Disney-comics digest #291.

David A Gerstein David.A.Gerstein at williams.edu
Wed Apr 6 02:07:15 CEST 1994


	Dear Folks,

	Don Rosa said,

	"Yes, there is a VERY odd phenomenon going on in toy stores
using Gottfriedson's classic MM strips. It started, I think, in a
series of storybooks, then was carried over into those Viewmaster
reels and a set of "action figures". It's very puzzling to me why 
some Disney licensee would seek to make a profit based on a version 
of MM that the general public has no interest in or knowledge of 
whatsoever, and I'm sure would regard as very hokey and 
old-fashioned."

	WHAAAAAAAAAAAAT???!  "B'gawrsh, I hopes t' shout in yer ear
trumpet!"  DISNEY itself is behind this campaign.  They are trying to
revive interest in Mickey as a dynamic CHARACTER -- hence the move to
Gottfredson (note: not GottfrIedson) as source material.
Gottfredson's strip is the only American source in any medium wherein
Mickey was a fully rounded character after the mid-1930s.  Of course
he was also rounded in the early cartoons, mostly those in the
pre-color period:  hence the recent laser discs of purely bw Mickeys.

	FG *** IS *** credited in the storybooks, although not in the
coloring book I mentioned the other day.  It says in large letters on
each title page (there are three in the series: "Mail Pilot," "The
Seven Ghosts" and "Blaggard Castle") "ART BY FLOYD GOTTFREDSON," then
in smaller letters, "Story retold by..." whoever.

	This campaign, titled "The Perils of Mickey" as I've
mentioned, has been very successful, I understand.  

	The general public doesn't really know about ANY Disney comic
artists, you're right, but Barks and Gottfredson are definitely the
most famous.  Those Abbeville Press books were in print for years, and
I know MANY people who own them.  Most people I know who do bought one
Barks and one Gottfredson out of the whole lot (which consisted of 3
Barks, 2 Gottfredson, and the AT Silly Symphony collection).  But this
did give the stories exposure.  Meanwhile, Disney has acknowledged
many times that it's the early Mickey who is most popular.  They
insist on using the unfortunate modern "cutified" Mickey about 60% of
the time even now, though, because Disney may know what the public
wants, but it also has its own ideas of what it's going to give them.
Typical.

	NEAR EVERY KID I HAVE EVER ASKED PREFERS THE EARLY, PIE-
EYED "GOTTFREDSON" MICKEY TO THE MODERN CUTE MICKEY.  (Sure, the old
Mickey is cute as well, but not in that infantile frontal-lobotomy way
that the modern one is.)

	The Perils of Mickey campaign has also resulted in the making
of a new MM cartoon short for theatres... something about MM and
Minnie, a mad scientist, and a monster, titled "Runaway Brain."  I
know that Disney Animation would never dare animate MM with pie-eyes
again, but I'm pretty sure he'll have his early-'40s appearance at
least...

	The major flaw with the campaign is that there are not
hardback or softback books in the bookstores now containing
Gottfredson dailies and Sundays.  It's as if the core of the campaign
is missing.  I'd also like to see a MM series from Disney TV, although
it would have to be done RIGHT, and I think that only a die-hard
Gottfredson fan could supervise it and have it come out the right way.
I hope to be in charge of such a project before anyone else gets in
there.

	* * * * *

	JOHN:  Thanks for correcting me on that story -- I assumed by
a "huge ball of money" you meant a huge pile of it.  I'd forgotten the
good old remote-controlled orb-bin.  That story's called "The Tricky
Experiment," right?

	* * * * *

	The replacement of Donald with Speedy in US 14 is bitingly
obvious because Barks left in a reference on Speedy's part to how
jealous the improved gas was going to make Gladstone.  An unfortunate
oversight on Barks' part.

	* * * * *

	I'll be doing some character files soon.  Among those I plan
to do are:

	Bolivar
	Gladstone Gander
	Morty and Ferdie
	Peter Pig

	* * * * *

	Harry notes that the last page was removed from "Hidden
Valley"'s original version when it appeared in US 285.  I can't think
of a more conclusive ending than the one there!  What was the original
ending like?

	* * * * *

	Also, Harry, write in if you want to see Dutch wolf stories.
My guess is that there will be at least a few other 68-page WDC&S over
the next two years (besides #592).  But you'd better get after them
now, because Gladstone already has a tentative schedule through early
'96.  That can change, of course, if readers react negatively to a
format.  So far, Gladstone hasn't gotten enough criticism for anything
to change except, perhaps, the Diaz stories in D&M -- and it'll be
tough, because there are internal issues at Gladstone involved there.
Still, the more letters they get, the more that schedule will get
flipped around.

	David Gerstein
	<David.A.Gerstein at Williams.edu>




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