| Donald Duck | |
|---|---|
 The logo used by Disney to promote theDonald Duck franchise | |
| Created by | Walt Disney Dick Lundy Carl Barks (expansion) |
| Original work | The Wise Little Hen (1934) |
| Owner | The Walt Disney Company |
| Years | 1934–present |
| Print publications | |
| Comics | Donald Duck in comics |
| Comic strip(s) | Donald Duck in comic strips |
| Films and television | |
| Film(s) |
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| Short film(s) | Donald Duck film series (1934–1961) |
| Animated series |
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| Games | |
| Video game(s) | List
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| Miscellaneous | |
| Theme park attraction(s) | Donald's Boat (1993–2023) |
| Related universe | Mickey Mouse universe |
Due to the vast filmography of Donald Duck and related characters, this infobox does not exhaustively cover all works in this franchise. | |
TheDonald Duck universe is afictionalshared universe which is the setting of stories involvingDisney cartoon characterDonald Duck, as well asDaisy Duck,Huey, Dewey, and Louie,Scrooge McDuck, andmany other characters. Life in the Donald Duck universe centers on the city ofDuckburg and is a part of the largerMickey Mouse universe. In addition tothe original comic book stories by Carl Barks, the Duckburg cast was featured inLittle Golden Books, television series such asDuckTales (1987–1990),Darkwing Duck (1991–1992), and theDuckTales reboot (2017–2021), and video games such asDuckTales (1989),QuackShot (1991),Goin' Quackers (2000), andDuckTales: Remastered (2013).
"Donald Duck universe", sometimes calledDuckverse orScrooge McDuck universe, are unofficial terms used by Disney, but are sometimes used by fans.Disney comics artist/writerDon Rosa has also used the termsBarks Universe andItalian Duck Universe to describe different versions of history. According toCarl Barks, thecomic book creator ofScrooge McDuck,Duckburg, and its original cast of characters and themes (who also developedDonald Duck and createdDaisy Duck andHuey, Dewey and Louie for the earlyDonald Duck cartoons) — "Now we're beginning to read about Batman's universe, the Spiderman universe. All of those guys had their own universe, and so the ducks have their own universe." Barks adds, "Whenever I wrote the script and it was drawn by some other artist ... it came out looking so different, it didn't look like it belonged in the duck universe .. .Didn't look as real, or I use the word, 'sincere'. You couldn't tell whether the guy who drew it was really interested in turning out a nice product or not."[1]
The core Duckverse family dates back to thegolden age of American animation, generally introduced in Disneyshorts, weekly newspaper comics, orcomic books of the period assupporting characters forDonald Duck, who premiered in 1934 inThe Wise Little Hen (but was mentioned as a friend of Mickey's as early as 1931). Donald's nephews,Huey, Dewey, and Louie, debuted in 1937 in acomic strip adaptation of an in-production film,Donald's Nephews.Daisy Duck, Donald's on-again-off-again girlfriend premiered in 1940, inMr. Duck Steps Out.Grandma Duck also appeared in 1940, as a character inthe comic strip.Scrooge McDuck, the family's elderly uncle and "richest duck in the world", was created in 1947 byCarl Barks for thecomic book storyChristmas on Bear Mountain.
Scrooge McDuck appeared in the 1960Disneyland Records LP,Donald Duck and His Friends, in a plot that involved Donald andthe Beagle Boys. With the exception of Scrooge's brief cameo inThe Mickey Mouse Club opening theme, this marked the first appearance of a Barks-created character in a medium other than the comics and story books. Later, in 1963, the Beagle Boys played a role inChipmunk Fun, an LP that also mentioned Scrooge.[2][3]
Most of the characters have appeared in the 1980sDisney cartoon seriesDuckTales. Disney'sDarkwing Duck series is nominally set in the separateDuckTales universe, in a metropolis called St. Canard, although aside from sharing the denizenLaunchpad McQuack, and a few crossover episodes involvingGizmoduck, there is no interaction. Much of theDuckTales and all of theDarkwing Duck material do not appear in Barks' comics, as the two TV series were created decades after Barks's active years as a comic artist. Later, a few characters would be the main characters in the showQuack Pack.
