Disney, the Italian Legacy, part 2 - A 1UP classic from July 11, 2011

The Italians were noteworthy not solely for creating new interpretations of classic characters like Paperinik and Paperotto, but also for diverging from USA Disney canon. For example, in the USA the character of John D. Rockerduck was introduced once by Carl Barks into the Uncle Scrooge adventure the Boat Busters to help push along a plot. Rockerduck was a fellow business tycoon and he challenged McDuck to a race to find out who sold the better gasoline. Donald Duck won the race on behalf of Scrooge but was unfortunately using Rockerduck’s gasoline. In the USA the character would not be seen again save for a cameo in a “Life and Times” story by Don Rosa. Most Disney fans in the USA would recognize that Flintheart Glomgold was the older character, meant to be business rival and mortal enemy of Scrooge McDuck. Yet even Scrooge McDuck was also once meant as a one-shot character in the Bark’s universe. It was not until the character was revisited and fleshed out that he became a comic icon. In Italy and in other European stories John Rockerduck would be brought back and fleshed out as well.

Rockerduck instead of Glomgold would take a starring role against Scrooge. The design and appearance of the character was in fact meant to balance out Scrooge more than Glomgold. Visually Rockerduck’s suit, hat, tie, glasses and sideburns were more contemporary than Scrooge’s. Rockerduck was a brash younger tycoon that did not seem to value his wealth in the same way as McDuck. His fortune was handed down by his father Howard Rockerduck, a self-made business man that helped mentor a young Scrooge decades earlier. John Rockerduck had a different approach to his business empire than Scrooge did. He believed that it took spending money in order to make money, whereas Scrooge was a notorious hoarder and penny pincher. In the comics the ducks rarely got along and were constantly getting into fights while trying to prove who was the superior businessman.

To settle things in fumetti both ducks often had a wager, this part of canon was preserved from the original Barks story. The bet was rarely over money but instead prestige in the clubs for which both ducks were members of. The loser for most of the contests had to eat their own hat. Rockerduck was often presented chewing on the brim of his bowler hat, if not for the contest bet then because he was completely fed up with Scrooge.

As if one powerful tycoon rival was not enough for the pages of Topolino, a second was added shortly after Rockerduck. The Italian Marco Rota added Brigitta MacBridge to canon in 1960. Similarly to Rockerduck and Scrooge she was originally introduced to help push along a single story. She turned out to be a memorable character and would return again and again to drive Scrooge mad.

In canon she was an old acquaintance of Scrooge and was absolutely crazy about him. She was also good friends with Daisy Duck and would often cross paths with Donald and his uncle. She was convinced that the two were meant to be together. As a self made business tycoon she was clearly not in it for Scrooge’s money either.

Brigitta would often hatch a plot to try to get Scrooge to confess his feelings for her, or worse, to trick him into getting married. This character seemed to balance out the Rockerduck dynamic. Both were constantly trying to undo Scrooge for their own gain. Both had enormous fortunes so that they could keep up with Scrooge no matter where he went or what business he got into. Brigitta’s appearances were thankfully more comedic than dramatic though.

Yet many western audiences were not fans of the Brigitta character, or even aware of her. Scrooge had a female rival years before Brigitta, someone that was not falling over Scrooge at every instance but instead his equal, not in a monetary sense but in personality. Italians would have to ignore one of Carl Bark’s greatest creations, Goldie O’Gilt aka Glittering Goldie, in order for Brigitta to be his main female lead.

Goldie was a rival for Scrooge during his formative years in the Yukon. Over several seasons of hardship the two would grow to respect each other and more important to develop feelings for the other. Unfortunately both were too proud and stubborn to ever admit to those feelings. Scrooge left the Yukon behind and seemingly his heart as well. In flashbacks Scrooge would think fondly of his time spent up north. Goldie would always consider Scrooge the one that got away. This interesting dynamic left audiences wanting for closure to a relationship half a century in the making.

