Featured Attractions

Tuesday, December 8, 2015

Toontown Tuesdays: Uncle Scrooge


The character Uncle Scrooge is unusual in the world of Disney. He's one of the rare characters who got his start in comic books and made the transition to film and television. Created by legendary artist Carl Barks, Uncle Scrooge was Donald Duck's ridiculously rich uncle who embarked on amazing adventures.



Uncle Scrooge made his first big screen debut in the Donald Duck cartoon The New Spirit, which was intended to encourage Americans to pay their taxes as a patriotic way to support the war effort. Uncle Scrooge was a little off-model, but he was years away from becoming a standard Disney character.



When the company decided to produce a featurette based on Charles Dickens' A Christmas Carol starring Disney characters in the main roles, Uncle Scrooge was the obvious choice to play Ebenezer Scrooge. The film was extremely successful, becoming a holiday classic.



The success of the film led to new interest in the character and his comic book adventures. Eager to reintroduce Disney programming onto syndicated schedules, the company chose the newly popular Uncle Scrooge, creating DuckTales. The show would kickoff a new programming package- The Disney Afternoon, which led to merchandise, a temporary DISNEYLAND attraction and millions of happy memories.