Disney-comics digest #739.

Mike Pohjola mikep at freenet.hut.fi
Mon Jul 31 20:22:14 CEST 1995



DON:
        The following article was published in the Finnish Donald Duck Pocket
Book issue #171 a few months after they published your family tree. Here I
try to translate it as accurately as I can. I also found another article from
an Aku Ankka issue which I will post here later.

-- 
    DONALD DUCK FAMILY TREE
 
The family tree with its stickers in issues #168 and #169 of the pocket book
has arised some small confusion among the Finnish duck fans. Most objection
seems to be arisen from the fact that the family tree clearly states that
Grandma Duck is not Scrooge's sister as has been thought for years, but actually
from another family line. Also people have been astonished by lacking of
Ludwig Von Drake from the character gallery.
 
The family tree poster was created by American comic artist *Don Rosa*, and it's
based on the man's own 12 part and 211 page Scrooge memoirs, /The Life &
Times of Scrooge McDuck/, which has been published in Donald Duck magazine
for eleven episodes now. (a mistake, I believe only 10 have been published) Rosa
himself says he has picked the details conserning the thick family of the Ducks
mainly from the old comics of Duck master Carl Barks, where Scrooge's ancestry
and other relatives have been introduced. The Scrooge memoirs (and the Donald
Duck family tree) Rosa has since filled with characters of his own invention.
Thus it is mostly Don Rosa's view of the relationships of the ducks - "an
official" family tree is hardly possible for anyone to make, after all, there
are a number of illogicalities found only in Barks' stories.
 
Nevertheless, poking in the disgressed family lines of our webbedfooted friends'
is quite entertaining a job, which hopefully will inspire comics artists and
fans in future as well. Rosa's Scrooge memoirs has just begun coming out in
American Uncle Scrooge comic book - now back-ground information by the author
added. From those Rosa's own explainings will probably be found some interesting
reasons to the distinctive solutions of the family tree. The mentioned missing
of Ludwig Von Drake Rosa explains by saying that Carl Barks never liked the
character and used him only once in his comics. We shall see if there will be
more mysteries found in the future. And while waiting send us your own comments
and discoveries conserning the family tree and other duck business.
 
[our address is..]
 
Greetings,
 
Editorial staff of Donald Duck Pocket Book
--

I posted here something about your trip to Finland once, but you were not
on-line then, so I'll write it again: I was visiting the Finnish comic-store
Good Fellows in Helsinki the other day (two months ago) and asked them
about your trip. They said you will first have a speech (or so I understood)
at the old student's house and then move to Good Fellows and sign books. Only
books bought from that shop, of course. If you, btw, are a bit interested
in making a Finland story, or ever will be, please let me know, because I've
been working on a story-line which imho shows Finland pretty well and still
offers some nice adventure.

--

	Mike - The Finnish Trekkie



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