Adding superhero alter egos to established characters and creating new relationships within the canon were some of the major contributions by the Italians. One of the more controversial elements featured in the pages of Topolino, the inclusion of firearms in some of the stories, would have been a hard sell to American audiences, especially licensors and Disney stock holders. Many in the US would have never imagined seeing an icon like Mickey Mouse handling a weapon, let alone be threatened by one in a comic or cartoon.

Yet guns had appeared for decades in Disney comics in the US and even animation. For example when Glittering Goldie wasn’t flirting with Scrooge she was shooting him with a shotgun. This happened in both the cartoon and comic books.

This revelation was not to say that weapons were commonplace in fumetti or other European Disney comics. If and when they showed up they fit the form of the story and certain mature themes. Paperino for example had an alter ego as a spy. In addition to being Paperinik Donald also had the responsibility as a spy for his country, known to fans as Double Duck. In the Double Duck (DD) stories sometimes a villain showed up carrying a weapon, sometimes DD had to also carry one along with his tuxedo ala James Bond. Very rarely did these comics have shoot outs and never were any of the characters depicted as getting shot or injured during the battles. The violence of the weapon was implied rather than shown. A gun served as a tool to intimidate not as an excuse by artists to draw graphic violence.

Boom Studios actually published the DD stories in the US and did not censor out the guns as most had expected them to. Many in the west could not imagine an icon being threatened with a firearm but the precedence was set in the earliest Disney short films. Donald was once threatened with a gun by Mickey Mouse in the 1942 film the Symphony Hour. Not to mention the time Donald Duck tried to commit suicide by handgun in the 1943 film the Old Army Game or that Daisy Duck tried to do the same in 1947’s Donald’s Dilemma.

Disney Studios once used firearms in their animated projects and comics only now they seemed to shy away from any form or actual or implied violence. Topolino also used firearms but they certainly never put them flush to the temples of the icons as if they were in any real danger.

If Topolino and fumetti in general were geared only towards children then the writers and artists would certainly never have presented any weapons in the stories. At the same time they would never have produced as many memorable stories and adventures because of their audience. They would not have advanced the art of cartooning or showed how Disney comics could be written for every age.

These were a few examples of the creative risks that the Italians took in the pages of Topolino. These were things that would not have been allowed if the comic were limited to a specific audience.

There was a major difference between how Disney was perceived and marketed in the USA versus Italy, or for that matter the rest of the world. Topolino was family entertainment. The comics and anthologies could be enjoyed by both kids and adults. Best of all the fumetti brought the characters to life. The Disney cartoon icons as well as original characters were featured in ongoing stories. These were certainly not reprints for aged collectors but living, breathing volumes. Not every Disney comic published in Europe was approached in the same way.

In Germany for example the anthologies featuring the Disney characters could be picked up in local bookstores. These simple 4-color books featured reprints or stories, most meant for kids with very little done in production value. Colors bled into each other and no sort of cleanup was done to enhance the original art. These issues were stale and formulaic when compared to the work featured in the fumetti.

Other European countries did not settle for reprints. They were as passionate about the Disney comics and cartoons as anywhere else in the world. For example Donald Duck cartoons were viewed on Christmas Eve in Sweden as a tradition. Additionally fellow game writer Audun Sorlie mentioned how most stores in Scandinavia did not have a few Disney comics but instead had entire racks filled with the books.

These countries would develop new stories and art for the Disney books. However unlike the Italians the writers and artists from Northern European countries tried very little to deviate from the art and storytelling elements established in early comics. They would go so far as to look for artists that could draw in the same style as the classic Disney cartoonists. Of these artists none was better than Amsterdam's own Daan Jippes. Daan was an exceptional artist that could emulate the styles of the American masters, including Floyd Gottfredson and Carl Barks.

He was so good at emulating the Barks style that he was contracted to redraw stories written but not illustrated by Barks from the 1970's into new collections for the 1990's. Daan Jippes was considered a master of modern comics alongside the US's Don Rosa and Italy's Giorgio Cavazzano. The preference by the Scandinavians for classic characters and little deviation from the Barks canon meant that many of their comics progressed very little, as if they were stuck in a time loop. The Italians had a different perspective, while they respected the work of the early artists they pushed forward into new territory.

