Della Duck

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Della Duck
Disney comics and DuckTales character
An illustration of an anthropomorphic duck wearing an aviator hat, a bomber jacket, and pants, and with a prosthetic left leg.
Della Duck as she appears in DuckTales
First appearance
In print:
  • Donald Duck Sunday strip on October 17, 1937 (name only)

In animation:

Created byAl Taliaferro and Ted Osborne
Voiced byPaget Brewster (2018-present)
In-universe information
Full nameDella Duck
AliasDumbella Duck
SpeciesDuck
GenderFemale
FamilyDuck family
Children
RelativesDonald Duck (brother)
Scrooge McDuck (maternal uncle)
Ludwig Von Drake (uncle)
Duck family (paternal relatives)
Clan McDuck (maternal relatives)

Della Duck is a cartoon character created in 1937 by Al Taliaferro and Ted Osborne. She is a core member of the Disney Duck family, both as the younger twin sister of Donald Duck and the mother of his nephews Huey, Dewey, and Louie. Della is an anthropomorphic white duck with a yellow-orange bill, legs, and feet. She typically wears an aviator hat, bomber jacket with a light blue scarf, brown pants, and as an adult, a robotic prosthetic leg. Della is famous for her less temperamental personality and adventurous spirit, and as a female adventurer and an amputee, for being a positive role model to young girls and to children with disabilities.[1][2]

Origin[edit]

A depiction of Della with her kids prior to DuckTales.

Della Duck was first mentioned in Donald Duck comic strips and animated short films in the late 1930s. However, prior to her animation debut in the 2017 DuckTales reboot, Della never appeared in any animated film or television series,[3] and had only limited appearances in Disney comics.[4][5] As a result, not much was known about the character prior to 2017.[6]

Prior to DuckTales[edit]

Della was first mentioned in a 1937 Donald Duck Sunday strip on October 17, 1937, in which she writes a letter explaining to Donald that she is sending her sons to stay with him. This first appearance referred to Della as Donald's cousin, though later depictions would refer to her as Donald's sister.[7][4] One year later, Della was mentioned in similar fashion in 1938's Donald Duck animated cartoon Donald's Nephews. This cartoon, which marked the film debut of Della's three sons (and Donald's nephews), Huey, Dewey, and Louie Duck, opened with Donald receiving a postcard from his sister (addressed "Dear Brother" and signed "Sister Dumbella"), letting him know that the three boys are coming to visit him.[3][4]

Della appeared as a child in the mid-1990s series The Life and Times of Scrooge McDuck, in which she and Donald wore identical sailor suits. Her first appearance in comics as an adult was in a 2014 Dutch-language Donald Duck comic, 80 is Prachtig!, created to celebrate Donald's 80th birthday.[8] In this comic, Donald finally tells the nephews the story of their mother, depicting her in flashbacks; Della is depicted as a successful test pilot, the first woman to fly across the Atlantic Ocean, and stranded in space after test-flying a rocket ship that accidentally propelled her to near light speed.[9]

DuckTales (2017–present)[edit]

Della plays a prominent, although initially off-screen, role in the 2017 reboot version of the TV series DuckTales. As the mother of main characters Huey, Dewey, and Louie Duck, Della is revealed during the first season to be a skilled pilot and fearless adventuring partner of her uncle Scrooge McDuck and twin brother Donald.[10] Della is first depicted in the series at the end of the pilot episode, in a painting discovered by the triplets. Dewey notices what looks like Della in one corner of the painting, shown fighting pirates alongside Scrooge and Donald.[5][11][12] This discovery triggers a search, first by Dewey and Webby Vanderquack before eventually involving all three triplets, for information about their mother and her disappearance; forming the central mystery of the show's first season.[4][13][14]

