In 1994, Carl Barks visited Europe for the first and only time in his life (see more HERE). But before that, the primary characters from his Disney duck comic book stories had travelled or passed several countries in the Old World. On this page you will find all the stories in which European nations were involved (i.e. visited or mentioned) in diverse ways. The nations are presented in alphabetical order.

NB.: Barks made numerous references to European subjects without them necessarily being perceived of European origin. Examples are headgear (berets and topees), sports (golf and skiing), and food (sandwiches and hamburgers). But including all such subjects would blow this page out of proportions, so those types of references are omitted.

 

 

 

DENMARK

 

U$19 The Mines of King Solomon: One of the destinations on Scrooge's multiple travel tickets is Thule in Greenland (Greenland being part of the Danish Commonwealth - Editor's remark).

U$62 The Queen of the Wild Dog Pack: Scrooge is grumbling over the state of his overseas business empire: In Denmark some fungus has ruined half the cheese in my cheese factory! The same old story - something rotten in Denmark!

 

ENGLAND

 

FC0275 Ancient Persia: The ducks fly over the British overseas territory of Gibraltar, which is situated at the southern tip of Spain.

U$62 The Queen of the Wild Dog Pack: Scrooge overhears a nephew listening to modern pop music on a transportable radio: That's what's wrong in England! Beat singers are making all the money, and my Shakespearean drama house is going bust.

 

FRANCE

 

FC0308 Dangerous Disguise: The Ducks are on holiday at the French Riviera.

 

GERMANY

 

U$10 The Fabulous Philosopher's Stone: The ducks arrive at a castle ruin in Schwartzwald (the Black Forest).

 

GREECE

 

U$10 The Fabulous Philosopher's Stone: The ducks visit the island of Crete.

U$12 The Golden Fleecing: The ducks visit Colchis.

U$40 Oddball Odyssey: The ducks visit the island of Circe.

WDCS292 Instant Hercules: Donald visits the Aegean Sea.

 

HOLLAND

 

U$25 The Flying Dutchman: The title comes from an old tale about a Dutch captain who was renowned for the uncanny speed of his trips between Holland and Java, and was suspected of being in league with the devil because of it. During a storm at Cape of Good Hope the captain made a remark that he would not retreat, but would continue his attempt to round the cape even if it took until Judgement Day. For that blasphemous remark he and his ship were doomed to sail the high seas forever.
In the same story Scrooge tells the Ducks that long ago he visited Holland (it was in 1887 - editor's remark) and learned the Dutch language. He then sold wind to the windmill makers along the Zuider Zee.

WDCS112 'The Rip van Winkle Story': The story is loosely based on the American author Washington Irving's story Rip van Winkle about a Dutch immigrant to the USA, Rip van Winkle, and his twenty-year nap in the Catskill Mountains, before waking up to a much-changed world.

WDCS288 Hero of the Dike: Barks was inspired by Mary Elizabeth Mapes Dodge's story The Hole in the Dike, which describes a Dutch boy who saves a town by sticking his finger in the hole of a flooded dike.

 

ITALY

 

U$10 The Fabulous Philosopher's Stone: The ducks visit Sicily.

U$36 The Midas Touch: The ducks follow Magica de Spell to Rome, Sulphuria, and Mount Vesuvius.

U$38 The Unsafe Safe: Magica de Spell is visited in her home on the slopes of Mount Vesuvius.

U$40 Oddball Odyssey: The ducks sail in Italian waters in order to get to the Greek island of Circe.

U$43 For Old Dime's Sake: Magica de Spell is visited in her home on the slopes of Mount Vesuvius.

U$48 The Many Faces of Magica de Spell: Magica de Spell is visited in her home on the slopes of Mount Vesuvius.

WDCS273 A Duck's Eye View of Europe: The Ducks visit Venice, and after that the nephews fly to Geneva, while Donald drives over an Alp pass.

 

NORWAY

 

U$09 The Lemming with the Locket: The hunt for a lemming brings the Ducks to the small fictional town of Herringtail and its outskirts.

 

SCOTLAND

 

FC0189 The Old Castle's Secret: The Ducks visit Scrooge's ancestral castle home in Dismal Down.

U$22 The Golden River: Scrooge reveals to the Ducks that he started his fortune collecting firewood in the hills of Scotland.

U$29 Hound of the Whiskervilles: The Ducks fly to Glasgow and revisit the castle ruin.

U$44 The Invisible Intruder: Via a flashback we witness Scrooge's first job as a shoeshine boy in Glasgow.

WDCS237 Mystery of the Loch: The Ducks travel to Loch Less in order to take a photograph of its alleged sea monster, Lessie.

 

SPAIN

 

FC0308 Dangerous Disguise: The Ducks cross a mountain range to the west of the French Riviera in order to arrive in Chiliburgeria. The range can only be the Pyrenees, meaning that the fictional town of Chiliburgeria is situated in Spain.

WDCS212 'Rocket Race': The Ducks fly a rocket ship around the earth in order to collect objects for a competition. At one point they pass over a bullfighting ring.

 

SWEDEN

 

U$19 The Mines of King Solomon: During Scrooge's worldwide tour the ducks arrive to inspect Scrooge's glassware factory.

 

SWITZERLAND

 

FC1025 Mastering the Matterhorn: The Ducks visit Mount Matterhorn.

U$38 Monkey Business (1-pager): In a competition Scrooge speed-climbs Mount Matterfrau using chimpanzees for teammates.

WDCS178 'Noisy Neighbours': An elderly gentleman (possibly of Swiss descent) blows his grandfather's Swiss alpenhorn ('This old tooter can be heard thirty miles upwind on a cloudy day') in order to silence Donald.

WDCS273 A Duck's Eye View of Europe: Donald drives over an Alp pass from Italy.

 

 

Several European nations have been assigned their own pages in the Connection series. You can browse them using these links:

DENMARK
GERMANY
GREECE
ITALY
SCOTLAND
SPAIN

 

 


http://www.cbarks.dk/THEEUROPEANCONNECTION.htm   Date 2011-09-19