The Duck family is a fictional family created by The Walt Disney Company. Its best known member is Donald Duck.
In the early 1950s Carl Barks was in his second decade of creating comic book stories starring Donald Duck and his various relatives. He had personally created several of the latter. Scrooge McDuck and Gladstone Gander being the most notable among them. But the exact relation between them was still somewhat uncertain. Carl decided to create a personal version of their Family tree. To better define their relations he added several previously unknown relatives. Carl never intended to publish this family tree as he had created it for his personal use.
The first public attempt at a coherent biography of the ducks was published in 1974. An Informal Biography of Scrooge McDuck by science fiction author Jack Chalker used names and events in the Barks stories (and a very few non-Barks ones) to create a life story for McDuck. It provided the basis for a Scrooge biography included in The People's Almanac."[1]
In 1981 Carl was well into his retirement but his stories remained popular and had gained him unexpected fame. He had given several interviews and answered questions about his personal views on the characters and their stories. Among other subjects, Carl described his early version of the family tree. Rough sketches of the tree were published in a number of fanzines. Fans of the characters were pleased for the background it added to them. At this point Mark Worden decided to create a drawing of this family tree including portraits of the characters mentioned. Otherwise Mark made few changes to the tree, most notably adding Daisy Duck as Donald's main love interest. His illustrated version of the tree was published at first in several fanzines and later in the Carl Barks Library. The later was a ten-volume collection of his works in hardcover black-and-white edition.
In 1987 Don Rosa, a long-time fan of Carl Barks and personal friend of Mark Worden, started creating his own stories featuring Scrooge McDuck and his various associates. His stories contained numerous references to older stories by Carl as well as several original ideas. After several years he gained a fanbase of his own. In the early 1990s Egmont, the publishing house employing Don, offered him an ambitious assignment. He was to create the definitive version of Scrooge's biography and a family tree accompanying it. This was supposed to end decades of contradictions between stories which caused confusion to readers. The project was to become The Life and Times of Scrooge McDuck. The family tree accompanying it was first published in Norway on July 3, 1993.
In the process of working on Scrooge's biography, Don studied Barks' old stories mentioning his past. Then he added several ideas of his own. Among them were biographical information for Scrooge's supporting cast. In a way Scrooge's biography was also their own biography.
Pintail Duck first appeared in the story called Back to Long Ago which first appeared in Uncle Scrooge #16. In that story it was revealed that he and his friend Matey Malcolm McDuck buried a treasure of potatoes for Captain Loyal Hawk of The Falcon Rover. He drowned three days later and was reborn as his descendant Donald Duck.
Don Rosa used Pintail in his version of The Donald Duck Family Tree, as the oldest Duck Family member on the tree.
Humperdink Duck is the late husband of Grandma Duck (Elvira Coot) and grandfather of Donald Duck. He worked as a farmer in Duckburg. He was the father of three children: Quackmore, Daphne, and Eider Duck. Humperdink Duck appears in person in The Life and Times of Scrooge McDuck and has been referred to in a few other stories. He was known as "Pa Duck". Unlike his wife Elvira, whose parents and even a brother were identified by Don Rosa, who also decided she's the granddaughter of nothing less than the founder of Duckburg, Cornelius Coot, Humperdink's past before having a family with Grandma keeps a mystery. According to Don Rosa, "the Duck family came from the British Isles, probably England".[2]
In the story "The Good Old Daze" by Tony Strobl, one of the most beloved duck masters of all-time, Grandpa (Humperdink) appears in flashback taking care of little Donald along with Grandma.
Elvira "Grandma Duck" Coot is the grandmother of Donald Duck and Gladstone Gander, as well as the Duck family matriarch. In most stories, she is simply referred to as Grandma Duck. Grandma Duck was introduced to the Disney comic universe by Al Taliaferro in the newspaper comic strips - as a picture in 1940, in person in 1943. Taliaferro found inspiration for her in his own mother-in-law, Donnie M. Wheaton.
According to Keno Don Rosa, Grandma was born around 1855. Later, she married Humperdink Duck, and they had three children named Quackmore Duck (Donald Duck's father), Daphne Duck (Gladstone Gander's mother) and Eider Duck (Fethry Duck's father). So fond were Elvira and Humperdink of their children that they called themselves "Ma and Pa Duck" (again, according to Don Rosa). Quackmore married Hortense McDuck, and they were the parents of Della Duck and Donald Duck. When Della gave up on her difficult children, Huey, Dewey, and Louie, Grandma helped Donald to raise them. She shares the credit with the Junior Woodchucks for the trio evolving from little hellions to model children.
Grandma's great-nephew Gus Goose is her farmhand and lives on the farm. However, he is very lazy and does not work much. In some stories, especially older ones, Grandma Duck also gets help from Gus and Jaq, the two mice from Cinderella.
