have originated from that list of 
>Mickey's friends, never quite made it very far:  Jenny Wren.  She appeared 
>in "Who shot Cock Robin?"
	That should be WHO KILLED COCK ROBIN ("killed", not "shot").

>Clara Hen (Cluck)
	She's been Clara Cluck from the beginning in 1931, when McKay's
ADVENTURES OF MICKEY MOUSE BOOK 1 calls her "Clara Cluck the Hen".
	The name "Clara Hen" is only used in the 1932 MICKEY MOUSE ANNUAL.
It was used when she'd already been Clara Cluck for a year. That means that
"Clara Hen" is very simply an *error* on the part of the English writer at
Dean and Son.

>and Patricia Pig fared only slightly better, but at least
>they are still around.  Others like Robert Rooster and Olga Owl never
appeared
>again though.

	The earliest MM Annuals have *lots* of characters who never appeared
again.

	But there are some obscure characters out there who actually did
make regular return appearances.
	Gideon Goat, the hick farmer from some 1930s Mickey Sunday pages, is
also a recurring character in 1930s W- and U-coded stories.
	MICKEY MOUSE MAGAZINE and MICKEY MOUSE WEEKLY regularly include a
character named Sammy Skunk as a member of Mickey's gang. He looks like
Squeakie the squirrel from YM 003, but with a white stripe on his tail and
humanized.
	MICKEY MOUSE MAGAZINE also includes a *giraffe* member of the gang
named Peninsula Giraffe. Looks like a younger version of the giraffe
character from Elmer Elephant. Fairly frequent around 1937.

	David Gerstein
	<dge at ecn.egmont.com>




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