17th of May/June 2005 + Re: Scrooge's silk hat

[Olaf Solstrand]

SIGVALD:

> Then I can ask - are Scandinavian readers interested in a Panama-only
event?
> Aparently they are as Don Rosa's "The Sharpie of Culebra Cut" has been
> printed in our countries' weeklies.

Sigvald... do you really, really think that the building and opening of the
Panama channel, that is to great help for seamen worldwide by connecting the
two biggest oceans to lighten travelling, is a "Panama-only" event?



> I have just read the Norwegian Donald Duck Pocket #270. A book with many
> good stories - including the one I will comment here. There is one detail
in
> the last story that I feel need to be mentioned here at DCML. In panel 1
in
> page 4 of this story "Onkel Skrue og idealet som brast" - written by
> Caterina Mognato and drawn by Giuseppe Dalla Santa -  Scrooge says that he
> bought his silk hat at a second hand sale during the days of Klondike.
This
> explanation of the hat's origin contradicts the "fact" given in panel 1 on
> page 15 of Lo$, part 11 - "The Empire-builder from Calisota" where it's
> clearly shown that Scrooge bought his silk hat and his stick on sale in a
> store in St. Petersburg, Russia in 1909 in order to look OK when meeting
> czar Nikolai II (Don Rosa has based this on "facts" previous given by Carl
> Barks).

Correction: The story you're thinking of is "The lemming with the locket" by
Carl Barks. That is where we got to hear that the hat came from St.
Petersburg - "The Empire-builder from Calisota" simply re-used that fact.



> Off course Mognato (or the translator) is free to use whatever explanation
> they like in this story (this is *not* about right or wrong), but by using
> this explanation I have been given the impression that Mognato (or the
> translator) haven't bothered to read Lo$, or that the one responsible for
> the explanation used in this story, doesn't value Rosa (and Barks as Lo$
are
> based upon Barks) as much as myself, AC, Thomas and many others here on
> DCML.

And I can promise you that Don Rosa doesn't value Catarina Mognato as much
as [insert names here]. Why would he?



> You may say that the one fact is as true as the other. It's OK to think
so,
> but then I would like you to know that the main reason I prefer Rosa's
> version is that he didn't take it out of thin air - he did some sincere
and
> careful research to come up with those "facts" - IMO that's admirable.

Why, when the Disney comics world is a world of contradiction? This is a
world where the money bin can be bombed by aliens and still be fine when the
next story starts. Donald has had at least two or three different birthdays.
Floyd Gottfredson placed the home town of Mickey on the east coast - Romano
Scarpa moved it to Calidornia on the west coast. This is a world where the
characters never age (EVENTUALLY that they have hundreds of years of action
in a span of 4-5 years). Main characters like Huey, Dewey and Louie can
travel around the world all the time on expeditions, and STILL be top pupils
on the school at home. More than one time I have seen that the NAMES of
characters have changed (in translations, that is) - like Huey, Dewey and
Louie's friend Herbert, Brigitta's compannion Jubal Pomp and Mickey's pal
Buck. Throughout the times we've seen several cousins, uncles and aunts, but
when there was time to draw a family tree many of them wasn't shown in it.
With all these MAJOR themes being so contradicting, WHY should the
itsy-bitsy ones match all the time? Why does ONE line in ONE frame of
"Idealet som brast" need to have the same explanation as ONE line in ONE
frame of "The lemming with the locket"? YES, I share your opinion that it is
nice when writers do some research, but I also know what it is like to have
a deadline - and the world of deadlines would fall apart if everybody should
use days or weeks of research on the contents of ONE dialogue balloon.

And, please remember that Don Rosa's "sincere and careful research" mainly
was based on ONE writer/artist. Yes, that one was Carl Barks - but still...

Don Rosa has e.g. said himself that when using José Carioca in a story, he
totally IGNORED the personality Brazilian writers and artists have developed
for him over the years. And, if I remember right, the explanation on how
Donald got his car in "A Recalled Wreck" does not match AT ALL with the
explanation given in "Don Donald".

I'm a little dazzled and confused here. You start off saying that "this is
not about right or wrong", but then you go on about how Mognato is mocking
Barks/Rosa and is not as true comic-lovers as you and others. What is the
difference?



Anyhow, back to the hat: IF you absolutely want the continuation in this,
you COULD assume that this was just a different hat. Scrooge was a bank
manager in Klondike, and it makes sense that he would buy a silk hat there.
We have ALSO several times seen Scrooge's hat be destroyed by dogs etcetera
and he has replaced it with a hat from a huge stack of hats he bought once
because buying a large quantum were cheaper. Still - if this is just an
itsy-bitsy line, I would have just relaxed, sat back and enjoyed the REST of
the story if I was you.



Olaf the Blue