Even if the parent company in the USA had not released any new comics or animation featuring the Disney characters in decades they were all still fresh in the pages of the fumetti. Disney in Italy managed to keep the mascots relevant by allowing them to grow within the pages of Topolino. They were willing to introduce new characters and re-imagine classic characters equally. They enticed new collectors by offering toy sets with subscriptions and held onto long-time fans by maintaining a high level of quality in art and storytelling. In the USA most cartoon comics were labeled and marketed towards children specifically. The US publishers did not go out of their way to appeal to diverse audiences or interests. Nor did they offer any toys or figures featuring rare mascots. As such the Disney comic market in the US was nowhere near as big as it was in Europe.

As any business analyst could tell you the best and most successful forms of Disney entertainment were family oriented rather than obsessively kid-friendly. This distinction between entertainment for children and entertainment for families was too often missed by studios, not solely Disney. Mistaking comics and even videogames as a medium for children instead of for families did nothing to help promote the titles. Producing little content in print and toy form for fans and followers above the age of 10 also hurt the brand in the USA. This lack of connection with audiences and the lack of any new content featuring the icons was stifling. The Italian contribution to making the Disney name relevant was not limited to comics either. The next blog will explore how publishers were able to help keep the mascots fresh with collectibles. As always if you would like to sponsor me please visit my Patreon page and consider donating each month, even as little as $1 would help make better blogs and even podcasts!

Meeting my heroes, and sneaker dreams do come true!

In the previous Fridays I had mentioned that I was a huge sneaker nerd. Collecting sneaker magazines from Japan, and ordering some overstock from the Eastbay catalog to feel like I was a part of the culture. I also talked about my favorite designs at Oakley, and how they started creating some amazing footwear. It was around this time that I seemed to manifest some amazing things while working at college. For example my friends, and I had managed to get into the E3 trade shows in the late ‘90s, and early ‘00s by creating a fake company. We would wear suits, and walk the halls as if we were exhibitors. We got a lot of access, and met some great industry people.

Around that time the demo for Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater game had come out. I was a big fan of skateboarding. I figured that there was a chance that Tony might be at the E3, so I took some skateboards with me, and scored an autograph. Mind you that he still wasn’t at the peak of his popularity, so you could absolutely surprise him if you recognized him at a non-skate event. This started a trend where I would bring him a present, and birthday card at each E3. He'd be happy to sign some decks if I asked. He, and the team at Neversoft started to recognize me at the shows, and welcomed some short interviews because I started writing as the west coast correspondent to Planet Tony Hawk. Tony was always happy to mug for the camera if I asked.

After the THPS game became a hit I figured that there would be more pro skaters showing up at the following E3. This was almost guaranteed as a sequel had been announced by Activision, and many other studios said that they were making skating games as well. The next year I walked the hall with a stack of decks, and even a poster just in case I ran into the other pros. Sure enough I stumbled across a bunch of them as they were getting ready to put on a demo at the Infogrames booth. Nobody else at the show knew who they were. I recognized Colin McKay, Bob Burnquist, Bucky Lasek, and Rune Glifberg. Sadly I did not recognize Jason Ellis, well actually I thought he was Fred Durst from Limp Bizkit fame. I didn’t know why Fred was there, but I thought he was just a celeb hanging out. I apologized to Jason a couple years later about the accidental disrespect, and he laughed. He said that it was all good, his friends actually called him Fred Durst because they dressed so much alike.

Anyhow Bob Burnquist was one of my skateboard heroes along with Tony. The Brazilian had made a name for himself, first at Anti-Hero, then Flip, and the Firm. Since he could skate regular, and switch (opposite foot forward) with ease he ended up progressing vert skateboarding faster than any other person at the time. He was also one of the pros that was sponsored by Oakley. He had appeared on a massive billboard on the 405 freeway in Carson. Not too far from where I lived. Long before the E3 I got my hands on a huge poster of that same billboard. My gamble of taking it to the expo that day paid off. I went away with a collection of autographed decks, and a personalized poster. Bob asked for my name, and signed it to Noáh instead of Noe. I was too nervous to give him the spelling of my name when I showed him the poster. My brother asked why he wrote it that way later on, and I said “oh he did the Portuguese spelling of Noe, instead of the Spanish spelling.” He bought the answer. I got the poster framed not long after, and it had been sitting in the garage for decades. I finally had cleared enough room to bring it indoors.

