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how did Donald Duck influence Star Wars? And wasn’t Indiana Jones inspired by Scrooge, not Donald?
George Lucas and Steven Spielberg mentioned that they were inspired by Carl Barks' comics.
So was Osamu Tezuka, the creator of Astro Boy and "Godfather of Modern Manga."
And Donald Duck was going on adventures with his nephews in the Carl Barks comics long before Scrooge McDuck was created and this is precisely why DT17 and other media trying to give all the credit to Scrooge but forgetting that Donald was the FIRST just proves my point in my frustration with them.
Everyone just thinks it was Scrooge McDuck thanks to the later Don Rosa's work: "Life and Times of Scrooge McDuck" which was loosely based on Carl Barks' works (Don Rosa exaggerated a lot of Scrooge's abilities at the expense of Donald's).
This is why I advocate for giving credit where credit is due when it comes to canon characters and where I feel DT17 really dropped the ball. Donald was an adventurer looong before Scrooge and some of Carl Barks' best comics don't even have him:
-"Donald Duck Finds Pirate Gold" - Carl Barks first full length comic
- "Mystery of the Swamp" - Donald and nephews encounter gnomish creatures in the Everglades which some think were the inspiration for the Ewoks in Star Wars
"The Mad Chemist" (the comic credited with discovering the chemical compound methylene 20 years before it was actually studied and verified!)
-"Lost in the Andes" - Carl Barks claimed was his best work
- "The Golden Helmet" - Donald and nephews: whoever possesses the golden helmet is ruler of North America
- "The Ice Box Robber" - The comic that showcased Donald having WWII PTSD
- "Sherrif of Bullet Valley" - Donald and nephews in the Wild West
- "Dangerous Disguise" - a comic about spies where a Donald look alike commits suicide by jumping out of a window
- "Luck of the North" Donald and nephews rescue Gladstone in Alaska
"Old California" - Donald and the nephews seem to time travel to California in 1848 and they witness the family there living their lives. It turns out they were in a bad car accident and were on the hospital in a coma for weeks. But the house is still there.
"A Christmas for Shacktown" - Donald and the nephews find ways to raise money for the poor kids in town
"The Gilded Man" - A search for a rare stamp leads Donald and the boys finding El Dorado
- "The Forbidden Valley" - Donald and the nephews discover a lost land of dinosaurs
Just to name a few. There are plenty more.
The great thing about the Carl Barks comics especially when it came to Donald was that although he still had bad luck, it showed him also have great skills in practically everything and it tackled deep emotional issues and real world events such as PTSD, spies/espionage, danger/adventure, poverty, but in a way that was relatable and entertaining.
Donald mixed the best of high action adventure with scenes of intimate, heartwarming domestic life with his nephews. It was literally the best of both worlds: adventure and domestic life.
So the world needs to know that actually it's Donald Duck that deserves the credit for the success of the Carl Barks comics. Not only was Donald first but he was used as the protagonist for many more comics than Scrooge. And I hope if we ever get another version of Ducktales that the writers actually credit Donald as he deserves and not a bunch of semi newbies that don't even exist in the original comics.
There's so much he inspired and influenced that people don't know and so it's unfair for him to be sidelined as he was for characters that haven't accomplished one iota of what he has.
It's time to give credit where it's actually due: to Donald Duck.
Hi can I ask what made you a big fan of Donald Duck?
Hi!! Great question. I think it was the fact that he's the most relatable out of the Sensational Six. That he was the first to be shown as a great adventurer (Scrooge was added later). I love his berserker rages and feats of physical strength.
That he's capable of so many badass feats and has so many just as badass alter-egos (superhero, secret agent, monster-hunter, ninja, mage).
That he's canonically served in both Army (during WWII no less) and Navy (in 1987 Ducktales).
That he's influenced so many things both in fiction (he's the reason for the expanded Duck universe in the comics, Indiana Jones, Inception, Star Wars, anime itself were all inspired by his Carl Barks comics) in addition to real world events too (University of Oregon's Fighting Ducks football team mascot was based off him).
And finally because he took in his three nephews when he didn't have to and tries his best to give them a good life.