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Ludwig Von Drake

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Professor Ludwig Von Drake is a cartoon character created in 1961 by The Walt Disney Company. He is the paternal uncle of Donald Duck. He was first introduced as the presenter (and singer of "The Spectrum Song") in the cartoon An Adventure in Color, part of the first episode of Walt Disney's Wonderful World of Color on NBC.<ref>Template:Cite book</ref> According to the episode The Hunting Instinct of that series he and Donald Duck's father are brothers. He is described as a scientist, lecturer, psychologist, and world traveler. The character displayed his "expert" knowledge on a variety of subjects in eighteen episodes of the classic anthology series,<ref>Template:Cite book</ref> as well as on a number of Disneyland Records.<ref>Template:Cite book</ref>

Paul Frees was the original voice of Ludwig Von Drake. After Frees retired from the role, the character was briefly voiced by Wayne Allwine and Walker Edmiston.<ref name="nfm"/> Since 1987, he has been voiced by Corey Burton.<ref name="burton">Template:Cite web</ref> Ludwig Von Drake has also appeared in numerous Disney comics stories.

Character

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Ludwig Von Drake comes from Vienna, Austria, and has a fascination with knowledge. Since his youth, he has been trying to obtain as many diplomas, in any science, as possible. When he is consulted by other family members, it is a running gag that he almost invariably turns out to have a university degree relevant for whatever information they are seeking. He is often shown as having little social competence, however, and is often portrayed as being very forgetful, sometimes even somewhat senile. In the comics, Ludwig usually visits with Donald Duck and Donald's nephews Huey, Dewey, and Louie. On occasion, Daisy Duck will coax (or even trick) the professor into giving lectures and tours for her ladies' club. Ludwig can play the piano and acoustic guitar, as shown in a few television specials and more.

In the Wonderful World of Color episode The Hunting Instinct, Walt Disney states Ludwig is Donald Duck's father's brother. According to Walt Disney, Donald decided to adopt his maternal surname, Duck, when he got into show business,<ref>Did You Know? 8 Genius Facts About Ludwig Von Drake</ref> and that is the reason why he is not popularly known as Donald Von Drake. In the comic strips by Bob Karp and Al Taliaferro, Donald and his nephews usually call Ludwig 'Uncle Ludwig', and Daisy Duck refers to him as 'sort of an uncle' of Donald's in the first Sunday strip where his name is mentioned.<ref>Coa Inducks – Page for the Sunday strip ZD 61-09-24</ref>

In the Wonderful World of Color episode Kids is Kids, Ludwig says, "Of course, I don't need any help raising children. I'm a bachelor."<ref>YouTube: Kids is Kids – Walt Disney's Wonderful World of Color (1961)</ref><ref>IMDb: Kids Is Kids (1961) – Paul Frees: Ludwig Von Drake</ref> Besides, he has been shown to be a member of the Absentminded Dating Club,<ref>Coa Inducks – Excerpt of the comic strip YD 85-07-12</ref> where he is the suitor of a duck woman called Alice.<ref>Coa Inducks – Index to strips with Alice from YD</ref> This is contradicted by Don Rosa's private (and unpublished) Duck Family tree which shows Ludwig married to Donald Duck's mother's sister Matilda McDuck. The same family tree also states this is the only relationship between Ludwig and Donald Duck; thereby contradicting Walt Disney's statement.

