Editing Scrooge McDuck (section)

== Comics history ==
=== First appearance ===
{{further|Christmas on Bear Mountain}}
[[File:ScroogeFirst.jpg|right|frame|One of Scrooge's first panels in "Christmas on Bear Mountain"]]

Scrooge McDuck, maternal uncle of previously established character [[Donald Duck]], made his first named appearance in the story ''[[Christmas on Bear Mountain]];'' it was published in Dell's ''Four Color Comics'' #178 on October 22, 1947, and written and drawn by artist [[Carl Barks]]. His appearance may have been based on a similar-looking Scottish "thrifty saver" Donald Duck character from the 1943 propaganda short ''[[The Spirit of '43]]''.<ref>[[David Gerstein|Gerstein, David]], "[http://nafsk.se/pipermail/dcml/2003-April/016580.html 1st Scrooge McDuck in 1943??]", Retrieved on October 9, 2008.</ref>

In ''Christmas on Bear Mountain'',<ref>{{INDUCKSCode|Type=story|Code=W+OS++178-02|Title= Christmas on Bear Mountain}}</ref> Scrooge was a bearded, bespectacled, reasonably wealthy old duck, visibly leaning on his cane and living in isolation in a "huge mansion".<ref name="bearmountain">[[Carl Barks|Barks, Carl]] (writer and illustrator). "[[Christmas on Bear Mountain]]". ''[[Four Color Comics]]'' #178 (December 1947).</ref> Scrooge's [[misanthropy|misanthropic]] thoughts in this first story are quite pronounced: "Here I sit in this big lonely dump, waiting for Christmas to pass! Bah! That silly season when everybody loves everybody else! A curse on it! Me—I'm different! Everybody hates me, and I hate everybody!"<ref name="bearmountain" />

Barks later reflected on the portrayal, saying "Scrooge in 'Christmas on Bear Mountain' was only my first idea of a rich, old uncle. I had made him too old and too weak. I discovered later on that I had to make him more active. I could not make an old guy like that do the things I wanted him to do."<ref>Ortman, Steve (trans.); Laqua, Charsten, "[http://moneybin.at.infoseek.co.jp/author.html Carl Barks – the Author] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070612064402/http://moneybin.at.infoseek.co.jp/author.html |date=June 12, 2007 }}", Carl Barks His Work and His Life (site). Retrieved on September 5, 2007.</ref>

=== Recurring character ===
Barks would later claim that he originally only intended to use Scrooge as a one-shot character, but then decided Scrooge (and his fortune) could prove useful for motivating further stories. Barks continued to experiment with Scrooge's appearance and personality over the next four years.

Scrooge's second appearance in ''[[The Old Castle's Secret]]''<ref>{{INDUCKSCode|Type=story|Code=W+OS++189-02|Title=The Old Castle's Secret}}</ref> (first published in June 1948) had him recruiting his nephews to search for a family treasure hidden in Dismal Downs, the McDuck's ancestral  family castle built in the middle of [[Rannoch Moor]] in Scotland. ''Foxy Relations'' (first published in November 1948) was the first story where Scrooge is called by his title and [[catchphrase]] "The Richest Duck in the World".

[[File:ScroogeMcDuck Comic.jpg|frame|right|A panel from an Uncle Scrooge comic by [[Jack Bradbury]]]]

=== First hints of Scrooge's past ===
The story ''Voodoo Hoodoo'', first published in Dell's ''Four Color Comics'' #238 in August 1949, was the first story to hint at Scrooge's past with the introduction of two figures. The first was Foola Zoola, an old African sorcerer and chief of the [[West African Vodun|Voodoo]] tribe who cursed Scrooge, seeking revenge for the destruction of his village and the taking of his tribe's lands by Scrooge decades earlier.

Scrooge privately admitted to his nephews that he had used an army of "cutthroats" to get the tribe to abandon their lands, in order to establish a [[Natural rubber#Cultivation|rubber plantation]].<ref name="Voodoo">''Voodoo Hoodoo'', first published in ''Four Color Comics #238'', August 1949</ref> The event was set in 1879 by Carl Barks, but it would later be [[retcon]]ned by Don Rosa to 1909 to better fit with Scrooge's later-established personal history in ''[[The Empire-Builder from Calisota]]''.<ref>''[[The Empire-Builder from Calisota]]'', ''[[The Life and Times of Scrooge McDuck]]'' #11, 1994</ref>

The second figure from Scrooge's past was [[List of Donald Duck universe characters#Bombie the Zombie|Bombie the Zombie]], the would-be assassin sent from Foola Zoola to enact the sorcerer's curse and revenge. He sought Scrooge for decades before reaching Duckburg, mistaking Donald for Scrooge.<ref name="Voodoo"/>

Barks, with a note of skepticism often found in his stories, explained the zombie was a living person who has never died but has somehow gotten under the influence of a sorcerer. Although some scenes of the story were intended as a [[parody]] of [[Bela Lugosi]]'s ''[[White Zombie (movie)|White Zombie]]'', the story is the first to not only focus on Scrooge's past but also touch on the darkest aspects of his personality.

