The lives and times in Duckburg - Chapter IX

Illustration 9.1 - This 1991 drawing shows Donald, Daisy and HD&L on the grave of $crooge McDuck.

The most recent informations provided from Don Rosa (from his notes on the birth and death dates of the Ducks) is that $crooge McDuck died in 1967, near 100 years old, and that Grandma Duck also died sometime before 1970. This mean that by 1970 both $crooge's Money Bin and Grandma Duck's farm was taken over by someone else - most probably the near family.

$crooge's grave

In 1991 Don Rosa made a later well know drawing of $crooge's grave. He explains: "It was done for a German fanzine when the editors asked a number of artists for an illustration for the line "Hey, Daisy, whatever happened to Scrooge?". The other artists came up with some rather bizarre gags, but I, naturally, could only take it in a very serious manner and used it to illustrate what I do see as the future in my version of this Duck Universe... I intended that it was taking place in the year that I drew it, 1991... $crooge really has no connection to Castle McDuck, not like his sisters did since they lived there. So, I guess the grave might be in Duckburg. But when I daydream about a story that I can never tell of $crooge's death, I tend to think that he would die during some grand adventure, and that his body would not be found since that seems more dramatic. So the grave would be a symbolic one, wherever it might be."

The heirs to the McDuck empire


Illustration 9.2 - hd&l as the heirs of $crooge McDuck.

Neither Carl Barks nor Don Rosa have ever told us anything at all about Duckburg after the death of $crooge and Grandma Duck, at least not directly. What really happened with the Ducks from the late 1960s may never be told. But Scrooge tests for Heir / Some Heir Over the Rainbow by Carl Barks and Nobody's business by Don Rosa where hd&l shows to be better qualified than their uncle Donald and Gladstone Gander (Donald failed to show a business talent and Gladstone failed to show an interest for hard work and business) to rule the McDuck empire, may be seen as hints that hd&l was the ones to take over the business after old $crooge.

Donald and Daisy being married

In Don Rosa'a drawing of $crooges grave he shows Donald and Daisy wearing wedding rings though not on the same hand. He explain that this way: "I just put DD's ring on his right hand because it wouldn't have been visible if it had been on his left, and both rings needed to be visible to imply they were married to one another." It doesn't seem that they have ever got children together.

Duckburg at the dawn of a new millennium

Based on the geographical short distance to Silicon Valley and that most modern duck-stories (even though they're not Carl Barks or Don Rosa stories) show a very modern and high-tech city, we may assume that Duckburg is one of the leading cities in the world within electronics and hi-tech at the dawn of the new millennium...

Born ca. 1940 as triplets. Sons of Della Duck, Donald's twin sister, and her husband who is still unknown. However, Don Rosa has suggested that he is a brother of Daisy Duck and that's why HD&L keep calling her their aunt.

HD&L moved in with their uncle Donald Duck before the Christmas of 1947. Rumour say that the reason for this was that they used to be very difficult to raise and that they were sent to Duckburg after blowing a firecracker under their father's chair.

Ca. 1951 HD&L joined The Junior Woodchucks. They were accepted as full members after tracking the remainders of the old Fort Duckburg in one of McDuck's factories where it was stored to be ground into sawdust. First McDuck refused to donate the remainders of Fort Duckburg to the JW, but he changed his mind when his employees threatened to quit their jobs if he decided to proceed with the destruction of the remainders of the fort. Afterwards the fort was rebuilt in the Black forest nearby Duckburg.

Later HD&L often helped their uncles through all kinds of trouble with their JW Guidebooks combined with their JW expertise.

In at least two contests arranged by McDuck, HD&L showed to be the better qualified for taking over the McDuck empire...