It turned out that meeting Tony, Bob, and the other pros was not the only amazing thing that I would manifest in the early 2000’s. Managing to meet the AND1 basketball players, and even getting to design a couple of tour posters was a story for a future Friday. I enjoyed my Nike basketball sneakers, but I longed for anything that was different. I heard that Oakley had gotten into basketball sneakers, and even sponsored a few pro players. Michael Jordan, and Dennis Rodman were often seen sporting their shades. I assumed that their basketball line also stopped as size 14, like their other shoes. Sadly I found out too little too late that they had actually made that line of shoes up to size 18. The problem for me was that the sneakers were not available in retail stores. You could only find them in the dedicated Oakley shops. The nearest one to me was in Irvine, about 30 miles from Long Beach. It wasn’t like I could just check whenever I wanted. Worse yet, they only made them for a season or two before discontinuing the line. I was heartbroken. I had heard that Oakley had a few outlet stores, and perhaps I might be able to track down any remaining stock.

I wrote a heartfelt letter to Oakley headquarters, and told them about how hard it was finding shoes in my size. One of their designers nicknamed “Joker” wrote back, and said he understood how hard it was. He asked for my address. I assumed that he might send a tee shirt, or give me a list of shops to check. Instead a couple weeks later while I was working in the college computer lab when I got a call from the mailroom. They said two massive boxes had come in for me, and asked if I could pick them up. Normally the mailroom had computers delivered directly to us, so I thought this was odd. It turned out that the giant boxes weren’t addressed to my computer lab, they were addressed to me personally. More than that, they had come from Oakley HQ. I got them in my lab, and my boss, and brother were there as I unwrapped them. Seven brand new shoes, and sandals were sent to me, along with a nice note from Joker. I remained humbled by this generosity almost 20 years later.

I wore one pair of sandals every day for years until they fell apart. I promised that I would work even harder to preserve the remaining gifts. I still wear the second set of sandals every day. They are worn, and dirty, but still good. I also only wore one pair of black sneakers. I would only wear them to special occasions like weddings, or four times a year when I performed for my orchestra concerts. I often wore black sneakers instead of dress shoes whenever I played because formal shoes were so uncomfortable to me. Sadly the heels on them were starting to break, so I had to retire them. But rather than throw them away like I did with my old sandals, I glued the soles back on, and kept them in my lineup because they meant so much to me.

I never wore any of the other shoes because they were so rare. Instead I kept them boxed up in the garage for decades. Even to this day I had yet to find a special occasion to wear any of them to. So they remained in boxes. I wouldn’t guess how much they were worth on the market. I'm sure a basketball player might make me an offer but they were priceless to me. I had friends, and coworkers with collections much greater than mine, but even they had never been gifted shoes by a manufacturer. I was blessed in this regard, and remember that blessing every time I looked at my shoe rack.

I wrote a massive thank you note to Joker, and the team at Oakley for their generosity. I felt like one of those Make-a-wish kids with the outpouring of love. I was praying that I didn’t have cancer, and my mom had reached out to them on my behalf. When I originally got the box I felt like it was some sort of prank, or worse, a huge mistake. I expected that they would be sending me the bill for all those sneakers separately. I even started saving my paychecks in case the bill came in, but that never happened. There wasn’t much I could say or do for the team at Oakley. They were sitting on top of the world, there was nothing that I could have gifted them in return. As a budding illustrator I printed a poster for Joker, and sent it along with my thank you letter.

