Parents of Huey, Dewey, Louie in 'Return to Xanadu'

[M.J. Prior]

GGK wrote:

> BTW -> I heard some rumors there where some hints on 
> Huey, Duey and Luey parents in "[Return to Xanadu]".
> What's this all about?

Those are very old rumours indeed. Don *intended* to 
include a hint to the whereabouts of HDnL's parents in 
that story, but the sequence was deleted from the script 
and never included in the actual story.

This question was originally raised when Harry Fluks did a 
report on his visit to the Napoli Comicon in March 2003:

> Still, I heard something new there: Don included a hint 
> to HDL's parents in the "Return to Xanadu" story!

http://nafsk.se/pipermail/dcml/2003-March/016182.html

When asked about this, Don Rosa answered:

> I don't want to reveal what it was (as if it's not easily 
> guess-able?), but at the press conference it Italy I 
> never said these hints were IN the finished story. The 
> sequence I referred to was in the original *script*, but
> I never illustrated that portion. [...] 

> Yes, the deleted portion in the "Return to Xanadu" script
> certainly did refer to a sequel where the Ducks would 
> again return there for "special reason" (as the High Lama 
> tells HD&L they are destined to do in the deleted
> sequence).

http://nafsk.se/pipermail/dcml/2003-March/016427.html

So Don Rosa planned to have the Ducks revisit Scotland as 
early as 1990, when he wrote "Return to Xanadu". This can 
still be gleaned from details in that story, such as 
Scrooge reminiscing about repairing his sisters' dolls and 
longing to see the hills of Scotland again. This was 
before Rosa had done any of his Lo$-stories!

We can probably infer what the intended suggestion was. 
The missing Ducks, this being HDnL's parents in the first 
place, but possibly Scrooge's sisters as well, had 
relocated to Scotland to repopulate the deserted Castle 
McDuck. Eventually, only Matilda was allowed to appear in 
a story, and only after Don pressed the case. (Why the 
Ducks didn't meet anyone of their missing family during 
their 1948 visit ("The Old Castle's Secret") would 
probably be left unexplained, as it still is in Matilda's 
case.)

In an earlier post (March 2003), I wrote on this subject:

> Still, I think it's a good thing that Don Rosa won't be 
> allowed to do a story about the "Return of Donald's Lost 
> Sister" or something like that. To me, part of the charm 
> of this lost-sister-thing lies in the fact that nobody 
> knows exactly what happened, so everybody can think of 
> his own story. 
> Of course, even when someone like Don Rosa *does* a story 
> about what happened, we don't have to accept his version 
> as 'the Gospel Truth', if we don't like it. But I'm 
> afraid that's not exactly how it would work out. Somehow,
> all other possible versions of what happened would seem 
> less possible (or even less 'legitimate'*), once one 
> particular version has been shown in a story. Especially 
> a story about such a fundamental thing as 'why HDnL don't 
> live with their parents'.
>
> *) Yes, that's an ugly phrasing.
>
> And maybe the same applies to 'what happened between 
> $crooge and Goldie when he kidnapped her for a month in 
> the Yukon'. Telling that story might spoil it.

http://nafsk.se/pipermail/dcml/2003-March/016247.html

Greetings from Michiel Prior (Groningen, the Netherlands).