=== Later stories ===
''Trail of the Unicorn'',<ref>{{INDUCKSCode|Type=story|Code=W+OS++263-03|Title=Trail of the Unicorn}}</ref> first published in February 1950, introduced Scrooge's private zoo. One of his pilots had managed to photograph the last living [[unicorn]], which lived in the Indian part of the [[Himalayas]]. Scrooge offered a reward to competing cousins Donald Duck and [[Gladstone Gander]] for whoever captured the unicorn for Scrooge's collection.

This was also the story that introduced Scrooge's private airplane. Barks would later establish Scrooge as an experienced aviator; Donald had previously been shown as a skilled aviator, as was [[Flintheart Glomgold]] in later stories. In comparison, [[Huey, Dewey, and Louie]] were depicted as only having taken flying lessons in the story ''Frozen Gold'' (published in January 1945).

''The Pixilated Parrot'', first published in July 1950, introduced a precursor to Scrooge's money bin. In this story, Scrooge's central office building is said to contain "three [[Cube (arithmetic)|cubic]] acres of money". Two burglars (one of which is referred to as Butch) who briefly appear during the story are considered to be the precursors of the [[Beagle Boys]].<ref>[[Thomas Andrae|Andrae, Thomas]] Carl Barks and the Disney Comic Book: Unmasking the Myth of Modernity. Jackson, Miss: Univ. Press Mississippi, 2006. Print.</ref>

=== Scrooge as a major character ===
''The Magic Hourglass'', first published in September 1950, was arguably the first story to change the focus of the Duck stories from Donald to Scrooge. During the story, several themes were introduced for Scrooge.

Donald first mentions in this story that his uncle practically owns Duckburg, a statement that Scrooge's rival [[John D. Rockerduck]] would later dispute. Scrooge first hints that he was not born into wealth as he remembers buying the Hourglass in [[Morocco]] when he was a member of a ship's crew as a cabin boy. It's also the first story in which Scrooge mentions reading and speaking other languages besides his native English; during the story, he reads and speaks [[Arabic alphabet|Arabic]].{{Citation needed|date=November 2017}}

Scrooge's proficiency in languages would become apparent in future stories. Barks and Rosa depicted Scrooge as being fluent in Arabic, Dutch, German, Mongolian, Spanish, Mayan, Bengali, Finnish, and a number of Chinese dialects. Scrooge acquired this knowledge from years of living or traveling to the various regions of the world where those languages are spoken. Later writers would depict Scrooge having at least a working knowledge of several other languages. He also encountered several historical figures during his lifetime, such as [[President of the United States|U.S. President]] [[Theodore Roosevelt|Roosevelt]] (''[[The Buckaroo of the Badlands]]'', ''[[The Invader of Fort Duckburg]]'', and ''[[The Sharpie of the Culebra Cut]]''), [[Apache]] leader [[Geronimo]] (''[[The Vigilante of Pizen Bluff]]''), [[Czar]] [[Nicholas II of Russia]] (''[[The Empire-Builder from Calisota]]''), and [[Philology|philologist]] [[Elias Lönnrot]] (''[[The Quest for Kalevala]]'').{{citation needed|date=September 2020}}

In ''The Magic Hourglass,'' Scrooge is shown in a more positive light than in previous stories, but his more villainous side is still evident. He is seen attempting to reacquire a magic hourglass that he gave to Donald, before finding out that it acted as a protective charm for him. Scrooge starts losing one billion dollars each minute and comments that he will go bankrupt within 600 years. This line is a parody of [[Orson Welles]]'s line in ''[[Citizen Kane]],'' "You know, Mr. Thatcher, at the rate of a million dollars a year, I'll have to close this place in ... 60 years."<ref>See [https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0033467/quotes Citizen Kane quotes] from the [[Internet Movie Database]]</ref> To convince his nephews to return it, he pursues them throughout Morocco. Scrooge interrogates Donald by having him tied up and tickled with a feather in an attempt to get Donald to reveal the location of the hourglass. The former finally manages to retrieve it, exchanging the item for a flask of water, as he had found his nephews exhausted and left in the desert with no supplies. As Scrooge explains, he intended to give them a higher offer, but he just could not resist having somebody at his mercy without taking advantage of it.

=== Final developments ===
''[[A Financial Fable]]'', first published in March 1951, had Scrooge teaching Donald some lessons in productivity as the source of wealth, along with the laws of [[supply and demand]]. Perhaps more importantly, it was also the first story where Scrooge observes how diligent and industrious Huey, Louie, and Dewey are, making them more similar to himself rather than to Donald. In Barks' stories, Donald is depicted as working hard on occasion, but given the choice often proves to be lazy. The three younger nephews first side with Scrooge rather than Donald in this story, with the bond between granduncle and grandnephews strengthening in later stories. However, there have been rare instances where Donald proved invaluable to Scrooge, such as when the group traveled back in time to Ancient Egypt to retrieve a pharaoh's [[papyrus]]. Donald cautions against taking it with him, as no one would believe the story unless it was unearthed. He then buries it and makes a marking point from the [[Nile River]]; Scrooge thinks to himself admiringly, "Donald must have swallowed the {{Sic|[[Encyclopædia Britannica]]|hide=yes}}!"

