IDW Publishing, which has been making Mickey Mouse and Donald Duck Disney comic books since 2015. will be releasing Donald Duck No. 18 (whole No. 385) in October 2016. It will feature a 2006 reprint of a foreign produced story titled Rue Brittania! by writer Lars Jensen and artist Flemming Andersen. The story concerns “paranormalists” Donald Duck and his partner Fethry Duck trying to get rid of the Gremlins plaguing an airfield.
This story is an homage to a Disney animated project that was never made during World War II, titled The Gremlins, and features some of the character designs that the Disney Studio first created more than 75 years ago.
In addition, the cover is a reprint of the cover done by cartoonist Walt Kelly for Dell comics' Walt Disney's Comics and Stories Vol. 3 No. 10 (July 1943, No. 34) featuring Donald Duck in an airplane trying to swat away Gremlin Gus and his friends with a flyswatter as they attack Donald's little red plane.
Author Roald Dahl's first children's story was about the Gremlins who troubled the British Royal Air Force pilots during World War II with sabotage of their planes and navigational errors, but eventually change their ways and help a young wounded pilot (a Dahl doppelganger) get re-certified so he can go back into battle to help win the war.
Walt Disney loved the story and purchased the rights. He decided it would make a great foundation for an animated feature but that the tale needed to be fleshed out into a book first to provide enough structure for a film.
Donald Duck meets the Gremlins in the original Donald Duck No. 18 Disney comic book.
“When Flight Lieutenant Roald Dahl came to the studio to work on the Gremlin project, I was assigned to draw these little creatures according to his description. For me, the project began as a book (from which the film would be created). Working together, he dictated the story and I made pencil illustrations for his approval,” animator and Disney Legend Bill Justice told me in 1997.
“The project wasn't a total loss,” he said. “This was the first time I'd ever been asked to create a new cartoon character. Despite the eventual abandonment of the feature, an artist named Al Dempster added some full page color paintings to my [black-and-white] illustrations and the book The Gremlins was published by Random House (in 1943 in a print run of 50,000 copies). It was the first book I'd ever illustrated.”
It was Justice who designed the character of Gremlin Gus, who was the leader of these mischievous creatures of the air. Gus, in his red flight suit, flight helmet with goggles, thick gloves, brown derby hooked on one of his horns, scraggly white mustache, and stout figure, was hugely appealing.
However, the development of the project into an animated feature dragged on and on, and, by late 1943, the real fear was that “gremlin mania” threatened Disney's rights to the characters as the term was quickly becoming public domain and overused in daily conversations and newspaper and magazine articles.
Even worse, other animation studios announced gremlin-based short cartoon subjects. An official Disney Studios memo was sent down to all those involved in the Dahl project to push the character of Gremlin Gus in all publicity and drawings in an effort to try and clearly establish that particular gremlin as an exclusive Disney property that could be copyrighted and trademarked.
Disney merchandise executive Kay Kamen arranged for products, like a jigsaw puzzle, featuring the characters and prominently focusing on Gremlin Gus. In particular, something that could be done quickly to establish the property was the inclusion of stories of the characters in one of the highest-selling monthly comic books of all time, Walt Disney's Comics and Stories from Western Publishing.
In 1933, Kamen signed the initial contract granting Western the license to exclusive book rights to all the Walt Disney characters for a series of children's publications. In 1937, Kamen negotiated for Western to take over the production and publication of the Mickey Mouse Magazine, a popular periodical.
That magazine evolved into the comic book Walt Disney's Comics and Stories in October 1940. Western produced the material (writing and artwork) for the comic book as well as other Disney comic books but that division was financed and distributed by Dell Publishing so the comic books are referred to as Dell Comics.
There were offices in both Los Angeles and New York with two separate staffs. The East Coast division was headed by Oskar Lebeck and the West Coast operation supervised by Eleanor Packer.
Cartoonist Walt Kelly is best known as the creator of the Pogo newspaper comic strip that actually began as a feature in Dell funny animal comic books. Kelly had a varied career in cartooning, including working for several years at the Disney Studios as a story artist and animator.
Like many artists during the Great Depression, the only place to find work was at the Disney Studios in Burbank, California, which was expanding its staff rapidly to complete the first animated feature Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs (1937).
Kelly worked at Disney from January 6, 1936 to May 27, 1941, leaving on an approved extended leave of absence to take care of his ailing older sister in Connecticut, exactly one day before the infamous strike started. However, Kelly didn't officially end his employment with the studio until September 12 of that year.
After a probationary training period involving learning how to in-between animation drawings, Kelly was assigned to the Disney story department working on supplying gags for the shorts including ones with Donald Duck.
However, by late 1939, Disney needed additional animators to work on the new proposed features and Kelly willingly shifted over to the role of assistant animator for the legendary Fred Moore, the acknowledged expert on drawing Mickey Mouse, and sometimes as an assistant for the wacky Ward Kimball.
“We loved the way he drew Mickey Mouse,” Kimball told animation historian Michael Barrier. “His proportions were very subtly different from the model sheet and even the accredited authority for Mickey Mouse, Fred Moore, would laugh at Kelly's drawings. They were just basically funny. In fact, everything he drew was funny.”