Grandma's farm is the center of the Duck family's annual holiday gatherings, with said gatherings usually arranged by her. These are always merry and warm and interesting occasions. Grandma Elvira is a great cook, and once won a medal for her cherry pie.
She is depicted as driving a Detroit Electric automobile. She refuses to acquire any modern gadgetry, and only watches weather programs on the TV.
In The Life and Times of Scrooge McDuck by Don Rosa, it is shown that her father is Clinton Coot, her mother is Gertrude Gadwall, her grandfather is Cornelius Coot, and her brother is Casey Coot. (Her real name being "Elvira Coot" was also Rosa's addition.) In older Italian stories (including Marco Rota's From Egg to Duck), she is sometimes shown as Scrooge McDuck's sister, but this tradition is no longer alive. Occasionally they have also been portrayed as being cousins, another now rarely enforced tradition. The "truth" is that Scrooge is the brother of Elvira's daughter-in-law. For this relationship there is no word in the English language. Grandma made her animated debut in the 1960 Wonderful World of Color episode "This is Your Life, Donald Duck", where she was voiced by June Foray. The episode depicted her great difficulty in raising Donald, a strong-willed and ill-tempered duckling from the moment he was hatched. She also made a non-speaking cameo in Mickey's Christmas Carol, as well can be spoted in background in episode of DuckTales "Horse Scents".
Quackmore Duck was born in Duckburg, Calisota, United States on 1875 to Humperdink Duck and Elvira Coot. From an early age it was obvious he had a very nasty temper. He worked in his parents' farm till 1902 when he met Hortense McDuck and they became engaged. He started working for her brother Scrooge McDuck.
By 1908 he was helping Hortense and her sister Matilda McDuck run their brother's empire as Scrooge's chief accountant, mainly because Scrooge thought that as a possible heir he would probably work hard and stay honest. In 1920 he finally married Hortense and later in the same year became the father of twins: Donald and Della. So he and Hortense became parents when they already were more than 40 years old, according to Don Rosa.
He remained the chief accountant till 1930 when a fight between Scrooge and his family ended all relationships between them. Quackmore retired and it is believed he died sometimes around 1950, although his exact date of death and death place are still unknown.
Daphne Duck, according to Don Rosa's story "The Sign of The Triple Distelfink", is the daughter of Humperdink Duck and Elvira Coot. On the day of her birth, a traveling worker painted a giant sign of The Triple Distelfink on her parents' stable. The symbol was supposed to bring the baby luck, and it did: Daphne was always incredibly lucky.
She worked in her parents' farm until at least 1902. Later, she stopped working and started living on the things she won in contests.
She married Goosetave Gander and in 1920 became the mother of Gladstone Gander. The child was born on her birthday and under the protection of the same symbol as his mother.
When Daphne's older brother, Quackmore Duck, married Scrooge's younger sister, Hortense McDuck, it may be possible to say that she and Scrooge became sister-in-law and brother-in-law in relation to each other. Therefore, Scrooge would be uncle by affinity of Gladstone.
Another character called Daphne Duck appears as the wife of Daffy Duck in a handful 1960s' Looney Tunes shorts. Like Honey Bunny, she is a female version of Daffy, and is voiced by Mel Blanc.
Eider Duck was first mentioned in August 1944 in the story "The Fighting Falcon" by Carl Barks. In this story, Donald receives a falcon as a present by his uncle Eider who does not live in Duckburg. Barks never mentioned Eider again but Don Rosa decided to include him in his Duck Family Tree.
According to Rosa, Eider is the son of Humperdink Duck and Elvira Coot. As of 1902, he worked on his parents' farm. He later married Lulubelle Loon and became the father of at least two sons, Abner and Fethry.
When Eider's older brother, Quackmore Duck, married Scrooge's younger sister, Hortense McDuck, it may be possible to say that he and Scrooge became brothers-in-law in relation to each other. Therefore, Scrooge would be uncle by affinity of Abner and Fethry.
Della Duck was first mentioned in a newspaper comic strip on October 17, 1937.
She was the daughter of Hortense McDuck and Quackmore Duck. According to comics writer Don Rosa, Della was "born" around 1920. Her twin brother is Donald Duck;[3] she is also the mother of Huey, Dewey and Louie Duck.
The identity of the boys' father is something of a mystery, as he is hidden by a bird and several branches on Disney comics artist Don Rosa's family tree. Very little is known about him. It was revealed in an early comic strip that Mr. Duck was sent to the hospital because Huey, Dewey and Louie placed a firecracker under his armchair as a prank, with disastrous results. It was because of this incident that Della (or "Dumbella" as she was called in the theatrical cartoon that introduced the nephews) sent her sons to her brother, Donald Duck. While originally meant to be a one-month stay, the nephews wound up staying with Donald permanently; the reasons for this are unknown. However, both she and Donald are linked to Scrooge McDuck in equal measure, and yet Donald is always referred to as Scrooge's closest living relative, suggesting she has disappeared or died.
