Politically correct or issit something else?

[H.W.Fluks@telecom.tno.nl]

Arie wrote (on May 7):

> There're basic
> guides by various Disney Comics publisher in Europe that 
> Fethry exists or
> not, and such just like recently discussed, Ludwig von Drake.
> 
> So what i want to know is who and why these characters and 
> perhaps many
> others are set to be "non-existant" in duck world. It couldnt be the
> "politically correct"?

I can only say something about the Dutch situation: around 1974
they decided that Fethry and Ludwig are not to be used anymore.
(This also goes for e.g. Hustler, Hard Haid Moe, and Belle Duck,
but they were scarcely used anyway.)
After that, they only appeared in the pocket books (the stories
for the Dutch pocket books are chosen by Egmont, not by the Dutch).

Reason for abandoning Fethry: the character looked more like
yet-another-Donald, especially in the stories where they work
together for a newspaper.
In other words, Fethry was not distinguishable enough.

Reason for abandoning Ludwig: he looked too much like Gyro.
(In later reprints of Ludwig stories, the character was replaced
with Gyro or Donald.)
In other words, Ludwig was not distinguishable enough.

Instead of these two characters, the Dutch (re-)introduced
other characters like Joe Carioca, Panchito, and Bucky Bug.

> and when one or more Disney comic artists drew new 
> characters and
> start using the new chars as part of their own duck world 
> (like Oona and
> Rufus). do the characters actually get some kind of 
> "reviews/judgements" by
> the publisher in order to decide whether or not the new chars 
> can be used by the artists again?

Usually, the *editors* decide to introduce a new character in
the first place.
In Holland, they decided to give April, May, and June a new
look, and introduce new characters in the (school) world of
AMJ and HDL. I'm sure this new step was evaluated after some
time. But I don't know if they actually asked the readers,
or only used their personal taste.
(Anyway, AMJ still have their new look, but the school teacher
and the new school characters will not be used anymore.)

--Harry.