Disney, the Italian Legacy, part 7 - A 1UP classic from July 19, 2011

Kaboom studios was working with Warren Spector on a new DuckTales comic. They wanted the title to rekindle the themes and characters from the animated show as well as call up the great adventures featured in the comics. Italians Leonel Castellani, Jose Massaroli working with Magic Eye Studios handled the art duties. Other Kaboom Studio artists like James Silvani were tapped to do alternate covers.

The story "Many Happy Returns" started off with a bang. Scrooge McDuck jumped out of a plane piloted by Launchpad McQuack. Scrooge then parachuted into the opening of a museum exhibit featuring the treasures from his collection. The nephews Huey, Dewey and Louie as well as Webby Vanderquack were waiting for him. They jumped on Scrooge and lavished him with affection The heart of the animated series was very much based on the relationship between the kids and Scrooge. Mr. Spector, a self proclaimed fan of the series brought this up right away.

At the the museum the ducks were met by Curator / Chief Billups and his assistant Farquardt. John D. Rockerduck, one of Scrooge's oldest enemies was also waiting. This was where Mr. Spector's story differed from DuckTales continuity. Flintheart Glomgold played the villain in most of the DuckTales episodes, whereas Rockerduck never even appeared on the show. Mr. Spector began building the rivalry between the two tycoons for readers. The core of each personality would be played up in the dialogue so that even if a reader had never heard of Rockerduck they would understand that he was a major player in Duckburg.

The group went through the museum where the kids questioned Scrooge on his collection and where Rockerduck challenged the purpose of showing it off. The panels illustrated within the museum were filled with tremendous detail. The various treasures the ducks had chased in previous stories were almost all present, if not mentioned in dialogue. Such as the The Fabulous Philosopher’s Stone, the Crown of the Mayas and a golden coat made from the mythological material featured in the Golden Fleecing story. From the earliest Bark's stories to the most recent Don Rosa adventures, if it was in canon then chances are it was on display in the background for all the fans to enjoy.

Webby questioned Scrooge if some of his treasures were gotten through unfavorable dealing. In one adventure Scrooge had traded King Fulla Cola on the island Ripan Taro some candy for a Candy-Striped Ruby On that island money was useless so Scrooge could not buy the Ruby outright. The sign of status for the island natives was in having a large belly, so Scrooge was able to able to barter the empty calories found in candy to King Fulla Cola. Scrooge defended his actions to and kept the group moving through the museum. Eventually they came across some rare creatures that Scrooge had also managed to bring back on his adventures, including the cantankerous unicorn from the Trail of the Unicorn story and a dinosaur from a latter story. All heck broke loose until Launchpad was able to separate the stampeding beasts.

At a reception party afterwards in the McDuck mansion the young ducks and Launchpad were seen playing the pencil and paper RPG Ducks and Danger. As the game master Webby was trying to convince the adventurers to return the treasure they had been collecting. She challenged the triplets by offering the idea that ill-begotten treasure was nothing more than stealing. The right thing in her mind was to return what had been taken. If that moral worked in the game then it should have worked in real life. Again Mr. Spector demonstrated an understanding on the subtle relationships in the DuckTales universe. Webby often acted as a moral compass for the characters and especially Scrooge. In many episodes her diminutive voice acted as a conscience for Scrooge, not unlike Jiminy Cricket did for Pinocchio.

Webby argued that the right thing to do was convince Uncle Scrooge to return the treasure to their rightful owners It was a noble idea, yet there was a mysterious person wearing a bowler hat and standing out in the hallway eavesdropping on the conversion. When the kids approached Scrooge about returning the treasure he said it was a preposterous idea. That was until he learned that Rockerduck was conducting a press interview stating that he was returning the treasures he had collected back to their rightful owners. He publicly challenged Scrooge to do the same.

It was obvious to most readers that Rockerduck was baiting Scrooge for a big showdown. Scrooge accepted the challenge and even offered to return two artifacts for every one of Rockerduck's. Scrooge saw this as an opportunity to prove that he was a better philanthropist on top of being a better businessman and would prove that to the media.

The first part of the adventure ended on the docks where Scrooge was beginning his first journey with Webby at his side. Daisy Duck and Fethry Duck made cameos as news reporters while on the other side of town a mysterious figure had gathered members of the underworld, including not only villains from Duckberg but also from the nearby St. Cannard better known as the home of Darkwing Duck! These criminals were told the locations and order for the treasures to be returned. Each of the named treasures harkened back to a classic adventure and possibly gave readers a hint as to how long the series was expected to run.

