The Life And Times Of Scrooge Mc Duck

The Life And Times Of Scrooge Mc Duck. An epic story indeed, in the classical sense of the world. It's exciting, it's funny, it's well-researched, the art is stunning, and the characters are very memorable. I for one dream of the day it gets adapted into animation.

Darkness cannot drive out darkness; only light can do that. Hate cannot drive out hate; only love can do that.

I dunno, there are so many Funny Background Events that would be lost for the sake of making it easy to follow, the adaptation would lack something...

But yeah. Best Disney comics ever. I still reread them occasionnally, and I enjoy them as a grown up as much as when I was a kid.

The Prisoner Of White Agony Creek certainly has some Parental Bonus, does it not?

Darkness cannot drive out darkness; only light can do that. Hate cannot drive out hate; only love can do that.

Even more so because I missed its first publication, and only read it for the first time on a TPB years later.

"... Wait, what ? Is that really a Disney comic ?"

Please tell me I'm not the only person who sees the phrase "Life and times of" and immediately puts "Juniper Lee" afterward.

Fun story, I did a "treatment" for a hypothetical animated adaptation for a class once.

Personally, I'd end it one issue early, go for the Citizen Kane ending.

Aw, come on now.

Do we get to read that piece?

Darkness cannot drive out darkness; only light can do that. Hate cannot drive out hate; only love can do that.

If you want to read my old homework go ahead. I put "treatment" in quotes because it was more like a checklist of the movie's elements and a brief synopsis. Copy/pasted below as best I could in the forum format.

Source Material: The Life and Times of Scrooge Mc Duck by Don Rosa

• Where is the movie: I see it as a more kid-friendly take on Citizen Kane, not difficult since Citizen Kane was a major influence on Don Rosa’s story. It would also resemble The Life and Death of Colonel Blimp, since, like Blimp, Scrooge goes from being a young gogetter to a stubborn old man over the course of the story.

• This story should be adapted to the screen because, while the “duck” characters started off in animation, they never reached the level of depth or sophistication in the cartoons as they did in the comics. The Lifes and Times of Scrooge Mc Duck is one of the most ambitious comic book stories in history, and a bog screen adaptation would show the character in a light never before seen in animation.

Brief Synopsis of Source Material

The story traces Scrooge Mc Duck from Scotland in 1877 to America in 1947. During these seventy years, Scrooge works as a shoeshine boy, a riverboat captain, a cattleman, a prospector, and finally a robber baron. He encounters many historical figures, most notably Teddy Roosevelt with whom he forms a lasting friendship. By the story’s end Scrooge has become sick of the world and everyone in it, convinced that they’re all after him for a handout.

The Movie: Conceptual Approach to the Story

What will be your approach to the adaptation?

I’ll attempt to take the meandering plot of the original comic and streamline it, keeping more of a focus on how Scrooge made his money than on the random adventures he had along the way. Like the comic itself, there won’t be any major framing device. The story will simply go from one important year to another, skipping slightly through time after every major event.

Log line – Even the richest duck in the world was a duckling once. From his number one dime to his three cubic-acre money bin, Scrooge earned every penny square, but nobody ever knew exactly how, until today.

Genre: Family Adventure

Target Audience: Children as well as their parents. The sheer scale of the story, as well as the numerous historical in-jokes (Scrooge was aboard the Titanic, for example) will appeal to the older crowd, while the fact that the stars are all colorful talking animals will appeal to the younger crowd. The amount of violence and the somewhat depressing ending may push it into “PG” territory, but it should stay within the realm of family viewing.

The movie: Scrooge gets a shoeshine kit from his father and gets to worth, but his very first customer pays him with an American dime, useless in Scotland. Scrooge vows never to let anyone take advantage of him again, and, perhaps viewing the dime as an omen, sets sail for America to find his fortune, with the goal of becoming the richest man on Earth. It’s worth noting that he uses the words “man” and “duck” interchangeably, and considers real millionaires like Rockefeller and Carnegie to be his competition.

The Story: We begin when Scrooge earns his number one dime in 1877, then follow him to America shortly thereafter, where he gets a job on a riverboat. From there, we jump to him as a cowboy some years later, and after the failure of his copper mine, we follow him to the Klondike during the gold rush. After Scrooge strikes gold, the rest of his fortune gathering is mainly a montage, leading up to him razing a tribal village in Africa for the sake of his rubber business. This is a turning point for Scrooge, since it leads to him retuning home wracked with guilt, and alienating his family. Scrooge considers apologizing, but before he does he notices that his net worth is finally greater than Rockefeller. He’s accomplished his goal of becoming the richest man on Earth. As Scrooge’s sister leaves, her son, a very young Donald Duck *

, comments: “Uncle Scrooge is so rich, he must have everything.” She calmly replies: “He used to have everything. Now all he has is money, and the things that money can buy.”

Theme

What is the central conflict?

The central conflict is man vs. man. Scrooge struggles for every cent he earns, battling pirates, rustlers, bandits and even zombies. Of course, in the end, Scrooge’s ruthless nature alienates nearly everyone around him, and he ends up an old miser. How it is topical? In the era of occupy Wall Street, a story about the ultimately fruitless pursuit of wealth is extremely topical.

