Donald Duck & Co.: – Donald Duck in Norway

Donald Duck & Co. It is Norway’s most popular comic book ever, and has taught generations of children to read and write since the first issue appeared in 1948.

At its height in the 1980s, more than 13 million Donald magazines were published annually.

This year, the magazine celebrates its 75th anniversary with a quack tactical case signed by an all-Norwegian team in which Donald and the gang take over Oslo. Gaute Moe (51) wrote the story, while Arild Midthun (58) provided the illustrations.

– Midthun tells Dagbladet that if there’s someone you know well who lives elsewhere, say Andeby, the greatest pleasure is to be able to take him to your home region.

He himself lived in Oslo for ten years before moving to his son.

– The summer I turned seventeen, I lived and worked at Majorstua, among other things Norwegian MAD. So it was a lot of fun for me to be able to take our beaked friends through Oslo. Or Fjonslo as the city is called in the cartoon.

Want to buy subway

according to Forbes Skrue McDuck has a net worth of over $44 billion (!). Then it is not surprising that the business empire of the richest duck in the world extends to all parts of the world.

Now the Scottish-born charlatan Scrooge has it – as he crossed Twitter In 2022 he stated that he had acquired sales positions in Norwegian crude oil – he went off on the same subway in Oslo.

In the magazine, which goes on sale March 17, Skrue travels with Donald, Ollie, Doll and Doven to Gardermoen to buy Norway’s only underground. In his pocket is the Beloved’s Ring of Fortune, which soon falls into the hands of his arch-nemesis Magica of Trail.

It all culminates in a speedboat tour on Holmenkolbanen, which offers everything from moose on the trails to brutal ticket inspectors.

Disney removes controversial favorite song

– He stands out

Author Donald Gaut Mo is finished 350 written stories on conscience. At the same time, he has worked as a subway driver in Oslo on a daily basis since 2008.

Thus, he could easily draw inspiration from his daily life when he had to write about the Norwegian adventures of our beaked friends.

Sometimes it happens that you have to do research when writing a story. But here it was not necessary, he explains to Dagbladet.

He thinks it was nice to be able to add history to Line 1 Frognerseteren with its attractive surroundings.

– It is the most unique line in terms of sights and well-known landmarks. It’s an incredibly cool extension, says the author behind “Neste stasjon Fjollenkollen.”

A broken magic record

He made his debut when he was 40 years old

Arild Midhon He is an award-winning cartoonist, illustrator, newspaper cartoonist and the only officially accredited Donald cartoonist in Norway.

Since 2004, he has put his signature on more than 160 Donald stories and countless covers that have ended up on magazine shelves around the world.

When he received the order to draw The Donald nearly 20 years ago, he brought his own flair and style from the Franco-Belgian cartoons he made. Asterix And vigointerspersed with experiments with humorous cartoons and newspaper comic strips.

– I was 40 years old when I drew my first Donald. Lots of people have tried to draw Donald growing up, but I’ve never done it. Not until the first parody was made Python.

During the 1990s Midthun drew many illustrations for Aftenposten. Whenever a rich person was needed, he would draw Skrue McDuck.

– I drew our friends with a beak, but in a cartoonish style through Pyton, Norsk MAD and Aftenposten. When I started as a Donald cartoonist, I had to combine all of this and try to settle on a style that would allow our stories to stand alongside Carl Parks.

Anger against Disney: – Absolutely devastated

“dripping”

The Duck clan is, to put it mildly, a well-travelled family who are in for epic adventures around the world. Midthun says he likes to travel to the same places so he can study the surroundings in detail with his own eyes when he has to illustrate Donald’s stories.

At the same time, some caveats apply.

– According to Disney guidelines, we must not reproduce buildings in a completely natural way. I make sure to “calm down” everything, this is after all our interpretation of reality in Andeby’s world. It’s perfectly fine that people can identify things like the castle, but it’s not quite realistically drawn. It’s a balancing act that I always have to do.

– In other words, are you making changes so that Andeby doesn’t appear to be located somewhere in the actual world?

– The whole of Andeby is a myth, we are replanting all the elements from the reality we know into a world of insatiable ducks.

The danger, according to Midthun, is that otherwise you risk getting hung up on details that spoil a good narrative.

– It is as if the anchor is wearing a tie that grabs all the attention so as not to catch the news.

A heartbreaking revelation

Fjottsplassen and Majonestuen

Not just the environment a duckturned away from reality.

In classic Donald style, all place names are “diminished”. Oslo is named after Fjonslo, while history creeps into places like ‘Fjottsplassen’ and ‘Majonestuen’.

Dagbladet asks Midthun if this was done so that there would be no suspicion that, for example, Visit Oslo sponsored the cartoon.

“Disney is a company that tells stories, and they are very careful how they use their intellectual property in, say, advertising for other industries,” cartoonist Donald answers before continuing:

– It would be somewhat similar as if you were telling a fairy tale where the trolls are replaced by a forest machine. Then you lose the charm and nerve of the story. It is a goal in itself to be the space between the reality we know and Andeby’s world that we’re telling about.

Disney has never done this before

guest stars as a pig

Gaute Moe has been referred to as the country’s most popular quack Donald author. According to himself, he writes between 20 and 25 stories a year.

– he told Dagbladet before he set off on today’s subway sections, I take a lot of time.

As a fun detail, Gaute Moe himself guest-starred as a subway driver with the initials “GM” on his coffee cup. Although he was written in Underground Driver, he had no idea Arild Midthun was going to write him as a pig.

– I didn’t know anything, it was almost a little embarrassing. I’ve noticed I’m getting a little fatter, but I hope I don’t look like that, says Mo with a chuckle before continuing:

– but then I guess I have a new favorite character.

Anticipation of the Holocaust

Of course the center point

When asked which classic question he considers Andeby’s favorite person, Midthun replied that there are two that stand out.

– I like to draw Magica from Tryll. She’s my favorite character ever because she’s strong, sexy, and knows what she wants. She also has a lot of black, which makes her drawing interesting and cute.

As the main character in the story, Donald is always the one applying.

– Andeby is completely built around him – everything that happens is created to illustrate Donald’s personality. That’s why you have lucky cousin Anton to show how unlucky Donald is, or how poor he is by having the richest uncle in the world.

Midthun thinks Donald Duck is the perfect hero.

It is only governed by emotions, not by reason, and that is why we love it. He does stupid things so we don’t have to.