Duckburg
From The Unofficial DisneyWiki
Duckburg is a city which appears in Walt Disney's comic books and animated projects. In the comics and cartoons, Duckburg is the home of Donald Duck, Scrooge McDuck, Huey, Dewey and Louie Duck, Daisy Duck, and most of their supporting cast. Duckburg was first mentioned in Walt Disney's Comics and Stories #49 in 1944, and was created by Carl Barks.
[edit] History
Duckburg has been given a long history by many creators, including such writers as Barks and current Duck comic writer Don Rosa.
In the comics, the location that would eventually become known as Duckburg was originally known as "Fort Drake Borough," a fort built in the 16th century by British explorer Sir Francis Drake. By the 19th century, the fort had been handed over by its departing British occupants to Cornelius Coot, who renamed the fort "Duckburg." "Drake" means a male duck, while "borough" and "burg" are synonyms.
Duckburg remained a quiet, small town until the arrival of wealthy businessman Scrooge McDuck. McDuck had bought the old fort from Clinton Coot, a descendant of Cornelius. Scrooge proceeded to construct his famous money bin and established various businesses in and around Duckburg. This construction caused Duckburg's population to swell, and turned the small town into a bustling city within several decades' time.
Duckburg is probably the largest city in the state of Calisota, but not the capital city. There are no references to the governor, legislature, Capitol, etc., of Calisota in any of the many stories about Duckburg. Duckburg seems to have its own governor, however, if it is not a sort of city state. On more than one story a "Duckburg embassy" is shown, which would place it outside the USA at a legislative level. In a story by Barks the Duckburg embassy displays a flag of Duckburg, which consists of a white duck over a green field.
Duckburg maintains a traditional rivalry with Goosetown, another city of Calisota.
[edit] Calisota
Calisota is a fictional U.S. state, created by Carl Barks in his story "The Gilded Man" (Four Color #422) and used in comic books produced by the Walt Disney Company. Duckburg is among the cities located there. Possibly, so are Goosetown, Mouseton, Spoonerville, and most likely St. Canard, since the Audubon Bay Bridge connects St. Canard to Duckburg.[citation needed]
Although it has many fictional elements and a variable climate, Calisota is probably roughly equivalent to Northern California. Duckburg has occasionally been said to be seated north of Los Angeles and San Francisco. A map in Don Rosa's The Life and Times of Scrooge McDuck shows that Calisota covers the part of California north of Sacramento.
The name is a blend of California and Minnesota—supposedly to allow all kinds of weather or climate in the stories—although Calisota bears very little in common with the latter (a state in the Upper Midwest, far from the ocean coasts.) It may also be a reference to Calistoga, a small town in Napa County, which is, like Duckburg, north of San Francisco.
[edit] In other media
Duckburg was the setting of the 1987 animated series DuckTales. The cartoon's version of Duckburg was based heavily on the comics' version. Duckburg appeared in the 1990s animated series Quack Pack. In this series, Duckburg was populated almost entirely by human beings, with Donald, Daisy, and Donald's nephews as the only anthropomorphized animals that usually appeared. Moreover, the Money Bin is nowhere to be seen. Duckburg was the setting for the second level of the video game Donald Duck: Goin' Quackers Although it isn't seen on screen, Duckburg is referred to in Darkwing Duck by Gizmoduck, who mentions to Darkwing that Duckburg is his hometown (in a reference to Gizmoduck's appearances in DuckTales). A billboard announcing Gizmoduck's departure from Duckburg featuring Scrooge McDuck was also briefly seen in an episode. Duckburg was also used for the setting of Mickey's Birthdayland (later Mickey's Starland) at Walt Disney World's Magic Kingdom from 1988 to 1996. It even included Grandma Duck's Farm and a statue of Cornelius Coot, though it was more of a rural town than a burgeoning metropolis. The connection to Duckburg was removed as the land was renovated in 1996 to become Mickey's Toontown Fair. However, the Cornelius Coot statue remains.
