Interview with Janet Gilbert

Oggi sono lieti di intervistare Janet Gilbert, moglie di Michael Gilbert (creatore di Doc. Monster), già intervistato per questo blog.

What kind of stories do you prefer writing?

All kinds, really! It's as much fun to write a short little one-pager as it is to work on a longer story

Which Disney character do you like the most?

Donald! But the nephews come in a close second. Then there's Daisy and Neighbor Jones and Oona
and Gyro and Grandma Duck . . . hard to choose just one!

You have written many stories using characters from Disney TV programmes as Goof Troop,
DuckTales, Darkwing Duck, etc... Is this a personal choice?

I first started writing Disney comic stories back in 1990 for an American digest magazine called
"Disney Adventures". They based most of their comics on the TV shows, so that's what I wrote. I
haven't written any tie-ins since then (unless you count a Donald Twilight parody from earlier this
year!).

Could you please talk about your vision of Mickey Mouse and Donald Duck?

The “classic” Mickey from long ago was so cute and spunky. That Mickey is my favorite version. But
Donald's personality is much more “rounded.“ He can be brave, weak, sweet, irritating . . . all the
human emotions rolled up into one sputtering little duck. I love him!

How would do you define Goofy and Fethry?

I've only written a couple of Goofy stories (based on the Goof Troop TV show from long ago) so it's
tough for me to define him. As for Fethry, I'd never even heard of the character until I started writing
for Egmont, and am still not quite sure who he is! A hippie, sort of?

One of your greatest stories ever is "Buon Compleanno, Paperino!”, drawn by
Giorgio Cavazzano, could you please say something about it?

Thanks for your kind words! I'd only been writing Disney comics for about three years when I
received that big assignment in 1993, and I was terrified! There was a very short deadline as well, and
I had to work like heck every day for a month to finish it. It was a real thrill to have Cavazzano draw
the story, his art was just spectacular! In a funny coincidence, he actually drew my very first Disney
comic story called “Mrs. Beakley's Secret Love.”

Another story by yours I like very much is “Once a Loser”, drawn by Vicar. In it, Donald changes city and everything goes as he's always wanted, but... 

Were you inspired by something when writing it?

Thank you! I just wanted Donald to be successful for a change, with everyone looking up to him. But
with great power comes great responsibility (thank you, Mr. Lee) and poor Donald soon learns that
it's nice just to be a lazy bum sometimes. Amen to that!

The questions are over, but if you want to share something about your career or your biography,
you're absolutely free...

Michael and I have been living in Eugene, Oregon since 1987. It's home to the University of Oregon,
whose sports mascot is Donald Duck! So there are lots of "ducky" things in this town, including the
Mallard Apartment Complex and a radio station called KDUK!

And this is the really nice artwork made by Janet Gilbert for the Daily War Drum.

A "thrilling" interview with Stefan Petrucha

Today is the time of the thriller writer Stefan Petrucha.

Stefan Petrucha was born on 27th January of 1959. Since 1980s, he writes stories for Comic-books and, in 1993, he wrote his first Disney story, called “Jurassic Mouse”, which was drawn by Cèsar Ferioli. Stefan is married to Sarah Kinney, another Disney Comics writer.

Stefan has also invented his own fantasy and sci-fi titles as “Counterparts”, “Meta-4”, “In the Dark” and “Squalor”.
He begun his career as a technical writer for the computer industry in the mid 1980s. His work for Egmont is ended. Recently, he drew a Harry Potter's parody called “Harry Potty”.

THE INTERVIEW

                        

What kind of stories do you prefer writing?

Stefan: With Egmont/Disney, the characters are so well known, I tried to focus on things that, at least as far as I knew, hadn’t been done before. I do prefer the characters who have clear flaws, which makes it easier to build stories around them.

What's your favorite Disney story you wrote?

Stefan: I don’t remember the name, but it’s a very short one, and completely bizarre. Mickey and Goofy find a piece of Mickey’s wall behind the couch that comes loose like a puzzle piece. There’s a big void on the other side. Mickey is frantic to plug the gap, but Goofy can’t help himself and starts pulling puzzle pieces out. Soon all Duckburg is crumbling into puzzle pieces, leaving an existential abyss behind. I liked it, anyway!