A few months later I managed to get over to Oakley for a factory tour not unlike the one from the Global Cycling Network. I don’t think they offer tours these days. Sadly Joker wasn’t working that day, so I never got a chance to meet him, and thank him in person. The company was everything I could have imagined. It was like getting a tour of Willy Wonka’s Chocolate Factory. We got to see everything except the designers at work. They were locked behind some massive industrial doors. The tour guide said that very few people in the company were allowed to go into that room, even after working there for a few years she had never even been allowed in. We saw the full size NBA court for the employees. We saw some of the machines that created their new frames, and patented technology. Of course we weren’t allowed to take pictures of any of that stuff.

I told my family how amazing the factory was. I did my best to recall everything that I saw. How they had different machines to test the strength, and resiliency of their lenses, and frames during quality control. How they had insanely high tolerances when creating their patented lenses. How their rejects would get shredded, and the plastics could be melted, and reused. For the integrity of the product they wouldn’t accept the microscopic defects on future lenses, but they would sell the shredded plastics of their defects to their competition. I saw equipment that allowed them to bond materials in zero atmosphere. It was tech that none of their competitors had access to. It was part design house, and part science lab. They were working on the coolest products on the planet. Lastly I told my family that it would be a dream job to work there. That wasn’t in the cards for me, but I was glad to have taken that trip. It gave me tremendous perspective on the future, and what could be.

With some changes to my healthcare providers last year my wife, and I were able to see an optometrist for the first time in years. I got her some cute pink Coach frames last fall, and a couple months ago I completed a dream of mine. I was able to purchase some Oakley frames for my prescription glasses. I didn’t think it would take so long to get that off of my checklist, but here we were. Now to see if I could track down a watch so I could complete the look… I never thought that the freak storms of late 2023, and early 2024 would end up doing wonders for my mental health. It would cause me to clean up, and organize the hallway, and hallway closet in the apartment so I could have more room for myself. I fixed cabinets, and helped my kid, and wife organize, but neglected making space for my stuff for years. Now I could bring in the rare Japanese game books, comics, and magazines that I had collected through my time in high school, and college. The little things that I kept that made me happy.

A few weeks into 2024 another major storm rolled through. With that more worries about the leaky garage caused me to clean up more space in the apartment, and dig through the garage once more. This time I would bring in the sneakers that I’d been holding onto for a generation. As well as a few other gems. Doing this helped me reconnect with the things I loved. They brought back a flood of memories, and reminded me that I should do things for myself more frequently. It was not healthy to sacrifice for my family, and friends, but never take time for myself. I would get a chance to appreciate the things that I enjoyed, and recharge my mental, and emotional batteries. 

These changes in my priorities rekindled my imagination. They allowed me to share stories with you, and my family that I hadn’t told before. I’ll be sharing more stories in the near future. I hope that everyone reading this has something they are passionate about. I hope you are making time for your interests, and taking care of yourself. Let me know in the comments section if you were a fan of Oakley, or any other company. Tell me what your favorite products from them were. As always if you would like to sponsor me please visit my Patreon page and consider donating each month, even as little as $1 would help make better blogs and even podcasts!

Disney, the Italian Legacy, part 1 - A 1UP classic from July 10, 2011

In keeping with the recent Disney themes this next series is going to take a look at the ways in which Europe approaches and develops the classic characters in popular media. To narrow down the scope of the series it would be focusing mostly on how Italy handled the Disney universe through Topolino magazine. Topolino was the name of Mickey Mouse in Italy. I had talked about the toys that came with the books in a previous blog. How Italy handles the Disney name and how they have been pushing to keep it relevant for several generations could teach many things to the parent company in the US.

The Italian word for comic book was fumetti, it literally translated to puff of smoke. This was in regards to how the word bubbles in comic books looked like clouds. Topolino was one of the rare western comics to be published in Italy’s pre WWII era. It had been in publication since 1932. Like most other Disney comic licenses the earliest issues were reprints and collections from the west. As demand for everything Mickey Mouse rose so too did the demand for more comics. Within a short amount of time local artists were emulating the Disney style and developing home grown stories to fill in the issues of Topolino.

