Chapter 12: The Richest Duck in the World
Dates: Christmas 1947
The conclusion of TLaToSM picks up right before the end of Barks' Christmas on Bear Mountain, when Donald Duck and his nephews meet their Uncle Scrooge for the first time. At first, they don't believe the legends about his worldwide adventures or a bin full of three cubic acres of money, so Scrooge opens the bin up for the first time in five years and shows them his fortune, along with his famous Lucky—er, #1 Dime. ("'Lucky dime!' How @#*% insulting!") The tour is interrupted by a new generation of Beagle Boys, giving Scrooge the perfect chance to show Donald and the boys what he's really made of.
Even after the Beagle Boys are caught and arrested, Scrooge (very rightly) doesn't believe for a minute that he has seen the last of them this time. But thanks to Huey, Dewey, and Louie's agitating words, Scrooge reignites his passion and looks forward to many future adventures with his new family. Donald's nephews are as excited at the thought as Scrooge, but Donald doesn't see anything interesting about going "on a trek to some dusty warehouse to look for a long-lost ledger." Good thing you won't be doing any of that, then...
This chapter provides examples of:
- Adrenaline Makeover: Scrooge appears in the beginning of the chapter being hunched and shriveled up, but after foiling the Beagle boys and further encouragement from his nephews, he lights up and seems to become 20 years younger.Donald: You see what you've done? You li'l squirts have this poor old man all agitated!
Scrooge: I do seem to recall a li'l squirt who agitated part of me some years ago...
Donald: WAK!
Scrooge: Thank you, nephew! I almost feel like... like me again!
Donald: Don't mention it. - An Ass-Kicking Christmas: In addition to the literal example to Donald, Scrooge taking down the Beagle Boys as they attempt to relieve him of most of his wealth is certainly applicable.
- Armed with Canon: The story states that the Number One Dime is not in any way a lucky charm, contradicting many other stories, including the one that introduced Scrooge.
- Back for the Finale: Blackheart Beagle returns 45 years after Scrooge last saw him, during the invasion of Fort Duckburg by Teddy Roosevelt, and he has brought his grandsons with him as the new Beagle Boys.
- Earn Your Happy Ending: Scrooge regains his passion for life and adventure, and is able to start again with something he never had before - his family at his side.
- Homage: The beginning is a homage to Citizen Kane.
- Parental Abandonment: Lampshaded. Scrooge recalls that his family abandoned him, and Huey, Louie, and Dewey sadly reply that they already know that feeling. The kids are referring to their parents.
- Retcon: Scrooge starts out very tired and bitter, contradicting his joyful and excited behavior he was in from the end of the Bear Mountain story after witnessing the events at his cabin. In his commentary for the chapter, Don Rosa handwaves it as the long car ride home from the cabin and resulting lack of sleep that caused his brief relapse in attitude.
- Retired Badass: Scrooge at the beginning. Scrooge's adventures have ended, and he shut down most of his companies around the world in 1942. He retired, and he lives in isolation in a luxurious mansion. His only company are a handful of servants, and the memories of his former life.
- Rule of Funny: In his commentary Don Rosa admits that he was uneasy about putting the Will Eisner award among Scrooge's trophies as it was from 1995, far after where the story was set. He then says that he is overthinking such a small throwaway gag, and compares it to Roger Rabbit slipping his hand out of Handcuffs. He says he is trying to make his story as historically accurate as possible, but will let slip a few gags for humors sake.
- Sarcastic Title: While Scrooge McDuck is in fact the literal richest duck in the world at that point, he's a sad, broken old man.
- Self-Deprecation:Donald: Let's just humor him! All this hokey junk proves he's... well... eccentric! (points to a portrait of Scrooge from 1897) See? One of those gag photos they make for tourists! Wotta phony scene!
Dewey: Hm. Looks real to me!
(Donald turns to a display holding the Will Eisner Comics Industry Award for The Life and Times of Scrooge McDuck)
Donald: Ha! Then how do you explain this?! Obviously all fakes! - Shout-Out:
- Loads to Citizen Kane:
- Right at the start of the story there is a black and white television report about Scrooge modeled after the one in Citizen Kane.
- Scrooge is shown holding a snow globe depicting a scene from Yukon as he mutters "Goldie".
- While digging through Scrooge's storage room, Donald comes across Rosebud itself.
- Scrooge tells Donald "If you'll just lean forward a bit, I can crack you on the skull with this cane", which is a line spoken by Waldo Lydecker in Laura.
- Scrooge calls the goose egg nugget "the rock that dreams are made of", which is what Sam Spade said about the eponymous treasure in The Maltese Falcon.
- The "Thimble-headed gherkin" insult Scrooge uses below is what Professor Fate calls Max in The Great Race.
- Loads to Citizen Kane:
- Storefront Television Display: The chapter opens on Donald and his nephews watching a documentary on Scrooge McDuck on a TV on display in a storefront.
- Take That!:Scrooge: "Lucky" dime?! What thimble-headed gherkin invented that supreme bit of absolute balderdash?!
Donald: Oh, everybody says it, Unk!
Scrooge: Well, everybody is a nincompoop! - Uncanny Atmosphere: On the way to the money bin, the ducks notice and comment on the oddity of the presence of sidewalk Santas, even though there aren't many shoppers on Christmas Day. They turn out to be the Beagle Boys in disguise, who were following them under suspicion of the truth about the bin having three cubic acres of cash.
