"In Search of Jungle Treasure"

David A Gerstein David.A.Gerstein at williams.edu
Wed Apr 6 23:15:20 CEST 1994


	Dear Folks,

	Don Rosa recently sent me some Xerox copies of the banned FG
Mickey Mouse story "In Search of Jungle Treasure" (1937) as it appears
in WDC&S #4.  I have #5, so now I have the entire story (minus a few
panels here and there, because Dell consigned them to the ash-heap to
make the story fit in a given amount of space) in English.

	First, before I go on to discuss the story, thank you very
much, Don, for making the copy.  Interesting to note what good
condition the comic appeared to be in.  I didn't think that you would
want to spend an arm and a leg to buy a comic this early in such good
condition, particuarly when you comment how such back issues are only
worth at most cover price when you get right down to it.  Or did you
get a good deal on these early issues somehow?  In any event, I owe
you one, Don.  Name yer pizen.

	A few years ago this story was reprinted in an oblong comic in
Germany, three strips to the page in original format (albeit with
color added).  That version apparently had an Italian origin,
according to Fabio.  My guess is that you European readers may have
gotten your own local editions at that time -- it was a supplement
with the weekly 26/1991, so maybe you have it.

	The news is that the German version made many changes in the
dialogue, and perhaps other more recent editions have as well, because
this is, sadly, the most prejudiced of all Gottfredson stories.

	For U. S. readers:  The story takes place right after Island
in the Sky.  Mickey, Minnie, Goofy, and the ape Spooks travel to Kenya
and into the "Jujubwa" jungle on the trail of a treasure buried there
by a sea captain that Captain Churchmouse once knew.  In hot pursuit
are Pegleg Pete and Eli Squinch, who hope to capture the treasure once
our heroes have unearthed it.
	The chest is unearthed, but Pete and Squinch -- dressed as
shamans, scare away Mickey's porters, and our heroes are caught by the
villains.  Pegleg is about to shoot Mickey when cannibals swoop down
and capture everyone.  The cannibals have some contrivances of the
Western world (cutlery, ketchup, mustard, etc.), but still act savage.
Unlike Mickey's African guide Abdomah (who speaks perfect English),
the cannibals talk with Southern dialect.  Goofy willingly goes to the
pot first, because he feels it an honor to be thought of as a gourmet
meal.  Minnie is calm at first, too -- but because she assumes Mickey
had a plan in case a thing like this should happen.
	He doesn't.  Goofy's in the pot, and Mickey and Minnie are
about to be clubbed to death by the king when Spooks -- who
mysteriously vanished just earlier -- returns with dozens of other 
apes (relatives of his from the jungle) and a wild free-for-all
begins.  Mickey and Minnie fight fiercely, as does Goofy (who finally
realizes that being cooked means death).  Spooks, however, goes
completely berserk, causing the cannibals to grab Pete and Squinch and
run for the hills.
	Abandoned, MM, Minnie, and Goofy open the treasure chests, 
briefly wallow in gold, then ride back to Nairobi (Spooks encounters 
elephants whom he enables our heroes to use as mounts).  There they
find Abdomah, who apparently escaped the cannibals, but was too
scared to try to rescue the others.  Mickey sympathizes with his fear,
so pays him anyway for his services.  Pete and Squinch, meanwhile,
escape the cannibals, but get lost in the jungle (that's the last we
see of them).  And our heroes return home.

	I wouldn't call this a poorly-crafted story, but it is also a
sad relic of colonialism, much ore so than any of the other
 "cannibal" stories in the MM strip.  It would need an extreme overhaul
in both art and text were it to reappear here in a regular comic.

	As Don suggested regarding some story (perhaps the story in
which DD kills an eagle for Thanksgiving), there are some that are
just better left to "complete library" sets, and should not appear
elsewhere.  What is the view in Europe when the more offensive stories
("Darkest Africa" in Barks, or this one for FG) are reprinted OUTSIDE
of such library sets?  I understand that there was a protest when "An
Education for Thursday" appeared, and I'd be interested to hear
something about that...

	I'd sure like to see a complete FG library in English, but I
doubt it will happen anywhere but Britain or Australia under official
license, due to the irritating way Disney judges comic book stories 
differently from newspaper strips in this country.

	Your friend,

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




More information about the DCML mailing list