The Life and Times of Scrooge McDuck (Lo$) is one of my favourites. I still marvel at the detail of all those Barksian facts that Rosa put together and formed a cohesive story out of them while adding some of his own stuff (and some clever film references, like Citizen Kane etc) in without making it deviate too much from Barks's storytelling. At the time the series was published (back in the early 1990s) Rosa was at his peak in terms of storytelling and art, and his drawings in this Lo$ series is some of the most beautiful stuff I've seen, particularly some of the bigger, wide shots. The art is very detailed, and one can find more and more stuff by reading the stories again and again, not to mention the story opens up even more. It's also nice trying to find all those hidden D.U.C.K. signs, and I really enjoy reading Rosa's extensive notes of making the story of Scrooge's past come true. There are some scenes that will make more sense if you've actually read certain Barks stories they're based on (and if nothing else you should at least read Christmas on Bear Mountain, the first story Scrooge was in, because otherwise certain references to that story in chapter 12 won't make any sense), but most of the time the casual reader doesn't have to know the Barks stories to fully enjoy Rosa's Lo$ as a wonderful story.
It's fascinating to learn more about Scrooge's past and see how all the sad stuff made him what he is today. We get to meet some of the most memorable Disney characters during the stories (particularly the villains although we are introduced to some nice people like Gyro's grandfather and father, Donald's father, Glittering Goldie, Grandma Duck etc) and some important historical figures, particularly one man named Theodore Roosevelt who had a great impact on Scrooge's life. There's some nice humour and clever visual gags going on, but the story also has its epic scope with some dramatic scenes (like the memorable swordfight in the McDuck castle during a thunderstorm, the flash flood scene in the Australian Outback etc) and some truly melancholic stuff particularly in the latter episodes (one episode even has an emotional death scene which is handled in a beautiful way) when Scrooge's darker side begins to emerge and how it affects the rest of his life in quite a painful way, but which eventually leads to Scrooge's second chance as he meets Donald and Donald's nephews.
There's action, there's adventure, there's melodrama, there's tragedy, there's joy, there's that Disney magic we all love, and all of this is combined in this wonderful story of Scrooge's past which give Scrooge so much more depth as a character and shows that he's not just a greedy old duck. Fans of DuckTales and of Carl Barks's Scrooge McDuck and Donald Duck comics should definitely give Rosa's vision of Scrooge's past a try, and other Disney fans should check it out as well, because The Life and Times of Scrooge McDuck is simply one of the best Disney comic book stories ever made and will remain as one of the classic stories which continues Carl Barks's legacy in a wonderful way.
I originally read Rosa's stories in the Finnish Donald Duck comic named Aku Ankka in the early 90's, and a few years later I bought the hardcover comic version (which had all the original 12 episodes) with Rosa's comments, sketches, drawings and foreword plus additional finished artwork, and I fell in love with this hardcover version and still enjoy the story and the art. I'm also happy that Finland is finally going to have a hardcover version of The Life and Times of Scrooge McDuck Companion which has the so-called B chapters of Lo$ (and by that I mean stories which Rosa made later and which take place during the original Lo$ book's timeline, and thus the reason why they're called B chapters) and I assume it'll also include the so-called Chapter 0 (which is basically a story about Magica DeSpell going back in time to steal Scrooge's Number One Dime when Scrooge himself was still young, but according to Rosa this really shouldn't be a part of the Lo$ continuity and should be considered only as a "what if" scenario). I've read these additional Lo$ chapters in our Finnish Donald Duck comics already, but I'm more than happy to have them all together with Rosa's commentary and sketches in this Lo$ Companion book.
Sunset Girl wrote:What I'd really love to see is an animated series based on these stories, but that doesn't seem too likely. With all the adventures that young Scrooge goes through, it would be so awesome!
This is actually what I've been thinking of, as impossible as the idea of Disney making a series of Lo$ sounds (because if done properly this series would be quite an expensive one). If Disney did make this come true, it should be done in the following way:
1) The series should have animation similar to the style used in The Prince and the Pauper short (found in Mickey Mouse in Living Color Vol.2 for example), because it has that nice old school feel and yet it's modern enough to give the characters the required cinematic depth, plus the art looks simply wonderful and would do Rosa's drawing style justice.