However, in the magazineDisney Adventures, there was a five-part crossover/storyline titled "Legend of the Chaos God" which began withTaleSpin, and continued withChip 'n Dale Rescue Rangers,Goof Troop, andDuckTales, then concluded withDarkwing Duck.
Duckburg was the setting of the 1987animated seriesDuckTales. The cartoon's version of Duckburg was based loosely on the comics' version. Duckburg appeared in the 1990s animated seriesQuack Pack. In Quack Pack, Duckburg was populated almost entirely byhuman beings, with Donald, Daisy, and Donald's nephews as the only anthropomorphized animals that usually appeared. Moreover, the Money Bin is nowhere to be seen. Duckburg was the setting for one of the three initial levels of thevideo gameQuackshot and also for the second level of the video gameDonald Duck: Goin' Quackers.
Duckburg was also used for the setting of Mickey's Birthday land (later Mickey's Starland) at Walt Disney World's Magic Kingdom from 1988 to 1996. It even included Grandma Duck's Farm and a statue ofCornelius Coot, though it was more of a rural town than a burgeoning metropolis. The connection to Duckburg was removed as the land was renovated in 1996 to becomeMickey's Toontown Fair. However, the Cornelius Coot statue remains.
In the 2017 version ofDuckTales many elements of the Duck universe from the comics of Don Rosa and Carl Barks were used, alongside elements of others Disney stories (including the original 1987DuckTales TV series,Darkwing Duck,TaleSpin,Chip 'n Dale Rescue Rangers,Quack Pack,Goof Troop and others). They were brought together into one common global storyline in the manner of theMarvel Cinematic Universe.
Donald Duck and his maternal uncleScrooge McDuck received nearly equal exposure in comics. (The reduced emphasis on Donald in the 1980s version ofDuckTales was largely due to a Disney mandate that forbade its nascent television division from using major characters from the Golden Age of Animation, including Donald and Daisy.[4]) Other primary characters include Donald's three young nephewsHuey, Dewey, and Louie, and girlfriendDaisy Duck.
Several secondary characters have also achieved star status in certain publications, such asGrandma Duck, Donald Duck's grandmother;Gladstone Gander, Donald Duck's incredibly lucky cousin;Gyro Gearloose, an inventor who is often patronized by Scrooge; andLudwig Von Drake, a knowledgeable professor. Scrooge also has several enemies, such as theBeagle Boys, a gang of robbers and escaped prisoners;Magica De Spell, an Italian sorceress; and South AfricanFlintheart Glomgold and English-AmericanJohn D. Rockerduck, both rival business men of Scrooge.
Some characters have appeared alongside Donald primarily in animation, such as chipmunksChip 'n' Dale (Chip an' Dale,Toy Tinkers) andHumphrey the Bear (Rugged Bear,Grin and Bear It), as well asMickey Mouse (The Dognapper,Magician Mickey),Goofy (Polar Trappers,Frank Duck Brings 'Em Back Alive), andPluto (Donald and Pluto,Window Cleaners), who are more often associated with theMickey Mouse universe.
Duckburg/ˈdʌkbɜːrɡ/[5] is thefictional city, located in the fictionalU.S. state ofCalisota,[6] that serves as the home ofDonald Duck,Scrooge McDuck,Huey, Dewey, and Louie,Daisy Duck and most of their supporting cast. Duckburg was first mentioned inWalt Disney's Comics and Stories #49 in 1944, and was created byCarl Barks.[7]
The city is populated by variousanthropomorphized animals, with dogs, different birds (includingducks,geese andchickens) and pigs as the most dominant ones. Themayor of the city is often depicted as a pig, whose name most of the time goes unmentioned and is referred instead by readers[clarification needed] as thePig Mayor. However, in some stories the office of mayor is held by various dog characters.
The size andstructure of Duckburg varied in the works by Barks: it was adjusted to better fit the story he wanted to tell; it could vary from a small town to a medium-sized city, to a bustlingmetropolis. Later writers and artists adhere to this tradition recurrently. In one specific story by Barks,Monsterville (1961), Duckburg was even transformed into a futuristic city byGyro Gearloose, however it proved that the citizens were not ready for the high level of technology that the new city provided. Thus the city was turned back to its old city structure.