Kelly worked on the Mickey Mouse shorts Mickey's Surprise Party (1939), The Little Whirlwind (1941), and The Nifty Nineties (1941). Kelly also worked on several feature films, including Pinocchio (Gepetto inside Monstro), Fantasia (Bacchus riding a donkey), Dumbo (the ringmaster and the crows), and The Reluctant Dragon (the little boy).
Kelly felt constricted by animation and had not received the necessary additional animation training before entering the story department, so his animation artwork was rough and required additional clean-up by others. In addition, Kelly had difficulty remaining “on model” with characters, usually adding some slight personal artistic touches of his own.
On July 25, 1941, Kelly returned to the Disney Studios to meet with Walt Disney to see if Walt could help him find cartoon work back East. Walt wrote three letters to various people describing Kelly as a “former employee” who had “a complete understanding of the handling of any and all of our characters” and urged them to get in touch with Kelly for work.
It was because of those letters that Kelly began to get freelance work with Lebeck at Western in New York. Kelly drew the comic books at his home in Bridgeport, Connecticut, and commuted to New York three days a week to deliver his finished work.
He ended up adapting the Disney features The Three Caballeros (in Dell Four Color No. 71, 1945) and Pinocchio (in Dell Four Color No. 92, 1946) to comic books and provided some covers and advertisements for Walt Disney's Comics and Stories.
However, Kelly's most significant Disney related work at Western/Dell was a series of two-page pantomime comic book stories featuring the Gremlins.
In fact, his style was so distinctive and appealing that even though he was following the model sheets prepared by the Disney Studio, over the years he has been falsely credited with creating the designs and supplying artwork for other projects featuring the Gremlins, including the pamphlet “Winter Draws On,” that does not include any artwork by him.
In issue No. 4 of Dell War Heroes comic book (April 1943), there was a six-page comic book story adapting the basic Roald Dahl story done in a realistic style by an unknown writer and artist.
During the Battle of Britain, a young pilot named Gus is attacked by Gremlin Gus boring holes in his wing and engine cowling. His fellow pilots don't believe his story until Gremlin Gus pops up and spills a beer mug into the lap of one of them. One day, Gus has to parachute out of his plane and grabs Gremlin Gus as he plummets and gets the little creature to tell his story. The new factories and air bases inadvertently destroyed the homes of the Gremlins. Gus explains that the “iron birds” are protecting homes, including the ones of the Gremlins who will get their land back after the war.
Gremlin Gus convinces the other Gremlins to now help the R.A.F. pilots by doing things like plugging tank leaks and scraping ice off wings. More important, they help pilot Gus to pass his medical exam so he can return to flying which he does: “And he was only one of hundreds who came to understand, love and respect these little people! He is, indeed, an unhappy man who goes up into the sky to fight saying, 'I do not believe in gremlins!'”
In Walt Disney Comics and Stories No. 33 (June 1943) there was a two-page story credited to animator (Fleischer, Warner Brothers, Lantz, Hanna-Barbera) and funny animal comic book artist Vivie Risto, the son of Finnish immigrants whose real name was Oscar Wilho Risto. He had just begun doing comic book stories for Dell in 1942 after leaving Warner Brothers.
When a new group of pilots arrive at an R.A.F. air base, they discount the story of gremlins as “that fairy story.” The enraged Gremlins disable one of the planes during a fight with a squadron of Messerschmitts. Hours later, the pilot tries to convince his friends that it was the work of Gremlins. An unbelieving pilot is leaning back in his chair saying “Gremlins, bosh! Don't try to pull that kid story on me!” when one of the Gremlins saws the back chair leg. The chair collapses and the pilot now on the floor moans, “O-w-w! Who did that?” and finds himself facing three little creatures who say in unison, “Gremlins!”
The Kelly stories that appeared in Walt Disney's Comics And Stories were written and drawn by him. They were each two pages and four rows. These were all “pantomime” strips, meaning that they contain no captions or dialog balloons and that the story is conveyed purely through action.
In a way, it is odd that Kelly did these stories, because most of the stories and artwork for Walt Disney's Comics and Stories were produced by the office in Los Angeles and Kelly was in New York. However, Lebeck considered Kelly his star artist and liked that Kelly could draw cute characters and had an understanding of visual slapstick, two important aspects for the series.
WDCS No. 34 (July 1943)
Gremlin Gus struts across the airfield followed by two Widgets struggling to carry a heavy tool box. Gus turns to see the Widgets have disappeared and the box is left on the ground. Picking it up himself, he struggles to carry the unexpectedly heavy box to the wheel of a plane. When he opens the box to get his tools, inside are the two sheepish Widgets. Gus chases them away with his foot as he takes a drill bit to the wheel of an airplane. The curious Widgets play with a nearby oil can and splash Gus whose drill pops the tire. The exploding air sends Gus high in the air and he knocks the two Widgets into the can. A whistling Gus walks proudly home followed by the two sad oil-covered Widgets. The final panel is a paper doll of Gremlin Gus done by Kelly.
