Of DuckTales, evil and other assorted topics

Katie Sullivan vazali at yahoo.com
Sat Sep 27 08:46:06 CEST 2003


Like Jonathan, I was around seven years old when DuckTales hit
the airwaves.  Unlike him, I was already very familiar with
Barks.  My dad was a big fan while growing up (although like so
many of his generation he was unaware of Barks' identity for
many years, thinking of him only as "the good artist.")  ;)  So
naturally when I was old enough to enjoy a good story, Dad dug
out his old comics to read to me.  So I was enjoying Barks
before I could even read the stories myself!  When I saw
advertisements about DuckTales I was THRILLED!  I loved Mickey's
Christmas Carol, but it was just Scrooge playing a part; it
wasn't our beloved obsquamatillionaire.
I still remember the first time I saw DuckTales.  I was so
excited to see my favorite characters come to life on the
screen!  I was quite disappointed that Donald didn't have much
of a role, but otherwise I loved the show.  I thought Gyro
sounded older than I imagined him, and Magica's accent sounded
anything but Italian.  o_0  Being a little girl myself, I liked
Webby, although now I must admit she's a bit nauseating in her
uber-cuteness.  ;)  At first I didn't like what they had done to
Flintheart Glomgold (making him Scottish and having him live in
Duckburg instead of South Africa) but in time he grew on me, and
I came to like him very much.  I just sort of looked at the
DuckTales Flinty and the Barks Flinty as two seperate characters
who happened to have the same name.  ;)  I never did grow to
like the DuckTales Beagles very much.  I understand why they had
to give them distinct personalities for the screen, but it never
seemed quite right.

I still watched the second season, with Gizmoduck/Fenton, Bubba
and Tootsie, but I never liked those new characters much. 
Fenton was cute but I was baffled as to why they had to keep
introducing new characters but kept on ignoring Donald!  (I
realize now merchandising and licensing considerations were at
work, but when you're eight years old you don't think about
those factors.)

I like Launchpad well enough, I guess.  I don't dislike him, by
any means.  I just resented him being a replacement for Donald. 
I didn't see him as a necessary character when Donald already
existed to fill that sort of a role.  Granted, Donald didn't
have a pilot's license, but that was about it.  Like Johnathan
said, I think the episodes where Donald and Launchpad both
tagged along with Scrooge were very interesting.  The interplay
between the three was cool.


And I have to feel fondly about DuckTales because it was their
adaptation of "Back to the Klondike" that first introduced me to
Glittering Goldie.  My dad's collection of old comics didn't
have a copy of that particular story, so I didn't know about her
before then.  As fate would have it, Gladstone published an
album version of it right after that episode aired (like, within
weeks--I don't know if this was purpose, but I doubt it.)  Once
I had read the original Barks version, I loved the character
even more.  Being a young girl and a hopeless romantic, it
wasn't long before I was doodling notebooks full of Scrooge and
Goldie surrounded by gaudy pink hearts. ;)  (And yes, a child
CAN read the uncensored version of "Back to the Klondike" and
NOT be permanently scarred by the violence and innuendo, thank
you very much...LOL!)

Anyway, I really like Don Rosa's idea about DuckTales being an
unauthorized biographical series that $crooge (or his
descendants) would dislike and sue over.  ;)  I also like the
related idea that Mickey Mouse exists in the/his duck universe
as he does in ours--a cartoon character, or at least a movie
personality.  ;)

The bottom line:  I like DuckTales for what it is, while
recognizing the problems with it.  I have many fond memories of
it, and it will always have a special place in my heart, but it
pales in comparison to Barks, Rosa and the other comics masters.

> From: "Matthew Williams" <kingofduckburg at hotmail.com>

I just noticed the e-mail address.  Cute!  :D
 
> I'm fascinated by the discussion of what EVIL is.  I teach
> literature and
> writing courses at a liberal arts university, and I am used to
> discussing
> morality as something that ranges from bright white to
> off-white to gray to
> black.  I think of evil as being 100% black.  I second Katie's
> definition of
> evil meaning COMPLETELY without pity, mercy or compassion.

Thanks!  We probably think alike because I just finished up a
five-year stint at a liberal arts university earning my
bachelor's degree in English literature!  :)  I recall some Jane
Austen discussions that got off on a bit of a tangent about the
nature of good and evil...  Ah, the memories.  I miss lit
classes.  



> I've got my copy of the Gladstone comics album from the early
> nineties that
> collects all three of Barks' Glomgold stories, and I'm
> fascinated by the
> evolution of the character.

Me too!  I like your exploration about this but I'm getting
sleepy so I won't comment too much on it.  ;)


> Where does that leave us with the character, though?  Which is
> the true
> Flintheart?  It makes me wonder about Barks and how his
> attitudes towards
> life and the rest of the world changed from 1956 to 1958 to
> 1965.

Indeed.  I'll have to dig around in my comic albums to see where
that article went that I referred to in my earlier mail.  I know
Barks had something to say about that, once...

Don Rosa wrote:
> I have
> a Beagle Boy reading a copy that he finds on the stand in
> $crooge's private
> bathroom in the Bin. (We'll see if that detail gets into the
> upcoming
> Gemstone version.


LOL!!!!  Considering $crooge's opinion of the "show" (in his
universe) I wonder if that's there for reading material or in
case the Sears catalog runs out...  ;)

 
> Ooohhh, I'd say someone is evil if he is shown expressing his
> innermost
> thoughts about how *evil* a deed he is doing, how much it
> would "hurt his
> mother"... and then *still* does it.

LOL, well, when you put it THAT way...  ;)



> But $crooge is a threat to FG's personal identity. FG wants
him to
> DIE. Cease to
> exist. He wants to kill him and grind his bones to dust. 

Like I said, when you put it THAT way...  ;)  Seriously, though,
I see what you mean.   It *is* a matter of identity, a very
personal thing.


> I love the triumvirate of evil that Barks created in these
> three -- one
> (group) wants the largest part of $crooge's wealth, the
> contents of his Bin.
> One wants the *smallest* part of $crooge's wealth, a single
> Dime. And the
> *evilest* of the three wants *nothing* that $crooge has but
> his very
> existence.

That triumvirate (love that word!) and was never shown so
clearly or brilliantly than in "A Little Something Special."  I
just love how they work together, play off of each other, and
prey on each other in that.  The complex interaction of the
villains is really a treat to see.
(And am I completely insane or do Flintheart and Magica make a
cute couple?  o_0  Wait, don't answer that, I KNOW I'm
completely insane.  And now I'm half asleep, which compounds the
problem!)

 
> There you go! That's the guy! And the story I'm working on
> *right now* is
> "The Black Knight GLORPS Again!".

Ooh, fun!!! :D

Okay, I'm going to shut up and get some sleep now.  ;)



Katie Sullivan
http://www.sullivanet.com

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