2) The series should include both the original 12-episode arc of Lo$ as well as the additional B episodes, because the B episodes (namely the heartbreaking "Hearts of the Yukon") are quite good and some of them are as good as the original episodes. Most likely the series might need to add some supplemental material to fill in some stuff, but if they could get Rosa as a scriptwriter (I'm sure he'd be happy to assist) to make sure the continuity stuff isn't messed with, things would turn out fine. Also, if at all possible, the story of the series should have even more additional episodes, and what I mean by additional episodes I mean two things: 1) the certain Barks stories that resolve some open-ended subplots presented in Rosa's Lo$ (after all, Rosa hints at certain Barks stories which continuity-wise take place after Rosa's Lo$) and how we get to see Scrooge, Donald and their three nephews adventuring together, and b) some of Rosa's own stories which set up crucial plot points (particularly "A Letter from Home" which has the emotional reunion of Scrooge and one of his sisters). I don't mean we'd have to see all of these adventures (although it'd be nice), but I would want the series end with a bang in the "Something Little Special" story (by Don Rosa) which shows how people in Duckburg get ready to celebrate the 50th anniversary of Scrooge's arrival in Duckburg while Scrooge's most famous enemies form an unholy alliance to bring Scrooge down. The plot of this story not only has a wonderful and touching ending but also very dramatic parts when we see the unholy alliance at work with some truly epic stuff going on. It'd be a fitting end for the animated series, but if it's not possible, then the series should just end at the final chapter of episode 12 in Lo$ which is a satisfactory ending on its own right.
3) As impossible as this sounds, I'd really like to see this series as a musical. Why, you ask, considering Lo$ didn't really have any musical stuff going on? Well, first of all many of Disney's most memorable stuff has always had a compelling score and beautiful songs, and the actual story of Scrooge does have plenty of opportunities for great musical moments. I could easily imagine Scrooge singing the "I Want" type of song when he dreams of travelling to the United States to find out what future has in store for him, or how we'd have a restrained, melancholy "love" duet between Scrooge and Goldie set in the heartbreaking mood of "Hearts of the Yukon" episode, just to mention a few examples. I think Alan Menken would be suitable for the job, because he knows how to compose catchy and emotional tunes, how to get into the characters' mind set and how to compose the actual score as well (but if not, then Joel McNeely would be a good composer for the score at least, because he knows how to adapt styles and how to create some truly magnificent thematic material). Of course writing songs and composing the score for such an epic animated series would be a daunting task because it'd require quite a lot of themes for various characters, items and situations, but if they were pulled off properly, the music (both songs and the score) would become some of the greatest Disney music ever.
As for the voice actors, I haven't really heard what Alan Young sounds like as Scrooge recently, but I assume he'd still have a youngish enough voice to actuall voice Scrooge from teenager to the old man. I'd assume someone like Russi Taylor could voice Scrooge when he was a young, 10-year-old lad (and have Taylor use a Scottish accent) to further emphasize the stuff how the young ducks sound alike (plus it'd be awesome to hear the DuckTales nephew voices used for young Scrooge). I'm sure Disney would find capable actors for the roles, and for example it'd be so awesome if they could have Sean Connery voicing Scrooge's dad Fergus, because I'd rather want to have a distinction between Scrooge and his dad's voices despite them looking similar, and Connery as the Scottish spokesperson would fit in the role and could act it out well, at least in my opinion.
Naturally Disney should make sure that everyone working on the project read Rosa's actual Lo$ chapters and some Barks stories to get a better idea of what would be required of them and what the story's like (in order to get the emotional stuff right and understand the characters better), and they should consult Rosa about the story details and all that and get him involved in the storyboard stuff etc (and I'm sure he'd be happy to help in a project like this). Sure, this kind of project would be very expensive, require top-notch pacing, cinematic animation, memorable music (both songs and score), good actors and solid directing as well as staying as faithful to Barks and Rosa's stories as possible while adding some new stuff in, but it'd be so worth it and would set a new milestone in Disney animation and show us more of that "Disney magic". Yes, this is only a dream which will likely not come true, but it's a dream worth dreaming of, and I'd be very happy if Disney decided to work with The Life and Times of Scrooge McDuck someday and make it an animated series worthy of the legacy of Carl Barks and Don Rosa.
Some things you see with your eyes, others you see with your heart.