The artists and writers working on Topolino managed to incorporate the characters from the various Disney animated shorts just as well as characters that appeared in western comics originally. Through the issues they helped entertain and educate audiences on the library of Disney characters and how they interacted and related with each other. The same thing could not be said of many western Disney fans, especially those that were familiar with the cartoons and parks only.

Unless Disney fans in the USA were exposed to the classic comics and rare cartoon appearance then they might not know that the adventurous Moby Duck and the hapless Fethry Duck were part of canon. Or that Fethry was related to Donald Duck even! Their adventures and appearances did not end abruptly in fumetti as they did in the US in the 1970’s. To audiences in Italy the two ducks were every bit as involved in the universe as any of the more famous Disney mascots.

Topolino helped keep these minor characters relevant and developed their identity and appeal among readers. They did so by incorporating them in stories with the more recognizable characters but also by letting them to grow in their own adventures. The types of stories and adventures that the characters were featured in fumetti were becoming as memorable as those featured in the USA comics.

After more than half a century in publication the audience for Topolino had grown exponentially. It was diverse and not solely limited to children. Many Topolino fans were third and fourth generation readers and collectors. The publishers managed to appeal to every age by offering different things to their audience, from short gag comics to longer serials. Although labeled a fumetti Topolino was not considered a comic book as much as a magazine because of how much content was packed into the publication.

Each issue of Topolino was not only filled with comic stories but also interviews and articles on movies, music and events. There were news stories and interviews with popular celebrities. The issues also featured previews and reviews of toys, videogames and electronic gadgets. Puzzles and games were included to entertain younger readers.

The extra content did not end with some puzzles. To help educate younger readers there was often a look at popular careers. For example a few characters from the comic would visit an actual television station and try to find out how the news was put together. Artists would incorporate photographs and create caricatures of real world people to interact with the cartoon icons. They would help explain their careers to audiences. These brief entries in the book gave many artists a chance to showcase their talents in ways that traditional comic formats did not always allow.

The biggest lesson that the fumetti could teach US comic publishers was in how the creators were granted artistic license to explore the Disney universe and present it in a diversity of formats. This liberty to explore and expand on the canon was rarely seen in the USA. Part of the reason was because in the USA comic books, and especially Disney comics, were meant to appeal to children. US comics had to be geared, developed and marketed to children, limiting the scope of stories and characters that could be developed. Fumetti were open to all-ages and could be enjoyed by just about any reader. Similarly in Japan there were manga titles written for adults just as there are for teens and children. Countries like Italy, Brazil and Japan did not have a stigma attached to the medium. They also did not use the business model attached to the Disney comics that the US did.

Characters that had only made a few appearances in US comics had taken starring roles in fumetti. Entirely new characters and canon were explored without Disney fans and purists calling for a boycott to the changes.

For example if a writer for Topolino wanted to feature a young Scrooge McDuck in a flashback story about calcio (Italian for soccer) then they could do just that. He would be running around in a kilt playing against kids in shorts in a neighborhood yard. In the US it would be hard for fans of the Carl Barks canon to accept the visual changes to the character, or to see him cavorting with neighborhood children instead of being dressed shabbily and working towards his first dime.

Each artist working in fumetti was free to explore a style of presentation and cartooning. Some artists had a distinct 2-dimensional style while others featured more convincing 3D forms and shapes. Some were great at the classic style of character art, making figures that looked exactly like those featured in USA comics from the 40’s and 50’s. Others had a more impressionistic stance, with flat and stylized versions if the icons that were definitely not based on the US model sheets.

If Italy were to be ranked globally in the art of comic cartooning based on Topolino and its fumetti offshoots then they would arguably at the top with the US well behind them. The sole publisher of the Disney comic book license in the USA was Kaboom studios, the offshoot of Boom Studios. They had assumed sole ownership of the license from Gladstone and Gemstone publishing. Often times Kaboom and Boom were reprinting older Disney material from the US and Europe and only developing new material from recent Pixar films. The books from Kaboom were marketed mostly to kids but also to the older fans of the Disney Afternoon television series. Some of their best artists like James Silvani and Amy Mebberson were sometimes overlooked by the community simply because of the titles they were working on.