''[[The Beagle Boys|Terror of the Beagle Boys]]'', first published in November 1951, introduced the readers to the Beagle Boys. Although new to the series, Scrooge seems to be already familiar with them. 

''The Big Bin on Killmotor Hill'' introduced Scrooge's [[money bin]], built on Killmotor Hill in the center of Duckburg. In the Ducktales 2017 reboot, the Money Bin is built on an island on Audubon Bay. The island is connected to a small bridge that leads to downtown Duckburg.

By this point, Scrooge had become familiar to readers in the United States and Europe. Other Disney writers and artists, including Italian writer [[Romano Scarpa]], began using Scrooge in their own stories. [[Western Publishing]], then the publisher of North American Disney comics, began thinking about using Scrooge as a protagonist rather than a supporting character, and then decided to launch Scrooge in his own self-titled comic. ''Uncle Scrooge'' #1, featuring the story ''[[Only a Poor Old Man]]'', was published in March 1952. This story, along with ''[[Back to the Klondike]]'', first published a year later in March 1953, became the biggest influences in how Scrooge's character, past, and beliefs would become defined.

After this point, Barks produced most of his longer stories in ''Uncle Scrooge'', with a focus mainly on adventure, while his ten-page stories for [[Walt Disney's Comics and Stories]] continued to feature Donald as the star and focused on comedy. In Scrooge's stories, Donald and his nephews were cast as Scrooge's assistants who accompanied the latter in his adventures around the world. This change of focus from Donald to Scrooge was also reflected in stories by other contemporary writers. Since then, Scrooge remains a central figure of the Duck comics' universe, thus the coining of the term "[[Scrooge McDuck Universe]]".{{Citation needed|date=November 2017}}

=== Modern era ===
After Barks's retirement, the character continued under other artists. However, in 1972, Barks was persuaded to write more stories for Disney. He wrote [[Junior Woodchuck]] stories where Scrooge often plays the part of the villain, closer to the role he had before acquiring his own series. Under Barks, Scrooge always was a malleable character who would take on whatever persona was convenient to the plot.

The Italian writer and artist Romano Scarpa made several additions to Scrooge McDuck's lore, including characters such as [[List of Donald Duck universe characters#Brigitta MacBridge|Brigitta MacBridge]], Scrooge's self-styled fiancée, and [[Gideon McDuck]], a newspaper editor who is Scrooge's brother. Those characters have appeared mostly in European comics. This is also the case for Scrooge's rival [[John D. Rockerduck]] (created by Barks for just one story) and Donald's cousin [[Duck family (Disney)#Fethry Duck|Fethry Duck]], who sometimes works as a reporter for Scrooge's newspaper.

Another major development was the arrival of writer and artist Don Rosa in 1986, with his story "[[The Son of the Sun]]"; it released by [[Gladstone Publishing]] and nominated for a [[Harvey Award]], one of the comics industry's highest honors. Rosa has said in interviews that he considers Scrooge to be his favorite Disney character. Unlike most other Disney writers, Don Rosa considered Scrooge as a historical character whose Disney adventures had occurred in the fifties and sixties and ended (in his undepicted death)<ref>{{INDUCKSCode|Type=story|Code=GC+HD++77B|Title=Don Rosa's artwork}}</ref> in 1967 when Barks retired. He considered only Barks's stories as canonical, and fleshed out a timeline and a family tree based on Barks's stories. Eventually he wrote and drew ''[[The Life and Times of Scrooge McDuck]]'', a full history in twelve chapters, which received an [[Eisner Award]] in 1995.

Later editions included additional chapters. Under Rosa, Scrooge became more ethical; while he never cheats, he ruthlessly exploits any loopholes. He owes his fortune to his hard work and his money bin is "full of souvenirs" since every coin reminds him of a specific circumstance.

[[Daan Jippes]], who can mimic Barks's art to a close extent, repenciled all of Barks's 1970s Junior Woodchucks stories, as well as Barks's final Uncle Scrooge stories from the 1990s to the early 2000s. Other notable Disney artists who have worked with the Scrooge character include [[Michael Peraza]], [[Marco Rota]], [[William Van Horn]], and [[Tony Strobl]].

In an interview with the Norwegian "Aftenposten" from 1992, Don Rosa says that "in the beginning Scrooge [owed] his existence to his nephew Donald, but that has changed and today it's Donald that [owes] his existence to Scrooge," and he also says that this is one of the reasons why he is so interested in Scrooge.