Donald and Mickey

[Daniel J. Neyer]

Jonathan H. Grey's message on Donald and Mickey fascinates me, especially
because I've been thinking along those lines myself. Judging from the
classic Gottfredson stories, Donald and Mickey grew up together--as I
believe David Gerstein has suggested in an old message--but can that be
fit into the Barks/Rosa universe? My answer is YES!

Without meaning offense to anyone, here's my theory: After the end of
Rosa's EMPIRE BUILDER FROM CALISOTA story, Hortense and Quackmore were
(understandably) so upset with Scrooge that they decided to move away
from Duckburg altogether, along with their young son Donald. They settled
in Mouseton, but kept in touch with their Duckburg relatives in the
once-a-year reunions on Grandma Duck's farm (SIGN OF THE TRIPLE
DISTELFINK). Mickey and Donald grew up together in Mouseton--probably
went to college together, too--and, after Donald held several jobs
(without success) in Mouseton, including assistant at Amos Zoup's
clothing store (CASE OF THE VANISHING COATS) and newsboy for the War Drum
(EDITOR IN GRIEF; Mr. Foozle found himself forced to fire the
hot-tempered Don when he bought the paper back from Mickey) our Duck
decided to move to Duckburg, where he hoped his illustrious family
connections (the Coots, the McDucks) would get him better work (we all
know it didn't, though). This would explain why Donald left the Mouse
universe after a certain point, and why Hortense and her husband were
never seen in Duckburg again after EMPIRE BUILDER FROM CALISOTA. Mickey
and Donald kept in touch after Don's return to Duckburg (hence Donald's
worry in Barks' door-to-door salesman story that his caller may be "Daisy
or Mickey or someone I know") and have re-teamed for great adventures on
occasion.

By the way, I can't wait to see this Mythos Island story--I hope Gemstone
decides to publish it in this country. I've always wanted to see how
Mickey and Scrooge would interact, and I like the idea of establishing
the fact that the Mice and the Ducks exist in the same universe. It would
also be fun to see Ferioli draw Donald and Scrooge--his Mickey artwork is
delightful, and it would be interesting to see him tackle the Ducks as
well.

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