--------------------------------------------------------------------------- The Life and Times of $crooge McDuck - Episode 5 --------------------------------------------------------------------------- UNCLE $CROOGE #289 - "The Life and Times of $crooge McDuck -- The New Laird of Castle McDuck" (1885). [Cover 289] COVER: I guess this cover speaks for itself. They always do a beautiful job of coloring at Gladstone! They also tinkered with my starry sky in this scene -- if you know me, you'd know that my version of the night sky had so many stars in it that it would be very distracting. They wiped out about 75% of my stars. My stars! * *D.U.C.K. SPOILER*: Look at the branches of the distant windblown tree in the cover center. CHAPTER V: This episode was partly designed to solve one of the very few problems I had with Carl Barks' own "$croogian facts" as revealed in the backgrounds of his many classic tales of the old tycoon. Namely, how could $crooge have been born into a poor family (as told in "King of the Golden River" in UNCLE $CROOGE #22) and yet be the heir of a magnificent ancestral castle (as shown in "The Old Castle's Secret" in DONALD DUCK / FOUR COLOR #189)??? I laid the groundwork for addressing this paradox in my first chapter, and following my carefully constructed framework for the series, I knew I would deal with the matter in episode V. As the story shows, the McDucks were chased from the castle by the Hound of the Whiskervilles. They retained ownership of the estate and the entire clan continued paying the taxes through the centuries, though they refused to sell and were too afraid to move back. But how did I know $crooge was in Scotland in 1885? By this quote from Barks' "The Money Well" in UNCLE $CROOGE #21: "I paid only one dollar for these glasses in Scotland in 1885". So, here we see $crooge's first use of his famous pince-nez specks, though he won't use them constantly for another 17 years. As often happens to this old-movie buff, I had an idea for this chapter that would be similar to a movie I once saw. But it had been 20 years or more since I'd seen this film which had been strangely absent from any local station or cable or satellite TV or videotape or laser disc, even though I'd long sought to add it to my collections. It was a classic 1946 British fantasy with David Niven titled A MATTER OF LIFE OR DEATH, also known in America as STAIRWAY TO HEAVEN. Now I was especially anxious to see the film, in case it might give me some ideas in how to handle the plot I'd already decided on. I contacted Roger Ebert on Compuserve, and he told me that the rights to the film had been purchased decades earlier by someone wanting to remake it, however they never had and the movie was nonetheless locked away from mortal eyes for any foreseeable future. Drat! But I hopped into cyberspace and sent out pleas around the globe for anyone who might supply me with a copy of the movie. Sure enough, in no time I received a tape from Canada since only the American rights had been tied up. I don't think the movie gave me any useful hints for my story... but I treasure the addition to my film library nonetheless! If not for $crooge, I wouldn't have gone searching for this lost classic! My texts for the earlier chapters tell where I gleaned such Barks characters as the Whiskervilles, Capt. "Seafoam" McDuck, and Sirs Quackly, Swamphole, Roast, and Eider McDuck. One other McDuck I used here, the fella with the plumed bonnet, is "Matey" McDuck from Barks' "Back to Long Ago" in UNCLE $CROOGE #16. * INSANE DETAILS TO NOTE: Check the signature on the cashier's check in the splash panel. Also notice that's an 1885 style golfball there (in case it looked odd). Notice all the Whiskervilles still have the white hair $crooge gave them 6 years earlier. It astounds me that as careful as I try to be with details, I still make bonehead goofs. I have Sir Quackly saying Sir Eider died in 956 when it was 946 as told in "The Old Castle's Secret" and as I correctly stated in chapter I ! Drat! Drat! In the final panel I didn't want to worry about how rainbows really worked since I wanted to "achieve an effect" -- but now it looks too stupid, with the sun below the rainbow rather than above it, and the rainbow's ends not being equidistant from the viewer. Oh, well... there's always another rainbow. * *D.U.C.K. SPOILER*: the splash panel dedication is in the putter head. Look at it at a sharp angle. But careful, not too sharp or you'll chip past the hole. (I don't know about you, but I liked this chapter! I thought I always did a better job on the chapters that took place all on one day such as episodes V and IX, when I wasn't overburdened with covering too many facts and too many years in the limited space.) --------------------------------------------------------------------------- + Note: There are no original script pages presented since no changes were necessary. [Black and White Art] [Next Episode] [Home]