digest #229

Don Rosa donrosa at iglou.com
Mon Aug 14 14:24:45 CEST 2000


From: Tarjei Kidd Olsen
>>>>>>Why hasn't Norway printed that new Don Rosa story with The Three
Caballeros

Well, jeepers, they don't put my stories in the next issue they print after
it arrives from FedEx. It takes its place in the long line of other
stories. I think the fastest a story of mine is printed after completion is
about 6 months... the longest was about 3 years (for "Of Ducks and Dimes
and Destinies"). My "Three Caballeros Ride Again!" will be in issue #40 of
this year's Egmont weeklies, that's the first week of October, I think. I'm
getting questions from the most diligent translator-cum-fans right now
(Stefan Dios in Sweden and Jukka Lindfors in Finland), so the story is just
now being translated.

From: Torch <xephyr at jps.net>
>>>>Don Rosa mentioned his new "Three Cabelleros" tale featuring Don, Jose
and Panchito.  In the message he gave Panchito a surname of "Pistoles"
which I loved!!!! Can anyone tell me the origin of that surname?  Was it
originally created for Panchito back when the film "Three Cabelleros"
was being storyboarded, but just never made it to the actual film, or did
Mr.
Rosa invent the name of "Pistoles?

(My policy is to never answer questions from people using pseudonyms, but
the writer's name was given at the end of the rest of his message.)
Yes,, apparently the last name of Pistoles was created for Panchito very
early, prior to the release of the film in 1944-45. You're right, for some
odd reason they decided not to use it in the film itself, but it is
apparently always sent out as part of Panchito's full credentials to
licensees and such. In my extensive research on the film, the only place I
found the name "Pistoles" was in an audio recording I have on a laser disc
of a 1944 radio promo appearance where the characters all are introduced
and discuss the upcoming film with Bob Hope or somebody. I figured it was a
sure bet that Disney had written the dialogue and that they would make sure
it was used precisely, so I figured it was his official last name...... but
I couldn't be 100% sure.
That is, not until this past San Diego Con. I met a Mexican Disney comics
fan who I always see there, and of course I told him about my trip to
Copper Canyon and about my "Three Caballeros" story that I set there.
Actually, I showed him some art from the story first, and right off he said
"Ah! Pancho Pistolas!" That shocked me, so I had to find out why he knew
the full name. And, according to my Mexican buddy, Panchito's last name of
Pistoles has *always* been used in South America, and another close version
of it as "Pancho Pistolas" has *always* been used in Mexico, ever since
1944 (unlike in America, these characters have been used since 1945 South
of our borders, though they disappeared quickly from American eyes). He
said that Mexico would never use "Panchito Pistoles" because "Panchito" is
the diminutive form, which you'd *never* apply to a robust vaquero like
that rooster-guy. And the plural of pistols is "pistolas", not "pistoles",
so they corrected that word as well. But they stuck to the original (if
linguistically incorrect) version of the name south of Mexico.






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