The future of Roope Anka’s life and deeds is open.
Don Rosa wonders if his other stories will also be subject to censorship. Petteri Paalasmaa
The Walt Disney Company has decided to shelve two artists Don Rosa’s about the future works and publications of the publication of the Roope Ankka story he conjured up. The decision not to publish concerns the stories drawn by Rosa The richest duck in the world and Dreams through life.
The matter became public when Don Rosa said in a private Facebook fan group called the Don Rosa Official Group that he had received an email from one of his publishers informing him of Disney’s decision.
– As part of the company’s commitment to diversity and equality, the Walt Disney Company has started a process in which it evaluates its collection of stories. As a result, some stories that do not meet these values will no longer be published. This applies to your two classic stories The Richest Duck in the World and Dreams Through Life. These stories will no longer be part of republished or new collections, according to Rosa, the email read freely translated.
The world’s richest duck was published for the first time in the Finnish-language Aku Anka issue 15/1994 and Unelmoni tää leinen in Aku Anka 09/2003. Both stories are also part of Rosa’s magnum opus Roope Anka’s life and deeds.
Be the first to hear about it CBR’s according to the assessment, the background of Disney’s decision may be the black character Bombi (Bombie Zombie) in both stories defined as violating values, which Disney now sees as racist. The Bombi character is not a creation of Don Rosa, but was developed by a Disney cartoonist Carl Barks in 1949 for the comic strip Aku ja Zombi.
The publishing director commented
Publishing director of the Story House Egmont publishing house, which manages the regional rights for Disney stories in Finland Jukka Torvinen tells Iltalehti that Egmont has received information about Disney’s decision.
– Yes, we are aware of this and this has an impact on our publishing operations. That’s really the only thing we can comment on at this point.
– I rely on this information, what was given to us and what was written on social media, but we are aware of it.
As a result, will Roope Ankan lämä ja teot be stopped from being published completely, or will the work be published in the future without these two stories?
– This is the thing that is still unclear to us, how it will go. At least these two stories will no longer be published. But it is still open what we will do with this product.
According to Torvinen, Egmont is not considering withdrawing the work from sale in this situation.
This is what the celebration edition of Roope Anka’s life and deeds looks like. Egmont
Rosa is amazed
In his Facebook update, Don Rosa reflected on the fate of his other stories as well
– I wonder what other duck stories are banned? Maybe only mine? Why not? Apparently all the songs in the 12 Roope Ankan lämä ja teot series are now banned because they can’t be published without the ending part.
– I’m not even going to comment on what this might mean for the collectors’ market, Rosa wrote on Facebook.
Helsingin sanomat newspaper reached Rosa by e-mail. According to Rosa, she has no opinion on the matter.
– The stories and art in question are not my property, they belong to Disney, and this decision has no financial implications for me.
Don Rosa photographed at the Helsinki Book Fair in 2011. Jarno Juuti
He also confirmed that the comment posted on the Facebook group is his own. He was not sure if the publication ban also applies to Carl Barks’ publications in which Bombi appears.
– Ever since the situation was told, I decided that it was none of my business.