The first appearance of Della as an adult in the United States was in November 2017, in a series of flashback stories in issue #2 and #3 of the IDW published DuckTales comic, a tie-in to the rebooted TV series.[8][15][16] Della was depicted for the first time in animation, again in flashbacks, in the DuckTales season 1 episode "Last Crash of the Sunchaser!", which revealed the story of Della Duck to Huey, Dewey, and Louie: Della discovered a prototype rocket ship Scrooge was building as a gift for her, took it on an unauthorized launch, and got caught in a cosmic storm. Della was presumed lost to the cosmic abyss after Scrooge launched a massive and expensive, but ultimately failed, attempt to find her.[17]

On August 18, 2018, in the DuckTales season 1 finale, Della was depicted for the first time in a speaking role, revealed to have survived the cosmic storm and still living in the remains of her rocket ship.[6][18] Della Duck has recurring appearances in season 2 of the series, beginning with the episode "Last Christmas!", a time travel episode which depicts younger versions of Della and Donald. In this episode, Donald calls his sister "Dumbella" at one point, meant as an insult but also a reference to Della's alternate name from the 1930s.[19][20]

In February 2019, Disney began promoting, as a special event, the premiere of the first episode of DuckTales to focus on Della. The episode promised to fully reveal what happened to the character for the first time since she was lost in space.[21][22][23] The episode, titled "What Ever Happened to Della Duck?!", aired on March 9, 2019.[24] Describing the episode as "thrilling, tragic, powerful, and defining." The A.V. Club wrote that it "gets to the heart of Della as a character even before the title appears on screen."[25] Entertainment Weekly included the episode on its end-of-year list of the 30 best television episodes of 2019, praising the reveal of Della Duck and writing that "this whole time, DuckTales had been hiding its best character off screen."[26] Following this, Della was able to return to Earth in the repaired Spear of Selene, but subsequently had trouble bonding with the triplets (whose names were apparently "meant" to be Jet, Turbo and Rebel) as she has no actual experience being a mother, her attitude being more focused on attempting to bond with them as the "cool mom". The latter half of the season explored her developing role, such as encouraging Huey to explore more varied activities and grounding Louie after his latest get-rich-quick scheme to steal lost treasures from the past nearly causes a serious temporal paradox. In the season two finale, the Moon aliens Della encountered attempt to mount an invasion using technology reverse-engineered from Della's rocket, but although she tries to hide her children away, the returned Donald convinces her to join them in fighting off the invasion, leaving the alien mothership stuck in orbit between Earth and the Moon while the rest of the invasion fleet surrender.

Characteristics[edit]

Voice[edit]

Della's first speaking appearance was in the season 1 finale of 2017's DuckTales. Paget Brewster voiced Della in the episode before joining the DuckTales cast as a recurring cast member in season 2 and a main character in season 3.[6][10] Brewster told Entertainment Weekly that she really wanted the role and to be on the DuckTales cast, saying "it's very exciting to be able to be a part of the creation of [Della's] backstory, and who she is." Brewster was initially worried that, because Della is Donald Duck's twin, she might be asked to do a Donald-like voice for the character, telling Entertainment Tonight that "I could not pull it off."[27]

Entertainment Weekly said that Brewster "makes Della Duck sound like someone generating rocket fuel with pure pep."[28] Since voicing Della in her speaking debut, Brewster has been praised for her performance in the role; with Den of Geek writing that "the fantastic work of Paget Brewster" helped breathe "an adventurous and loving spirit into Della,"[29] while The A.V. Club wrote that Brewster was "selling Della with every passionate line-reading, making her such a perfect addition to the cast."[30] Paget Brewster was nominated for the 2020 Daytime Emmy Award for Outstanding Performer in an Animated Program for her performance as Della Duck.[31]

Personality[edit]

Della Duck is an extraordinary example of a strong female character, because she also is flawed. This isn't a perfect line drawing of someone; it's an interesting, deep character, and I think it gives kids the opportunity to see that you don't always have to be right, or perfect, or a superhero. You can have strengths and you can have weaknesses, and they're both of equal value if you are honest with who you are and do the best you can, and I think that Della Duck sort of embodies that.

