Cover for the Greek reprint of the saga.
The Millenium Orb Saga, also known as the Orb Saga, is a Disney Mouse and Duck Comics series written by Carol and Pat McGreal and drawn by a various prominent Disney comic artists. It was published in 1999 and 2000 as a celebration for the Turn of the Millennium.
Both Donald and Mickey, unbeknownst to each other, come into possession of mysterious white orbs during their usual adventures. They are indestructible and drawn to the heroes, following them as if they have their own will. As it turns out, they were created from mystic metals one thousand years ago by evil wizard Meringue the Malevolent. By fusing them by using the energy of the change of millenniums, he hoped to create a scepter of unimaginable powers. Having failed, now he returns on the eve of the year 2000 to attempt it again with only Duckburg and Mouston's finest to stop him!
The story was told in seven episodes:
- Dimes Are Forever: Drawn by Vicar. Scrooge and Donald chase in a Cool Plane after Magica after she absconds with the #1 Dime using an instant (but not accurate) teleportation spell. Donald finds one of the orbs in the fires of Vesuvius during the showdown with the witch, where she is stopped when the orb bonks her on the head on his own.
- A Kidnapping In Yubet: Drawn by Cèsar Ferioli Pelaez. Mickey and Goofy travel to a Fictional Country of Yubet to meet with a famous monk, who turns out to be a child. He's then kidnapped by the Phantom Blot, who hopes to steal the secret of levitation from him. Mickey and Goofy chase him into the mountains, where the mouse find the other orb encased in ice. It melts the ice in order to go into Mickey's hand, with helps in stopping the Blot.
- Ornery Orb: Drawn by Vicar. Donald sells the orb to Scrooge to buy a birthday gift for Daisy. However, the orb keeps returning to Donald, leading to his uncle to suspect his nephew pulled a con on him. After clearing the misunderstanding and Scrooge returning the orb (he can't sell it if he can't keep it!), Donald gives it to Daisy as a birthday gift... though it still follows him all the same.
- Sister Sleuths: Drawn by Tino Santanach Hernandez. Minnie Mouse and Daisy Duck accidently meet at a jewelry shop, where they both wanted to a buy a case to keep their orbs in check, finding out about how there are two such orbs. Before they can properly compare notes, the Beagle Boys rob the shop, taking the orbs with them. Not taking this laying down, the heroines track them down to their hideout, where they proceed to capture them and retrieve both the loot and the orbs.
- War Of The Wizards: Drawn by Vicar. Gyro Gearloose was tasked by Minnie and Daisy to figure out the mysteries of the orbs. He finally gets a reaction by using vibrations - they show events from Duckburg of the year 999, when Meringue the Malevolent tried to use them to create a scepter of power by using the mystical energy of the coming of the new millennium. After being foiled at the last second by a good wizard and ancestors of Donald and Mickey, the villain then proceeded to seal himself in the mountain so that he can try his scheme again in 1999. Gyro goes to the mountains alone to confront him. However, the evil wizard awakens just as the inventor gets there and erases Gyro's memory of the matter, so that he can search for the orbs unimpeded.
- Tis The Season To Be Wicked: Drawn by Francisco Rodriguez Peinado. On Christmas Eve, Meringue the Malovent begins the hunt for the orbs... which were already stolen from Gyro's workshop by the Phantom Blot! Using spells to bewitch both Magica De Spell and the Beagle Boys, Meringue lays siege on the Blot's hideout, emerging victorious and brainwashing the black-clad villain into servitude.
- New Year's Nightmare: Drawn by Cèsar Ferioli Pelaez. A two-parter. During the New Year's Eve party with hosts both Donald and Mickey's cast, the gang learns about Meringue and his plans for the orbs, thanks to Gyro recording the vision. Which barely any time left, they and their friends and family go up the mountain to confront the wizard and his brainwashed cohorts. Managing to stop him in the nick of time, Meringe - having since his return learned about how the world is round and has time zones - teleports himself and the orbs to the last place on Earth where the new millennium shall arrive. This leaves only Donald and Mickey to go after him in Scrooge's Cool Plane for the final battle amidst the islands of the Pacific Ocean!
