tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5423579092779163824.post3117001917671797702..comments2024-03-28T03:15:52.497-04:00Comments on Duck Comics Revue: "Christmas on Bear Mountain"GeoX, one of the GeoX boys.http://www.blogger.com/profile/14658452994152399308noreply@blogger.comBlogger15125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5423579092779163824.post-34198387257118788412016-12-23T09:43:36.934-05:002016-12-23T09:43:36.934-05:00@GeoX
"Well, he's sometimes known as Fath...@GeoX<br />"Well, he's sometimes known as Father Christmas in English, too". I know, as a child studying English many years ago I learnt that Babbo Natale's English name was Father Christmas in British English and Santa Claus in American English (I still see that old English dictionary for children two shelves above me). I tended to use the former, as it was word by word identical to the Italian name I knew, while Santa Claus sounded to me like two random words put together. Nowdays I would use Santa Claus because I see it used more often, and because of its etymology related to Saint Nicholas's name; plus, I think it was about one year ago that I decided to search for the Wikipedia definition of Santa Claus and discovered that the name Father Christmas was first used to indicate a separate and earlier "character", and that their unification was as recent as the late 19th century:<br /><br />https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Father_Christmas<br /><br />But I'm digressing (as I often find myself doing), so I'll stop here since this is not a discussion on Santa Claus/Father Christmas.<br />Thanks for expaining the "grandfather clause" joke. I guess it's not the funniest joke ever, but it's not like I could suggest a better one (I imagine callng Santa Claus "Father Christmas" on this occasion just to keep the "Uncle Christmas" joke wasn't an option). If I remember correctly, though, Father Christmas being the nephew of Uncle Christmas was in the original a direct parallel to Donald being the nephew of Scrooge; not sure if any changes were made for this reason or if they were thought to be unnecessary.<br /><br />@Achille<br />Thanks for the link. However, IMDb features user-generated content, so I wonder: is "The Spirit of '43" listed in some scholarly source as a short to which Barks contributed to?Drakeboroughnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5423579092779163824.post-44777550192586716992016-12-23T07:14:43.196-05:002016-12-23T07:14:43.196-05:00According to the IMDB (http://www.imdb.com/title/t...According to the IMDB (http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0168184/combined), Carl Bakrs and Joe Grant share story credit for the cartoon.Achille Talonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11636339293230261724noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5423579092779163824.post-2478335372439910172016-12-23T07:08:46.815-05:002016-12-23T07:08:46.815-05:00Well, he's sometimes known as Father Christmas...Well, he's sometimes known as Father Christmas in English, too, though it sounds a little old-fashioned/Victorian. Anyway, "Grandpa Claus" is a play on "grandfather clause," for whatever it's worth. Not the world's GREATEST wordplay, I'll admit, but it'll do.GeoX, one of the GeoX boys.https://www.blogger.com/profile/14658452994152399308noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5423579092779163824.post-56176596342818979732016-12-23T06:20:59.704-05:002016-12-23T06:20:59.704-05:00@Achille
It was "Zio Natale" ("Uncl...@Achille<br />It was "Zio Natale" ("Uncle Claus") in the original version too. Of course, the joke is that in Italy Santa Claus is known as "Babbo Natale" ("Father Christmas"), so "Zio Natale" translates into "Uncle Christmas", and I think it must be the same in France, where if I remember correctly Santa is known as "Pere Noel". I guess Uncle Claus or Grandpa Claus don't sound as funny. <br /><br />Did Barks work on "The Spirit of '43"? I don't recall seeing it in his filmography list.Drakeboroughnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5423579092779163824.post-58163325756895116622016-12-23T05:31:25.807-05:002016-12-23T05:31:25.807-05:00"Grandpa" Claus? In our French version i..."Grandpa" Claus? In our French version it was "Uncle" Claus, to emphasize the similarity between him and Scrooge.<br /><br />As for "The Spirit of '43", I'm dead-convinced that he was the inspiration for Scrooge. After all, Barks worked on that cartoon.Achille Talonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11636339293230261724noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5423579092779163824.post-53085832619344617512016-12-22T21:33:27.021-05:002016-12-22T21:33:27.021-05:00Yup, "Another Christmas on Bear Mountain"...Yup, "Another Christmas on Bear Mountain" does involve time travel. And Grandpa Claus. Kind of silly, but more Christmassy than "Bear Mountain" and I enjoyed it enough to re-read it. Elainenoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5423579092779163824.post-1643412313791657782016-12-22T20:59:23.794-05:002016-12-22T20:59:23.794-05:00Was that the sequel where Scrooge discover that Do...Was that the sequel where Scrooge discover that Donald didn't really sleeped with the brave because he was brave but by acident and Scrooge time travel to chance events or something... it was so long ago. <br /><br /><br /><br />Pan Miluśhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13040860912155201940noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5423579092779163824.post-55993336386181931032016-12-22T20:38:26.935-05:002016-12-22T20:38:26.935-05:00Yay, Christmas story posts!