In comic writerDon Rosa's stories, Duckburg and the state of Calisota is located on theWest Coast of the United States, though Carl Barks himself and other writers often leave the city's location more vaguely defined. However, inDon Rosa'sThe Life and Times of Scrooge McDuck, the author alludes to where exactly he has situated Duckburg: "I won't bother to say precisely where I situated Duckburg and Calisota on America's west coast… but if you get out a good map and compare the coastline, you'll see that I stuck the old gold-prospector's adopted hometown directly across the bay from a very appropriately named actual city." Knowing how Don Rosa used gags, it is likely that this city would beEureka, California (Eureka meaning 'I found it'!). This fits with the river and a large forest south of Eureka.[8] In theDuckTales episode "Double O' Duck", a map is shown which shows Duckburg as being located somewhere in Virginia or North Carolina.
There are no references to the governor, legislature, Capitol, etc., of Calisota in any of the many stories about Duckburg. However, Duckburg seems to have its own governor, if it is not a sort ofcity-state. In more than one story a "Duckburg embassy" has been shown, which would place it outside the US at a diplomatic level. In the storyTreasure of Marco Polo (Uncle Scrooge #64, 1966) by Carl Barks, the Duckburg embassy displays a flag of Duckburg, which consists of a white duck over a green field. However, in the Don Rosa story "His Majesty, McDuck" (Uncle Scrooge Adventures #14, Gladstone Aug. 1989) Scrooge gains a short-lived independence from the United States for Killmotor Hill, thus placing Duckburg within theUnited States.
The most prominent landmark in Duckburg is Scrooge McDuck'sMoney Bin, a giant building sitting on Killmotor Hill (formerly known as Killmule Hill) in the center of town. The money bin contains both office space, Scrooge's private living quarters and, most famously, three cubic acres of money, the results of Scrooge's lifetime of business and treasure-seeking adventures. Another major landmark in some stories is a largestatue of Duckburg's founder,Cornelius Coot.[9]
Duckburg is a major center forSpace exploration, mainly operated and overseen byGyro Gearloose, and has had expeditions to theMoon,Mars,Venus, theAsteroids, and more remote parts of theGalaxy. The city also features a sea port and is in proximity of a large forest called the Black Forest and to severalmountains, the most notable being "Old Demon Tooth", usually depicted as a towering pointed peak leaning slightly to the side.[8] The main river of the city is the Tulebug River, first mentioned inThe Money Well (1958) by Carl Barks, and it is located near Killmotor Hill.
Duckburg is home to Yarvard University (a play on the universities ofHarvard andYale), an institution more notable for its athletic teams than for its academic achievements.[8] It also has had international students, like thebey of El Dagga fromEgypt, who is mentioned in Yarvard's first appearance;Donald Duck and the Mummy's Ring by Carl Barks from 1943. One of the things the bey learned at the university was thatmummies do not eat.[10] Duckburg is also the home of the Billionaires Club of some of which Scrooge McDuck,John D. Rockerduck and, according to some stories,Flintheart Glomgold are influential members. Duckburg also has aRitz Hotel, first mentioned in Carl Barks' storyTurkey with All the Schemings (Walt Disney's Comics and Stories #148, 1953) at which Scrooge McDuck had a business meeting with Donald Duck; who was disguised as the Duke of Baloni, the World's Second-Richest Duck at that time. In the same story Scrooge later buys the Ritz Hotel and he still owns it in Don Rosa's storyAttaaaaaack! (2000).
Located near Duckburg is afarm owned and run byGrandma Duck, a direct descendant ofCornelius Coot and Donald's paternalgrandmother.[8] Donald's cousinGus Goose also lives on Grandma's farm as a farmhand. The farm is often a gathering site for various Duck family holiday celebrations.[11]
In other languages, Duckburg (for exampleDuckstad in Dutch,Entenhausen in German,Ankeborg in Swedish,Rațburg in Romanian,Andeby in Danish, orPatópolis in both European and Brazilian Portuguese) is not only home of "the Ducks", but Mickey Mouse and friends live there too. This has occasionally been implied also in English-language publications, as whenSuper Goof is referred to as "Duckburg's greatest hero" in a poster seen in the initial panel of the 1973 storyGalactic Gourmet (Super Goof #27,Gold Key Comics). The story moreover pits Super Goof against the Beagle Boys, normally portrayed as living and operating in Duckburg.