— Paget Brewster, voice of Della Duck, Entertainment Tonight interview[27]

Little is known of Della's personality prior to the 2017 DuckTales series. In the Dutch comic 80 is Prachtig!, Della is depicted in flashbacks as a brave and adventurous pilot. In fact, she first declared she wanted to be a pilot at the same time her brother Donald declared he wanted to be a sailor. Della's accomplishments as a pilot included being the first female pilot to fly across the Atlantic, flying as a test pilot (and successfully landing a plane that caught fire), and piloting an experimental rocket ship. She is also depicted as caring about and missing her family while she was adventuring. Due to the effects of time dilation from Della's near-lightspeed rocket travel while Huey, Dewey, and Louie lived with Donald for several years, Della believed she had been gone for less than an hour. Through radio transmissions, Della revealed she was eager to finish her test flight and get home to her boys, unaware that several more years will pass on Earth by the time she does so.[9]

In 2017's DuckTales, Della is similarly depicted as an adventurous pilot and as a mother who cares for and loves her family,[29] but the show also establishes that Della shares personality traits with the new series' versions of her relatives.[25] Like her twin brother Donald, Della can be temperamental. For example, after seeing a taunting illustration by Gyro Gearloose in a rocket instruction manual, Della flies into a rage; not only tearing the manual apart, but also stomping on the remains.[25] Della also shares personality traits with her sons, including their fearlessness and mischief. These common traits are what allow them to accept and bond with her once she returns home.[1] Like her son Huey, Della was a Junior Woodchuck, as evidenced by her bringing her Junior Woodchuck Guidebook with her to the moon and quoting Junior Woodchuck rules by heart.[4][24][32] Della also shares Dewey's adventurous spirit and Louie's quick-talking cleverness[25] and tendency to cause trouble without considering the consequences.[33]

Furthermore, Della is also shown to have an unstoppable attitude. This is established early in "What Ever Happened to Della Duck?!", which opens with Della having crashed her rocket on the moon, and awakening to her leg trapped underneath the wreckage. After seeing a photo of her family and assessing the situation, she determines the wreckage is too heavy for her to move on her own, amputates her leg, and declares her intent to return home.[24][25][28] As described by DuckTales producer Francisco Angones, "she's gonna beat every odd, she's gonna take charge of her decisions. She made the choice to amputate her leg [on the moon] and it proved, nothing would stop her."[1]

While Della is tenacious and determined, after finally making it back home, she struggles with returning to civilization and her family. While she has ample experience as an adventurer, she had little experience being a mom, and needed time to adjust to the responsibilities of being a parent.[34] DuckTales co-producers Angones and Matt Youngberg said they wanted to use Della to depict how difficult, but also rewarding, it is to be a mom.[1] It was revealed in the episode "The Lost Harp of Mervana!" that Della suffers from ichthyophobia, resulting in her having a strong dislike towards fish.[35]

Phrases[edit]

Della uses one of her brother's signature phrases, "Aw, phooey!".[23] Like Donald, she uses the phrase to indicate that she's given up on something she was trying to do (such as when she realizes she cannot free her leg from rocket wreckage),[25] or after realizing things have gone horribly wrong (such as after accidentally awakening an ancient robotic foe).[32]

Reflecting her unstoppable attitude, Della also has her own signature catchphrase, "Nothing can stop Della Duck!"[2]

Prosthetic leg[edit]

In "What Ever Happened to Della Duck?!", it is revealed that Della was forced to amputate one of her legs due to injuries from the rocket crash, and that she built a robotic prosthetic leg as a replacement.[1] DuckTales showrunners consulted with the Amputee Coalition on the depiction of Della as an amputee.[1][2][36] Show producer Francisco Angones explained that it was important that Della's injury and amputation doesn't define her, and that rather than simply depicting her as "the amputee hero", he wanted the show to make clear that "she's a person who has a prosthetic and she's dealing with her limb loss but she's dealing with a lot of other things."[1]

Appearances[edit]

Short films[edit]

  • Donald's Nephews (1938) – Donald receives a postcard from his sister "Dumbella" informing him that she was sending her sons to stay with him.