Theme: If all you want is money, all you’ll get is money.

Describe the Protagonist

Scrooge Mc Duck is the protagonist. He began life as a poor boy in Scotland. His family was descended from a noble clan, but they had long since lost everything. His goal in life is to become the richest man on Earth, in part to overcome his miserably poor upbringing. Although at first he plans to share the money with his family, he eventually starts to see them as freeloaders. Subconsciously, he needs to achieve the power that he never had as a child. He needs to be the richest man on Earth because he can’t stand the idea of anyone being “above” him.

Describe the Antagonist

The story takes place over such a long period of time that there is no consistent antagonist. In Scotland, the Whiskerville clan repeatedly attempts to steal Catle Mc Duck, the ancestral home of Scrooge’s family. In America Scrooge repeatedly faces a gang called the Beagle Boys and their leader Blackheart Beagle. In the Middle East, Scrooge battles a clan of desert bandits. Soapy Slick, a loan shark, is one of the most persistent villains, but he is only present for Scrooge’s stay in the Yukon. Perhaps the most thematically important villain is the zombie. After Scrooge drove an African tribe from their village for their rubber trees, the high priest summoned a zombie to take revenge. The zombie chases Scrooge across the world, a constant reminder of his most despicable act.

Describe the Romantic Interest

Goldie O’Glint is the romantic interest. Notably, Scrooge is too proud to pursue a relationship with her, and although the attraction is mutual, neither one of them acts on it. Scrooge dies alone in 1967, with no heir.

Describe the Supporting characters

Matilda Mc Duck: Scrooge’s sister, perhaps the single most mellow member of Scrooge’s family. She is the person Scrooge is closest to, and acts as a confidante. When Scrooge finally makes his money, he sends for her to come and join him in America. She sometimes acts as a moral compass for him, reminding him when he’s acting too cheap or too belligerent.

Hortense Mc Duck: Scrooge’s other sister, mother of Donald and Della Duck and grandmother to Huey, Dewey and Louie. She has a temper to rival even Scrooge himself. Scrooge also sends for her when he settles in America, and she lives with him briefly before marrying the American Quackmore Duck in 1920.

Teddy Roosevelt: Scrooge runs into Teddy Roosevelt while they’re both working as cowhands, and suggests that Teddy get into politics. The two of them meet up again later, when Scrooge’s attempt to build a mansion is misinterpreted as a foreign invasion. His main role in the story is to show how Scrooge’s exploits fit into history, and to show the effect that Scrooge has on the world at large.

Pothole Mc Duck: Scrooge’s Uncle who immigrated to America, he gives Scrooge his first job on a Mississippi riverboat. When Scrooge earns his first dollar, and contemplates keeping it as a souvenir and never spending it, Pothole kids him about it, asking if he wants to have a giant tub full of money some day. Without knowing it, Pothole may be responsible for the giant money bin Scrooge builds as an old man.

Fergus Mc Duck: Scrooge’s father and the source of Scrooge’s stringent moral code and fervent work ethic. When Scrooge was ten years old, Fergus gave him a shoeshine kit and put him to work. He also arranged for Scrooge’s first customer to pay him in American money, in order to teach him a lesson about being swindled. So it’s also from Fergus that Scrooge takes his distrustful nature.

Beginnings and Endings

The film begins when Scrooge receives a Shoeshine kit on his tenth birthday in 1877, and vows to become the richest duck on Earth. It ends with Scrooge alone, in his empty mansion on Killmotor Hill in 1930, celebrating the fact that he is now the richest duck on Earth.

The first image is an exterior shot of the rickety shack where Scrooge and his family live slowly pushing in to reveal Scrooge’s family throwing him a birthday party. The last image is an exterior of Scrooge’s mansion on Killmotor Hill. We start with him alone inside and then slowly pull out.

edited 24th May '12 3:07:54 PM by Arsidias

That movie needs to happen.

Darkness cannot drive out darkness; only light can do that. Hate cannot drive out hate; only love can do that.

Could the whole story fit into one film? I think that even with some distillation and focus on a single narrative, you would have to make a trilogy at least. Especially because Scrooge moves around the world so much; without staying in each place long enough, it would seem like a travel catalogue. You can't move them because each of Don Rosa's stories belongs where it is set, and if you cut them out you would lose so much good material.

This also applies to the characters. The love interest would only appear in the last third or so, and the family only at the start and end. Rather short to make them matter. The whole work is linked together very well, but each story stands on its own.

I would love to see an adaptation, but I think a mini-series making each story into an episode would be best.

A blog that gets updated on a geological timescale.

Strictly speaking though, the only chapters absolutely necessary for the story to work are The Last of the Clan Mc Duck, The King of the Klondike and The Empire Builder from Calisota. The other chapters could conceivably be skipped, trimmed or glossed over if the story were to be adapted into a film. It would make a different experience, but I think it could work if done well.

Indeed.

