Donald thinks he's human....

Henri Kunne HJC.Kunne at net.HCC.nl
Mon Feb 7 23:21:31 CET 2000


-----Oorspronkelijk bericht-----
Van: dcml-admin at numerus.LING.UU.SE <dcml-admin at numerus.LING.UU.SE>
Aan: dcml at numerus.LING.UU.SE <dcml at numerus.LING.UU.SE>
Datum: maandag 7 februari 2000 12:10
Onderwerp: DCML digest, Vol 1 #75 - 10 msgs


>> From: "Henri Kunne" <HJC.Kunne at net.HCC.nl>
>> After lurking for quite a time, I feel compelled to break the
>> silence. With some annoyance and much surprise I've
>> been reading for the last days, the discussion of Donald
>> being human. And everyone seems to agree....
>>     Donald doesn't.
>Well, duck isn't always a duck if you know what i mean. Sure DD and the
>"gang" were drawn in duck shapes. Sure they're ducks alright. But IMHO, the
>creators and artists  (CB and DR included) likes to tell stories about DD
>and U$ in their daily adventures which --if you notice-- showed the readers
>how "human" can they be in emotions and thinkings. C'mon, guys The Golden
>Helmet where DD showed his "darker side" made me surprised and entertained.
>In short, what i'm tryin' to say is it's all about imaginary characters in
>our real world(else why CB and DR likes to include "human" historical and
>mythical stuffs in the "ducks" world).


That's correct. I'd put it this way (and that's something of an answer to
Don Rosa, one or two messages below): a fable is a story discussing,
and often ridiculising, human character traits. Even so, a fox in one fable
is always called and considered a fox, never a 'human'. Same for Donald
and his family - and, of course, Mickey, Goofy, etc. etc.

>Henri (welcome to the non-lurking dcml'ers! 8-)
>
>> With some annoyance and much surprise I've
>> been reading for the last days, the discussion of Donald
>> being human. And everyone seems to agree....
>
>I never wrote I agreed with Donald being human. I agree with the fact that
>Don Rosa regards the Ducks to be human. That's a subtle difference...
>(I myself think that Donald Duck is a comic character. And there's a
cartoon
>character with the same name and appearance.)
>
> BTW, why would you be annoyed about a DCML discussion?

I'm never annoyed about any discussion. I'm annoyed (by discovering)
that some people turn out to consider Donald a human. That's a
subtle difference, too....

>> Donald doesn't. Some nice oldies of the dutch Disney
>> weekly give me proof ;-).
>> Well, he's even insisting being a real duck and nothing else.
>
>One could compare this with people's names: if Arthur de Wolf would be in a
>comic story, he could insist that he is a wolf, or make jokes about wolves
>being eaten. If a fluks would be an animal, I could insist on being a
>fluks... 8-)

Sorry, this argument doesn't hold water, but that's not your mistake, it's
mine. I should have said that in the original Dutch, "duck" is never used,
it's the Dutch word "eend" in all cases - with a small letter, too. And it's
not Donald's surname (as far as I know, it's not even an existing surname
at all, in Dutch).
    BTW, now I've found a much younger example, easier to find by my Dutch
list fellows: issue 52 of 1983 brings a story about Donald failing at a
rabbit hunt. Shortly before the end, he proposes his nephews a duck
meal for New Year's Eve (the cannibal!). The nephews teach him a lesson
by binding him on a grill and threating to lit a fire. He quickly changes
his mind....
    (Here, too, the Dutch "eend" is used.)

Greetings,
Henri Kunne








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