Television series[edit]

  • Season 1:
Episode 1 ("Woo-oo!"): Depicted for the first time in a painting showing her, Scrooge, and Donald fighting pirates.
Episode 3 ("The Great Dime Chase!"): Depicted in an aviator painting.
Episode 10 ("The Spear of Selene!"): Depicted in the "sphere of Selene", a magical artifact that can produce images of the past.
Episode 22 ("Last Crash of the Sunchaser!"): Depicted in a flashback sequence.
Episode 23 ("The Shadow War!'"): Della's first actual appearance and speaking role.
  • Season 2:
Episode 6 ("Last Christmas!"): Young Della features prominently in this episode, which is largely set in the past.
Episode 7 ("What Ever Happened to Della Duck?!"): First episode featuring adult Della Duck. Apart from a minor cameo by Scrooge, no other main characters appear in this episode.
Episode 11 ("The Golden Spear!"): Second episode featuring Della and her efforts to return home to her family.
Episode 12 ("Nothing Can Stop Della Duck!"): This episode was broadcast on Mother's Day weekend 2019;[34] Della finally meets her children, discovers the burdens of motherhood, and rejoins the Duck family.
Episode 13 ("Raiders of the Doomsday Vault!"): Della's first appearance as a recurring main character.
Episode 18 ("Happy Birthday, Doofus Drake!): Della plays an MMORPG she hasn't played in a long time alongside Huey.
Episode 20 ("The Golden Army of Cornelius Coot!"): Della becomes Launchpad's mentor.
Episode 21 ("Timephoon!"): Della finally learns to give tough love.
Episode 22 ("GlomTales!"): Della forgives Louie for the trouble he caused the family.
Episode 23 ("The Richest Duck in the World!"): Della appears on Dewey's late night talk show to try and send a message to her friend, Penumbra.
Episode 24 ("Moonvasion!"): Della keeps the kids away from the attack on Earth from the Moonlanders before realizing it's okay to have bad experiences. She also reunites with Donald.
  • Season 3:
Episode 1 ("Challenge of the Senior Junior Woodchucks!"): Della attends a Junior Woodchuck Graduation ceremony for Huey and joins the rest of the family to find the treasure of famed adventurer, Isabella Finch.
Episode 2 ("Quack Pack!"): Della joins the family to find the Lost Lamp of Collie Baba, only to end up in a '90s sitcom.
Episode 4 ("The Lost Harp of Mervana!"): Della joins the family in searching for the titular harp while conquering her fear of fish and sea life.
Episode 9 ("They Put a Moonlander on the Earth!"): Della encourages Penumbra to give Earth a chance before returning to the moon.
Episode 10 ("The Trickening!"): Della spends Halloween with Donald and Launchpad, but has to spend it stopping the latter from hurting people.
Episode 13 ("Escape from the ImpossiBin!"): Scrooge tasks Della and Louie with beating his Money Bin's new security system in preparation for an attack by F.O.W.L.

Comic books[edit]

Title Issue Story Date Country Writer Artist Notes
Anders And & Co. 1994-15 "Verdens rigeste and" ("The Richest Duck In The World") April 11, 1994 Denmark Don Rosa Brief appearances by 10-year-old twins Donald and Della. Published in the United States in the anthology The Life and Times of Scrooge McDuck, under the title The Empire-Builder from Calisota.
1994-22 Eneboeren i Andeby (The Recluse Of McDuck Manor) May 30, 1994 Brief appearance by Della in a dream sequence. Published in the United States in the anthology The Life and Times of Scrooge McDuck, under the title The Richest Duck in the World.
2004–09 Tempelriddernes skat February 20, 2004 Young twins Donald and Della are briefly seen in flashback. Published in the United States in Uncle Scrooge #342, under the title The Old Castle's Other Secret or A Letter from Home.
Donald Duck Weekblad 2014X24 "80 is Prachtig!" June 5, 2014 The Netherlands Evert Geradts Maximino Tortajada Aguilar First major appearance of Della as an adult in comics. No official English translation.
DuckTales (2017) #2 "Old Monteplumage Had a Chicken!" November 2017 United States Joey Cavalieri Gianfranco Florio, Giuseppe Fontana, Dario Calabria Prequel comic featuring Scrooge, Donald, and Della on an adventure together prior to Della's disappearance.
"A Viking at my Door!" Antonio Dalena, Andrea Greppy, Roberta Zanotta, Giuseppe Fontana Prequel comic featuring Scrooge, Donald, and Della on an adventure together prior to Della's disappearance.
#3 "Cheating Like Nostradogmus!" Luca Usai Prequel comic featuring Scrooge, Donald, and Della on an adventure together prior to Della's disappearance.
"Beware Of The Phenomenal Pumpkin People" Andrea Greppi, Graziano Barbaro, Roberta Zanotta Prequel comic featuring Scrooge, Donald, and Della on an adventure together prior to Della's disappearance.