Yeah, this is not one...Yay, Christmas story posts!<br /><br />Yeah, this is not one of the dozen Duck stories I re-read every Christmas, as it is not Christmassy enough. Though I'm actually more likely to re-read it now that I have "Another Christmas on Bear Mountain" (Faraci/Cavazzano) to follow it up (maybe you'll be reviewing that, too?). I did enjoy that sequel. Didn't think that much of the earlier sequel, "Return to Bear Mountain" (Bergström & Anderson/Branca), though my quite-young-at-the-time godson liked it a lot back in 1993. Perhaps that's a story that works better for the younger set.<br /><br />I do, however, *love* the Bear Mountain cover on WDCS 608. One of my very favorite Christmas Duck covers. The starry blue "comics" is somehow a key part of its charm.Elainenoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5423579092779163824.post-20706825679869388632016-12-22T15:51:17.524-05:002016-12-22T15:51:17.524-05:00As for duck using British insted of American dicti...As for duck using British insted of American diction, I can only asume Barks wanted to make this Christmas story feel as dickensian as possible. You can tell he was confident it will put the reader in ta Christmas Caroly spirit by puting palm trees in the background, and we are ever so greatfull for it! :) <br /><br />Pan Miluśhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13040860912155201940noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5423579092779163824.post-7871078168206824452016-12-22T12:24:34.155-05:002016-12-22T12:24:34.155-05:00Great to see this story reviewed. Perhaps not Bark...Great to see this story reviewed. Perhaps not Barks' best Christmas tale in itself,<br />but I'm so glad he did this story, as the comic book world would be much poorer without Scrooge. Here are some comments by Barks, from a 1975 interview with Edward Summer:<br /><br />"I had to get a Christmas story going, and somehow a person just automatically goes back to the old Dickens Scrooge story, the old classic, 'cause part of the things that go along with Christmas, like the ringing of bells and singing of carols and so on, is the repetition of the old Scrooge classic. So I got to thinking of an old rich uncle, and gradually the story just kept building. Donald would have to get into a situation where I could use this rich uncle. And the kids naturally wanted Christmas trees, and they wanted snow, and the different things that go along with Christmas. So all the elements were there, and I just started hooking them together automatically. Now, I can't say where these things come from. I have a situation that has to be solved, and somehow all the parts just commence coming into my head from someplace and I just fit them together, and pretty soon I had fitted together a story of the ducks getting permission from their rich uncle to go up on Bear Mountain and use his cabin overnight. Well, that, of course, meant that the rich uncle had to have a reason for doing that, so I brought in this thought that he wanted to know whether Donald was a real brave duck, and that led to the bear, and the situation of testing Donald's courage."<br /><br />"while it's undeniably a Christmas story, it doesn't quite have the festive spirit that I treasure so": I guess this explain why an old Italian translation could get away with the characters pretending it's Christmas.<br /><br />"One might also note that supposedly, Rosa's "Richest Duck in the World" takes place in the time between when Scrooge left the cabin convinced of his nephews' bravery and this scene": I've often wondered about that, especially when last year I tried as a mental experiment to figure out how an animated series adapting classing duck comics would turn out if I could write it (my mental adaptation of "The Richest Duck in the World" included "Christmas on Bear Mountain"). A couple of changes would be needed, but I think the transition would be pretty smooth. Rosa's opinion on the issue:<br /><br />"My story fits in immediately before the last page of that original 1947 story. In other words, it happens after the night on Bear Mountain (which had been Christmas Eve) and before the Ducks attend a Christmas Day dinner at McDuck Manor. In my version, the Ducks had never met their Uncle $crooge before, but naturally knew of him... you'll see nothing in the original 1947 story to suggest otherwise. Still, I won't say my story fits too smoothly inside the original. [...] I don't have him in the same ebullient mood as when he departed Bear Mountain after spying on his nephews -- the logic of my story depended on $crooge being back in the same sour state as at the beginning of that 1947 tale... perhaps he's cranky after not getting any sleep the previous night? Oops!"<br /><br />As for "The Spirit of '43", I think the character's similarity with Scrooge is merely a coincidence, though we can't know for sure. And if Gladstone has a prototype in animation, that would more likely be Lucky Ducky from Disney's "Chicken Little"(1943).