She is referenced in the series PKNA. When Urk asks Duck Avenger (Donald Duck) whether he has a sister, Donald Duck answers "Yes."[4]
Some stories written by Rosa also show Della as a child, alongside her brother Donald.
She recently appeared in the Robot Chicken episode "Some like it Hitman" voiced by Mila Kunis. In this sketch, she appears as a prostitute, and was killed off at the end of the sketch. Later in that sketch, Huey, Duey and Louie wondered if they could see their mom again.
Gladstone Gander is the son of Daphne and Goosetave Gander. Gladstone first appeared in the story "Wintertime Wager" in Walt Disney's Comics and Stories #88 (January, 1948). Gladstone is a lazy and infuriatingly lucky goose who never fails to upset his first cousin Donald Duck. Gladstone's luck defies probability and provides him with anything he desires, with hardly the need of effort. As Disney comics writer Don Rosa has commented on the character: "Gladstone is unwilling to make the slightest effort to gain something that his luck cannot give him, and, when things go wrong, he resigns immediately, certain that around the next corner a wallet, dropped by a passer-by, will be waiting for him". For all his luck Gladstone has no achievements to be proud of and no true ambitions, as he is incapable of long-term planning. All of this is in stark contrast to his relative Scrooge McDuck, who is also capable of taking advantage of opportunities but works hard to create situations favorable for him, is strongly motivated by his ambitions and takes pride in forming his fortune by his own efforts.
He is a rival of Donald for the love of Donald's girlfriend Daisy Duck. Gladstone is also considered among the prime candidates for Scrooge McDuck's succession. For all of these reasons, he and Donald have formed an intense rivalry with each other. Gladstone's arrogance and outrageous luck, combined with Donald's own ego and belief he can still best him despite all odds---or as Don Rosa's version of Scrooge comments, "Donald's eternal tendency towards self-destruction"---have set the stage for many stories featuring the two cousins' confrontations.
Barks gradually developed Gladstone's personality and at first used him frequently—in 24 stories between 1948 and 1953, the first five years of his existence. Gladstone's luck evolved slowly. In his first three appearances in 1948 ("Wintertime Wager", "Gladstone Returns", "Links Hijinks"), he was portrayed as the mirror image of Donald: an obstinate braggart, perhaps just a little bit more arrogant. In his next two appearances, "Rival Beachcombers" and "The Goldilocks Gambit", Gladstone is portrayed as merely lazy and irritable, and also gullible. The breakthrough of his lucky streak occurs in December 1949, and the long adventure story "Luck of the North". His and Donald's rivalry over Daisy is established in "Donald's Love Letters" (1949), "Wild About Flowers" (1950), and "Knightly Rivals" (1951), and as potential heirs to Scrooge's fortune in "Some Heir Over the Rainbow" (1953). After that, Barks felt unable to develop the character further, finding him basically unsympathetic, and began using him less frequently. But by then, Gladstone had found a steady place in the Duck universe. He was first used by an artist other than Barks in 1951: "Presents For All" by Del Connell and Bob Moore.
His exact relation to the Duck Family Tree is somewhat uncertain. In Carl Barks' original version of the family tree from the 1950s, Gladstone was the son of Luke the Goose and Daphne Duck who died by overeating at a free-lunch picnic. He was later adopted by Matilda McDuck and Goosetave Gander. Later, Barks is reported to have done away with the adoption, which was never featured in any story. (Of course, no stories denying the event were published.) In a more recent version of the family tree created by Don Rosa, Daphne Duck (Donald's paternal aunt) married Goosetave Gander and the two were Gladstone's parents. This is consistent with what Gladstone says in "Race to the South Seas": "Scrooge McDuck is my mother's brother's brother-in-law". Don Rosa's stories follow this viewpoint; in "The Sign of the Triple Distelfink" (first published on February 4, 1997), he added the fact that Gladstone was born on the day of Daphne's birthday on 1920, under the protection sign of the Triple Distelfink, thus inheriting his mother's luck.