Fans of the DuckTales animated series should consider looking into these comics. They contained the same spirit of adventure and fantastic premises which earned the show a strong following. Fans of the classic Disney comics might not be as interested in the books because they seem to be retreading a lot of material. The next blog will explore the good and bad things going for the Warren Spector comic. I hope to see you back for that.

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Another Rufus blog... A 1UP classic from May 15, 2008

Hello friends, it looks like I'm on a bit of a Street Fighter IV kick again. We might as well keep the train going with some more random observations. Today's rant takes us back to look at the place and purpose of nobodies favorite SF fat man Rufus. It's funny timing that I bring him up as Capcom in Japan and the US has made no official mention of this guy. Even better, Cap USA wants to make 3 figurines of the new lineup and are letting fans vote. Rufus is nowhere to be found. Is it possible that the fan reaction was so strong that they buried him or are they holding him plus other characters as a surprise for when the game is launched? It might turn out to be like Tekken in which some characters appear after a certain amount of time has passed. Let's hope that some other SF-universe characters appear in the lineup.

Now I have nothing against fat people, I'm a fat guy. I also don't have a problem with fat fighting game characters. In fact, I'd like to see more of them, provided that they are consistent with what has already been established in the series. Just the other day a new character was introduced for the boxing game Ready2Rumbe 3 Facebreaker. He's a fat boxing master named Steve Talking Head. The game is supposed to be cartoonish and over-the-top, so he makes sense in that lineup... Make of him what you will.

I've already spoken at length about the subject with my origins of Rufus blog. In case you don't want to read old news I'll sum up some of my gripes. A character like Bob from Tekken moves too quickly for a man of his girth. It's as if they did some motion capture moves and thought it would be funny if the animations were stuck on a fat character. It seems that Rufus is even larger than Bob yet seems to move faster. Maybe Rufus was inspired by strongman Gene Rychlak. He's also a big guy with wild hair and a trucker mustache that bench pressed a thousand pounds. Sure he's strong, but can he move fast? Is he flexible? I doubt it.

While thinking about this character I began wondering what it is that I don't like about Rufus. 1UP member Smashbro mentioned that it could be the way obese people are demonized in US culture. But my issues are more about his speed, lack of muscle definition and seemingly weightless mass, not any bias against fat people. 1UP member Marc lamented that he seems to be the only one on 1UP willing to try this game. I never said that I wouldn't play SF IV or that I wouldn't try out this character. In fact if there is a location test anywhere in the southland then I'll be there, getting in line and trying each character at least once. I'm also thinking about which console to pick up based on which will have a better joystick for the game. To think that I'll pass on a SF IV after waiting so long after III is absurd. Remember that I got the Wii for NiGHTS? Or the Xbox for Jet Set Radio Future?

I've said that large characters tend to move slower in SF games, Rufus is contrary to that. Smashbro mentioned that the Japanese tradition of sumo might explain why they created him and seem to be more accepting of this large character than the US is. The US demonizes obesity yet has a large population that is overweight. My biases might be based from a cultural P.O.V. I began thinking about who Rufus reminded me of, aside from Gene Rychlak and where his place could be in the Street Fighter universe. I began thinking about large characters from cartoons, movies and even real life. Who were the ones that worked and why? As far as fighting games go, the fat guys in Final Fight worked, King Heart in Fist of the North Star worked and Karnov from Fighter's History Dynamite worked as well.

Heck, Karnov could even inflate himself and become even more massive than Rufus, yet he worked in the game because he also had an assortment of mystical properties. Karnov could breath fire, teleport and float, he was a fat doppleganger of Dhalsim. In the context of his game these things worked, but this is a different game. The issues that I have with Rufus and the other new characters are because I feel that Capcom is betraying their own design legacy. Actually part of the problem is that DIMPS is developing this game and their approach to character design is different than the classic Capcom formula. I'll talk about it more tomorrow but I strongly feel that Rufus is just a more complete vision of the character Boyd that DIMPS had put in their 2.5D fighter Rumble Fish.

I couldn't just leave it at that. Like a scab I have to keep picking at the design until it starts bleeding. Where did Rufus come from? What was it about his costume that works or doesn't? Yellow jumpsuit, unzipped to his belly with built-in pads? What about that ponytail and facial hair? Looking at Rufus' trucker mustache I was reminded of the larger-than-life character of Bull Hurley from the movie Over the Top.