In Italy standout artists like Giuseppe Dalla Santa, Valerio Held, Emilio Urbano and Francesco Guerrini had their own distinct style of cartooning, grounded in the lessons from the US masters. They would develop a stronger following without being labeled as children’s artists. Hints of the Disney animators and cartoonists like Floyd Gottfredson, Ward Kimball and Milt Kahl were present in the styles of the fumetti artists. These artists and subsequent generations developed under a program known as the Disney Academy, founded in Milan in 1993. Aspiring artists were trained in the art of cartooning by senior illustrators and animators. They had a chance to work not only on comics and animation, but also on product design, packaging and advertising as well.

The lessons from the masters of US animation and comic arts were taught at the Academy, their techniques and insights had been dissected, challenged and expanded upon within the pages of Topolino and its sister publications. There was not anything remotely similar in the US comic industry. Western comic book creators were recognized and celebrated in the community for their own contribution to the comic arts but rarely were the Topolino artists acknowledged for their contribution to cartooning. If an artist from the USA were interested in seeing how the cartooning had evolved then they would be better served by going through Topolino than watching the flat Flash-based animation appearing on western television.

Of all the Italian artists, the one who has had the biggest influence on the Italian cartoon style and the one who was most emulated was Giorgio Cavazzano. He was and is very much considered a living legend among cartoonists, to be admired alongside such greats as Carl Barks and Don Rosa. Giorgio got his start in comics at the age of 14 by inking the pages of the original Italian legend Romano Scarpa. He was still in high demand as a cartoonist, only now his work also hung in museums. Many of the current Topolino artists and product designers still borrowed a lot from Mr. Cavazzano's style.

Subscribers of Topolino were treated to collectables and toys in many of the issues. Smaller collectables like puzzles, cards, stamps and coins would come packaged with the fumetti and larger toys would be distributed over several issues. The larger toys would have to be assembled by the readers, which for most young fans was a treat in and of itself.

Many of the larger toys had some sort of battery activated feature. The space ship pictured above for example had working lights and sound effects. It could be separated into three components, a satellite rover, a ship and a command module.

These items or “gadgets” as they were known in Italy did not have to be part of a story. Many were just be based on any part of Disney history. The printed gadgets featured images from the Disney legacy, others were actual figures and models. Some were even crossover designs from multiple Disney sources such as Tron Mickey on a wind up light cycle or Donald Duck in Herbie the Love Bug.

Disney followers in Italy had probably a greater breadth of knowledge of animated characters, comic book creations and classic films because of how often they were referenced in fumetti and via the gadgets.

Italy helped introduce diverse timelines into Disney canon as well. Donald Duck may be seen as secondary to Mickey Mouse in the USA but in Italy he is every bit as important if not more so in the fumetti. Paperino, as Donald was known in Italy had several incarnations. One of the versions of the character, Paperino Paperotto followed the adventures of the young duck and his friends. Very little had ever been written or drawn in the USA on Donald’s childhood. Paperotto had a distinct visual style and even purpose in Disney canon. The character and his adventures were far more than a generic "Disney Babies” series. His hi-jinx stories were very sincere and the artists and writers worked hard to respect Disney continuity and as such they were accepted by fans.

While these whimsical stories were meant for younger audiences they were balanced out by the more adventurous stories of Paperinik, the superhero alter ego of the adult Donald Duck.

Italian fans got tired of seeing Donald treated as a perpetual loser in the translated stories from the US. When the chance arose to create an original story they gave Paperino an alias that was far more heroic and adventurous than even Mickey Mouse. Paperinik was not unlike Batman in that the character relied on his guile and an array of gadgets to defeat a rogues gallery. Paperinik, the Duck Avenger in English-speaking countries and Papernika, the super alter ego of Daisy, had many colorful adventures over the years. The duo and other super-hero retellings of the icons had now been part of Disney comic canon for over 40 years.

