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Norway has a peculiar and unique tradition in the comics field. Every November, several dozen special comic books are published to gear Norwegians of all ages up to Christmas. Learn about the Norwegian phenomenon of Christmas comics.

"You may be interested to know that Donald lays several eggs each morning and consumes them for food."

A second new Mickey Mouse short, No Service, has been made viewable (for American viewers) on Disney’s website. This short is night and day from the first one they made public, Croissant de Triomphe. It has a solid setup, fast-paced but clear direction, character-driven conflict and gags, and most importantly, it’s funny.

A couple weaknesses stood out. As with nearly every other contemporary cartoon, the short is padded with unnecessary dialogue. What does the audience gain from hearing Donald Duck say, “That’s not funny,” after we already see him fuming from being dissed by Mickey? The bigger issue is the backgrounds. As lovely as they are as illustrations, they don’t fulfill their primary purpose for the shorts, which is to stage the characters and gags. There are random background textures and details that distracted from the main action in nearly every scene. The backgrounds even obscured the jokes. For example, there’s a gag with Mickey’s tail in the framegrab below that I completely missed on the first couple viewings because of the random dark shadow area placed exactly where the gag takes place:

I don’t know the production order of the shorts, but No Service is a huge improvement over the first offering. These could end up being some of the funnier takes on classic cartoon characters, and I’m looking forward to seeing the rest of the series.

Donald leads a tormented life on the unforgiving streets of Duckburg, where sometimes he must betray his own conscience to make ends meet. Donald has to raise his 3 nephews, deal with his girlfriend and put up working for his stingy uncle; the richest duck in town.

Sounds like Carl Barks? Think again. From Icelandic comedy group Mid-Island, comes this mock trailer about the lives and times of Donald Duck.. in Danish and filmed in the style of Lars von Trier’s Dogma 95.

(Thanks, Cameron Koller)

Cartoon Brew | Permalink | No comment | Post tags: donald duck

heyoscarwilde:

Greeting card sent to famed Donald Duck illustrator Carl Barks by Astro Boy creator Osamu Tezuka ::  year unknown :: via comicartfans.com

I’ve been super busy this week, but had to share this image of a Donald Duck brigade from 1930s Serbia. Who were the people under those masks and what were they thinking? The world will never know. More disturbing imagery can be found on the Disney History blog.

Cartoon Brew: Leading the Animation Conversation | Permalink | 2 comments | Post tags: donald duck, Serbia

An interesting comparison between the Stanley Universe and that of Carl Barks. And at drawn and quarterly a terrific pdf of Melvin the Monster.

Snopes is a great website for clearing up unanswered questions or finding the answer to a bet.

Was Donald Duck banned in Finland because the character doesn't wear pants? According to Snopes: False.

The origins of the legend begin in 1977.

...when the city of Helsinki found itself in a bit of a financial crunch. With monetary resources limited, Mr. Markku Holopainen, a local Liberal Party representative, proposed at a meeting of the board of youth affairs that the city economize by discontinuing its purchase of Donald Duck comics for youth centers in favor of hobby and sport publications. His suggestion was heartily approved.

A year later, while Holopainen was in the midst of an election campaign for a seat in the Finnish parliament, word was leaked to the press that he was "the man who banned Donald Duck from Helsinki." The chairman of the board of youth affairs failed to come to Holopainen's defense -- not surprisingly, since he himself was a candidate as well. Holopainen explained in vain that the decision to discontinue the purchase of Donald Duck comics with city funds had passed unanimously and was made solely for economic reasons. Holopainen lost his battle with the press -- and he lost the election to the now-silent board chairman.

When a similar incident had taken place in the Finnish town of Kemi a few years earlier, the international press had gleefully exaggerated the story with headlines such as "Finland Bans Donald" and "Donald Vanishes from Libraries," reporting that Donald's banishment was due to concerns over his lack of pants and questions about his marital status. As the foreign news reports about the alleged banning of Donald Duck filtered back to Finland (and neighboring Sweden), the local tabloids didn't attempt to verify the story -- they merely ran articles about the reaction it was receiving abroad. "Donald Not Married; Politicians Outraged!" and "Donald, Where Are Your Trousers?" were headlines in foreign papers, Finns were told.

The furor quickly blew over, and within several months Disney cartoons became more prevalent on Finnish TV, leading the more cynical to wonder if the whole thing hadn't been encouraged as a clever publicity stunt by Disney.

I love these deconstructed Disney characters from artist Markus Hofko.

(via Today and Tomorrow)

In New England, in Autumn, there is a lot that is beautiful. Here is a neat article about small town libraries in Western MA with an attractive slide show to go along with it. I’ve made a Flickr set of the libraries I’ve been to with one photo per library. They’re not all small town libraries, but they’re good for looking at as well. [thanks rob!]

I’m a nature girl. Few things make me happier than spending a spring day climbing a mountain, or exploring a lake in a kayak, or walking the shoreline at the ocean… So when summer arrives, (especially on Fridays) I yearn to be away from my computer outside in the sun. Don’t get me wrong, I love the internet, but amidst all the voices online you can sometimes lose your own. In fact I once spend three WHOLE days away from the internet, away from phones and books and toilets, on a three day solo in Maine. Just me, a lake, my sleeping bag and a journal. It is a truly refreshing experience, learning to spend time with yourself. So, it may seem natural that Thoreau is one of my favorite authors.

Recently I found an Oxford book titled Walden Pond: A History by W. Barksdale Maynard, and I thought it might be nice to share an excerpt from it with you. Perhaps you will find time this summer to visit Thoreau’s refuge, or to spend time thinking in your own personal Walden Pond.

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