I noticed that even though Bull, as played by the late character actor Rick Zumwalt was massive, he wasn't obese. I began wondering how "fat" a character could get and still be valid in the SF universe. I began wondering how big a person could be and still remain a valid fighter. Here is where the distinction between what "fits" in the real world and what "fits" in SF has to be made. We are willing to suspend our disbelief up to a point. If the point is crossed then that character becomes redundant, broken or laughable. At some point something has to be done with the character and design to make him or her fit into the game. This is the part that I think Capcom and DIMPS is missing with Rufus. They are not separating his purpose from his moves. The reason for my thinking of that actually goes back to the character of Bull and the movie he was in. The real arm wrestling legend at the time, Cleve Dean, makes a few cameos but isn't the last person that Stallone faces. According to the Wiki page the filmmakers didn't think that audiences would believe that Stallone could beat Dean.

Wait a minute. We could believe that Stallone could beat Bull but not Dean? How much more massive and imposing was Dean over Hurley?

At his peak in the late 70's / early 80's Cleve Dean was a multiple time world champion. He simply dominated his opponents. The reason for this was because of his tremendous size and strength. He was about 6' 7" and over 450 lbs. easily dwarfing Stallone and even some of his competition. His girth beguiled his opponents, he wasn't just a mountain of a man but rather a mountain of a man with lots of muscle. Like a modern-day Paul Bunyan, Cleve became synonymous with power.

Cleve represents a certain athletic aesthetic that is older than most people realize. Throughout history some of the strongest men in the world haven't always looked like bodybuilders. Some of the most powerful figures in myth have been on the heavy side. The giants and titans of ancient Greek and Norse mythology were usually heavy-set. The legendary Olympic weightlifter Vasili Alexeyev was another mountain of a man but he also did the unthinkable. Before his time many thought it would be impossible to lift more than 500 lbs. in the clean and jerk. Even though there were many strong weightlifters in that era, part of the reason for not being able to break the mark was psychological. Before his record-setting lift his coaches told him that he would be lifting 497 lbs. something that he had done in the past. As he lifted it he thought it felt heavier than normal but pushed himself to complete the cycle. Once he broke the barrier many in the sport realized that the human body had even more strength potential.

But the incredible strength of Cleve or Vasili doesn't mean much in the fighting arena. Grappler Royce Gracie once said a person with an average build that is experienced with judo would be able to beat a person with a bodybuilder physique and no fighting experience. There seems to be a lot to his reasoning. Big, tough guys that know a little fighting are usually taken out by smaller, experienced MMA fighters. The only large people that knowingly have fighting ability are sumo wrestlers. I've already mentioned that sumo wrestlers have a lot of muscle underneath their mass. More than that they have technique. Being absurdly strong is one thing but most sumos are evenly matched, they need technique to counter the strength. They need technique to decide a winner. A champion like Akebono made for a great sumo wrestler because he had the raw size and strength of Cleve or Vasili but combined it with impeccable fighting technique and strategies.

This is where I don't understand the purpose of Rufus. Street Fighter is already filled with archetypical strongmen. Zangief is a giant, bearded version, of Alexander Karelin. Like Alexander, Zangief is capable of superhuman feats of strength with his wrestling ability. E. Honda is a champion-class sumo wrestler, a kabuki-painted yokozuna. Where does Rufus fit between those other big men? He doesn't seem to have the design or purpose of the legendary strongmen I've mentioned. Instead he is a fat guy that knows kung-fu and moves really, really fast. He jumps fast, punches and kicks fast and has fast super attacks. Zangief and Honda are slower by comparison.

It just doesn't make sense to me. I'd love to see Rufus as massive as his is now, playing sickly powerful but also slow. A middleman between Zangief and Honda. Or a "slimmer" version, one that is still chubby but also fast and more reminiscent of Sammo Hung. But a Rufus that is both absurdly fat and fast? That, like Bob from Tekken, is a stretch and I don't think I'm the only one that thinks so. At some point character design stopped being great. It stopped evolving logically and just became absurd. I'm not going to lie and say that 2D fighters all had great designs, there were some awful designs back in the day. However the third dimension really brought the worst designs to life. Advances is animation and 3D modeling allowed a character of any shape or size to move as lightly as an olympic gymnast or as fast as a professional boxer.

