Articles from Komix #168

[Kriton Kyrimis]

Here are the translations of two articles from Komix #168:

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                Ducks, gorillas and dinosaurs in the blender
                        Return to Forbidden Valley

  Don Rosa presents the sequel to one of Carl Barks' most classic stories.

The return to _Forbidden Valley_ is a sequel to three stories by Carl
Barks!  It is based on _A Spicy Tale_ (_Komix_ #71) and on _Forbidden
Valley_ (_Komix_ #10), while I have added a brush stroke from _Trail of
the Unicorn_ (_Komix_ #7). The first story gave me the idea about the
nutmeg, the reason I needed to have the Ducks travel to the sources of
the Amazon, while the last one gives one more reason for Uncle Scrooge
to be interested in _Forbidden Valley_: it is the collection of animals
for his zoo.

At least a decade before been given the opportunity to write
it, I had wanted to write a sequel to _Forbidden Valley_. I love
dinosaurs! Everybody loves dinosaurs! An when I was little, _Forbidden
Valley_ had been one of my favorite stories. Even though the Ducks'
passing through this valley is brief, the story was, despite this,
most exciting. When I began working for _Gladstone_ in America, teh
publisher didn't want me to write sequels to Barks' stories, and he was
right, because the average American comics reader would not remember his
original stories, which had been out of print for a long time... Later,
of course, _Gladstone_ would bring them back into the light! However,
when I started working for _Egmont_ in Europe, who wanted me to write
sequels to the classics Barks stories, I was late in returning to that
idea, until teh people at _Egmont_ asked me for a sequel to _Forbidden
Valley_! In my initial script there were no flash backs with the
recreation of original panels from Barks' story. I added these panels
later, after a request by the editors [who, I assume, are the "people
in charge" mentioned in the Greek text]. This gave me great pleasure,
as this way I was able to bind my story even more directly to the story
I had read when I was seven years old!

I know how familiar today's children are with dinosaurs. This is why my
references to them had to be most precise. I used relevant encyclopedias,
and one of my most important references was the book that was illustrated
by my friend William Stout, the painter and artist whom I am certain
that many friends of comics know. The prehistoric monsters appearing
in my story may not come from te same period, but I think that they
are depicted quite faithfully regarding their form and size... Apart,
of course, from taht aquatic creaturem which I magnified considerably,
to make it look more threatening! Perhaps it had drunk from the filter
of that witch doctor in _A Spicy Tale_...

As a fanatic movie buff I could not avoid certain refernces to the best
"monster-centered" movie of all times: _King Kong_. Do not look for
references to _Jurassic Park_... There aren't any. This does not mean
that I did not like _Jurassic Park_. Hoewever, these movies do not hae
the spirit of _King Kong_... Now, thanks to computers, the producers of
a mvovie have the ability to create real-looking dinosaurs with great
ease. For the viewer, however, it was admirable how well the could
manage during that time, despite the low budget and te lack of means,
to animate miniature models. No movie of that kind is going to surpass
_King Kong_. It is perhaps one of the five best movies of all time.

Besides, I love old school movies. In the inital script there had been
even more gags based on refernces to _King Kong_, which, however, I
removed when I added the flash backs to Barks' story, as they weren't of
particular importance to the development of the story. My movie references
may be extremely vague, without purpose, and slightly irritating... Yes,
this is probably so. However, this has not stopped me until now, and it
is never going to prevent me from incorporating them into my stories!

[Signed]
Don Rosa

[Caption, left page]
One of the main actors in _Escape from the Forbidden Valley_, which Don
Rosa drew in full detail.

[Caption, right page, top]
A Barksian flash back by Don Rosa. Don draws classic panels by uncle
Carl. He recomposes teh drawings of the great master to fit them in his
own story.

[Caption, bottom]
The cover of a book on dinosaurs illustrated by Wiliam Stout. Don was
inspired by William Stout's dinosaur drawings.

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            Don Rosa comments on Carl Barks' _Forbidden Valley_
                            Carl Barks' Sources

  From King Kong to Turok: all the possible influences that Barks may
  have had when drawing his own lost world.

What had been the source of inspiration for Carl Barks' _Forbidden
Valley_? In his book _The Disney that Never Was_, Charles Solomon presents
a script that uncle Carl had submitted to the _Disney Studio_ during the
1930s, which has many similarities with the plot of _King Kong_. _Komix_
pointed this out to Don, and this is his reply: "_King Kong_ and the old
script may have been a source of inspiration, in part. However, the movie
takes place on an island and not in South America, and refers to a huge
gorilla, who is completely absent from _Forbidden Valley_. If we must
choose a more immediate source of inspiration, this must be the first
movie adaptation of Arthur Conan Doyle's _Lost World_, in 1925, which
Barks could very well have seen. I often wonder what could have given
Barks the idea to write a story about a "lost world full of dinosaurs"
in 1957. However, no movie of that time, which could have inspired him,
comes to mind. The only movies about lost worlds and dinosaurs, which
were filmed after _King Kong_, had been the _Unknown Island_ [?] in 1948,
the _Two Lost Worlds_ [?] in 1950, and the _Lost Continent_ [?] in 1951.
However, these movies had not been particularly well-known.  I think
that the obvious source of inspiration had been the comics which he had
seen at Dell, the publishing house for which he had been working. At that
time, the most successful dinosaur comic book was being pubished, _Turok:
Son of Stone_: a hero created by Matthew Murfy and Alberto Gioletti. It
is about the adventures of two indians trapped in a prehistoric valley
somewhere in Arizona or New Mexico, before the discovery of America. What
a strange, beautiful idea for a comic book! The series was published
from 1954 to 1980, always drawn by Gioletti, who also drew a quite
good comics adaptation of _King Kong_ in 1968. Barks _Forbidden Valley_
is more similar to teh _lost Valley_ of _Turok_ than to _King Kong's_
island or the plateau on which Arthur Conan Doyle places his _Lost
World_. Based on all this, I;d bet that _Turok's_ adventures gave Carl
Barks the isnpiration for the creation of his _Forbidden Valley_. [Opening
quotes do not close].

[And if Don didn't provide them with scans of the comic book covers
decorating this article, I am suitably impressed.]

[Caption]
Poster from Merian Cooper and Ernest Schoedsack's _King Kong_, which
was shown in 1933.

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	Kriton	(e-mail: kyrimis at cti.gr)
	      	(WWW:    http://dias.cti.gr/~kyrimis)
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"Some might say that I was educated *too* well; that despite my father's
 hopes, I developed a sense of morality."
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