In the comics by Don Rosa, Duckburg was a fort built on Killmule Hill on June 17, 1579, byBritish explorerSir Francis Drake in the area he namedNova Albion, in what would later become the state of Calisota. It was originally known as "Fort Drakeborough". In the year 1818, during theSpanish colonization of California (1697–1821), the fort had been handed over by its departing British occupants to the visitinghunter andfur traderCornelius Coot, who Americanized the British name of the fort to "Fort Duckburg". "Drake" means a male duck, while "borough" and "burg" aresynonyms. Cornelius Coot turned the old fort into atrading post for fellow traders and hunters, and their families. Eventually a small town grew around the fort on top of Killmule Hill. In Carl Barks' storyThe Day Duckburg Got Dyed (1957), it is revealed that Cornelius Coot at some point in Duckburg's history managed to pipe mountain water into the town. During theAmerican Civil War, a decisive battle was fought on top of an unnamed hill in Duckburg, led by the Duckburgian General Stonewall Duck.[13] It is not known on which side the city fought, but with General Stonewall Duck being based on the real-lifeStonewall Jackson, it can be assumed they fought for theConfederacy. However, the real-life state of California, in which the fictional state of Calisota is located according to Don Rosa, was a Unionist state, making Duckburg a more likely member of theUnion.
Duckburg remained a quiet, small town until the arrival of wealthy businessman Scrooge McDuck. He had bought the old fort and the hill from fellowprospectorCasey Coot, a descendant of Cornelius Coot, during theKlondike Gold Rush in 1899.[14] Scrooge proceeded to construct his famousMoney Bin on the location, which would eventually cause McDuck an incredible variety of problems and dilemmas. The first one was caused by theJunior Woodchucks, who were squatting in the site and using the old fort as their headquarters, even though they did not have legal title to it. The dispute led to a small war in 1902, involving the United Statesmarines andnavy, led by thenPresidentTheodore Roosevelt.[15] Eventually however, the construction of the Money Bin, and Scrooge's establishment of various businesses in and around Duckburg, caused Duckburg's population to swell, and turned the small town into a bustling city and a globalfinancial centre within a few decades.[16]
Calisota/ˌkælɪˈsoʊtə/[note 1] is a fictional U.S. state, created byCarl Barks in his storyThe Gilded Man (Four Color #422). Duckburg is among the cities located there, as well as Goosetown,[17] a traditional rival of Duckburg, andMouseton.[18]
Although it has many fictional elements and a variable climate, Calisota is probably synonymous withJefferson, being roughly equivalent toNorthern California. Duckburg is located north ofSan Francisco, with a map inDon Rosa'sThe Life and Times of Scrooge McDuck showing Calisota corresponding to the part of California north of the 39th parallel.[12]
The name is ablend ofCalifornia andMinnesota, supposedly to allow all kinds of weather or climate in the stories, although Calisota has very little in common with the latter (a state in theUpper Midwest, far from the ocean) and Northern California's regional weather is variable enough by itself.
Brutopia (ablend ofbrute andUtopia) is afictional country appearing in severalDonald Duck stories. It was created byCarl Barks in the storyA Cold Bargain from 1957. Brutopia is a hostile country, aiming for world domination. It hence is clearly acaricature of theSoviet Union. In the Duck universe, Brutopia occasionally attempts to steal Scrooge's money so as to devastate the American economy, and to fund the creation of doomsday weaponry. Itsnational coat of arms has been shown either as a dagger[19] or the hammer and shackles.[20]
Whether Brutopia is a stand-in for all of the USSR, or just for part of it, varies with the story.[citation needed] Sometimes parallels to Russia are drawn directly. Don Rosa has suggested that Brutopia might instead represent the eastern part ofSiberia.[citation needed]
The language of Brutopia often looks somewhatSlavic. On some occasions it is written inCyrillic script. On the other hand, Brutopians seem to speak perfect, non-accented English; and other stories show English language texts being used by Brutopians.[citation needed]
In 1957, Brutopia's military spending budget amounted to one trillion dollars plus all the kitchen sinks of its happy people (a number that on closer inspection turned out to be five).[citation needed]Scrooge McDuck outbid the Brutopian government by paying one trillion dollars and six kitchen sinks for a sample of the recently discovered substance ofbombastium.[citation needed]
TheMoney Bin is the building whereScrooge McDuck stores the portions of his money he earned by himself. Carl Barks invented the "money swim" in his storyA Financial Fable (1950), followed by the "Money Bin" in the storyTerror of the Beagle Boys (1951).[21] In Barks' earlier stories, interchangeably with the name Money Bin, the building's official name was theMcDuck Building, which was only used onfacade signs. Eventually however, the name was discontinued in the later stories by Barks and subsequent writers and artists.