What Disney character do you like the most?

Stefan: I’ve always had a soft spot for Horace, he’s a bit of a rake, morally dubious at times, but not as bright as he thinks, which lends itself nicely to some very funny situations.

Have you ever tried to draw Disney characters?

Stefan: Nope!

In your "Back In The Box", they're shown many Barks' and not evil characters, is that an idea of yours?

Stefan: The artist, Flemming Andersen, may have stuck in all sorts of evil characters in the scene where the villains bid on the box, but I don’t think that was in my script. I liked that story a lot, since, like my other favorite, the problem come right out of a very human/Donald Duck quality – curiosity.

We can see in "The Goldenfish Rule", "With A Duck-Duck Here" and other stories by you that not antropomorphized animals can speak. In the second case is thank to a meteorite, in the first not. Why is Mickey in the second surprised about that and in the first instead, all Mouseton believe in the Golden Fish speech?

Stefan: Animals don’t generally speak in Mickey’s world, so of course it’s always a surprise. But when an animal does talk, why wouldn’t you believe it?

Could you please talk about your "Steamboat Willies" idea?

Stefan: Mickey has a very rich history and has changed in subtle and not-so-subtle ways. Because he’s so incredibly famous, I like to play around with his image. As a result, I’ve done various stories where he’s “met himself” in different forms, from clones (All of Me) to twins (Through a Mickey Darkly). Along those lines, I thought it’d be fun to contrast him with his original “self” from his first B&W cartoon, Steamboat Willy. After that, the story just suggested itself.

Could you please talk about your vision of Mickey Mouse and Donald Duck?

Stefan: I have to admit, Mickey has always been the toughest Disney character for me to write. I think the best stories are based on weaker personality traits, so you can show some growth or change in the character. Mickey, well, he’s a pretty nice guy who likes adventure, kind of an everyman. That made it tough for me to put him at the emotional center of a story. Donald on the other hand, has parenting issues, money issues, self-worth issues, arrogance issues, all kinds of things that can get him into odd spots, making it easier to build a story arc. That’s one of the reasons a lot of the Mickey stories I did played more with his image than his personality. My Donald stories are the other way around.

How would you define Goofy and Fethry?

Stefan: Goofy is a hoot – my editors have told me he’s not dumb, he just thinks differently from everyone else. Okay, yes, he does think differently from everyone else, but let’s face it, he’s also not the brightest person in town. That combination lends itself to a lot of fun and surreal ideas. Put Mickey in a room with a glass of water and not much will happen. Put Goofy in a room with a glass of water and he may decide that there’s a microscopic civilization in the water and it’s up to him to save it.

If Horace is a greedy version of Goofy, then cousin Fethry is pretty much Goofy with a political agenda. He’s a true believer, more in love with believing something than with what he happens to believe at the time. From all their personalities, it’s very easy to see what kind of stories would work with them.

The questions have come to an end, but if you want to share something about your career or your biography, you're absolutely free...

Stefan: My work with Egmont is at an end, but I’m still doing a lot of exciting material. In terms of comics, there are the Nancy Drew Graphic Novels from Papercutz. I also have a Harry Potter parody coming out this month – Harry Potty and the Deathly Boring.

But my book writing is really taking off. Also this month, Paranormal State: My Journey Into the Unknown is coming out. It’s based on the hit reality series on A&E, and co-written with the star, Ryan Buell. I’ve also been appearing on a few episodes for the new season, helping the investigators with some research, so it’s like a whole second career. Last but not least, my first vampire novel, Blood Prophecy, is coming out in October from Grand Central Publishing – and it’s already earned a starred review from Publisher’s Weekly. So…. I’ve been keeping busy!

Intervista a Massimo Fecchi

Classe 1946, Massimo Fecchi esordisce nel mondo dei fumetti Disney con la storia Paperino e il potere dei fiori (Macan/Fecchi, 1997) e da allora ne è diventato un tratto amato e ben riconoscibile.