In the story "Duckburg, U.S.A.",<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> published in Ludwig Von Drake #1 (November 1961), Professor Ludwig Von Drake arrives in Duckburg by train, and it is shown that Donald Duck had never seen this Austrian relative before, not even in a picture. Grandma Duck, Uncle Scrooge McDuck, Daisy Duck, Gladstone Gander, Huey, Dewey and Louie, Gus Goose, and Gyro Gearloose also appear in this same story waiting to know Ludwig at the train station, and Grandma enthusiastically exclaims, "Professor Ludwig Von Drake! Such a nice-sounding name!".<ref>Inducks - Excerpt of the comic story "Duckburg, U.S.A."</ref> In some old comic stories where Ludwig visits Grandma on her farm, it is clear that they have a close relationship, as shown in the story "Message From Space",<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> where Grandma exclaims, "You need rest, dear boy!", after thinking he had a kind of nervous breakdown.<ref>Inducks – Excerpt of the comic story Message From Space</ref> In "Pigeon Panic"<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> Ludwig exclaims, "Ho! You know you can depend on me!", after Grandma warned him to be careful with her smartest homer.<ref>Inducks – Excerpt of the comic story Pigeon Panic</ref> There is an enlightening sequence of two panels in the story "The Rural Eggs-pert",<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> where Ludwig is resting in an old chair of Grandma's house when an antique buyer asks Grandma to sell him "this fine old specimen" (the chair) and she answers, "Well, it's been in the family for years, but I could do without it!", making Ludwig astonished, since he thinks she is referring to him as if he was a livestock.<ref>Inducks – Excerpt of the comic story The Rural Eggs-Pert</ref> He would not have reacted this way if he was not her relative. In the last panel of the story "Barn Dance Doctor",<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> Grandma refers to Ludwig as her "cityfied cousin".<ref>Inducks – Excerpt of the comic story Barn Dance Doctor</ref> Since it was stipulated by Don Rosa that her father was a Coot and her mother was a Gadwall, it is not clear if Ludwig Von Drake is related to Elvira Coot through her father or her mother. Grandma Duck could have an Austrian ascendancy to explain her kinship to Ludwig.

In the story "The Family Tree Spree",<ref>Inducks – Page to the comic story The Family Tree Spree</ref> Donald scares of seeing Ludwig's specs on the floor and thinks about them as "Uncle Ludwig's specs".<ref>Inducks – Excerpt of the comic story The Family Tree Spree</ref> In the end of this same story, it is revealed that Ludwig also appears in Donald's paternal family tree, wherein he and Donald both have an ancestor called Colombust Duck.<ref>Inducks – Excerpt of the comic story The Family Tree Spree</ref> According to Carl Barks, Donald's father's surname is Duck, his mother's one being McDuck. Since Humperdink Duck (a.k.a. Grandpa Duck), Grandma Duck's deceased husband and Donald's paternal grandfather,<ref>Inducks – Page for the comic character Grandpa Duck</ref> was probably almost contemporary with Ludwig Von Drake, it is possible to consider they were half-brothers, Donald being thus Ludwig's grandnephew. Ludwig reveals to Daisy and her friends in "Blown Up Genius"<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> that he came from a long line of glass blowers.<ref>Inducks – Excerpt of the comic story Blown Up Genius</ref> In "Winning Ways",<ref>Inducks – Page to the comic story Winning Ways</ref> Daisy and her friends try to prepare Ludwig's favorite dish, called Wiener Schnitzel a la Weltschmerz, whose recipe belonged to Ludwig's great grandmother. Ludwig is really excited about it because he has not eaten that dish since he left Austria and came to Duckburg to know his relatives of Donald's paternal family. In "The Big Payoff",<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> it is revealed that he spent many months living in Donald's house since his arrival in Duckburg. Ludwig wins a TV chess challenge in this comic story, making Donald exclaim, "Yippee! He did it! Now he can pay all he's owed us (he and his nephews) for these many months!".<ref>Inducks – Excerpt of the comic story The Big Payoff</ref> According to the story "The Jewels of Skull Rock",<ref>Inducks – Page to the comic story The Jewels of Skull Rock</ref> Ludwig spent six months in Donald's house.<ref>Inducks – Excerpt of the comic story The Jewels of Skull Rock</ref> In the Christmas story "The Cuckoo Clock Caper",<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> Ludwig exclaims that he and Scrooge are "joined in good fellowship".<ref>Inducks – Excerpt of the comic story The Cuckoo Clock Caper</ref> Ludwig and Gyro Gearloose competed as to who is the greater inventor in the comic story "I.Q. Bugaboo".<ref>I.Q. Bugaboo</ref>

Those twelve stories mentioned above were drawn by Tony Strobl, who was the cartoonist responsible for introducing Professor Ludwig into American Disney comic books. Actually, Ludwig's first comic book appearance was in a not previously mentioned story by Strobl, "The Scene Stealer",<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> first published in October 1961. The events shown in this one presumably happened after the ones shown in "Duckburg, U.S.A.", which was published two months later.