Gladstone appeared in several episodes of the animated series DuckTales, where he was voiced by Rob Paulsen, later noted for playing Pinky on the cartoon Pinky and the Brain. In the episode "Dime Enough for Luck", Gladstone is an unwitting stooge for Magica De Spell in one of her attempts to steal Scrooge's Number One Dime. He returns in the episode "Dr. Jekyll & Mr. McDuck", where he accidentally bids on an item that turns out to be valuable. This inspires Scrooge to bid on the next item—a trunk containing Dr. Jekyll's formula—which sets the plot in motion. He appears as a main character in the Big Little Book series book "Luck of the Ducks" (1969). He also makes non-speaking cameo appearances in the episodes "Sweet Duck of Youth" and "Till Nephews Do Us Part", as well in episode of House of Mouse "Goofy For A Day". Gladstone appears in 2000 computer game Donald Duck: Goin' Quackers in his traditional role of Donald's rival for Daisy's affection, and every time a Boss Battle is about to start, Gladstone greets Donald, but always gets hurt, like, becoming squished by a giant bird, getting knocked off a building by a wrecking ball, being sent crashing to the bottom of a haunted mansion, and even gets sent back to Duckburg inside a pipe, and every time he gets hurt, he keeps saying that he's found a nickel.
Fethry Duck was created for the Disney Studio Program by Dick Kinney and Al Hubbard and was first used in the story "The Health Nut", published on August 2, 1964. Kinney and Hubbard developed this character to be a beatnik (meaning "a person who rejects or avoids conventional behavior") member of the Duck Family. It's curious that Fethry usually appears wearing different colors of the same blouse depending on what country is publishing his stories. In Brazil, his blouse is generally yellow; in the Italian comics, he usually wears a red one; and, in the comic books of Egmont Publishing, the traditional color of his blouse is pink. According to a version of Don Rosa's Duck Family Tree, Fethry is the son of Eider Duck and Lulubelle Loon, the cousin of Donald Duck, and has a brother named Abner Duck. However, since Fethry was not a Carl Barks character, and had never been used in any Barks stories, Rosa does not consider Fethry part of the Duck family. Be that as it may, due to editorial pressure stemming from the character's popularity in Europe, Rosa included him in the tree anyway—reluctantly, and only in select variations.[5]
The early Fethry comics were created for the Disney Studio Program for publication outside of the United States. An exception to this are three stories with Fethry drawn by Tony Strobl that appeared in Gold Key Comics published in 1966 (Donald Duck #105 and #106 plus Walt Disney's Comics and Stories #304). Also some of the Fethry Studio Program stories were reprinted in the Wonderful World of Disney giveaway magazine published in 1969-1970 for Gulf Oil. Since the mid-1970s, Fethry has mostly appeared in European- and Brazilian-produced stories, including he had his own comic book title in Brazil during the 1980s, which lasted 56 issues.
In Brazilian and Italian stories, Fethry is depicted in various occupations, including as a reporter (alongside his cousin Donald Duck and, sometimes, Daisy Duck) and comic strip artist for Scrooge McDuck's newspaper, the Duckburg Chronicle. Fethry has also gained a superheroic alter ego, The Red Bat (parody of Batman, like Donald's Paperinik), and a number of supporting characters, among them his girlfriend the urban hippie Gloria and his nephew the bratty Dugan Duck. After discovering Fethry is The Red Bat, Gloria also decided to become a superhero herself, so The Purple Butterfly (presumably a parody of Batgirl) was born, and she invariably ends up saving The Red Bat when he's in a jam. Gloria adopts a hippie-like style of clothing and she usually is a carefree girl. She used to appear as one of Daisy Duck's closest friends in some Brazilian comic book stories.
In personality, Fethry is an obsessive New Age thinker, eagerly trying to pursue various new hobbies and lifestyles based on books he has read or TV programs he has seen. Fethry is also quite a blunderer, however, so his new hobbies tend to cause chaos for his friends and family. In some Italian-produced comics, he is also noted for his great laziness, with his habit of sleeping at work becoming a running gag (notably, laziness is quite out of character for Dick Kinney's original, more active version of the duck).
With Donald, Fethry is a member of the Tamers of Nonhuman Threats, a special super-secret organisation fighting hostile paranormal creatures of all sorts to protect the earth. These stories are all produced by Danish creative house Egmont Creative A/S and drawn by Flemming Andersen. They are published in pocketbooks.
Fethry also works, again together with Donald, for Scrooge McDuck's secret organisation, originally (in Italian) called the P.I.A.. Besides, he started starring stories as an assistant of the detective Umperio Bogarto (an Italian character whose name is a play on "Humphrey Bogart") on 1996 and as Moby Duck's First Mate in the early 2000s.
In earlier times, Egmont used Fethry very seldom; from the late 1990s, however, Egmont decided to bring back the character and create a whole range of new stories around him, this time based on the original 1960s concept of the character.
Donald has often teamed up with Fethry to do all sort of jobs for Scrooge (usually with disastrous results), with Donald being the "straight man" and Fethry the "funny man". These terms are rather loosely applied, however, insofar as Donald's reactions to Fethry, and attempts to neutralize him, are often every bit as funny as Fethry's doings.
More recently (2003–present), Fethry's modern Egmont and 1960s Kinney/Hubbard stories have been published in Uncle Scrooge and Walt Disney's Comics and Stories.