WDCS No. 35 (August 1943)
Two Widgets start to saw away at the legs of a wooden chair, when Gremlin Gus points them to move away. He flexes a saw and proceeds to cut away at all four legs so that it is balanced precariously. As a pilot with a newspaper approaches to sit in the wobbly chair, Gus and the Widgets hide behind a spittoon to observe the fun as the chair collapses underneath the man as he sits. Gremlin Gus proudly congratulates the Widgets who take the saw to Gus' home and saw the wooden steps to the front door and the wooden chair so that Gus collapses when he uses them. The final panel is Gus throwing the saw after the Widgets fleeing into the night. The final panel is a cut-out paper doll of a Fifinella by Kelly.
WDCS No. 36 (September 1943)
Gremlin Gus lugs a round black bomb to the wheel of plane. He carries a large wooden matchstick to light it. Two Widgets riding on a grasshopper arrive and the insect bucks them off into Gus. He puts the two Widgets over his knee and spanks them with the matchstick. The two Widgets climb into the open cockpit of the plane and start the engine. The wind from the propeller knocks over Gus and blows his derby hat down the field. The two Widgets shake hands to congratulate themselves as Gus' hat blows into the top of a gasoline can on its side. Gus peers inside but because it is so dark he can't see so he lights the match to retrieve his hat and the can blows up. The final panel has a burnt and shaken Gus wearing an El Ropo Cigar band because his clothes have been blown off while the two Widgets follow behind staring innocently at the sky.
WDCS No. 37 (October 1943)
Gremlin Gus sets a ladder against the wheel of a plane and starts to climb up. Behind him, a mouse pops out of a hole in the ground and pulls the ladder down its hole causing Gus to fall on his face. Two Widgets standing nearby break out into laughter. An irritated Gus puts both of them over his knee and spanks them. The angry Widgets get a round domed metal mouse trap with a piece of cheese to catch the mouse. Gus sees the trap and is curious. As he bends down to look at the cheese, the smiling mouse pops up out of his hole and pushes Gus into the trap and grabs the cheese to munch. Gus, still trapped in the cage, turns it over to chase after the two Widgets.
WDCS No. 38 (November 1943)
While the pilots are eating at the mess hall table, Gremlin Gus and two Widgets use a string to climb up to the top of the table and overturn a pepper shaker causing the pilots to sneeze uncontrollably. The two Widgets decide to help by blowing on the split pepper and unfortunately, Gremlin Gus sneezes so hard that he is propelled backwards into a bottle of ketchup. An unsuspecting officer who is reading the paper, picks up the bottle and empties it on his plate. As he stabs his fork into his meal, he is surprised to find Gremlin Gus on the tip of his fork desperately pleading not to be eaten. The final panel has the officer falling over backward in his chair while Gus chases off the two Widgets with the fork.
WDCS No. 39 (December 1943)
A tired Gremlin Gus yawns and stretches by an ashtray with a pipe. He decides to take a nap inside the comfy pipe. An unsuspecting officer picks up the pipe, pours tobacco into it which suddenly flies out. The determined pilot tamps down the tobacco into the pipe and his finger is bitten by Gus. The irritated officer looks into the pipe and Gus throws tobacco into his eye forcing him to throw the pipe to the floor. Turning the pipe upside down, Gus runs away while the officer falls to the floor in tears.
WDCS No. 40 (January 1944)
Two pilots are playing table tennis when the ball goes astray on to the floor. Gremlin Gus watching from behind a spittoon grabs the ball but then one of the pilots grabs the ball with Gus hanging on precariously. The pilot serves the ball and Gus opens his parachute as it flies through the air. This slows the flight of the ball making it difficult for the other pilot to hit it back but not impossible. Over the net, Gus tosses the ball high in the air and the two pilots end up hitting each other on the top of their heads, knocking each other out. The last panel has them both laying across the table as a whistling Gus casually walks away.
WDCS No. 41 (February 1944)
A mess sergeant points to two men to start peeling a pile of potatoes on the table. Gremlin Gus uses the knife on the table as a catapult to send him and a potato flying at the back of the head of the sergeant. The angry man turns assuming one of the two pilots threw it at him. One of them points out Gus sitting on the sergeant's shoulder and grabs a pot to smash the Gremlin. However, Gus slides down and the pot ends up on the sergeant's head who stumbles outside and bumps into a general, knocking him down. The fallen general sees Gus on top of the pot and pulls out a gun to shoot him just as the sergeant pulls off the pot and sees the gun pointing at his face. He pleads with the angry general. Inside the two pilots grab two pies to throw at Gus but they end up hitting the general and sergeant on the top of their heads. The last panel is Gus casually walking away eating a piece of pie.
A one-page illustration of Gremlin Gus adapted from Kelly's comic book work pops up mysteriously in The Walt Disney Paint Book, a coloring book from Whitman published in 1944. It is the only Gremlin drawing in the book which is filled with drawings of Mickey, Donald and others, obviously adapted from comic book panels.
Some examples of these comics were reprinted in Walt Disney's Return of the Gremlins published by Dark Horse Comics.
