Replies, replies

[Harry Fluks]

There was a lot of traffic on the list yesterday!
Andreas, Luigi, Jamal, Torsten, Jellysomething, Per, Rich, Wilmer: I'll reply
to some of your letters here:


Andreas Gammel - Dumbella Duck:
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> ..who features very rarely in a few DD-stories. I remember she's big and fat.

When I aksed Andreas for more details, it became clear that he actually meant
Belle (Dutch: Bella) Duck. She appeared in some "Foreign market" or "S-coded"
stories. Belle is in love with Scrooge, and has nothing to do with HDL.


Luigi Bevilacqua - Albi d'Oro:
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
> "Albi d'Oro" was a Mondadori's weekly series (...)
> Each issue, in b/w and color, had 32 pages.

I asked about that because I have exactly one Italian comic book:
"Almanacco Topolino", aprile 1970, 132 pages. It has a label on the left top
of the cover, saying "Albi d'Oro Pubblic. mensile N. 160 - Lire 250"
(Golden books, published monthly, Number 160, 250 lires).
So I assumed "Albi d'Oro" was a general name, while this comic
book was called Almanacco Topolino (Mickey Mouse Almanac).

> What does "Hartelijke groeten" mean?

I won't tell you before you've told us everything about Mickey's wedding...
(But you can have the hartelijke groeten again, if you wish 8-)


Jamal Hannah, about the artist of the Dell comics series "Duck Album":
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
> (I could probly track the name down if I had some Gladstone Digests handy,
> but I dont..)

You could also try the Dell comics list by Kjell Crone, available on our
ftp-site...
The "lousy artist" could be Phil DeLara.


Torsten Adair - human mothers:
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> When was the last time you saw a human-looking mother in a Disney animated
> movie?

In "Beauty and the beast", mrs. Teapot and her son Chip (I don't know their
exact English names). Just like the Beast, they _are_ human...


Jellybea at kauri.vuw.ac.nz (who must be sleeping at the moment) - Scrooge's dime:
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
> Why does that witch duck [Magica De Spell] want Scrooges dime?

In the first story she appears ("The Midas Touch"), she explained her theory
to Scrooge: she thinks that an object that has been _touched_ a lot by a rich
person, must have gotten some of the magic power that can make her rich as
well. A kind of Midas touch, so to say. Of course, Scrooge must have touched
his first dime a lot, so it must have a lot of power...

I think it is only after Magica showed interest in the dime, that Scrooge
started to believe in his dime himself (starting near the end of that
same Midas Touch story). There is only one _earlier_ story with the
number one dime, but with no reference to "luck" at all.

> Does anyone want to be my penpal and write in the old fashioned way with
> ink and paper??

Why would you want to do that, if you have e-mail? (You don't _have_ to put
all your mails on the mailing list..)
The only advantage I can see, is that one can send non-ascii things like
comics and photos. But the disadvantages are: it takes a lot of time before
you get a reaction, and it's not for free.

But then, if your access to e-mail is limited or will end soon, "snail mail"
is a good alternative..


         "
Per Starback, about HDL's mother sending the nephews to Donald:
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
> What about the cartoon?  I haven't seen it for some time---is it
> absolutely clear that Donald's sister Dumbella is the mother of the
> boys there?

In Marcia Blitz's book about Donald Duck, a story of "Donald's Nephews" is
printed, compiled from photos of the original cartoon. One photo shows the
text of Dumbella's postcard (addressed to Mr. Donald Duck, Hollywood, Calif.):

    Dear Brother -
    I am sending
    your angel nephews
    to visit you -
    Sister Dumbella

So I guess that's all we have. Dumbella is most likely their mother, but
not necessarily.
I would agree with Della being short for Dumbella. The word "cousin" in the
newspaper strips could be a "typing error" (if you _insist_ on a consistent
explanation). Actually, her name could be Dumbella Thelma Duck 8-).


Rich Bellacera, about Grandma Duck:
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
> Since I learned from this list that Grandma's real name is "Bella", (...)

You mixed up two things: there is a character "Bella" in the "Foreign market"
comics (see the top of this letter). And there is the Dutch name of Grandma,
which is "Dora". No American name for Grandma is known, though.

> I can't imagine what you get when you cross a Chicken with a Duck.

Well, all those characters _are_ crossings of humans and ducks/chickens etc.
Just look at them when they are bathing or swimming (especially Gyro!). So
maybe they are related because they have the same _human_ mother... (so Rich,
you're "not a duck", but you may be related to the ducks after all! 8-)


Jellybean (is that a real name?):
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
> At this exact moment in time I am awake while you are all sleeping.

This reminds me of a gag on the back of one of the old Gladstone comics.
A man walks on the street with a sign, saying "The world could end tomorrow".
"Nonsense!", says Scrooge, "It's already tomorrow in New Zealand!"


Wilmer Rivers - April, May and June:
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
> Who are AMJ's parents?

We may not know that, but we can say something about the address of their
mother, Daisy's sister: she lives in Dizzy street (or Coma Way), in the
rightmost house in that street, in appartment one (next door to prof. Batty).
(And now _you_ find out which story I'm referring to 8-)

--Harry.

Harry Fluks                    ()_()     Dutch Disney comics freak
PTT Research, Leidschendam      (_)      H.W.Fluks at research.ptt.nl 
"Yeah... I've _heard_ of coral barques!"