Both Paperino Paperotto and Paperinik demonstrated that the Italians were capable of taking classic characters into bold new directions and make them popular with the community. They also showed that the community would not be offended if changes to an iconic character were made, so long as the spirit of the original character were not compromised. Paperotto and Paperinik never crossed the line to make them anything other than Donald in a new form, the personality and temperament of Donald Duck still shown through the artistic facelift. The idea of remaking the Disney icons would be met by a collective groan from US cartoon fans.

It usually meant that a producer with absolutely no artistic background was trying to remake the icons to fit a marketing trend. Characters would be dressed in street wear, try to speak hip and interact as if they were on a sitcom instead of looking or acting like their namesake characters. Worse the adventures or even shorter sincere stories featured in the classic cartoons or comics would be missed entirely. Take for example the Quack Pack cartoon as a “hip” version of DuckTales series. Thankfully the Italian creators did not seem to suffer from the same sense of creative amnesia. The next blog will explore the differences in canon enjoyed by the Italians in the pages of Topolino. Please return for that.

As always if you would like to sponsor me please visit my Patreon page and consider donating each month, even as little as $1 would help make better blogs and even podcasts!

Dressing up familiar faces for Halloween - A 1UP classic from October 8, 2010

I’m sure you are getting into the holiday spirit. Halloween is around the corner and all of the stores are putting out the displays and getting people primed on the holiday. I’ve been on a Disney kick this past year and am pleased to share the changes that the park has done for the season. Some of my pictures are posted on JimHillMedia.com, but that’s only the tip of the iceberg.

It’s unique the approach that the parks in the USA have compared to the parks overseas, in particular the Disney parks in Japan. Each park goes through a makeover on Main Street and a major marketing push as well. Autumnal colors, pumpkins and miscellaneous ghosts and goblins can be found all over the park.

Both parks have a distinct take on the Halloween themes. If you think about it a moment, how do the Japanese view the western holiday? It’s changed a tremendous amount in the West since the Christian and Celtic traditions of All Hollow’s Eve became a candy and costume cash-cow for retailers. It’s easy to see that Japan is adapting the popular concept of Halloween for their parks rather than observing any ancient traditions. Popular characters are now presented in costumes, not so much with the Universal monsters that are recognized here (Frankenstein’s monster, the Wolf Man and Dracula) but instead shades of orange and purple in a Victorian tuxedo and top coat with a slight twinge of the mysterious.

Tokyo Disney Resort over the holidays has many of the same things featured in the parks in the USA. Such as trick-or-treating for families, where guests can show up in costume, as well as parades and events set in the holiday theme on top of changes made to certain attractions. The visual style that Japan has in contrast to the Halloween Time at Disney in the USA becomes apparent the more you go over the web sites and art direction posted in both sites.

As if the differences between Disneyland and Tokyo Disneyland weren’t distinct enough, there is another layer of originality with the visual style of the holiday at Tokyo’s Disney Sea park. At that park the characters are popular characters are presented with the theme of a Victorian (almost Romantic-era) Masquerade Ball. Mickey Mouse for example is not the vampire that he is presented in the USA during the holiday nor is he dapper Halloween gentleman from Tokyo Disneyland. Instead he is a masked brother-at-arms, looking quite dashing with his cape and tri-corner hat.

The other characters are also themed accordingly, with the masquerade ball costuming being added to them, sharing nothing in common with the other Tokyo park or Disneyland and Disney World in the USA, while still respecting the legacy and design of the classic characters.

As an artist and designer I have fun taking a look at and learning from the differences between the parks and the aesthetics that they have with the familiar characters. Of course the goal is to someday be able to take the family to the various parks to experience the holidays in person (and to get some unique items as well!) and not spend so much time writing and wishing about it.

What do you enjoy best about Halloween? Are you already planning a costume choice or decorating for a haunted house or party? Tell us about it and have a great weekend. As always if you would like to sponsor me please visit my Patreon page and consider donating each month, even as little as $1 would help make better blogs and even podcasts!