Grandma/Ludwig/House of Mouse

[Rob Klein]

For Fernando: The information about House of Mouse and link to its site was 
provided by Rich Bellacera several messages back. the link he provided can be 
found at <members3.boardhost./com/DisneyComics/>.  That is exactly what I hand 
copied to paper. I may have made an error, as it doesn't look correct.  If that 
doesn't work, try <members3.boardhost.com/DisneyComics/>   .  Then, press on 
his link which reads: "House of Mouse".  That will bring you to the House of 
Mouse website.  There you will find a list of episodes.  If you click on each 
episode, you will then see the credits for each (producers, directors, writers, 
artissts, etc.)

For Lars: One cannot assume ANY Disney Artist, writer or producer is the 
ultimate authority on the relationships of the Disney Universe, as there are 
too many contradictions.  I prefer to go with Walt Disney first, Barks second, 
and Rosa third (only because he put so much work into it - and NOT if his 
assumptions contradict (literally, or logically) with Barks, the bulk of other 
creators or what seems LOGICAL to ME.  

For example.  It does NOT seem possible or logical to me that Ludwig is 
a "true" or close uncle of Donald. This is (1) because of his advanced age; and 
(2) because he was virtually unknown to and by his relatives in Duckburg, upon 
his arrival.  I feel that he could be Donald's Great Uncle (which English 
speaking people would refer to as "Uncle", almost never referring to that 
difference. He is old enough to be in Scrooge's and Grandma's generation. In my 
opinion, Donald is too young to be the son of his younger sister, or the 
brother of Ludwig's son-in-law.  If either were true, Ludwig would not have 
been unknown to Donald and most of the other Duckburg Ducks. I am, myself an 
immigrant.  My parents were both immigrants. We still have very strong ties to 
family in our previous countries.  This normally lasts AT LEAST ONE GENERATION, 
but often TWO! I just cannot believe a family member of such a close 
relationship would be unknown or only "heard of" by the first generation born 
in the new country.  If Donald's parents were born in USA, and their parents 
were the immigrants from Austria, that makes it only more likely that Ludwig is 
a more distant relation than first uncle. If he is an uncle, he is a great 
uncle! my original idea was that he was a distant cousin, which explains the 
lack of familiarity between him and his American relatives.  Even so, younger 
people in the family might well refer to him as "uncle", as a term of respect 
for his age (as is done within both the Dutch and Lithuanian sides of my 
family, and most other families I know). That could be the same reasoning the 
Italians used.

The reality is, that most often, Disney story writers do NOT research 
exaustively, what the (supposed) "Official" line is on relationships of 
secondary characters.  We are destined to ALWAYS have some contradictions.

For Lars and other sceptics and Frank: Regarding Barks Grandma in "Best 
Christmas". I must reiterate my previously stated view. I believe Carl barks 
did NOT mean to portray a DIFFERENT grandmother for Donald (or the nephews). 
AHA!!! Here we have something MORE likely (although I don't really agree with 
this either)! The argument that THIS Grandma doesn't have her hair in a bun 
(beehive style), and she is TOO SPRY and YOUTHFUL to be Elviry, brings up this 
possibility:  Elviry is Donald's Grandmother, who raised him (a la "This is 
Your Life, Donald Duck").  While THIS younger Grandma is the NEPHEWS' 
grandmother ((i.e. Della/(Dumbella)'s HUSBAND'S MOTHER!!!  However, my 
conversations with Barks regarding his methods, logic and thinking,as well as 
my knowledge of Western's policies, lead me back to the conclusion that neither 
Barks, nor ANY other Disney or Western artist or writer (during the 1940s and 
1950s, ever intended to portray more than one Grandmother.  Barks told me time 
and again, that he only invented characters because he NEEDED them for his 
current story.  He CERTAINLY did NOT need a second grandmother for that story.  
All other things being equal, it was the policy of the studio to keep the 
number of MAJOR and REGULAR characters small- so as to avoid confusion, and 
keep simple, easy to follow story lines.  I HATE that policy, but have been 
told by my own editors (Disney and Non-Disney) to limit the number of different 
secondary AND regular characters. The SIMPSONS shows that the opposite of such 
a policy can lead to great success.  Nonetheless, it WAS the policy of the 
time. Also, Carl told me that he read Taliaferro's strip quite regularly in the 
1940s; not only because he LIKED it for amusement, but because he needed to do 
so for his work.  He wanted to make sure that HIS Donald and Nephews stayed "on 
model" with those of the Animated cartoons AND the Newspaper strip. That meant 
that HIS Characters not only should LOOK like those in the Cartoons and 
newspaper, but also act similarly. He couldn't be sure of watching all the 
cartoons, but he did receive a newspaper every Sunday.  Taliaferro, working 
inside the Studio, was regularly given the animation model sheets.  As Barks 
followed the weekly and daily strips fairly carefully, I'm SURE that he saw 
Taliaferro's Grandma before drawing Grandma in Best Christmas. However, he MAY 
NOT have remembered so well what she looked like. He was commissioned by 
Western to do the Firestone Christmas story, probably with little time leeway. 
He lived in distant San Jacinto, and would have needed lots of lead time to ask 
someone at Western's Los Angeles Office to first ask Disney Studios to send a 
model sheet of her to his house. As he needed her only for 2 panels in the 
story, and probably did not want to "bother" people at Western nor Taliaferro 
(who probably would have had to draw up the sheet new).  He probably thought 
his memory of what she looked like, and making sure she looked "grandmotherly" 
and like a Duck, would be sufficiant.  In ALL these 38 years that I've had the 
story, I NEVER even imagined that she wasn't the same Grandma.  If someone has 
very long hair are they CONDEMNED by natural law to wear it pinned up EVERY 
MINUTE OF THEIR LIVES???

Regardless of Don's extensive and well thought out work, I believe the 
following:

Ludwig von Drake is a distant cousin of Donald, who is called "Uncle" by all 
the younger Duckburg Ducks out of respect. He could, possibly be Donald's Great 
Uncle, by marriage.

Grandma Duck is Donald's grandmother, and The Nephews' great grandmother.  She 
WAS married.  Her husband has now died. He WAS alive at least to the time of 
Donald's youth.  I will not dispute Bill Wright's use of the name Humperdink.

Rob Klein



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