kimba1962 at comcast.net said:
>RICH BELLACERA wrote re Daisy:
>> The Brazilian creators opted for

Actually, Arthur Faria wrote the above, not me. :-)  But from what I've seen of the Brazilian "make-
over" Daisy's cosmetic make-over was more in the style of clothing.  What was more notable was her 
personality make-over, in that she was given much more to do than just they typical: screaming at 
Donald, gossipping 
with her girlfriends, comparing Donald to Gladstone, and getting her hair done.  She was given 
responsible jobs, shown in leadership positions, even over other
Disney characters, etc.  She was presented as a "contemporary" liberated woman.
In some modern stories, not necessarily Brazilian, I noticed that she and 
Donald express a much more civil and loving relationship, and she contributes
greatly to the familial atmosphere of the Duck Family, not just as April, May
& June's Aunt, but as a role-model for them (and thus for young girls who read
her comics).

> It helped that Gilbert was given a "makeover" of his own.  Away with the mortarboard hat, the 
collared shirt, and the pocket pen protector (if he never actually sported the latter, he SHOULD 
have!).  Here, he looked like a reasonably "normal" kid.  He also didn't drop as many two-dollar 
words as he used to in those GOOFY filler stories.  Halas (the writer) must have recognized that the 
old characterization simply wouldn't fly any more, even as a caricatured stereotype.  

That was what I meant by my previous impression that Gilbert seemed out-of-place until I read this 
story.  I was elated by Gilbert's make-over.  He retains his "high I.Q." but seems to fit in with 
Morty & Ferdie and the other kids somuch better.  Halas really did Gilbert's character a BIG favor.  
However, the one thing about his new "look" is that he now looks more like Goofy's son, Max.
There's less to distinguish between Max & Gilbert visually now... but, since Max is really part of a 
seperate universe, it is fine with me.  In the past, to me, Gilbert seemed to be sort of the 
Mouseton version of Duckburg's own Newton, Gyro's nephew.  I would love to see Gilbert & Newton in 
some sort of intelligence competition.  But, now, with Gilbert acting more like a "real" kid, and 
Newton, likewise, expanding on his own persona as a Junior Woodchuck in modern Italian stories, 
their stereotypes have diminished and their personalities have grown.

>I was puzzled by one panel in which Gil started speaking some Goofy-ese ("th'" in the place 
of "the," etc.).  Was this a goof (hyuck) or was Halas trying to make some sort of point about Gil's 
bonding with the other members of the team?

I missed that... Hmmmm. I'll have to re-read the story and see what I make of it.  It could be that 
the "Goofy-ese" is a familial trait and no matter how smart a Goof is, he's still genetically 
inclined to such outbursts??? I dunno... Max does the same in Goof Troop and the Goofy Movies, as do 
many of Goofy's other relatives.

BTW, simba, please be careful about copying the ENTIRE digest in future posts, O.K.? 

Thanks,

Rich Bellacera
xephyr@cwnet.com




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