AARRGGGH! presents:
The life and times of
Donald Duck
First appearance
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Donald’s first
appearance was in
the Silly Symphonies
cartoon,
“The wise little hen”
in the year 1934
Created by Dick
Lundy
As you see, Donald was much
taller, plumper body and big
feet.
More appearances
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August 1934 –Donald
stars in the Mickey
Mouse cartoon The
Orphan’s benefit,
where he gets his
nasty temper.
Redesigned in 1936,
rounder and cuter.
Stars solo in January
9th 1937
Donald Fauntleroy Duck
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Donald’s birthday is June
9th 1934
Anthropomorphic duck,
in blue/black navy shirt
and with a sailor hat but
no pants (exept when he
goes swimming).
The son (duckling) of
Quackmore Duck and
Hortense McDuck.
Donald’s Birthday
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One early reference is in the movie The Three Caballeros (1945)
which takes place on Donald's birthday, which then fell on Friday
the 13th. If the movie is supposed to take place in 1944 the only
Friday 13th then is in October. In 1945 April and July would be
possible, but in that case the movie would have taken place in
the future, as it was released in February 1945.
In Donald’s Happy Birthday from 1949 it is March 13th.
Nowadays most often the date of Donald's first screen
appearance, June 9, is used for his birthday.
In Marco Rota’s Buon compeanno, Paperino (= Happy Birthday,
Donald) Donald says himself that he was born September 16,
1934 (which is the date of his first appearance in comics), but in
the Italian reprint ten years later that was changed to June 9,
1934.
The year of Donald's birth is 1920 according to Don Rosa
Black or blue?
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On covers and on screen: blue sailor suit
In comics: black sailor soit
When Donald first appeared in comics, in the full-color
Sunday funnies, the blue looked good.
The problem came when Donald entered daily black and
white newspaper comics in 1938. The shirt that had been
colored blue would now print as white -no contrast. So the
decision came to make the shirt black - thus preserving
the desired contrast even on a black-and-white newspaper
page.
When Western Publishing reprinted these daily
newspaper strips in their comic books (starting in 1940), it
was easier simply to leave the shirt black than to bleach it
out and recolor it blue.
And when Western then began to create Donald Duck
comic book stories of their own (1942), they wanted them
to be of-a-piece with the Donald Duck newspaper strips
they were then running. So Barks and others gave Donald
a black shirt in the new comic book stories, disregarding
the reason that the black shirt was originally used.
G.I. Donald
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Several of Donald's shorts during the war were propaganda films
Der Fuehrer’s Face released on January 1st, 1943. In it, Donald plays a worker in an artillery
factory in "Nutzi Land" (Germany). He struggles with long working hours, very small food
rations, and having to salute every time he sees a picture of the Fuehrer. Then Donald
wakes up to find that his experience was in fact a nightmare. At the end of the short Donald
looks to the Statue of Liberty and the American flag with renewed appreciation. Der
Fuehrer's Face won the 1943 Academy Award for animated short film.
Other notable shorts from this period include the so-called Army shorts, six films that follow
Donald's life in the US Army from his drafting to his life at boot camp under sergeant Pete to
his first actual mission as a commando having to sabotage a Japanese air base.
In Donald gets drafted Donald has a physical examination before joining the army. According
to it Donald has flat feet and is unable to distinguish between the colors green and blue.
Also in this cartoon sergeant Pete comments on Donald's lack of discipline.
Huey, Dewey and Louie
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Huey's full name is
Huebert Duck. He
is the red one.
Dewey's full name
is Deuteronomy
Duck. He is the
Blue one.
Louie's full name is
Louis Duck. He is
the green one.
Spot a mistake!
Daisy Duck
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First appeared in the
cartoon Mr. Duck Steps
Out on June 7, 1940.
Daisy is the sister of
Donna Duck, Donalds
ex-girlfriend, but Donna
is also the mother of
April, May and June.
Gladstone Gander and
Donald usally compete
in which one gets to
date Daisy.
Gladstone Gander
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Icelandic name: Hábeinn heppni
First appearance in comic “Wintertime
Wager” in January 1948.
Donald’s cousin and possibly his
adoptive brother (Barks and Rosa are
unclear on this).
Ridiculously lucky; as soon as he finds
the need for something, it miraculously
finds its way in his hands.
A single exception to his great luck is
his relationship with Daisy, as he and
Donald are either equally misfortunate
in wooing her, or -sometimes- Donald
is the one victorious.