The Millennium Orb Saga, in its original version, was printed all around the world in 1999 and 2000. However, the saga was not printed in the United States until 2006 in the United States. The editors at Gemstone decided to erase the references to the New Millenium from the story; the present-day part of the saga is now taking place in 2006-2007, while the orbs were forged at some point of the 1700's, thus taking the "Millennium" out of the saga's name.
The ''Millennium Orb Saga' provides examples of:
- Big Bad: Meringue the Malovent, an ancient wizard.
- Breather Episode: Ornery Orb doesn't deal with any villains; it's just about Donald and the hijinks a Clingy MacGuffin would cause.
- Christmas Episode: Tis The Season To Be Wicked takes place during Christmas, but only features all of the villains from previous episodes duking it out over the orbs, making this a rare cross-up with a Villain Episode. The bad guys even have a Christmas dinner together! Most of them were brainwashed by Meringue, but still!
- Clingy MacGuffin: The orbs, when released, are drawn to Donald and Mickey, though it is not impossible to completely separate them, if given enough distance.
- Cool Plane: Vertex, Scrooge's newest two-seater hypersonic jet with the capability to land horizontally like a helicopter. It can travel around the globe in half an hour, with proves essential when Mickey and Donald have to chase Meringue to the Pacific. Unfortunately, it does not survive the story, being destroyed by a magical storm.
- Depending on the Artist: Meringue drawn by Vicar has a more demonic look to him compared to how Pelaez and Peinado portrayed him.
- Disney Villain Death: Meringue is defeated when Mickey and Donald destabilize the newly formed Scepter of Power, which then forms a wormhole that sucks the villain in, leaving only the once again separated orbs.
- Fire/Water Juxtaposition: Donald finds his orb inside of a volcano, while Mickey discovers his frozen in ice on a mountain.
- Girl's Night Out Episode: Sister Sleuths has both Minnie and Daisy take the spotlight and capture the Beagle Boys after they steal the orbs from them.
- Identical Grandson: Donald and Mickey's ancestors from 1000 years ago look identical to their descendants.
- New Powers as the Plot Demands: In A Kidnapping In Yubet, Goofy turns out to be able to levitate subconsciously, just like Yubet's spiritual leader. This form of levitation is based on the ability to clear one's mind of thought - which Goofy admits isn't that hard for him, since he doesn't really have that much going on in his head in the first place. However, he loses this ability by the end of this episode, stating that maybe he cleared his mind a bit too much.
- Suicidal Pacifism: In A Kidnapping In Yubet, none of the residents try to save their spiritual leader when Phantom Blot kidnaps him - even the leader himself, a child, doesn't try to resist. They just say "it is what it is" to the consternation of both heroes and the villain.
- Time Zones Do Not Exist: Averted. Learning about time zones is crucial for Meringue's second attempt at forging the scepter in 1999 - as long it is made during the turn to the New Millennium, it doesn't matter where it is done, which him specifically going to the last point on Earth where the year 2000 will arrive.
- Where the Hell Is Springfield?: Quite likely one of the most egregious examples in the history of Disney's Duck and Mouse comics. According to the story, Duckburg already existed as a settlement over one thousand years ago, well into medieval times. This could work, if we assume this incarnation of Duckburg is something like a viking settlement... and forget that it is supposed to be located in Calisota, which is generally agreed upon to be on the West Coast. The US release goes around it by placing Meringue's first attempt in 1706 instead.
- Whole Episode Flashback: War Of The Wizards is mostly about the ancestors of Mickey and Donald and how they helped in defeating Meringue on New Year's Eve in the year 999, with some commentary from Gyro.
- Wizard Duel: It would be silly if a story titled War Of The Wizards didn't feature one, though it was definitely a one-sided one. Meringue was just blasting away any spell the good wizard was throwing at him. To the good wizard's credit, he knew he was out of his league, but he couldn't let Meringue just have his way.
- In Tis The Season To Be Wicked, Magica faces off against Meringue, but that was even less of a fight than the one with the good wizard. He subsequently uses a love spell to turn her into an minion.
- Wutai: Yubet is clearly meant to be an analogue of Tibet.