References[edit]

  1. ^ a b c d e f g Rothman, Michael (August 14, 2019). "How empowered 'DuckTales' character inspires young girls, children with disabilities". Good Morning America. Archived from the original on August 20, 2019. Retrieved January 19, 2020.
  2. ^ a b c Elber, Lynn (March 9, 2019). "Della Duck, intrepid space explorer and amputee, comes to TV". Associated Press. Archived from the original on June 23, 2019. Retrieved January 19, 2020.
  3. ^ a b Smith, Dave (2012). Disney Trivia from the Vault: Secrets Revealed and Questions Answered. New York City: Disney Editions. ISBN 9781423178576. Q: Who are Huey, Dewey, and Louie's parents? Do they appear in any of the cartoons? Sarina, Montreal, Quebec, Canada. A: According to the cartoon Donald's Nephews, Donald receives a postcard from his sister, Dumbella, saying she is sending the three for a visit. That is the only time we ever hear of Dumbella, and a father's name is never mentioned.
  4. ^ a b c d e "Della Duck Comes Home". The Nostalgia Spot. May 17, 2019. Retrieved January 16, 2020.
  5. ^ a b White, Brett (August 16, 2017). "The 'DuckTales' Reboot Is Solving A MAJOR Disney Mystery, Possibly Rewriting History". Decider. Archived from the original on August 31, 2019. Retrieved January 20, 2020.
  6. ^ a b c "Della Duck voiced for first time by Paget Brewster on season finale of "DuckTales"". InsideTheMagic.com. August 20, 2018. Archived from the original on May 24, 2019. Retrieved January 19, 2020.
  7. ^ Osborne, Ted (w), Taliaferro, Al (a). Donald Duck (comic strip) (October 17, 1937), United States: King Features
  8. ^ a b "First You May Have Missed: Della Duck". Comicbookinvest.com. February 9, 2018. Retrieved January 16, 2020.
  9. ^ a b Geradts, Evert (w), Tortajada Aguilar, Maximino (p), Comicup Studio (i). "80 is Prachtig!" Donald Duck Weekblad (June 5, 2014), The Netherlands: Sanoma Media Netherlands B.V.
  10. ^ a b Haring, Bruce (August 18, 2018). "Disney Channel's Animated Della Duck Has 'Criminal Minds' Behind Her". Deadline Hollywood. Archived from the original on December 5, 2019. Retrieved January 20, 2020.
  11. ^ Franich, Darren (October 6, 2017). "The new DuckTales is so much better than the old DuckTales: EW review". Entertainment Weekly. Archived from the original on October 20, 2019. Retrieved January 19, 2020.
  12. ^ "Woo-oo!". DuckTales. Season 1. Episode 1. August 12, 2017.
  13. ^ "The Great Dime Chase!". DuckTales. Season 1. Episode 3. September 23, 2017.
  14. ^ "The Spear of Selene!". DuckTales. Season 1. Episode 10. May 4, 2018.
  15. ^ DuckTales #2 (November 2017), IDW Publishing, retrieved on January 20, 2020Archived April 20, 2019, at the Wayback Machine
  16. ^ DuckTales #3 (November 2017), IDW Publishing, retrieved on January 20, 2020Archived December 11, 2018, at the Wayback Machine
  17. ^ "The Last Crash of the Sunchaser!". DuckTales. Season 1. Episode 22. August 11, 2018.
  18. ^ "The Shadow War!". DuckTales. Season 1. Episode 23. August 18, 2017.