When did the gatekeeper to great fighting character design go on holiday? Wish I could have been there in his stead, some characters would have never gotten the greenlight. All I can do now is point out the tragedies and lament the days gone bye. What do you think. Do fat characters have a place in fighting games? Is it about time or just a gimmick so far? Am I making too much about nothing? Does Rufus work in SF IV? Let me know what you think in the comments!

Disney, the Italian Legacy, part 6 - A 1UP classic from July 19, 2011

When Epic Mickey was under development Disney in the USA used it as a vehicle to reach out to the community. They wanted to remind younger audiences why Mickey Mouse was an icon. The studio wanted to show them why the mouse had international appeal, even decades after his introduction. The concepts of selflessness, friendship and loyalty that made Mickey famous had to be made clear. In order to reach the younger generations the studio had to tap into their primary forms of entertainment, videogaming was the obvious one, yet comic books were also a contemporary form of entertainment that the studio could use as well.

While Warren Spector penned the outline for the Epic Mickey game, fellow Disney fan, comic book veteran and Eisner Award Winner Peter David was hired to write the story in comic book form. These were set to be a series of adventures that took place before the videogame, titled “Tales from the Wasteland.” In the US the comics were distributed digitally using the Disney DigiComics service, available via the iTunes store. Those with an iPhone, iPod or iPad could download the comics for free. The actual collected stories would not appear in graphic novel format until almost year later.

The decision to distribute comics digitally did not make a lot of sense to comic or videogame fans. Perhaps the studio did not want to have the stories get lumped together with the children’s comics in stores. By going all digital they ensured that part of the target audience would have direct access to the story without having to hunt for issues.

At the same time the stories were made available digitally they were published physically overseas in the pages of Topolino.

In keeping with Topolino magazine tradition there was a multi-page blowout about the game, plot and interviews with Warren Spector. Epic Mickey concept art, characters and history were featured before audiences got a chance to read the first in a series of adventures.

In order for Disney to accomplish their goal of reaching audiences via the comic book medium the best option was to go to Italy. Very few comic book artists working in the USA were trained in the Disney style or had any experience drawing Disney Comics. Italy was the one place where Disney comics were being published regularly and developed with a strong attention to detail.

Peter David got most of the attention in the US media outlets yet the art staff was just as accomplished. Fabio Celoni and Paolo Mottura were veterans from the pages of Topolino. They trained with the Disney Academy and had experience drawing just about every character in the universe at one point or another through their careers Their styles were not quite classic but more of a modern cartoon style instead. They helped bring Epic Mickey to life for fans on both sides of the Atlantic. The stories laid out by Mr. David were fun and took many chances to call out the classic attractions that would be highlighted in Epic Mickey. He was able to incorporate the most memorable elements that visitors saw at each attraction. For example the ballroom scene and bride from the Haunted Mansion were incorporated into the story. 

The lovelorn bride chased Oswald and the mechanized Donald and Goofy around the inside of the mansion as well as through the graveyard on floating “Doom Buggies.” Fabio and Paolo did a great job making cartoon versions out of the classic Marc Davis designs. Although they were ghosts none were too macabre as to scare off younger readers. Mr. David also wrote in Oswald trying to fill in the shoes of other classic characters. Instead of Donald Duck they tried out Oswald the Lucky Duck. Instead of Chernabog, the large demon at the end of Fantasia, Oswald tried his best at being menacing. Neither roles really worked for the rabbit. The classic squash and stretch reactions rendered by the art team did work in his favor though.

The collaboration of US writing and Italian art worked in favor of the Tales from the Wasteland. In a few months those that did not get a chance to read the digital downloads will be able to buy the collected graphic novel. This will include concept art from Junction Point and additional notes from Warren Spector and Peter David. The collection will be published by Disney Press instead of Boom Studios.

Not to be outdone Boom Studios, or rather Kaboom Studios had started publishing an all new series written by Warren Spector and penciled by other Italian greats. The next blog will take a look at the new DuckTales comic book adventures. I hope to see you back 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!

Remix Culture, how Asian designers changed the game, part 2

In a previous blog I mentioned that I hadn’t drawn in my sketchbook in years. When I did I would often create something basketball related. I absolutely loved the sport. Drawing basketball players helped me learn anatomy, perspective, color, and action poses. I learned how to color my work with Adobe Illustrator while turning those sketches into finished renders. In that blog I also mentioned that I had turned down working with shoe, and apparel manufacturer AND 1. The company wanted to buy the rights to my current, and future basketball characters for a flat rate.