Filmography

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Professor Ludwig Von Drake was introduced as a new character alongside Walt Disney himself in the very first episode of Walt Disney's Wonderful World of Color after the series was moved to NBC in the fall of 1961. He was designed by Bill Berg.<ref name=MP/> Von Drake was frequently animated by Milt Kahl and Ward Kimball, two of Disney's Nine Old Men animators.<ref name=MP/> Some animation of the character was also done by Frank Thomas and Eric Larson.

Television

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Wonderful World of Color appearances (1960s)

Theatrical

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Cartoon appearances (1980s–present)

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Von Drake has appeared on several Disney animated cartoon series: DuckTales, Raw Toonage, Bonkers, Mickey Mouse Works, Quack Pack, House of Mouse, Mickey Mouse Clubhouse, Minnie's Bow-Toons, Mickey Mouse, Mickey and the Roadster Racers, the 2017 reboot of DuckTales, The Wonderful World of Mickey Mouse, Mickey Mouse Funhouse, Mickey Mouse Clubhouse+ and in numerous television specials. In all of these, Von Drake wears a pink shirt, black tie, red vest, and a lab coat.

In House of Mouse, Von Drake appears as a recurring character. In "Ask Von Drake", Mickey tries to prove that Ludwig Von Drake does not know everything. At the end, Mickey convinces him that during the headcount of all the Disney characters, he forgot himself. Also, in "House of Genius", Ludwig creates robot duplicates of Mickey, Minnie, Donald, Daisy, Goofy, and Pluto. At the end, when Ludwig brings in a robot duplicate of himself, Mickey tells the robot to send the real Ludwig packing.

In Mickey Mouse Clubhouse, he is a major recurring character, often helping the protagonists, or asking for help himself.

Ludwig appears as a recurring character in the DuckTales reboot as the head of spy agency S.H.U.S.H.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

Ludwig makes a cameo appearance between Walt Disney Animation Studios characters that take a group photo in the 2023 short film, Once Upon a Studio.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

Sing-Along Songs series

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In the Disney's Sing-Along Songs series of videos, he has hosted/co-hosted these five volumes:

Disneyland Records discography

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In 1961 Disneyland Records released the LP Professor Ludwig Von Drake. The LP had two songs from the character's debut in the An Adventure in Color episode ("The Green with Envy Blues" and "The Spectrum Song"), as well as new songs and comedy bits.

The track list for the "Ludwig Von Drake" LP:

  1. I'm Ludwig Von Drake
  2. The Spectrum Song
  3. The Green with Envy Blues
  4. It Gets You
  5. Von Drake Variations on "The Blue Danube"
  6. Professor Ludwig Von Drake Discourse: All About Sound Recording
  7. An Operatic Version of a Theme from 'Cinderella'

As of February 2010, the digitally remastered LP can be downloaded exclusively at the iTunes Store.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

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The Disney studio encouraged the writers of Duck comics to introduce this new character in print, and already in September 1961, Von Drake started appearing in Al Taliaferro and Bob Karp's featured daily strips. However, aside from a solitary cameo appearance in a one-page story in Uncle Scrooge #54 (December 1964), the character was not used by leading Disney duck artist Carl Barks.

In 1961, Dell Comics launched a comic book series starring Von Drake and illustrated by Tony Strobl,<ref>'Ludwig Von Drake' comic book #1-#4 featuring Tony Strobl List Template:Webarchive</ref> but it only lasted for four issues before being discontinued. The character made subsequent appearances in other comic titles such as Walt Disney's Comics and Stories and in the Donald Duck newspaper strip.

Ludwig also appeared in a 1962 sequence of the annual Disney Christmas Story comic strip. In "Sleeping Beauty's Christmas Story", the professor helps Princess Aurora break Maleficent's spell.

Professor Ludwig has often been used by Italian cartoonists, including in some of the long sagas inspired by famous books that they usually produce with the Duck Family, such as "La storia di Marco Polo detta Il Milione"<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> (free translation "The Million – A Story of Marco Polo") and "Paperino in: Il mondo perduto"<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> (free translation "Donald in: The Lost World"). As a result, he has achieved significant popularity in Italy (where he is known as Pico De Paperis). He is portrayed in Italian comics as a scholar with multiple degrees in different subjects (even the more improbable ones) rather than a scientist.

See also

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References

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Template:Reflist

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Template:Disney Characters Template:Ludwig Von Drake in animation Template:House of Mouse Template:DuckTales

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