While the first stories showing the Bin treated it as if it had just been built, later continuity established that Scrooge had built the Money Bin in 1902 after having traveled around the world to make his fortune, mostly through prospecting and the establishment of various businesses. Scrooge's favoritepastime is to dive off aspringboard into his money and swim through it. In most comic books stories, Scrooge lives at the Money Bin in his private quarters on the top floor, with the rooms often filled with large amounts of money. Because of Scrooge'sfrugality he has at times even made his own furniture and architecture out of his money; like using moneybags as chairs or using stacked paper bills as stairs to reach high places. The Money Bin also has a worry room in which Scrooge paces around in circles, which has caused a circular depression in the floor, to worry and ponder about hardships that has befallen him. The worry room was first mentioned in Carl Barks' storyThe Secret of Atlantis (Uncle Scrooge #5, 1954).
The traditional location of the Money Bin is on top of Killmotor Hill which in turn lies atop afault line which would prove catastrophic in the event of anearthquake, and this earthquake occurred in the storyLand Beneath the Ground! (1956) by Carl Barks.
The Money Bin is the victim of repeated assaults by Scrooge's enemies who try to steal his money, such as theBeagle Boys, who are after the bulk of Scrooge's money, andMagica DeSpell, who is after Scrooge's "Number One Dime", the firstdime Scrooge ever earned. To protect against these attempted break-ins, Scrooge has installed the greatestsecurity system in the world, which includesGizmoduck in theDuckTales TV-Series, to thwart any thought of even trying to intrude onto the premises.
Barks defined the volume of money contained inside as "three cubic acres", but the exact meaning of a "cubic acre" left to the reader to interpret, since anacre is a measure ofarea, notlength. Taken literally, acubic acre would be a 6-dimensional space of 82,653,950,016,000 ft6, i.e. feet to the sixth power. Taken as an acre that is raised to a cube with each side an acre, it would be around 9 091 379 ft3. A series of blueprints created for the Scrooge McDuck story "The Beagle Boys vs. the Money Bin" byDon Rosa state that the Money Bin is approximately 127 feet (39 m) tall, and 120 feet (37 m) wide. In the story, said blueprints are accredited to an architect named Frank Lloyd Drake, who is based on the real-life architectFrank Lloyd Wright.
The Money Bin also contains various valuable artifacts like theGolden Fleece,[22] the Crown ofGenghis Khan,[23] the Crown of theMayas,[24] the Candy-Striped Ruby[25] and the Goose Egg Nugget.[26] According to Carl Barks' storyThe Fabulous Philosopher's Stone (Uncle Scrooge #10, 1955) Scrooge also owned thePhilosopher's Stone at one point, but it was later confiscated by the International Money Council as it could devastate the economy because of its capability to turn base metals into gold.
TheDanish andNorwegian names for "the Money Bin" arePengetanken andPengebingen, respectively, and these have become a regular word in these languages for a large amount of money or cash.[27]
Russell W. Belk mentions the Money Bin inMaterial Values in the Comics: A Content Analysis of Comic Books Featuring Themes of Wealth, where he remarks that Scrooge's "childish fascination with money", where he takes pleasure in diving and swimming in the Money Bin, might account for Scrooge not being portrayed as a villain.[28] Penelope Fritzer in the articleScrooge McDuck: Postmodern Robber Baron considers it possible for the Money Bin to symbolize the entire Disney empire.[29]
The Money Bin in theDuckTales 2017 reboot is given a total redesign. Here it is depicted as a large tower situated on an island in the waters near Duckburg, connected to the city via a bridge, and visible directly from Scrooge's bedroom window. It is perceived as a costly architectural fancy by Scrooge's board of directors, though Scrooge candidly claimed its deranged staff being let go would cause a larger danger. Aside from storing his money, this incarnation of the Money Bin (somewhat emptier due to Scrooge's costly search for the lostDella Duck) also serves as the corporate headquarters of McDuck Industries and the location of Gyro Gearloose's lab.