I would be getting no residuals on potential millions worth of revenue that the parent company would. In the early 2000’s there was no hotter place to work for. As an artist just getting started it was a dream opportunity, but I decided to hold onto my IP, and scruples instead. I learned that it was okay to turn down some clients after reading an interview with Michael Lau, one of my favorite artists. Mr. Lau helped start a movement. If you want to get the complete history of his early years please visit the Michael Lau fan site which I recently restored. I mentioned a few of Michael’s contemporaries on my fan site, however I want to try to connect the dots, and explain how art, culture, and the toy market came together.

The art movement started in the early ’90s. Michael was from Hong Kong. He graduated from the Design First Institute, and went into ad art, and display design in the port city. In his free time he would make models, and toys. He sketched out a world of street kids that he called the “gardeners” the lowercase “g” was on purpose. In the mid-90’s he would create album covers for his friends in the Hip Hop, and rock groups Anodize (Jimmy Man, Gary Cheng, K.K. Wong, Was, and Davy Chan), Jan Lam, and the Lazymuthafucka (MC Yan, DJ Tommy, Kit, Wah, Kee, Gary, Davy, Jimmy, Sam, Phat, Prodip, and Kevin) crews.

These album covers were very playful. They featured handmade figures in street, or city scenes. The Japanese group SMAP loved his work, and also commissioned him to create some album covers for them a few years later. Now I want you to remember that during this era the internet was still in its infancy as far as access went. Art, music, news, and culture spread much slower than today. Magazines were the only way for most people to see what the trends were.With that said it was still the street kids that were aware of what was happening around the world.

Whether in China, Japan, the UK, or the US pop music was, and would always be the catchy songs that were featured on the radio, tv, and movie screens. The rugged “urban” sound of rap would always be seen as the Black music from the USA, and not be as heavily promoted in most nations. This didn’t stop generations of kids from getting into Hip Hop culture. The kids in the favelas of Brazil, the kids in densely packed cities in Japan, and also the displaced Eastern European kids spread all over the world could hear that it was an entirely new movement, and they embraced it. They learned that Hip Hop was a culture made of multiple components.

The four pillars were known as the deejay (the music/band), the emcee (the singer), graffiti (the art), and b-boy (the dance). Individually they were great creative outlets, but together they formed an entirely new culture. The fifth pillar of Hip Hop was called “Overstanding” instead of understanding by Afrika Bambaataa, one of the architects of the movement. Mr. Bambaataa was a former gang leader, in the ‘70s he saw that the various tribes, or gangs in NYC were tearing each other apart. The police, and local governments were sewing division among the various ethnic groups, and he wanted to end the violence. 

He knew that parties, music, and culture could bring them together. The boroughs of New York were forming a new sound. It wasn’t rock, it wasn’t soul, funk, or blues, but it pulled influences from each. With Black, Afro-Caribbean, and Latino roots it spoke to millions of people that didn’t hear themselves on the radio. They called the movement Hip Hop, reclaiming it from the insult that people would use to describe the music. The culture would tie together the different sounds, and stories of the city. More important, it was up to every person to share the story, and spread the culture. The movement borrowed a phrase from the days of American slavery “each one teach one.” In Hong Kong, Japan, and elsewhere around the world the music, and art started taking off by the mid, and late ‘80s. Members were building their own crews, learning the dance, graffiti, rap, and turntable. They were telling the stories in their own native languages.

Michael Lau, his friends, and contemporaries were in the right place, at the right time. More important Michael was telling the story of the culture in his comics. He introduced the world to the gardeners in short panel comics in the Oriental Daily Newspaper, and larger color pieces in the pages of East Touch magazine. These comics mixed his illustrations, with his models. Each character had their own story, they lived in a world that young readers could relate to. He imagined they were growing up together, building families, moving on with their lives just as his friends were doing through the ‘90s.

His friends convinced him to create a run of the figures for an upcoming indy art toy show. It all started with the hero of his comics, the young skater named Maxx. Sculpting, painting, and making the outfits was tedious work. Michael went to the trouble of making a custom box for the original toy show release. Green felt simulated grass was on the floor of the box. The boxes even featured hand-drawn labels, and a plastic numbered window. The figure included a skateboard, and a bag (for a change of clothes). Most figures even came with a sticker sheet or comic strip.  