SC: Simone Cavazzuti

MF: Massimo Fecchi

SC: Quando hai “incontrato” il mondo Disney per la prima volta?

MF: Come forse saprai, ho disegnato molti anni, quasi 25, per diversi comics tedeschi (Fix & Foxi era il più noto) e quindi sono arrivato abbastanza tardi alla Disney, nel 1997 esattamente.

SC: Hai avuto qualche “Maestro” che ti ha insegnato a disegnare i personaggi Disney?

MF: No... sono autodidatta. I “Maestri” che amavo di più erano Jacovitti, Lino Landolfi e Uderzo, senza dimenticare Nidasio, una brava disegnatrice del Corriere dei Piccoli. Mi piacevano gli artisti Disney americani: Taliaferro, Barks, Floyd Gottfredson, e Walt Kelly; tra gli italiani: Scarpa e Bottaro. Quando cominciai a lavorare per la Egmont, mi chiesero di disegnare Paperino nello “stile italiano” per l'edizione “pocket” (loro usano anche il Paperino nello stile di Barks per il “quattro strisce”).

Non avendo model sheet, studiai  i paperi degli anni '80 di Massimo De Vita e Giorgio Cavazzano, autori che preferisco e che sono più vicini al mio modo di disegnare. Per il disegno di Topolino, mi attenni al  modello Egmont con i calzoncini corti, ma che disegno molto raramente.

SC: Qual è il tuo personaggio Disney preferito?

MF: Naturalmente il personaggio che disegno più spesso, cioè Paperino, mi piace anche disegnare Ezechiele Lupo e i tre Porcellini, ma le loro apparizioni sono sempre più rare...

SC: Nel tuo disegno, ti ispiri o ti sei mai ispirato a qualcuno?

MF: Adesso no, ma da giovane mi ispiravo a Uderzo e un po' a tutta la scuola francese (...ancora non erano arrivati i giapponesi che ormai hanno imposto un “manierismo” che non sopporto).

SC: Hai mai scritto una storia con personaggi Disney?

 

MF: No, perché ritengo che ci siano già tanti bravi sceneggiatori alla Disney. Se capita, preferisco sceneggiare storie con i miei personaggi.

SC: Non hai mai rifiutato una sceneggiatura? Hai sempre disegnato tutte le storie che ti hanno commissionato?

MF: Non mi è mai capitato di rifiutare storie Disney, mentre alcune volte è successo con gli editori tedeschi... ma erano altri tempi! In quegli anni, rifiutai anche la pubblicazione delle strips di un mio personaggio su un noto quotidiano romano... mah!..

SC: Qual è il tuo genere di storia preferito? 

MF: Preferisco il comico, ma mi piace disegnare ogni genere purché sia ben scritto e sequenzialmente corretto.

SC: Io personalmente ho letto molte tue storie apparse sui Mega. Pensi che i colori del Mega si adattino ai tuoi disegni o preferisci i colori del settimanale Topolino?

MF: I colori del settimanale Topolino mi piacciono e li preferisco a tutte le altre edizioni, compresa la danese.

SC: Cosa ne pensi dei tentativi di continuity (come quello operato da Don Rosa)? I paperi dovrebbero vivere negli anni Cinquanta o negli anni Duemila (come noi)?

MF: Penso che i paperi debbano vivere assolutamente nel 2000.

SC: Credo che le domande siano finite, se hai qualcosa a cui tieni sulla tua biografia e/o sulla tua carriera da dirci, non risparmiare fiato.

MF: La mia carriera? Nessun rimpianto e un solo dispiacere: aver lavorato troppo poco per l'Italia. Intorno agli anni Settanta (erano i miei inizi), mi dissero che il fumetto non avrebbe avuto futuro perché dal Giappone sarebbe presto arrivato un nuovo mezzo che avrebbe messo in crisi la carta stampata... si trattava del VHS! Adesso, lo scontro con il computer si è fatto più serio, ma... “io speriamo che me la cavo”.

© Disney per l'immagine pubblicata.