In 1970s stories sometimes drawn by Tony Strobl, Fethry was the owner of an overfriendly dog named Poochie.[6] Some Brazilian cartoonists also used Fethry's little-known pet.
Whitewater Duck was created by Carl Barks and used only in his story "Log Jockey", published in Walt Disney's Comics and Stories #267 on December, 1962. According to that story, he is a distant cousin of both Donald Duck and Huey, Dewey, and Louie, and works as a lumberjack in the woods.
On Don Rosa's Duck Family Tree Whitewater's real name is stated to be Abner Duck, with "Whitewater" only being a nickname. He is also shown to be a son of Eider Duck and Lulubelle Loon and the brother of Fethry Duck, making him Donald's first cousin. In his second appearance in a story, "Smarter Than The Toughies" (published in the USA in Uncle Scrooge #349) by Lars Jensen and Daniel Branca, Whitewater is instead shown to be the nephew of Scrooge McDuck's cousin Douglas, making him Donald's second cousin.
Lulubelle Loon is the wife of Eider Duck. She has appeared on Don Rosa's Duck family tree but she hasn't appeared anywhere else. She is also the mother of Fethry Duck and Abner Duck.
Also known for the nephews of Donald Duck
Known as Donald's girlfriend
April, May, and June Duck are the triplet daughters of Daisy Duck's un-named sister. Even at family gatherings their parents are not present, and Daisy usually brings them with her. They presumably live in Duckburg, Calisota. They were created by Carl Barks and were first used in a story published in February 1953, "Flip Decision".[7]
In some stories, mostly Dutch, they live along with their aunt, but in other comics, such as the comics by Barks, they are only visiting Daisy. The triplets act as Donald's nephews' (Huey, Dewey, and Louie Duck) female counterparts, occasional rivals, occasional friends, and occasional dates. They are members of the organization The Junior Chickadees, who serve as The Junior Woodchucks' female counterparts. Unusually for children of their age, the girls routinely wear high-heeled shoes.
Like the nephews, April, May & June usually wear the colors "Red", "Blue" and "Green", but unlike them, a color assignment has never been established. The girls also frequently wear "Yellow", "Purple" and "Orange". However, one might consider "blue" to be April's color since that was the color she wore when she appeared solo in "Dell Giant" #35. It is also unknown which nephew is paired with which niece when they double date with their Uncle Donald and Aunt Daisy.[7]
In 1998, the editors of the Dutch 'Donald Duck' weekly magazine decided the three girls should be modernized, and they got permission from the Disney Company to do so. Dutch Duck-comic artist Mau Heymans designed a new hairdo and new wardrobe for April, May and June. They now don't look the same at all in Dutch stories, and don't have the 'girly' occupations anymore they had when Barks created them. In some Danish stories, the new hairdo has been copied.
April, May, and June were not seen in animation until they were given a special cameo appearance in the House of Mouse episode "Ladies' Night".[8]
Curiously, April, May, and June never appeared on DuckTales, but Webby Vanderquack from said series, strongly resembles them. That even led Dutch translators to give Webby the name 'Lizzy', which is used for April in Dutch. May and June are Juultje and Babetje there.[9]
April, May, and June returned to American comics in Walt Disney's Comics And Stories #698. The story had them retelling "Little Red Riding Hood" with the girls as red and the Beagle Boys as the wolf.
Ducks that, for various reasons, did not appear in Rosa's tree.
Dickie Duck (Paperetta Yè-Yè in Italian) is a fictional character from the Scrooge McDuck universe created by Romano Scarpa. She was introduced as Goldie O'Gilt's granddaughter. But in one story by Romano Scarpa she is said to be Huey, Dewey and Louie's cousin. She has become popular in Italy, Denmark, Brazil and some other countries, while she is almost unknown in the USA and others. Dickie really seems to be older than Huey, Dewey and Louie, who owned around 11 years old when they became members of the Junior Woodchucks, according to Don Rosa, while Dickie probably is around 13 years old.
Goldie dropped Dickie off because she could not take care of her anymore. She was left in the care of Scrooge McDuck. The connection between Goldie and Dickie is generally ignored since they only made two appearances together. The first one was in the Italian story "Arriva Paperetta Yè-Yè" (free translation: "The Arrival of Dickie Duck"), which introduced Dickie in the Ducks Universe, and the second one in another Italian story called "Zio Paperone Pigmalione" ("Uncle Scrooge Benefactor").
Sometimes she worked as a reporter for Brigitta McBridge or for Scrooge's little known brother Gideon McDuck.
