The Unsafe Safe (US 38) and Monty Python

[Daniel van Eijmeren]

OLIVIER to me, 01-09-2003

>> I think the sudden, zany ending is part of the fun in a lot of Barks's
>> stories with Magica. She seems to try to be impressive, but when she
>> gets frustrated she's humiliated, hissing, snarling, and not so sexy
>> anymore. Well, the latter is a matter of taste, of course. :-)

> Point taken. But in the "Unsafe Safe" [US 38] story it seemed too quick; 
> the ducks arrive, the stunner sputters, and that's all. Maybe it struck 
> me more because I was simply skimming over the story.

This reminds me of the all-of-a-sudden ending of Monty Python's movie 
"The Holy Grail", where the inspector says "Move along. There's nothing 
to see! Keep moving!", just before walking over to the camera and putting 
his hand over the lens.

"The Unsafe Safe" suddenly is ended by the policeman running into the 
scene, saying to Magica: "Miss! Miss! You'll have to cut that out! 
A little old lady across the street has COMPLAINED ABOUT THE NOISE!"

Both the story and the movie have scenes that predict that the 
interruption of the police might happen at some point. It's not the 
first time that the policeman runs into the story, and in "The Holy 
Grail" there are police patrolmen investigating throughout the film.
http://www.montypythonpages.com/SSSS/holy.htm

What do you think of this?

According to DCML-information, Monty Python's Terry Gilliam has indicated 
that he was a big fan of Carl barks' work, in a BBC interview:

Terry Gilliam a Barks fan - Rob Klein
http://stp.ling.uu.se/pipermail/dcml/2000-November/013904.html

Re: Terry Gilliam a Barks fan - Daniel van Eijmeren
http://stp.ling.uu.se/pipermail/dcml/2000-November/013910.html

There's a Scrooge-like merchant banker sketch by Monty Python's Flying 
Circus, in their untitled 30th episode aired on 9 November 1972. It 
looks like a real-life visit to Scrooge's office, destinied to leave 
by way of a trap door. This reminded me of a scene in Barks's "The 
Golden River" (US 20). Here's a transcription of that sketch:
http://www.montypythonpages.com/sketches/merchbnk.htm

A City Gent, who reasons even heavier than Scrooge, pulls a lever 
opening a trap door under a visitor's feet, who falls through with 
a yelp.

--- Daniël 

"No, no, no, I don't follow this at all, I mean, I don't want to seem 
stupid but it looks to me as though I'm a pound down on the whole deal."
(Merchant banker Charman Knebter, responding to a collector for charity)