Flintheart Glomgold also owns a money bin, located nearLimpopo Valley inSouth Africa. Glomgold's bin substitutes the dollar sign ($) that appears on Scrooge's with a pound sign (£),[30] as theSouth African pound was the currency of South Africa until 1961. The preference for the pound sign can also be explained by Glomgold's heritage, which puts him as a citizen of South Africa with British blood, whereas Scrooge embraced America despite his pure Scottish blood.
The Millionaires' club (sometimes called the Billionaires' club) is a prominentgentlemen's club in Duckburg, with its premises located in a stately mansion. The club first appeared in the 1959 storyThe Christmas Cha Cha, written byBob Gregory and drawn byCarl Barks. Membership of the club is exclusive, with the minimum requirement being owning at least a million dollars.
Scrooge McDuck, Flintheart Glomgold and John Rockerduck are all members of the club, along with several other millionaires. Although Scrooge is clearly the wealthiest man in Duckburg, he is not the speaker of the club nor holds any special position above the other members. A repeating scene is Scrooge arriving at the club to catch up on the dailynewspapers, as he is too stingy to buy copies himself. His favourite refreshment at the club is plaintap water as it is the cheapest the club has to offer. Whenever Scrooge meets his rival Rockerduck at the club, the two end up in an argument.
The speaker of the club often holds contests requiring spending excessive amounts of money and displaying a flamboyant millionaire lifestyle. Although Scrooge hates these contents because of the excessive spending, he is always forced to take part, in order to maintain his membership and status in the club.
The Number One Dime (sometimes also called Lucky Dime in some games) is the firstcoin thatScrooge McDuck ever earned (or, according to some stories, produced). The Number One Dime first appeared in the storyThe Round Money Bin, created byCarl Barks and first published inUncle Scrooge #3 (September, 1953).[31] In this story, the dime is so old that it has become thin as a razor blade and allows Scrooge to cut binding ropes and escape from the Beagle Boys. In later stories, it is insinuated that the dime brings good luck to Scrooge and has helped him become a rich man. In some stories, he instantly starts losing money whenever the dime is no longer in his possession. In fact, in some series, Scrooge is so attached to the dime that he becomes hysterical, to the point of losing his mind, whenever he loses possession of the dime.
It is never made clear whether the dime actually brings goodluck, or if Scrooge merely believes in it so much that he is distressed and makes bad decisions whenever he no longer has hisdime. Since Barks never actually said that it was because of the coin that Scrooge was the richest duck in the world, Don Rosa, after various informational exchanges with Barks, for a faithful production ofThe Life and Times Of Scrooge McDuck, clarified that the Number One Dime is not actually an amulet, and that this vision was just a myth. The Number One Dime is just a sentimental object that happens to be the first coin Scrooge received for his work. Rosa made clear, also, that Scrooge made his fortune working hard and being honest.[32] This point is heavily reinforced in theDuckTales TV series where Scrooge tells his nephews about the value of hard earned cash.
The dime is a key plot point in practically every story featuringMagica De Spell, a character invented by Carl Barks, as the main villain. Magica believes that by stealing the first coin earned by the richest person in the world and melting it down to a magicalamulet, she can gain the power of the ancientKing Midas, so that everything she touches becomesgold and she can be rich beyond her wildest dreams. The fact that this will only work if the coin indeed belongs to the richest person in the world at the time, and is the first coin that person earned, is crucial, and is made into a plot point in some stories. However, the dime only has magical value because of these circumstances and not on its own. Magica once successfully stole the Dime while helping the Beagle Boys rob McDuck, stopping when she realized this would mean McDuck would no longer be the world's richest person, rendering the Dime worthless.
According to a comic story byDon Rosa,[33] it is an 1875Seated Libertydime, but in a comic story written by Pat and Carol McGreal and drawn by Maximino Tortajada Aguilar,[34] the last two digits have been swapped, making it an 1857Seated Liberty dime.
