Tony Strobl/Diamond Dick/hillbillies

[bi442@lafn.org]

For Simon: 
I too, am glad to see some messages about artists other than Barks and Rosa.
Regarding my comments on Tony Strobl: Unfortunately, I have not been a reader 
or comic fanzines.  I have only read a few Dutch fanzines ("Stripschrift" 
and "Striprofiel".  The latter article was from mid 1970s. The former was 
fairly recent (1998 or 1999?). I have them stored in boxes in Den Haag. As I am 
in USA right now, I can't look those old articles up (actually, I think that my 
cousin may have thrown them away several years ago).  Perhaps Harry Fluks can 
inform us on that recent article. In any case, I think it was a translation of 
an American article.  I seem to remember an article on him in Freddy 
Milton's "Donald Duck & Co.", but I can't remember which issue.  I believe the 
information in that aticle came from a combination of older American articles, 
and his interview with a Danish fan. Perhaps one of our many Danish members can 
inform us about that article.  I also remember one in German "Der Donaldist" - 
or was it "Hamburger Donaldist".  I have all those issues stored in Muenchen, 
but even when I return there in February, I won't have time to look it up. 
Perhaps one of our German members can enlighten us on that one. ACTUALLY, I 
would guess that many of our DCML members should be able to direct you to 
articles on Strobl. The only English language source that I can direct you to 
is OUR OWN DCML home page. Click on "CREATORS", then on "TONY STROBL".  There, 
you will see a concise, but decent biography.  I seem to remember information 
from an interview with him by Klaus Strzyz.  I cannot remember if that is the 
basis for the DCML bio, or if there is a separate link to it.  But, you should 
read it (it has been translated to English). Then, below, click on the link to 
Anders Berglund's article on Strobl. It has been translated to English.  It is 
fairly thorough. Unfortunately, the comments that I made regarding the 
diminishing of the quality of his artwork were not written anywhere that I know 
of. That information came to me from my conversations with Malcom Willits and 
Leonard Brown in the mid 1960s, and reconfirmed in conversations with old-time 
Disney Animation artists and Disney Comic fans whom I met while working at 
Turner Feature Animation and Warner Brothers Feature Animation in the 1990s. I 
can't really remember who said what.  
ALSO: please note that I forgot to mention that the first reduction in the 
quality of drawing paper supplied by Western Publishing in 1955 did NOT seem to 
reduce the quality of Tony Strobl's work, but the SECOND (severe) reduction in 
the quality in 1959 was a MAJOR contributor. We also noticed that reduction in 
quality in Barks' work.  That was a SEVERE reduction in quality.  The paper 
lost most of it's ability to absorb the ink.  So, the inker had to work much 
more deliberately, with shorter, tighter (stiffer) strokes. This caused drastic 
stiffening of the characters, taking much of the "life" out of them.  At that 
time, Tony's inks were ALL being done by others.  However, the reduction of 
quality cannot all be blamed upon the paper and inkers.  I have seen some 
photographs of some of his original pencilwork from sometime during the 1959-
1962 period, and the quality seemed to be significantly poorer (in my opinion) 
than those of pre-1959. This seems to corroborate what I'd been told by Willits 
and some of the other old-time comics fans. 

I think it is VERY interesting that Carl Barks had a Dog-person (Diamond Dick) 
being married to (presumably) a Duck!!!  I've read the story hundreds of times, 
but that fact NEVER jumped out on me!  Therefore, it must be reasonable in the 
Disney Universe created by the many artists and writers, for mixing the 
(races).  Apparantly, they are just racial differences, and not different 
species. Even so, I don't think I will have inter-"racial" marriages in my own 
stories.  This does NOT mean that I am a racist. Those of you who know me, know 
that I am not. However, as a scientist, it is difficult for me to 
believe "people" with  pipes for legs and webbed feet are of the same species 
as (for example) a moose!  Being a Barksist, i have to accept that.  After all, 
Donald has fallen for many a Dog-face. And what female Duck wouldn't fall for 
Deltoid Biceppa???

For Gary: I believe that the reference to Granny's last name as "Clampett", 
must have been an error of oversight. The rush to get finished scripts out for 
weekly television shows is quite chaotic.  Yes, the script is edited and re-
read many times.  But NO ONE is looking for such details.  The 1960s was not so 
far from the EXTREMELY conservative 1950s.  I really don't believe that the 
producer of that programme would want it intimated that the Hillbillies of the 
Ozarks (or Kentucky, the Appalachians, or whatever "hickey" area of USA they 
came from) were inbreeding with first cousins.  Even though we know that to 
have occurred at that time (with some, I dare say) even today; I doubt that a 
TV network could afford to offend millions of people.  That would have included 
all the "Bible-thumpers", who would not want innocent children being exposed to 
that idea.  It may be true that a few high-brow writers would have liked to 
introduce that as a joke. They would never expect that it would pass the 
network censors.  Perhaps this IS one such example, that was overlooked by the 
censors.  I, myself, have left outlandish things in a few of my scripts (as a 
joke) to a friendly in-house editor (knowing full well that it would definately 
be removed).  I don't think run-of-the-mill writer would have done that in 
1960s Television, as they would not want to risk their "lucky" position. 

For Sonia: You are very correct that the parlance employed by the so-
called "Hicks" and "Hillbillies" is closer to the speech of the English of 
England in the 17th and 18th centuries.  As the relatively remote areas where 
that speech flourished during the past 350 years have had much less inmigration 
of strangers, and have been touched much less by the changes in the language on 
the National level, shared by the overall culture.  That is an automatic result.
However, it should be noted that the "New England accent" (dialect?)has kept 
its basic flavour which was set in place due to the early establishment of the 
Puritans (which spoke a "middle class form of the Southern English dialect of 
the 1600s). As I understand from extensive reading on the subject, the 
US "Southern" and "Hillbilly" accents were heavily influenced by a large 
portion of the early settlement in Southern Colonies having been from Western 
England.  Many came from the farmland areas surrounding Bristol, as well as 
Bristol, itself.  That is because that was the major port for commerce with the 
American Colonies. There also came large contingents from Devon and Cornwall, 
Bath, and other parts of the West. This basis of general speech was overlain by 
a heavy contingent of Irish.  The amalgamation of those two elements, gave the 
Hillbilly idiom its unique qualities.  A similar situation explains the very 
different Australian accent. The bulk of the early New South Wales population 
were criminals, or ex-criminals.  By far, the largest portion of THAT 
population came from the LOWER CLASSES of London.  Therefore, the idiom of THAT 
group, as spoken in the mid-to-late 18th Century, formed the basis of that 
unique dialect.  By the same token, the large emigration of Scots to Nova 
Scotia (New Scotland) and New Brunswick, after the French were defeated in 
1713, provided the basis of the Canadian English accent (which I speak-even 
though I am a Dutch Jew!).  For any of you French members that have heard 
people speak Quebecois, you may recognise some similarities to Le Francais of 
Artois and Picardie (with a bit of Normandie thrown in). Admittedly, that idiom 
is closer to the general French of the 1600s.  But, it is MUCH, MUCH closer to 
the Picardois of the 1600s. That is because a large portion of the original 
settlers of New France came from those provinces.

Rob Klein 


---------------------------------------------
This message was sent using Endymion MailMan.
http://www.endymion.com/products/mailman/