Geographic inaccuracies found in DD&Co

[Lars Jensen]

timo ronkainen wrote:

>>>> a recent case in a pocket book where a date from the 19th
>>>> century was mentioned, but where the given weekday was wrong...
>>>
>>> They just take these things out of blue, without checking... even if
>>> it might be easy.
>>
>> Who are "they"? Translators? Editors? Writers?
>
> Sometimes one of those, most of the time all three. :-)  Sometimes
> translator can add something "funny" that never appeared in original.
> Or then writer just fabricates nonsense without checking anything -
> "it's just silly comics for kids, they'll never notice it" - and
> editor doesn't check things either.
> "They" sounds little paranoid... heh...

A month ago I wrote a script in which there is a one-panel gag about
bean sprouts. My editor did some research, discovered we couldn't use a
bean sprout in this context and had me go on the Net to find a
substitute for the plant. I ended up spending half an hour of my working
day on this - as well as having to pay my Internet provider for the 30
minutes, obviously. All this for a throw-away one-panel gag that I doubt
most readers would notice anything wrong with. But it was the right
thing to do.

I'm currently writing a story that takes place in a country similar to
the Netherlands. (But not the same!) I went to the library and read two
books about the Netherlands, just to get a feeling for the place. I'm
expecting to go on the Net later today and do more research - or
possibly visit the library and read another book or two. Not because I
have to (the story doesn't take place in the actual Netherlands,
remember) - but because I feel I should in order to get the right
"vibe".

A few years ago I came up with a story about ants. I read four books
about ants, just to find out what kind of ants I should use. Not because
it would've made any difference to the happenings of the story, or
because most readers would've noticed, but because *I* needed to know. I
needed to know what to tell the artist to draw.

I have many more examples. True, not all of my stories are this
demanding, but many of them are.

My editors spend a lot of time checking facts. I happen to know that the
Danish translator of the weekly is very dedicated to his job. And we
both know about Carl Barks' and Don Rosa's research. Which means that in
every case where I know a writer's, editor's or translator's approach to
his or her job, I know they take it seriously.

Lars