en.wikipedia.org/wiki/How_to_Read_Donald_Duck

1971 book-length essay by Ariel Dorfman and Armand Mattelart that critiques Disney comics from a Marxist point of view as capitalist propaganda for American corporate and cultural imperialism. It was first published in Chile in 1971, became a bestseller throughout Latin America and is still considered a seminal work in cultural studies. It was reissued in August 2018 to a general audience in the United States

The book’s thesis is that Disney comics are not only a reflection of the prevailing ideology at the time (capitalism), but that the comics’ authors are also aware of this, and are active agents in spreading the ideology. To that end, Disney comics use images of the everyday world:

“Here lies Disney’s inventive (product of his era), rejecting the crude and explicit scheme of adventure strips, that came up at the same time. The ideological background is without any doubt the same: but Disney, not showing any open repressive force, is much more dangerous. The division between Bruce Wayne and Batman is the projection of fantasy outside the ordinary world to save it. Disney colonizes the everyday world, at hand of ordinary man and his common problems, with the analgesic of a child’s imagination.”

— Ariel Dorfman and Armand Mattelart, How to Read Donald Duck, p. 148

This closeness to everyday life is so only in appearance, because the world shown in the comics, according to the thesis, is based on ideological concepts, resulting in a set of natural rules that lead to the acceptance of particular ideas about capital, the developed countries’ relationship with the Third World, gender roles, etc.

As an example, the book considers the lack of descendants of the characters. Everybody has an uncle or nephew, everybody is a cousin of someone, but nobody has fathers or sons. This non-parental reality creates horizontal levels in society, where there is no hierarchic order, except the one given by the amount of money and wealth possessed by each, and where there is almost no solidarity among those of the same level, creating a situation where the only thing left is crude competition.

I have trouble reading the donald speech bubbles they sound all quacky in my head.

Peak Disney

Just the bottom half of the comic goes even harder

Ah, to have a friend like Donald. Wish someone would do that to me.

I mean Goofy did it much ask for it by saying “let 'er go”. I’m not really sure how else Donald should have interpreted that.

https://www.youtube.com/shorts/4yU8PD-3kd0

Goofy was based on minstrel characters.

gooby pls

Most cartoons were originally for adults. Helping your average schmuck, reading the daily paper, deal with feelings of societal injustice, anger, annoyance, frustration.

I seem to remember that DD used to be particularly vicious and rude in old b/w cartoons.

Is it possible the creature already existed long before 1934, possibly just without the name DD?

How did (Disney) cartoons become a thing for kids mostly? When did kids become main targets for product development? I suspect the answer involves Edward Bernays…

Old school Disney characters were downright psychopaths. Mickey was straight up waving his gun around on a regular basis.