<br /><br />Incidently, it is strange to me that so many old American stories didn't have the "The End" sign.Drakeboroughnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5423579092779163824.post-10081816087468604342016-12-22T08:25:01.934-05:002016-12-22T08:25:01.934-05:00GeoX didn't reveiw this story yet?! BUT...?! H...GeoX didn't reveiw this story yet?! BUT...?! HOW...?! WHO...?! WHY...?! WHOM...?! WHAAAA--??? <br />Cool!<br /><br />To be fair if not the "HEY! IT'S THAT STORY THAT INTRODUCES SCROOGE!" factor I woudn't found this one very interesting. Clearly it could easly been a 10pager. It's not that big of a plot. <br /><br /><br />If (in some evil "dark twisted apocalyptic universe") this was the ONLY story Barks ever used Scrooge, I think he would still be more remembered then the colorful personality of Cuthbert Cooot. Heck, maybe some Italian writer would used the character once every blue-moon, when he was tired of comming up with stories involving Barks more popular creation's like April, May and June, three-timed used HD&L goofy pig friend Herbert, or John D. Rockerduck (who despite lack of Scrooge was still invented by Barks and is cosider a big character in Italy... that's how the evil "dark twisted apocaliptic universe" rolls)<br /><br /> <br /><br />But what about the theory that Scrooge was inpsired by VERY similar character in 'Spirit of 43" Cartoon? <br /><br />- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TZPHV0elLnQ<br /><br />I like to think so... despite the fact I hate the theory that Gladstone Gander was somewat inspired by the other duck in the cartoon... Gladstone may be a lucky pest but even at his most jerkyest I can't see him go supproting the Natzi party (even his evil "dark twisted apocalyptic universe" counterpart dosen't swing this way, and that guy is trubble to say the least)Pan Miluśhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13040860912155201940noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5423579092779163824.post-3184054994602197562016-12-22T07:39:47.607-05:002016-12-22T07:39:47.607-05:00A story in which the reclused Scrooge of the '...A story in which the reclused Scrooge of the '40s tries to relive his Klondike days by getting a cabin (trying first to build it on his own but not finding enough strength to do so) and living there for a while, getting traumatized by bears and finally having to admit that he doesn't have "it" anymore... would be incredibly depressing. Just like any other Chapter 11½ idea.<br /><br />And I have tried sometimes to read this story within the Life and Times, and it doesn't mesh well at all, but chapter XII is better for it.Lugijahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01489934906877791266noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5423579092779163824.post-15016006610186005422016-12-22T04:21:27.516-05:002016-12-22T04:21:27.516-05:00(Also, I sent you an email…)(Also, I sent you an email…)Achille Talonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11636339293230261724noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5423579092779163824.post-28052347950983042832016-12-21T21:52:29.666-05:002016-12-21T21:52:29.666-05:00Speaking as a big Rosa fan prone to long monologue...Speaking as a big Rosa fan prone to long monologues about his work, your question about reconciling the two stories is... you really can't. Chapter 12 cheats, no bones about it, these two stories just don't mesh together. I wish I could say otherwise, but nope.<br /><br />As to the story itself? I agree with you, it's got some hiccups but is generally a nice, sweet story. Not his best, but pretty good. I like the slapstick a little more than you did, but perhaps that's because I can see it as a Disney short.<br /><br />If you really, really need some justification on the cabin though, there's nothing that says it couldn't be rented or part of one of his businesses that he borrowed for this. A cabin for people who want to 'rough it' in the woods but have a fridge stocked full of all kinds of decadent food seems very much like a Barksian joke to me. And if it isn't a joke he used, it's a joke I'll use in a story someday.<br /><br />Merry Christmas, sir! And a happy New Year.Review Or Diehttp://www.reviewordie.wordpress.comnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5423579092779163824.post-33398434966311500932016-12-21T11:37:14.153-05:002016-12-21T11:37:14.153-05:00Glad to see you review this story. (Note also the ...Glad to see you review this story. (Note also the Ducklings who comment on their pillows being made with "real feathers". That can't not have been intended.) Your summary of Scrooge's odd reasoning made me laugh out loud.Achille Talonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11636339293230261724noreply@blogger.com