When Michael sold his Gardeners at toy shows and boutiques there were about 10 copies per character (Maxx, Miss, Brian, Tatto and Uncle) each in a numbered box. Every copy had a unique element, such as different clothes or shoes. He sold each figure for around $350 US, which would be a steal by today's custom figure rates. A few years ago one of the original figures popped up for sale at a gallery auction. It went for around $35,000. The figures went to close friends, and private collectors. The number on the boxes were also a play on "selling out" the Gardener figures. Michael had no intention of ever mass producing anything he worked on. As an artist he wanted to control his name, and the quality of his artwork. A poster print could be run in limited quantities, but it would be easily counterfeited. The figures were something much harder to recreate. Needless to say his toys were a hit. They were the talk of the toy fair. They sparked a fire that would see his friends, and contemporaries also try their hand at the art form. One of the earliest that wasn’t credited enough, even by me was Eric So.

Mr. So ran in the same circle as Michael, he was friends with the LMF crew. He was also very familiar with Hip Hop culture. As an aside there were plenty of people in the USA that still conflated rap, and Hip Hop as the same thing. As the emcee KRS-One said “Rap is something you do, Hip-Hop is something you live. You are not doing Hip-Hop, you are living Hip-Hop.” This perception wasn’t limited to the USA. To the marginalized Gen-Xers in Japan, China, and Hong Kong rap, and rock was the music that spoke more to them than pop. They assimilated the culture, and made something entirely new out of it. I don’t think there could have been any other place that could have used Hip Hop culture, and start a figure movement with it. Think about the location for a moment. Fashion trends started in the major cities. Paris, London, New York, Los Angeles, Tokyo, etc. When a person thinks of the most avant-garde fashion in the world they might point to a place like Harajuku in Japan. The kids there took their tribal cultures seriously, and worked hard to create their niche.

I would argue that the kids of Hong Kong in the ‘90s were some of the most underrepresented innovators in art, and fashion as well. Hong Kong as a nation was unique in that it had its finger on the pulse of global culture. They were colonized by the British, but situated in China. More than any other metropolis they imported, and exported the goods that the world demanded. They worked directly with the manufacturers of the biggest brands, often behind the scenes. These included high-end fashion labels.

The trend setters in Hong Kong knew where street culture was moving to months before the rest of society caught up. Again, remember they were doing this before the internet. They were seeing the culture shift first hand, and making it their own. Michael Lau, Eric So, and their friends had a foot in the East, and the West at the same time. When they produced something it could be universally understood. They were laying the foundation for something brilliant. The world just didn’t know it yet. I would say that all of that changed when Michael went to Japan for his Neatnik exhibition in 1998. Japanese musicians were now eager to work with him on album art. He was now an artist getting international exposure.

The following year there was the Michael Lau Exhibition III-crazysmiles at the Hong Kong-art center. This was the first show that featured all 101 of his original gardener figures. Fans of his comics could see all of the characters in person. Each figure was standing in a resin case, and you could walk around each of them, and absorb the countless details. In 2001 he took the exhibit to Japan, and that was essentially when the movement really took off. I remember that my mind was blown the very first time I saw a picture of the gardeners from that exhibition. It was entirely by accident, I was flipping through the pages of the Japanese skateboard magazine called Ollie. There was an insert from G-Shock watches by Casio. They were helping sponsor the gallery shows, and ran an ad on athletes, and artists to keep an eye on. Pictured were just a few of the gardeners but my mind was blown. I needed to find out everything I could about the characters, and the artist. I still have that magazine, and showed it to Lau a decade later.

When it came to the birth of Hip Hop DJ Steinsky (of Double Dee & Steinsky’s Lessons 1, 2 & 3 fame) once said “This is music that I’ve been waiting all my life to hear, and I didn’t even know it.” I got the same reaction when looking at the pictures of the gardeners. This was an art form that I’ve been waiting all my life to see, and I didn’t know it. Studying the work of Lau would shape me into a better artist, and connect me to the community in ways I could never have predicted. But I’ll talk about that more later. Were there ever works of art, or creators that completely changed the way you thought about art? Tell me about it in the comments section. 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 5 - A 1UP classic from July 18, 2011

If the subject for the blog was about Disney board games most would automatically assume that I was talking about the licensed board games. Disney’s version of Monopoly, Disney’s version of Clue or even Disney’s version of Candyland might come to mind. Yet Disney used to produce original board games which honored their legacy and were instantly collectable at the same time. Some of the earliest were based on Disneyland attractions and were both fun and highly collectable. This blog will talk about one of the rarer board games from overseas.

