Scrooge McDuck | |
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Donald Duck character | |
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First appearance | "Christmas on Bear Mountain" in Four Color #178 (December 1947) |
Created by | Carl Barks |
Designed by | Carl Barks |
Voiced by | Dallas McKennon (1960)[1][2] Bill Thompson (1967) Alan Young (1974–2016)[3] Will Ryan (Sport Goofy in Soccermania) John Kassir (Mickey Mouse; 2016–2022) David Tennant (DuckTales reboot; 2017−2021, Chip 'n Dale: Rescue Rangers) Eric Bauza (Legend of the Three Caballeros) Enn Reitel (Kingdom Hearts III, Disney Dreamlight Valley, Disney Parks appearances)[4][5][6] |
Developed by | Carl Barks Don Rosa |
In-universe information | |
Alias | Buck McDuck, Dagobert Duck (Germany and Dutch), Patinhas (Portuguese) |
Nickname | Uncle Scrooge |
Species | American Pekin Duck |
Gender | Male |
Title | Richest Duck in the World "Champion Treasure hunter" Last of Clan McDuck |
Occupation | Business magnate "Adventure Capitalist" |
Family | Clan McDuck |
Significant other | Glittering Goldie (love interest) Brigitta MacBridge (self-proclaimed fiancée) |
Relatives | Donald Duck (nephew) Della Duck (niece) Gladstone Gander (brother-in-law's nephew) Huey, Dewey, and Louie (grandnephews) Quackmore Duck (brother-in-law) Fergus McDuck (father) Downy McDuck (mother) Gideon McDuck (brother) Rumpus McFowl (half-brother) Matilda McDuck (middle sister) Hortense McDuck (younger sister) Mr. Duck (nephew-in-law) Webby Vanderquack/ April (daughter/clone; DuckTales (2017) only) |
Origin | Glasgow, Scotland |
Nationality | Scottish |
Scrooge McDuck (occasionally stylized as $crooge McDuck) is a cartoon character created in 1947 for The Walt Disney Company by Carl Barks. Appearing in Disney comics, Scrooge is a Scottish-born American anthropomorphic Pekin duck. Like his nephew, Donald Duck, he has a yellow-orange bill, legs, and feet. He typically wears a red or blue frock coat, top hat, pince-nez glasses, and spats varying in color. He is portrayed in animation as speaking with a Scottish accent. Originally intended to be used only once, Scrooge became one of the most popular characters in the Disney comics world, as well as Barks' signature work. Scrooge is an extremely rich duck who lives in the fictional city of Duckburg (which is also Donald Duck and Huey, Dewey, and Louie's home city) in the fictional U.S. state of Calisota (a blend of California and Minnesota), whose claimed location is in real-world California, United States.[7]
Named after the character Ebenezer Scrooge from Charles Dickens' 1843 holiday novella A Christmas Carol, Scrooge is an incredibly rich business magnate and self-proclaimed "adventure-capitalist", whose dominant character traits are his wealth, frugality, and tendency to seek more money through adventure and treasure hunting. Scrooge founded the company called McDuck Enterprises. He is the maternal uncle of Donald Duck and Della Duck, the maternal great uncle of Huey, Dewey, and Louie, a financial backer of inventor Gyro Gearloose, and the world's richest person — all within the context of the fictional Donald Duck universe.[8] His business interests are comically diverse and all-inclusive. Both his "Money Bin" and Scrooge himself are often used as humorous metonyms for great wealth in popular culture around the world.
McDuck was initially characterized as a greedy miser and antihero (similar to Dickens' original Scrooge character). However, in later appearances, he has often been portrayed as a thrifty hero, adventurer, and explorer. He was originally created by Barks as an antagonist for Donald Duck, first appearing in the 1947 story Christmas on Bear Mountain (Four Color #178). However, McDuck's popularity grew so large that he became a major figure in the Donald Duck universe. In 1952, he received his own comic book series, called Uncle Scrooge, originally published from 1952–1984, and has had various revivals over the years (as have other Disney comic lines). The most recent revival, by IDW Publishing, ran from 2015–2020.
Scrooge was most famously drawn by his creator Carl Barks, and then later by Don Rosa. Like other Disney franchise characters, Scrooge McDuck's international popularity has resulted in literature that's often translated into other languages. The comics have remained Scrooge's primary medium, although he has also appeared in animated feature films and television programs, most extensively in the TV series DuckTales (1987–1990), and its reboot (2017–2021), as the main protagonist of both series.