  19. ^ "DuckTales – "Last Christmas!"". The Nostalgia Spot. December 1, 2019. Retrieved January 19, 2020.
  20. ^ "Last Christmas!". DuckTales. Season 2. Episode 29. December 1, 2018.
  21. ^ Brown, Tracy (February 22, 2019). "'DuckTales' exclusive first-look at Della Duck's official debut episode". Archived from the original on April 11, 2019. Retrieved January 19, 2020.
  22. ^ "DuckTales Finally Reveals the Secret of Huey, Dewey, and Louie's Long-Lost Mom". SyFy. February 22, 2019. Archived from the original on February 23, 2019. Retrieved January 19, 2020.
  23. ^ a b Hickson, Colin (March 1, 2019). "DuckTales: New Footage Reveals How Della Survived Her Rocket Ship Crash". CBR. Archived from the original on March 2, 2019. Retrieved March 19, 2019.
  24. ^ a b c "What Ever Happened to Della Duck?!". DuckTales. Season 2. Episode 30. March 9, 2019.
  25. ^ a b c d e f Johnson, Kevin (March 9, 2019). "DuckTales returns with the quietly powerful, solitary tale of one, Della Duck". The A.V. Club. Archived from the original on April 21, 2019. Retrieved January 19, 2019.
  26. ^ EW Staff (December 12, 2019). "The 30 best TV episodes of 2019: 9 of 30 – What Ever Happened to Della Duck?! DuckTales (Disney XD)". Entertainment Weekly. Retrieved January 19, 2020.
  27. ^ a b Paget Brewster Dishes on Playing Della Duck on Disney Channel's DuckTales (Exclusive). Entertainment Tonight. March 4, 2019. Archived from the original on November 16, 2019. Retrieved January 19, 2020.
  28. ^ a b Franich, Darren (May 8, 2019). "DuckTales keeps getting better: EW review". Entertainment Weekly. Retrieved January 21, 2020.
  29. ^ a b Kelley, Shamus (March 9, 2019). "DuckTales Season 2 Episode 7 Review: What Ever Happened To Della Duck?!". Den of Geek. Retrieved January 21, 2020.
  30. ^ Johnson, Kevin (September 12, 2019). "A sweeping, epic finale displays DuckTales at its best despite a rocky second half to the season". The A.V. Club. Archived from the original on September 13, 2019. Retrieved January 19, 2019.
  31. ^ "Daytime Emmy Awards: 'Dragon Prince,' 'Ask the Storybots' & 'Last Kids on Earth' Win Key Animation Categories for Netflix". Animation Magazine. July 26, 2020.
  32. ^ a b "Nothing Can Stop Della Duck!". DuckTales. Season 2. Episode 35. May 13, 2019.
  33. ^ "Timephoon!". DuckTales. Season 2. Episode 44. September 9, 2019.
  34. ^ a b Johnson, Kevin (May 13, 2019). "Della Duck finally returns home in an emotional, adventurous, Mother's Day DuckTales". The A.V. Club. Archived from the original on May 13, 2019. Retrieved January 19, 2019.
  35. ^ "The Lost Harp of Mervana!". DuckTales. Season 3. Episode 51. 2020-04-18.
  36. ^ Amputee Coalition [@AmputeesUSA] (March 9, 2019). "Meet the newest member of our Amputee Coalition Community- Della Duck, astronaut, amputee, and mom of Huey, Dewey, and Louie of Disney's @DuckTales gang. Amputee Coalition staff members helped in her creation. Welcome back, Della! #DisneyChannel #DuckTales #Amputee" (Tweet). Retrieved January 19, 2020 – via Twitter.

External links[edit]

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