In Brazil,their name is Pata Lee,(on a reference to the singer Rita Lee) she appeared in her own series with her teen friends the short owl Nettunia, the tall crane Olympia, the handsome pelican Walter, and Beckett, who's actually the name given to the old cartoon character Aracuan Bird, in a series of stories titled Os Adolescentes (translated loosely from Portuguese to The Teenagers) as a bonus story in Ze Carioca (a comic book starring José Carioca). Nettunia, Olympia and Walter were specially created to be part of Dickie's gang by Brazilian Disney Studios, which belongs to Grupo Abril. That was the first (and probably only) time that a teen gang was introduced in the "Duckverse" (a usual nickname used to refer to the Disney Ducks Universe), although Donald and his relatives never have appeared in the comic stories of Dickie and her friends.
Dickie Duck's first American appearance was in the Boom! Studios run of Uncle Scrooge, in the translation of the storyline "Around the World in 80 Bucks".
Dugan Duck is Fethry Duck's nephew who seems to be a little bit younger than Huey, Dewey and Louie. In Italy he is known as Pennino; in Brazil, as Biquinho; in Denmark, Pjuske, in Spain as Toñito, and Klodrian in Norwegian. This character originally owned yellow feathers, a uncommon characteristic for Disney Ducks given by his Brazilian creators, which was authorized by Disney Publishing Worldwide. He's a stubborn child whose main activity is to cause troubles for his Uncle Fethry and his other relatives. Dugan's most frequent partner used to be a little pignose girl called Cintia, whose mother happens to be Fethry's neighbor and she really dislikes Dugan. He made a huge succes in Brazil during the 1980s, when his charismatic figure was quite explored by Brazilian cartoonists, but he practically disappeared from the Brazilian comics in the next decade. Some Italian cartoonists have been used Dugan once in a while, but he just appears with white feathers in Italian comics.
Moby Duck was created by writer Vic Lockman and illustrator Tony Strobl in 1967. He first appeared in Donald Duck #112 where he is seen saving Donald from drowning at sea, after Donald was forced to accept Moby's purpose to work as his helper, since Moby's porpoise Porpy pretended to be a threatening shark. Later that year Moby got his own comic book title which ran 11 issues until 1970, and then from 1973 to 1978 (issues #12-30). Illustrators of American Moby Duck stories include Strobl, Kay Wright, and Pete Alvarado. Not seen in the USA for two decades, he is now in use in comics produced in Italy and Brazil. His only appearances in animation are in a 1968 The Wonderful World of Disney show and a cameo appearance seated at one of the tables in the House of Mouse TV series.
Moby is a disaster as a whaler, but a good sailor in general. He makes a living out of carrying cargo, especially for Scrooge McDuck. He also fights pirates and other villains, including the Beagle Boys, Mad Madam Mim, The Big Bad Wolf, and Captain Hook.
Donald was Moby's first mate for a while but he was eventually replaced by Dimwitty Duck (and, on rare occasions in the comic books, by Goofy). Moby's other frequent supporting character is his pet porpoise Porpy. The name Moby Duck is a spoof from the classic Herman Melville novel Moby-Dick.
Phooey Duck is the fourth nephew of Donald Duck and lost brother of Huey, Dewey and Louie. He is not really a character, he is the fourth nephew drawn by accident in the Donald Duck comic. He has been named Phooey by Disney comic editor Bob Foster. The name is originally a term which, sometimes spelled phooie, or fooey, expresses dislike, chagrin, or disappointment.
There are many instances where Phooey appears. Some, however, are not really true appearances, but rather some other Junior Woodchuck who looks like the three nephews.
One short Egmont-licensed Disney comic written by Lars Jensen explained Phooey's sporadic appearances as a freak incident of nature.
In one Saint Patrick's Day comic-book adventure, Phooey appears as a Leprechaun or Guardian Angel in disguise as a duckling.
Upsy Duck is Donald's uncle from the 1965 story "Mastering The Matterhorn", illustrated by Tony Strobl. On the Internet, he was for a long time known only from his appearance on a German Duck family tree,[10] where he was called Gipfel Duck and considered as Fethry Duck's brother.
Goosetave Gander is Gladstone Gander's father. He was originally supposed to be married to Matilda McDuck but Carl Barks later changed his mind and had him married to Daphne Duck instead. They are considered the parents of Gladstone Gander; although his wife's and son's luck does not include him.
Shamrock Gander is Gladstone Gander's nephew. Shamrock first appeared in a story printed in Daisy Duck's Diary Four Color #648 where he was shown to be as lucky as his uncle Gladstone. It is unknown how exactly Shamrock is Gladstone's nephew.
Gus Goose is Donald Duck's second cousin, and the great-nephew of Grandma Duck.
Gus's main personality trait is being quite gluttonous, as Donald discovered the hard way when Gus came for a visit in Gus' first appearance, the 1939 animated short Donald's Cousin Gus.
Within the Disney comics, Gus is usually shown as living on Grandma Duck's farm outside of Duckburg, where he works as her farmhand. Along with his gluttony, Gus is shown in the comics as being quite lazy, often doing little if any work on Grandma's farm.