The 1974-75 release of Paperopoli Il Gran Gioco Degli Affari D’oro was a high-water mark for the Italians. Paperopoli was the Italian name for Duckberg. The subtitle translated to the Great Game of Business Gold. This game was ambitious in scope and execution. The game was designed for a maximum number of 6 players. A quick look at the contents could identify the various items used in the playing of the game. There were six cone shaped markers identifying the players and six major commodities to collect. Assets were tracked on individual portfolios. Transactions were made with large sums of colored paper money.

The game took its inspiration from Monopoly, with colored paper money involved and commodities that could be collected during the play. However the game had far more of a business spin to it.

Players started with a share of a particular business; Commerce, Industry (Manufacturing), Transportation, Credit, Oil or Construction. Stakes in each business were denoted by colored chips or tokens with impressions of the business logos on them. Players would then take turns going around the board trying to make money by buying or selling stakes in their portfolio.

The board itself was based heavily on comic book canon. Just about all of the major players from the pages of Topolino were featured on the squares including Mickey Mouse, Donald Duck, Daisy Duck, Goofy, Gladstone Gander, Scrooge McDuck, Moby Duck, Jubal Frostfeathers Pomp, John Rockerduck, the Beagle Boys, Magica DeSpell and Madam Mim. The latter two spell casters were used to create “earthquakes” or violent changes in the market. After all, what could explain the sometimes turbulent "invisible hand of economics" if it wasn’t magic? Players made their way around the board, affecting the various businesses by landing on squares and collecting commodities or by adjusting the stock market wheel, which was denoted on a separate board. Players gained or lost money depending on what they were invested in. Players in the lead got to hold onto Scrooge’s Number One coin to denote their business superiority.

Just because a player started in a particular industry it did not mean they were locked into it. Players could diversify their portfolio and try to cover the markets they felt held the most potential. The entire mechanic was brilliant for teaching players about the ins and outs of business culture and the stock market. As far as I know this play mechanic had not been repeated in any board game.

The game was very cleverly put together and layered in tremendous detail. The bright illustration on the cover gave a clear shot of the city and highlighted all of the various industries in Duckberg, making sure to include buildings and commerce owned and operated by the major players in Duckberg.

Each of the items included in the game carried over the same themes and attention to detail. The stock certificates for example reinforced the graphics imprinted on the colored plastic chips. They looked like tiny shares underwritten by both Scrooge and Rockerduck and could be set onto each player's portfolio.

The baknotes were pure works of art. The currency of Paperopoli was signed by the Bank Governor and Cashier Zio Paperone, the Italian name for Uncle Scrooge. These bills were far more impressive than the currency used in Monopoly. The denominations were also much larger in Paperopoli than in Monopoly. The smallest bill in Monopoly was $1 while the largest was $500 The smallest denomination in Paperopoli was $1000 with the largest being $100,000.

The denominations in Paperopoli had to be large given the shares of industries that could be purchased. The stock market in Paperopoli could cause shares to jump exponentially up or down in price meaning that fortunes could be made or destroyed rather quickly. Additionally the bank notes had to be in high denominations because the goal of the game was to be the first to reach $1 Million or be the last player not to go bankrupt.

The design, concept and execution of Paperopoli were nothing short of genius. The game demonstrated the type of innovation that Disney was capable of when they put their best foot forward. The thing that helped elevate this game to greatness was more than the tremendous amount of work that went into it but instead the exclusivity of the title. Paperopoli was only available for order from the pages of Topolino magazine.

Italian fans that admired and appreciated the Disney universe could get a fantastic game that could never be found in any toy, hobby or department store.

These types of promotional items were not uncommon in the pages of Topolino, just like the gadgets, figures or toys available to subscribers. Publishers rewarded fans of Disney with unique collectables designed for the whole family. There was nothing similarly available to Disney fans in the USA by comparison. This did not mean that Disney in the USA was not trying. The fledgling D23 the Official Fan Club for Disney enthusiasts was launched to try and reach out to the generations of fans and find out what their interests were. Subscribers would receive a poster or pin unavailable in any store. There was still a long way to go before fans in the USA had the same choices as those in Italy. In the past few years the publishers of Topolino had been helping the US Disney offices reach more fans than ever before. How they did it will be explored in the next blog.

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