May seem unlucky for some amount
of time, but almost always ends up
with luck on his side.
The first appearance of
Scrooge McDuck
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Created by Charles Barks
He first appears in "Christmas
on Bear mountain" in 1947 as a
mean old uncle of Donald
He was only intended to be in
that one story so his character
was not nearly what it is today
Often believed to be based on
both Ebenezer Scrooge and
Citizen Kane
Barks experimented some more
with Scrooge's appearance and
personality later on
Scrooge –second
appearance
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His second appearance is in "The
old Castle's Secrets" in 1948
That was the first time he is called
"The richest duck in the world
"Voodoo Hoodoo" was the first
hint of that Scrooge had quite a
past
Scrooge received his own comic
series in 1952 the first comic was
"Only a poor old man" and then
"Back to the Klondike" in 1953
These stories became the biggest
influence on how Scrooge's
character, past and beliefs would
be defined
Scrooge -Personality traits
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Today his most famous personality
trait is how cheap he is, he almost
never lends money to anyone and
does not spend any either if he
does not have to
Different from his rivals Flintheart
Glomgold and John D.
Rockerduck, Scrooge has a sense
of honesty that makes him
somewhat more of a good guy than
they are
However he does sometimes let
his greed win over that sense
Elvira “Grandma Duck” Coot
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Icelandic name: Elvíra/Andrea
“Amma Önd” Fiðurnef
First appearance as a picture in
1940, and in person in 1943.
Originally created by Al Taliaferro.
Grandmother of Donald and
Gladstone, is the greatgrandmother of D’s nephews.
Is obviously NOT Scrooge’s sister,
despite what some translators
may have declared.
Is widowed and lives on the farm
that she inherited from her father.
Raised her children on the farm,
later Donald and possibly more of
her decendants.
Gus Goose
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Icelandic name: Gassi Gæs
Species: Goose
First appearence 1939 in
Donald short “Donald’s
Cousin Gus”.
Lives on Grandma Duck’s
farm, where he works.
Likes to eat.
Gyro Gearloose
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Icelandic name: Georg gírlausi
Species: Chicken
Loyal friend to Donald, Scrooge
and the rest of the gang.
An incredibly talented and
productive inventor.
When stumped, he tends to
strike himself on the head with a
hammer for instant inspiration.
His greatest invention is most
likely his Little Helper (Litli
Hjálpari) who is a small lightbulbheaded robot, capable of
emotion and inventing things by
himself.
Magica de Spell
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Icelandic name: Hexía de Trix
Created by Carl Barks, first appeared
in his “The Midas Touch” story 1961.
One of Scrooge’s worst enemies.
Lives on the Italian volcano Vesuvius.
Covets Scrooge’s Number One Dime
(According to Barks, she intends to
melt it down to acuire the Midas
Touch: The ability to turn anything
into gold).
Always fails.
Always plays the villain, but has
shown unexpected sentiment on rare
occasions.
Carl Barks
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Carl Barks was born
on March 27th 1901.
He invented
Duckburg, and many
of it’s inhabitants.
He both drew good
comic strips and
amazing oilpaintings
of Donald and his
friends.
Barks work:
Kingdom Hearts
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A video game developed by the
Japanese company Square,
which is widely known as the
makers of the Final Fantasy
roleplaying games, in cooperation with Disney.
English version released in the
fall of 2002.
Is a mix of Disney characters
and worlds with some
characters and elements of the
FF RPGs, the most notable
contribution of Square may be
the first-rate graphics.
Characters of Kingdom
Hearts
Disney
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Main good guys:
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– Donald and Goofy.
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Supporting roles:
– Mickey Mouse
(appears briefly),
Pluto, Mina, Daisy,
Huey, Louie, Dewey,
Winnie the Pooh
(and friends), seven
of the classic
princesses and
many, many more...
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Villains:
– Malifecent, Hook,
Oogie Boogie,
Ursula and more.
Square/original
Main:
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Supporting:
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Sora
Riku, Kairi, Selphie,
Wakka, Tidus, Leon
(Squall), Yuffie, Cid,
Cloud and Aeris. (Also
appearing are Sephiroth
and some moogles.)
Villains:
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The Heartless and a
mysterious evil.
Teamers of AARRRGGH!:
Askur Kristjánsson
 Inga Auðbjörg Kristjánsdóttir
 Keno Don Rosa
 Lísa Hlín Óskarsdóttir
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