Tralla-La, otherwise known as Bottlecaps for Tralla-La, is comic story written and drawn by Carl Barks. It was first printed in Uncle Scrooge #6 in 1954, and was eventually turned into an episode of the original DuckTales as a fairly faithful Animated Adaptation. Don Rosa would write a sequel years later, known as Return to Xanadu, with Scrooge and his nephews accidentally returning to Tralla-La during what they thought was an unrelated search for the treasury of Kublai Khan.
Scrooge McDuck is overworked and at his breaking point- just hearing any mention of money sends him into a total breakdown. To rest and recover, he decides to go to the one place where money doesn't exist, a mythical valley in the Himalayas called Tralla-La. Finding it is a bit of a chore, but the trouble starts when Scrooge unwittingly introduces money to the land, cause the society to spiral into chaos!
Tropes
- Animated Adaptation: The DuckTales episode. It mostly follows the plot of the comic, the biggest difference being the ending due to the presence of Gizmoduck, though there are other differences, such as Fenton being the one to introduce the idea of scarcity to the valley, and La Deedah being adapted out. Tralla-La still has a leader, but he's not named and has a drastically different design.
- Beleaguered Boss: Deconstructed; needing to solve every little problem and deal with all manner of people asking for donations or help is immensely stressful for Scrooge, to the point where he needs a whole bottle of medicine for his nerves.
- Berserk Button: Not exactly berserk, but the sheer mention of money will cause Scrooge to shake all over and collapse.
- The Corrupter: Scrooge, and unusual for this trope, unwillingly so; he accidentally introduces scarcity to Tralla-La, plunging the valley into chaos.
- Just the First Citizen: It's not entirerly clear what, if any, title Lah Deedah holds, but even in a utopia, someone has to be in charge, at least nominally, and that's his job. Return to Xanadu elaborates on this, revealing that the real authority in Tralla-La is the High Llama Tsamjah Phee, but he's incredibly old and only communicates with his subjects through Deedah.
- Not So Above It All: The people of Tralla-La are not actually immune to greed, it's just that there's nothing in the valley to be greedy over; everyone has access to the same resources and the same knowledge. Something as simple as a bottlecap is enough to throw the whole system into chaos, even though it's utterly worthless - the fact that there's just one bottlecap (with no way of producing more as Tralla-La has no metal and no industry) is the whole problem.
- Perfect Pacifist People: Tralla-La is portrayed this way, and it's been like this for centuries... until Scrooge and family come along, at least.
- Small, Secluded World: Tralla-La lies in a remote valley somewhere in the Himalayas and is almost impossible to reach by foot. However, it's now the 1950's, so Scrooge and family just use a plane to find the valley, then parachute down.
- Unwitting Instigator of Doom: Scrooge giving a farmer one discarded bottlecap sets off all the trouble.