Scrooge earned the dime in 1877 in his hometown ofGlasgow, when he started working as a shoeshine boy on his tenth birthday.[16] Before that it belonged toHoward Rockerduck (the father ofJohn D. Rockerduck). The customer who paid it to him, a ditch-digger called Burt, seemingly "cheated" Scrooge. In reality, Scrooge's father,Fergus McDuck, gave Burt the dime specifically for paying Scrooge for his services. Scrooge McDuck never learned that fact, although Fergus did reveal it to Scrooge's sisters Matilda and Hortense. Burt and Magica De Spell, who learned about this when she traveled in time to the day Scrooge earned the Dime, are the only other ones who know. McDuck kept it as a reminder not to be fooled again in the future. When he emigrated to theUS three years later, he carried it with him. Scrooge still has the dime and keeps it on a pillow under glass because of its sentimental value.Donald Duck,Huey, Dewey, and Louie, andGladstone Gander among many others think it is really a lucky charm, but Scrooge himself rejects any claims beyond sentimentality.[32]
The Junior Woodchucks are theScouting organization to whichHuey, Dewey, and Louie belong. They have a uniform with acoonskin cap. The Junior Woodchucks were created byCarl Barks in 1951, in the story "Operation St. Bernhard" (Walt Disney's Comics and Stories #125). Later stories introduced a similar organization for girls,Junior Chickadees, to whichDaisy Duck's nieces,April, May and June belong. The hallmark of the Junior Woodchucks is their spirited dedication toenvironmental protection andanimal welfare, as well as the preservation ofknowledge and the furtherance ofscience. They are also known for their exalted titles and ranks (Huey, Dewey, and Louie being promoted to becomeTen-Star Generals in the 1952 story of the same name) and the awarding of buckets of badges, along with severe ideals as to decorum. In this way Barks poked gentle but pointed satire at aspects of the Boy Scouts.
Bombastium is afictional chemical element.[35] Itsatomic number and atomic symbol are unknown. Bombastium is stated to be the rarest element in the world. Even though it is very coveted, its usage potential is not entirely known. One characteristic is that it tastes different every time you try it, and scientists eventually discovered that one atom of bombastium dropped into a barrel of water becomes one barrel ofice cream – a different flavor of ice cream each time. The element is orange-brown in color and is about the size of asoccer ball. To avoid evaporation, bombastium must be kept frozen.
The only piece of bombastium known to exist was found in theBelgian Congo, and it was soon after its discovery acquired byScrooge McDuck in the 1957 story "A Cold Bargain" by Carl Barks, but at that time it was also heavily sought after by the hostile nation ofBrutopia. Brutopia's military spending budget that year amounted to one trillion dollars plus all the kitchen sinks of its happy people.Scrooge McDuck therefore had to pay one trillion dollars plus six kitchen sinks to win the auction.
The element was also used for the 5-partDuckTales episode "Time is Money", which introducedBubba the Caveduck. In this cartoon episode, bombastium is the fuel for one ofGyro Gearloose's inventions, atime travelinghelicopter named the Millennium Shortcut. The bombastium itself must be kept frozen in order for it to be usable as fuel (a smallfreezer is equipped on board the Shortcut for this purpose). Otherwise, the Shortcut could not travel through time.
One of the treasures that can be obtained in the computer gameDuckTales: The Quest for Gold is bombastium. Unlike the other treasures, bombastium is worth more than just money, as Gyro Gearloose can use it to build a matter transporter which takes away the risk of flying from place to place while having the possible downside of sending the player to a location they had not intended to go.
Squiggs are fairly small fish that are typically eaten "oolated". Squiggs were first mentioned in the Carl Barks ten-pager "Turkey Trouble" where, in one panel, a can of "oolated squiggs" can be seen as a background detail. Don Rosa later used the fish as a key plot element in the story "Oolated Luck".
Conserved oolated squiggs are fairly cheap and wholesome food but taste particularly bad, and smell worse.Donald Duck andGladstone Gander once took part in a competition organized by a company producing oolated squiggs, where the grand prize was anocean liner cruise. Donald won the grand prize and Gladstone won a year's supply of oolated squiggs.
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