Songs/Fandom/Kohlrabi

Rob Klein bi442 at lafn.org
Mon Feb 17 20:35:14 CET 2003


I agree with Don R., that it is up to the fan to decide how he/she perceives 
the Disney Universes. As Disney Publications desires the widest range of 
purchasers, there cannot be consistency over ALL the stories. It is true that 
Barks thought of the Ducks as parodies of humans.  But if a fan reads the 
stories with that parody in mind, it is too difficult to go into that world 
and "live in it". one is constantly aware that he/she is looking at and reading 
an author's clever view of human nature. For those of us who wish to mentally 
enter that world and live in the story, we have to make subconscious 
assumptions about how that world works. I HAVE to make a decision as to whether 
or not the Ducks hatch from eggs and can mate with very different looking 
beings.  It's difficult for me to ignore having seen Donald hatch from an egg. 
As Don R. implied: each fan to his own taste.  As for Barks, I am sure he knew 
that it was not necessary to delve into those issues to enjoy any given story.

Thanks Rob W., for the info on "The World Owes Me a Livin'"-I too, remembered 
that from the Goofy shorts.  It was a catchy tune.  Perhaps it was being sung 
and hummed by a lot of workers at the Studios. It represents a very rare 
occurance in the work of Barks.  Almost ALL his songs, films, book titles, 
poetic use of people's addresses and related items in stories were of his OWN 
creation, as a parody of something popular in real life, either at that very 
time-or from his experience in earlier times. Actually, this is the ONLY 
instance I can think of, of his borrowing a name or piece of artwork from the 
real World. In this instance, that song must have been strongly on his mind (at 
least subconsciously). Or, he took something from the real World, as it so well 
fit his needs, being perfect for his character and needed attitude in that 
story.  Mophead Molly is most certainly an invention of Barks-as was "Winsome 
Winney from West Virginny", the Cowboy film titles, the baseball players' names 
in the Niagara Falls story and so on.  I will be curious to see if anyone can 
find another example of Barks using an actual reference from the real World, 
without his having changed it, at least a bit.

Regarding Kohlrabi (spelling of which must have been taken directly from German 
by English): 

I guess I'm getting senile. I lived on a farm, (just outside Bremen)for 5 
years.  We grew Kohlrabi. I knew what it was called then. We ate it steamed, 
raw in salads (covered in horseradish sauce), -but my favourite was in a soup 
(with other types of turnips, potatoes, carrots and parsnips and beef or 
chicken stock. It would also go well in a cream soup.   

Rob
Klein

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