DuckTales comments and Rumpus

[Olaf Solstrand]

Quoting Katie Sullivan <vazali at yahoo.com>:

> First, on the subject of Rumpus, I see him as existing in a
> different universe or continuity than the Barks/Rosa one.  So I
> don't hurt my brain too much trying to figure out how he would
> fit into that family tree.  ;-)
> Has Van Horn ever used (or mentioned by name) Hortense or
> Matilda?  Didn't Don Rosa come up with the name "Fergus" as
> Scrooge's father's name, since Barks only called him by the
> nickname "Scottie" or somesuch?  
> It seems like Van Horn freely borrows bits and pieces of other
> authors' universes, and ignores others.  I'm NOT saying this is
> a bad thing!  It's fun, and certainly within his right!  (Rosa
> does this too, after all--the "earning the first dime by shining
> a ditchdigger's boots" scene wasn't a Barks idea but came from
> another author whose name escapes me at the moment...Strobl?)
> But I'm just wondering what other bits of the Barks/Rosa
> continuity have been picked up by Van Horn.


If I'm to guess: (note, this is a pure guess. I have no background whatsoever 
for saying so.)

I think that Van Horn from the second he invented Rumpus thought of him as 
Scrooge's brother (or half-brother). In Rumpus' first story, "It's all 
relative" (written 1991), he's referred to by Donald as "uncle". How normal is 
it to refer to your mother's cousin as your uncle? (Well, I see that as 
possible - after all, that's what Huey, Dewey and Louie did, assuming Della is 
their mother.)

Problem was, before Van Horn got to writing Rumpus' second story, Egmont had 
published Lo$ and the Don Rosa family tree. In this, which now would be 
Egmont's "official" family tree, no brother of Scrooge was mentioned. So, when 
Rumpus makes his second appearance in "Say Uncle!", he's presented as Scrooge's 
cousin. A good explanation to why he's not on the family tree - NONE of 
Scrooge's cousins are.

But he's NOT Scrooge's cousin, is he... no, that's just a clever way of 
sneaking Rumpus past the family tree. As long as his brotherhood to Scrooge is 
a well-kept secret, no wonder it's not in the family tree. As long as Rumpus 
himself doesn't know, how could Don Rosa know? That way, there's no reason to 
explain this any further. First, Don Rosa draws a family tree. Then, Rumpus 
suddenly finds a letter from his mother. From THERE the siblinghood 
Scrooge/Rumpus begins. And that way, if a nosy teenager asks "oh yeah, but if 
they're siblings, how come Rumpus is not on the family tree?" - one can answer 
that nobody knew of this siblinghood when the family tree was drawn, instead of 
making up an explanation for why Scrooge's life-long brother wasn't in 
Scrooge's family tree only because he hadn't appeared in any stories yet (which 
is NOT a good explanation when talking to kids).

And from there, Rumpus can slide into the role he was intended to play - as 
Donald's lazy and food-loving uncle in "Ain't it the truth", as Scrooge's a 
little naive brother in "A dime for your thoughts" and as the selfish sneak we 
know from the first two Rumpus stories in "Full circle". Brilliant, isn't it? 
Donald has a new uncle, and we know the "reason" he's not on the family tree.



OK, that's my guess. Any of our friends at Egmont who wants to tell me how 
wrong I am? (or, naturally, Mr. Van Horn himself if he happens to read this.)



Olaf