Gus made no appearances in DuckTales, but there is a background character in the series, Vacation Van Honk, who looks very much like Gus.
Recently, Gus Goose appeared in the 2000s animated series Disney's House of Mouse, as the club's gluttonous chef, speaking only in honks rather than words. He also made non-speaking cameo appearances in both Mickey's Christmas Carol and Who Framed Roger Rabbit.
The friend and neighbor Gustav Goose from Quack Pack is probably not the same as Cousin Gus since there are very few similarities (aside from the name and general size of the character). Some confusion is also caused by the German comicbook version of Gladstone Gander being referred to as "Gustav Gans" ("Gustav Goose").
The surname "Coot" had been used on several ducks by various artists, usually for characters who were relatives of Donald Duck but were not part of the Duck family or The Clan McDuck. When Don Rosa created his Duck Family Tree in 1993, he included the Coots used by Carl Barks and himself as Grandma Duck's family are descendants of Cornelius Coot. It was Rosa's idea to use Coot as Grandma's maiden name, and to have Cornelius Coot as an ancestor of Donald.
Cornelius Coot is the founder of Duckburg, Calisota and Toontown Fair (according to a statue in the land at the Magic Kingdom), and Donald Duck's great-great-grandfather. He first appeared as a statue in Walt Disney's Comics and Stories #138 in the 1952 story "Statuesque Spendthrifts" by Carl Barks. His statue and legacy has later appeared in many stories.
Although Cornelius was a well-known figure to readers of Disney comics, his character history was not told until Don Rosa began using the character in the late 1980s. The following history is mainly based on Rosa's stories, especially "His Majesty, McDuck", first published in Uncle Scrooge Adventures #14.
Cornelius Coot (1790–1880) was born in 1790 as an American citizen. His ancestors had been in America for quite some time and his roots are believed to reach to the colonization of Jamestown, Virginia (1607) and the voyage of the Mayflower (1620). But he is the first member of the Coot Kin to gain prominence. His birthplace is unknown and before reaching Duckburg he lived the life of a wandering hunter. He apparently had travelled all the way from the East to the West coast making his living by trading furs from the animals he killed.
He arrived at Fort Drake Borough, a British military base in Calisota, in 1818. He was apparently only looking for some trading with the soldiers but his life took some unexpected turns. During his stay the Fort was attacked by Spanish Troops from neighbouring California (the fictional Calisota includes parts historically belonging to Northern California. The Duck's version of California only includes the historical Southern California). The small British garrison couldn't defend the Fort and decided to retreat. In order to save face the commander made a deal with young Cornelius. The Fort would pass into his possession and if the Spanish managed to conquer it, he and his troops had nothing to do with the failure other than trusting an insane American to guard. Cornelius agreed. After the escape of the British he managed to frighten the Spanish away by making them believe that British reinforcements were approaching by popping some sweetcorn. (His statue depicts this fact.) The abandoned Fort was now Cornelius' and he had big plans for it.
He renamed it Fort Duckburg and turned it into a trading camp for hunters. Soon enough, some of them began to settle down and start their own families. Cornelius started his own farm and started acting as the leader of the new settlement. Pretty soon, a village was flourishing in Duckburg. Calisota was annexed into the new independent state of Mexico in 1821 but Duckburg acted much as a city state. It had its own laws, its own leaders and thanks to Cornelius its own defense force. Cornelius organized the citizens that could carry weapons into the Woodchuck Militia, a force that would guard the territory from any threat, including any conflicts with the Native Americans of the area. Cornelius turned the old Fort into the militia's base. He personally supervised the repairs to the Fort and had the idea to build underground tunnels under the Fort so that even during a siege they could still move in and out of the Fort. Besides the tunnel they made, they found an already existing one, the tunnel built by Fenton Penworthy and his men in 1579 after the building of the Fort. Cornelius explored the tunnel. He found the body of the long-dead Fenton and gave him a proper burial. He also found the info on the Guardians of the Lost Library. He found and kept the book written by Fenton and containing the secret knowledge of the Guardians. Apparently he appointed himself the next Guardian, the first after Fenton.
Cornelius had managed to pipe mountain water into the village. He was a capable leader and managed to improve his settlers' relationships with the Native Americans over time and Cornelius himself married an Native American woman. They had their only known son Clinton Coot in 1830. Throughout the rest of his life Cornelius continued to act as Duckburg's unofficial leader. Even when Calisota and neighbouring California were annexed to the USA in 1848 nothing truly changed in Duckburg. When Cornelius died in 1880, aged 90, he was a very respected family man but over time he has been honored by the citizens of Duckburg as the "father" of the city. The old hunter has gained legendary status in Calisota.
