Happy birthday to my favorite character of all time! Quacking since 1934 and still a worldwide beloved duck after all these decades.
You may remember him from the classic shorts, many great moments there! Including of course his legendary short temper, trolling Mickey Mouse to no end, matching wits with his nephews at Halloween or snow fights, daily battles against Chip n' Dale, or being forced to serve Hitler in the one Oscar winning short of his career! That's just some well known examples, but there's so much more goodness through all of his cartoons. Also, how about that theme song?
And what about the comics? Bless Carl Barks, whom we owe the creation of Scrooge McDuck, the Beagle Boys, Gladstone Gander, Gyro Gearloose, Magica De Spell...The fondly remembered DuckTales wouldn't exist if it wasn't for the genius of this man. The Donald of his comics may as well be a totally different character from the duck in the cartoons; he's a true everyman, possibly one of the most versatile and multifaceted characters out there, and Barks made him star in hundreds of comics that hold up beautifully to this day.
Fantagraphics is currently releasing compilations of Barks' work, alongside volumes of much celebrated Duck author Don Rosa, also responsible for plenty of Duck goodness.
It's been 81 years. With Kingdom Hearts 3 coming, his appearances in the new Mickey Mouse cartoons, comics starring him showing absolutely no sign of stopping, and those news of he becoming a main character in the upcoming DuckTales reboot, Donald indeed laughs in the face of death. A resounding Happy Birthday, Don!
