Barks on DuckTales

[Pete Fernbaugh]

Hi Fernando,

HOGAN'S ALLEY, a semi-annual comic book and animation-themed magazine we
have here in the States, printed a never-before-published interview with
Carl Barks in its ninth issue.

The interviewer, Erik Svane, asked Mr. Barks the following question:
"What do you think of the DuckTales cartoons that are based on your
stories?"

Mr. Barks responded by saying, "I think those cartoons were very
excellent, but they couldn't get enough material out of one of my stories
to fill up a half-hour, so they had to put in a great deal of fresh
material, which introduced a lot of other characters and a lot of other
situations that weren't in my original stories.  But they were certainly
fine entertainment." 

I know Duck fans tend to waver in their opinion of DUCKTALES.  I, for
one, was introduced to Mr. Barks because of the show.  The first episode
I ever saw was "Back to the Klondike," which was based upon the Barks
story of the same name (something I found out later). 

Needless to say, I was hooked.  I had seen it at a friend's house, and on
the way home, I talked and talked and talked and talked about the
wonderful show I had seen.  My father humored me, of course, but little
did he know how that one show would lead to a massive obsession with not
only the ducks, but with many other characters, both animated and
live-action.

I know that DUCKTALES didn't always do the Barks tales justice.  I've
read many of the stories upon which those particular episodes ("Lost
Crown of Genghis Khan," "The Land of Tralla-La," etc.) were based.  I've
enjoyed the Barks stories immensely, usually more than the television
episode that borrowed from it.   However, part of me still holds a great
affection for those episodes and every other one that was a part of that
superb series.

Most current American animation barely holds my attention.  I'm only
twenty-one-years-old and already I'm telling kids that the cartoons of
today just don't measure up to the cartoons that were produced when *I*
was a kid.  

God bless,

Pete Fernbaugh.