A statue of Cornelius holding an ear of corn is present in Mickey's Toontown Fair in Walt Disney World's Magic Kingdom. Prior to 1996, the land was known as Mickey's Birthdayland/Starland, and was set in the city of Duckburg.
Clinton Coot was first mentioned in Uncle Scrooge Adventures #27 in the story "Guardians of the Lost Library", first published in July, 1994. There he was introduced as the son of Cornelius Coot and the founder of The Junior Woodchucks, inspired by the book given to him by his father.
In The Life and Times of Scrooge McDuck it is revealed that he is the father of Grandma Duck. In Don Rosa's Duck Family Tree, Clinton is married to Gertrude Gadwall and their two children are Grandma Duck (Elvira Coot) and Casey Coot.
According to Rosa's timelines, Clinton Coot was born in 1830, and died in 1910, aged 80.[11]
He is named after Bill Clinton, who was running for President of the United States when Don Rosa created the character.[12]
Gertrude Gadwall is the wife of Clinton Coot, mother of Elvira Coot (also known as Grandma Duck) and Casey Coot, grandmother of Quackmore Duck, Daphne Duck, Eider Duck, Cuthbert Coot and Fanny Coot, great-grandmother of Donald Duck, Della Duck, Gladstone Gander, Abner Duck, Fethry Duck, Gus Goose and possibly Kildare Coot, and finally great-great-grandmother of Huey, Dewey and Louie and possibly Dugan Duck.
Casey Coot first appeared in "Last Sled to Dawson", first published in June, 1988. He is introduced as an unsuccessful gold prospector and friend of Scrooge McDuck during his years in Klondike. In need of money he sold to the significantly more successful Scrooge McDuck his share in Duckburg, Calisota, USA. His share included "Killmule Hill" which renamed to "Killmotor Hill" comprises the land where Scrooge's money bin stands on. He later appeared in The Life and Times of Scrooge McDuck Part 8 and Hearts of the Yukon. In The Life and Times of Scrooge McDuck Part 10 it is revealed that he and Grandma Duck are brother and sister.
In Don Rosa's Duck Family Tree he is featured as a grandson of Cornelius Coot, a son of Clinton Coot and his wife Gertrude Gadwall. According to the tree he was married to Gretchen Grebe and they had at least two kids named Fanny Coot and Cuthbert Coot. He is also the grandfather of Gus Goose. It's interesting to note that Donald has one granduncle on father's side, Casey, and one uncle on mother's side, Scrooge, that are close in age. It has been suggested that he is also the grandfather of Kildare Coot although Rosa has not used the latter in his stories or tree.
According to Don Rosa's unofficial timelines, Casey Coot was born in 1860 and died sometimes before 1970.[11]
Gretchen Grebe is the wife of Casey Coot, mother of Cuthbert Coot and Fanny Coot and grandmother of Gus Goose. It has also been suggested that she is the grandmother of Kildare Coot.
Fanny Coot was first mentioned in the Donald Duck comic strip of May 9, 1938 where Gus Goose first appeared. She is Gus's mother and Donald Duck's father's cousin. In Don Rosa's Duck Family Tree she is featured as a daughter of Casey Coot and his wife Gretchen Grebe, and so a niece of Elvira Coot, Donald's paternal grandmother. She also had a brother named Cuthbert Coot. Fanny married Luke the Goose and so became the mother of Gus Goose.
Luke the Goose is the father of Gus Goose.
He was originally supposed to be Gladstone Gander's father, Daphne Duck's husband and Gus's uncle, but Carl Barks later changed his mind about that matter, making Goosetave Gander (who was originally Gladstone's adoptive father after Luke and Daphne "overate at a free-lunch picnic") Gladstone's biological father and Daphne's husband. Luke the Goose disappeared from the tree.
When Don Rosa created his Duck Family Tree, he used Luke Goose (removing the "the" in his name) and made him the husband of Fanny Coot and Gus Goose's father.
Cuthbert Coot was introduced in the story "Webfooted Wrangler," first published in April 1945, as a distant cousin of Donald Duck and a rancher. In Don Rosa's Duck family tree he is included as a member of the Coot Kin and more specifically as son of Casey Coot and his wife Gretchen Grebe, which makes him a nephew of Elvira Coot, a brother of Fanny Coot, a first cousin of Quackmore Duck, a first cousin once removed of Donald Duck and an uncle of Gus Goose.
Kildare Coot was introduced by artist Romano Scarpa as a highly eccentric fourth cousin of Donald Duck in the story "Sgrizzo, il papero più balzano del mondo" (roughly translated as "Kildare Coot, the weirdest duck in the world"), first published on October 25, 1964. Though his exact relationship to Donald remains uncertain his last name suggests he belongs to the Coot Kin and that he is related to Donald through Elvira Coot, Donald's paternal grandmother.
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