theliterarystoriesfables

WDCS110 'The Goldilocks Story' - 1949

Synopsis:
Donald goes to bring his nephews back from summer camp but they have decided to play Goldilocks and the Three Bears. Real bears get involved!

Comments:
Based loosely on an old German folk tale collected by the brothers Grimm.They were librarians by trade and collected more than 200 folk tales which they wrote down for the first time in order to preserve them for posterity, i.e. they did not invent the stories themselves.

DD26 Trick or Treat - 1952

Synopsis:
The nephews are collecting goodies for Halloween but Donald has decided to tease them. A real witch meddles in to fight the battle against the stingy uncle...

Comments:
Fairytales are filled with all sorts of witches but most of them are both evil and ugly. Barks used witches (not counting Magica de Spell) in several of his stories. FC0203 The Golden Christmas Tree from 1948 and WDCS159 'The Wispy Willy Story' from 1953 are examples.

WDCS196 'The Snow Princess Story' - 1957

Synopsis:
All Duckburgians are competing to build the finest snow statue and Donald thinks that a certain poor family should win. But the nephews' statue is better looking. Something has to be done...

Comments:
The story evolves around two children who are building a snow princess. Maybe Barks knew about the fairy tale called The Snow Queen by Danish storyteller Hans Christian Andersen ...?

U$32 That's No Fable! - 1960

Synopsis:
Scrooge takes Donald and the nephews to Florida to buy some cheap land. He soon realizes that he has bought the Fountain of Youth as well!!!

Comments:
Barks was inspired by the Spanish conquistador Ponce de Leon who in 1493 joined Columbus' second voyage to the Americas. After de Leon had discovered Puerto Rico he went on to search for the fabled Fountain of Youth. He discovered Florida which he explored meticulously for 8 years without finding any trace of the elusive waters.

U$37 Cave of Ali Baba - 1962

Synopsis:
Scrooge travels with Donald and the nephews to inspect his oil wells. Before long they find themselves in the cave of some giant birds...

Comments:
The tale of Ali Baba from the 1,001 Arabian Nights was well known to Barks. He managed to involve elements from other tales in the Arabian Nights such as Jinns, whirling dervishes and Rocs.

U$45 Isle of Golden Geese - 1963

Synopsis:
Scrooge finds a golden egg in a regular egg carton. He decides to find the supplier of such interesting eggs...

Comments:
Several fairy tales tell about golden eggs and Barks tags along. (In real life the company Fabergé is world-famous for their special eggs decorated with gold and gems. In 1992 Barks joined up with the company to produce the elaborate Scrooge McDuck Midnight Egg.)

WDCS277 The Duckburg Pet Parade - 1963

Synopsis:
The Duckburgians are busy training their pets for the great parade. Donald feels confident that he will win first prize with his trained elephant...

Comments:
There can be little doubt that Barks had the fairytale about Cinderella originally published by French author Charles Perrault in mind when he let the nephews enter the competition with a pumpkin coach driven by four mice. More specifically he must have thought of Disney's cartoon.

U$47 The Thrifty Spendthrift - 1964

Synopsis:
Scrooge is hypnotized into buying Christmas gifts for a dog. With the song The Twelve Days of Christmas in mind he decides on the gifts!

Comments:
Based on a medieval English catechism song named The Twelve Days of Christmas. The song was meant as an aid to Catholic kids learning the tenets of their faith.

U$55 McDuck of Arabia - 1965

Synopsis:
Sheik Arrabi talks Scrooge into financing an expedition to find the Queen of Sheba's fabled mine. But the villain Hassan ben Jaild is at their heels!

Comments:
The wealthy Kingdom of Sheba is thought to have been situated in today's Yemen at the Southwest corner of the Arabian peninsula. The Queen is said to have once visited the mighty King Solomon of Jerusalem, and in 1996 Barks rendered his version of the meeting in an unfinished painting titled Queen of Sheba.

U$68 Hall of the Mermaid Queen - 1967

Synopsis:
One day all the money from the Money Bin disappears through a hole into the ocean. The ducks encounter mermaids and mermen in their quest to recover it.

Comments:
Stories of mermaids have been told for centuries - be it in the form of folklore, legends or fairytales. The most famous story tends to be from the pen of Danish storyteller Hans Christian Andersen who wrote the fairytale The Little Mermaid about a woman who fell hopelessly in love with a merman and consequently decided to live by his side under the sea.