But yeah, a cable miniseries or an OVA would do the trick very well.

Heck, if they could somehow make all of Don Rosa's stories (or at least those not featuring Native Americans, I find them a little condescending)... especially the one with the dreams... "BOOM BOOM" indeed!

Darkness cannot drive out darkness; only light can do that. Hate cannot drive out hate; only love can do that.

The Life and Times of Scrooge Mc Duck is a fantastic work indeed. As someone who grew up reading Barks's Duck stories, I enjoyed reading and experiencing Rosa's loving tribute to Scrooge. The way he managed to fit in most of Barks's facts about Scrooge and make it a riveting story at the same time is commendable. The added element of pop culture easter eggs and tributes (as well as the D.U.C.K. hunts) also contribute to the whole in a nice way.

The comics include one of the most touching death scenes I've ever read in Duck comics, and it's fortunate that Rosa didn't have to take that one away because it added a lot of gravity to the story.

The extra "midquel" chapters of the Life and Times are also worth checking out; Hearts of the Yukon is my favourite out of those (perhaps because of its bittersweet plot).

The best way would be for the story to be turned into a miniseries and include at least some of the midquel chapters (the most important theme-wise, anyway) as well as Barks's Christmas on Bear Mountain into the mix too. The Life and Times had a thought-provoking ending which I'd like to see kept in the story because it ties everything neatly together and hints at all the future adventures the Duck family will have.

So Tuomas Holopainen of Nightwish is working on creating a concept album based on the book.

http://www.progrockmag.com/news/nightwish-tuomas-holopainen-to-realise-disney-dream/

An update on the Scrooge Mc Duck concept album with a release date in April and the cover done by Don Rosa himself

http://www.tuomas-holopainen.com/en/news/397-scrooge-album-details

The first single, A Lifetime of Adventure, has come online a couple weeks via the official Nightwish Fan App. Proper release is February 7th. The full album comes out April 10th.

The tracklist is the following:

01. Glasgow 1877

02. Into The West

03. Duel & Cloudscapes

04. Dreamtime

05. Cold Heart Of The Klondike

06. The Last Sled

07. Goodbye, Papa

08. To Be Rich

09. A Lifetime Of Adventure

10. Go Slowly Now, Sands Of Time

Bonus track:

11. A Lifetime Of Adventure (Alternate Version)

edited 24th Jan '14 10:38:35 PM by FigmentJedi

Holy crap, we have an actual soundtrack?!

Also, it sounds gorgeous...

;___________;

I WANT TO SEE AN OVA!

edited 24th Jan '14 10:58:52 PM by TheHandle

Darkness cannot drive out darkness; only light can do that. Hate cannot drive out hate; only love can do that.

Here's the official music video featuring Don himself

It sounds really awesome. I'm curious for the rest of it.

I thought Don Rosa couldn't draw anymore.

Damn, more than an OVA, there should be an animated movie in the theatres (or, alternatively, a series that could include some of the other stories attached to the original story or stuff like the one about the Sampo). Not drawn or made like Ducktales (not fond of the series, sorry), but much better and with more vivid colours.

Ducktales sucked. That's why I said an OVA would be best; something with the same budget and attention as, say, Hellsing Ultimate. The production team gets all the time they need, and they release each instance when it's ready. No rush. Faithful. Perfect.

If there was a kickstarter for this I'd pay actual money from my pocket.

The soundtrack might sound somewhat like this:

If it's well-done, it could be the anti-There Will Be Blood.

edited 5th Feb '14 6:38:31 PM by TheHandle

Darkness cannot drive out darkness; only light can do that. Hate cannot drive out hate; only love can do that.

Perhaps 2 OVA's would be better. The first one would cover the first six chapters and the second one would cover the latter six. Some extra episodes could be released with those discs regarding some of the other stories (like those that explore his relationship with Goldie). That way, it wouldn't feel like anything was missing.

While listening to that, I was picturing him either riding Hortense in an epic way or arriving and digging in that area he discovered for himself in Alaska.

Damn, we oughta start a petition. Plenty of Finnish and Italian fans would sign it right away.

And French, don't forget the French. And yeah, what I had in mind was the time he came riding an eagle, and looking for gold inside the mouths of grizzly bears, scaring the crap out of them.

I wonder how they'll pull off Don Rosa's Funny Background Event humour. And the eyes. He has a rather special way of drawing eyes. I wonder how it will reflect.

Ah, Scroodge and his Dragon Sickness...

edited 5th Feb '14 7:09:59 PM by TheHandle

Darkness cannot drive out darkness; only light can do that. Hate cannot drive out hate; only love can do that.

http://webzine.nightwish.fr/mag/post/interview-tuomas-holopainen-the-life-and-times-of-scrooge-english-version-2014-02-04

Interview with Tuomas up here gives some more details. Disney's aware of the project and letting it pass and that's why it's titled "Music Inspired By" and "Go Slowly Now, Sands of Time" is indeed about Scrooge's death

I haz a sad.

Darkness cannot drive out darkness; only light can do that. Hate cannot drive out hate; only love can do that.