Minnie's Nieces (Millie & Melody) again

[Rich]

Greetings,

It's been a while since I've had anything to contribute to the INDUCKS, 
but I do have somewhat an update which might be helpful.

I guess I could be pegged as the Disney Comics fan who will go to his
grave trying to get recognition for some of the lesser known or not 
recognized minor recurring characters.  My favorites seem to be Goofy's
son, Minnie's twin nieces and her dog.  Goofy's son, now known best as 
Max, has come into his own and garnered his own fan-following as a result
of his revival in the animated series GOOF TROOP and the two theatrical 
films A GOOFY MOVIE and AN EXTREMELY GOOFY MOVIE, as well as his role in
the Christmas short on the direct to video MICKEY'SONCE UPON A CHRISTMAS.

Likewise, Fifi, Minnie's Pekingese pup has seen quite a lot of print in 
books, calendars and other merchandise of late, so she, too, has received
some noted recognition.  The folks at the Disney Stores even seem to know
who she is these days (this wasn't always true).

Finally, Minnie's niece are being given real, even "official" recognition
by the Disney Company!  A couple years ago the question of whether or not
Minnie had nieces came up in Disney's "Ask Dave" column in their official
"DISNEY MAGAZINE" (Fall 1999).  Dave Smith, Disney's official Archivist, 
answered in the affirmative naming Millie & Melody and their singular 
appearance in "The Late, Late Show" comic which appeared in the MICKEY 
MOUSE ALBUM #1.  The question recently came up AGAIN in the Winter 2000/1
same magazine column because a reader questioned the accuracy of Dave's
naming since Disney's Trivia Master, Kevin Neary, who has written several
"official trivia books" for the Disney Company listed their names as 
"Melinda & Melody". Dave's reply stated that the forth edition of that 
Ultimate Trivia Book misidentified "Melinda" and the true name is "Millie."


And now, as if to increase the recognition of Minnie's nieces, the
Disney Stores have sponsored a set of Collector's Cards & Medallions 
called "The Disney Decades Coins" which feature the official debuts of 
various characters, studios and films which are part of the Disney legacy.
Yesterday I picked up #48 card and coin which depicts Millie & Melody and
says. "Millie and Melody are the nieces of Minnie Mouse.  The perky pair 
made their debut in a 1962 comic book story, starring alongside their 
world-famous aunt."  I found this collector's card to be a bit odd since 
there doesn't seem to be any other comicbook characters listed in the set,
which leads me to believe their might be some inside activism to generate
recognition of these twins for a new generation.  Oddly enough, Morty & 
Ferdie don't have their own card, and Huey, Dewey & Louie are mentioned by
virtue of their involvement in the film "Trick or Treat."  It would appear
that, while we mention Millie & Melody, along with various other names as
part of what has been generically called "Minnie's Nieces", the Disney 
Company itself seems to recognize "Millie & Melody" as the OFFICIAL names.
Anyone interested can view the card/coin at:
http://www.jps.net/xephyr/SCANS/MnMcard.gif

In Dave Smith's own Disney book "Disney A to Z: The Official Encyclopedia"
he list Minnie's official nieces as "Millicent & Melody."

A NECESSARY FIX for the I.N.D.U.C.K.S. FILE:
Along with this information I thought I should bring up an oversight in 
the INDUCKS.

While Millie & Melody's appearance in "The Late, Late Show" [W 01 518-06
& W 01 518-06] is noted in both the HOOZOO and DCML Character files, the 
actual INDUCKS does NOT list this appearance which should add them to the
"Appearing Characters!"  They, along with Mickey, played a MUCH greater 
role than Minnie or Morty & Ferdie in the same comic.

Along these same lines I have a question.  When file searching for "Minnie's

Nieces" the two files that do appear are W MM 88-05
http://www2.ec-lille.fr/willot/coa/cgi-bin/storycode.uk.php/W+MM+++88-05 
"Mickey's Close Call"
 
and  S 63003
http://www2.ec-lille.fr/willot/coa/cgi-bin/storycode.uk.php/S+63003 
"Girl Scout Leader."
 
I am familiar with "Mickey's Close Call" (where the girls are named Pammy
& Tammy), but not with "Girl Scout Leader."  If anyone on this mailing list
has any of the books where this story was publish could you please let
me 
know if Minnie's nieces are actually "named" in the story, and, if so, what
names were they given?

Also, the DCML lists alternate names as including "Maisie", but I was 
wondering if anyone knows the source for that name?  The only Maisie I've
seen was listed as one of Mickey's nieces, not Minnie's.  I do know that
Egmont lists their official names a Millie & Tillie, which, if they also
use "Melody" would effectively distinguish them from the single niece, 
while, here in the USA, the door is still open that the single niece 
Melody could be half of a set of twins.
http://stp.ling.uu.se/~starback/dcml/chars/melody.html

Thank you,

Rich Bellacera