Schools

Anders Christian Siveb¾k anders_sivebaek at nns.dk
Tue Jun 19 16:05:14 CEST 2001


Olaf,
Yes i realise there's a story every august on beginning in school again,
but as I'm becoming an evil teacher (nah... they aren't evil!) I think
about the fact that school is much more than starting at school, it's
learning and having fun while learning (at least it should be so, at
times). 
I notice a change in the attitde towards schools from the publisher. in
70'es and such the opinion from them was that you shouldn't read DD in
school, because it might cause that the teachers would get angry with DD. 
Today "personality" tests in the weekly, around school-beginning sometimes
tells you that you are downright crazy if you like going to school. (?!)

I never do remember fully the name of that JW-story you mention, the title
is something like that. check the Inducks, if you want to be sure. 

I like your tryings to fit much of this into a time-shedule, I sometimes
do it myself, with the kids though, I don't think there's a time
difference (for them) from the not-wanting-to-go-school to the JW-stories.
Maybe the explantion that i also once saw in a story drawn by Vicar, is
that they find they don't need to go to school, they are so wise they know
it all already. 

I seem to have the same opinion as you, that DD should take schools a bit
more positive, to tell the kids that it's also okay to like to learn
something. The danish/swedish writer of disney comics, Per-Erik hedland
said in an article in the biggest danish newspaper that he didn't try to
learn kids anything in his comics, none other than moral and ethics, and
that it's okay to have a bad day. 
I wont tell you what else he said, as i'm utterly convinced the journalist
misquoted him (eg. so that what he says can be mis-interpreted into the
fact that he invented HD & L)

On one hand I hate that they call persons and places other things than
they are in reality. On the other hand I can see Duckburg as the kind of
parallel world I presented to you some time ago - why shouldn't places
have slightly different names.
 At least in the stories by some of the poeople who can look into that
other world (metaphorically speaking, of course - all this is quite
hypothetical!)

Also, an explanation is that the names are funny, and are easy to find the
real name behind. The reason for those silly names in eg. scandinavian
stories, and german ones too - is that the translators were and maybe
still are told to cover the names, so eg. Soviet, Vietnam or some other
country that could declare war or the like would not see the countries
name in the comic. Cultural reasons could be the explanation too. The
codex said that you shouldn't show any group as being evil or such, or
show any country's name. That's the reason for the scandinavian term:
langtbortistan (far-away-stan) - Originally I think this was near India,
as many countries "overthere" end with a stan (could very possibly mean
land or such) - The fact that I think that place is near India also made
me mad, when some travel-reporter in the local paper claimed that
Timbuctou was the capital of Farawaystan - It's two different parts of the
world, and timboctou exists!

BTW I just remember a cover showing all pupils in a class in Duckburg. It
was sort of a gag cover I guess. As Ludwig was teacher, and the pupils
where both ducks, mice, wolf, pigs, Goofy's nephew Gilbert and Gyro's
nephew Newton. 

Hilsen/Yours
Anders Christian Sivebæk
Donaldist




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