Hair o' the duck/WDCiC cancellation

David A Gerstein David.A.Gerstein at williams.edu
Mon Feb 7 01:45:30 CET 1994


	Hi, Folks!

	Mark Semich said:  "As far as I know, *none* of Barks' ducks 
ever had any sort of colored hair.  It seems extremely bizarre on a 
duck, and now, by extension, it implies that Donald, Daisy, and HD&L 
are bald!  Was this your idea, or Gladstone's?"

	How about Gladstone *Gander's?*  Am I wrong, or has Gladstone
Gander's hair been frequently colored brown during the last forty-five
years?  It hasn't always been colored brown (hell, in his first
appearance, for one page only it's colored *green!*), but it quite
frequently has.

	As for other ducks with colored hair, I think of Don Rosa's
own favorite, Ludwig von Drake, who has brown hair (what's left of
it).  As for Barks ducks in particular, I have never seen an edition
of "The Horseradish Story" that didn't color Seafoam McDuck's hair
some color.  It's even shaded as though it's meant to be colored, not
white.  And Glittering Goldie's got gold hair, doesn't she?  And
Magica de Spell has black hair!  (I forgot all about her.)

	BTW, as for whether all little-kid ducks resemble HDL, I know
they don't.  In any event, they certainly don't all grow up to be
Scrooge's size... think of the football-player ducks in some stories,
among others.  In Don Rosa's own "On Stolen Time," as the Beagle
Boys run over the frozen crowd, we see a duck who flouts two
conventions.  Apparently a rabbi (given his outfit), he not only has
eyes like HDL, separate from his beak, but is as tall as the dogface
characters in the crowd.  Maybe it's just that Jewish ducks look
different somehow. ;-)

	* * * * *

	Back to the cancellation of WDCiC.  Did Gladstone just go
ahead and put this series on the schedule and in the ads without
telling Disney about it?  I was under the impression that Gladstone's
current contract with Disney was for six titles only... that's what
someone told me when Gladstone's new books were starting up.  If
Disney was not told until the new series was announced, I can see why
they would have been confused, although I DON'T say that this should
let them cancel the series.

	Perhaps a renegotiation of some contract or other is in order.
Then again, maybe something in me just doesn't want to believe that
Disney is as nuts as it seems right now.  Why shouldn't they want
another title out there?  More exposure for the characters, more
royalties for them.  What's the danged PROBLEM?  (And who made the
decision?)

	If, after continued discussion with Disney, Gladstone cannot
get them to agree to adding this series in the near future (if not
immediately), I suggest that they use the extra resources they
apparently have now -- they must have them, if they planned to 
publish six additional books a year! -- and begin publishing their
ongoing six titles eight times annually?

	Disney's latest ultimatum... WHY?  WHAT DOES IT GET FOR
DISNEY?  A POWER TRIP?  WHAT????!

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




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