Huey, Dewey and Louie

[Gerd Syllwasschy]

Rob Klein wrote:

> I had read that they were "created specifically for a Donald Duck short cartoon, and knew 
> that Disney usually had Taliaferro introduce upcoming new cartoon characters first, 
> before the cartoon was released.  generally, the Disney Animation Dept. would design 
> the character, and send a model sheet to Taliaferro.  The cartoons usually had a few 
> month lead time from character design to release.  But, it is clear in this case, that 
> Taliaferro must have used the characters of HD&L long before production on the cartoon 
> started, and clearly designed the characters, himself, in this case.  So, in actuality, he
> must have invented them for his needs in the Donald Duck newspaper strip, and only 
> suggested they be used in the cartoons, for consistancy.

Hmmm, I don't quite agree. The story line of the first Donald Duck comic 
strips featuring the nephews strongly resembles the animated cartoon. 
This means Taliaferro must at least have known some early storyboards 
for the cartoon before he drew those strips.

I don't doubt that Taliaferro came up with the idea for Donald's nephews 
first. However, it is up to speculation whether Taliaferro contributed 
more than a "Hey, let's equip Don with some nephews!" to the whole thing.

Gerd