Ta b l e o f C o n T e n T s

Setting the Stage

Of Mouse and Man: Troubled Times . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8Foreword by Thomas Andrae and David Gerstein

Remembering Floyd Gottfredson . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1 4Appreciation by Carson Van Osten

The Adventures:Floyd Gottfredson’s Mickey Mouse Stories

With Introductory Notes

All You Can Eat . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1 8

“OSCAR THe OSTRiCH” . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1 9January 6 – March 21, 1936. Plot and pencils by Floyd Gottfredson; Script by Ted Osborne; Inks by Ted Thwaites

From Victim to Victor . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4 2

“MiCKey MOuSe JOinS THe FOReiGn LeGiOn” . . . . . . . . . 4 3March 23 – auGuST 8, 1936. Plot and pencils by Floyd Gottfredson; Script by Ted Osborne; Inks by Ted Thwaites

The Last Plantation of Mouseton. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8 4

“THe SeVen GHOSTS”. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8 5auGuST 10 – nOveMber 28, 1936. Plot and pencils by Floyd Gottfredson; Script by Ted Osborne; Inks by Ted Thwaites

No Man’s Island. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 118

“ISLAND IN THE SKy” . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 119nOveMber 30, 1936 – aPrIl 3, 1937. Plot and pencils by Floyd Gottfredson; Script by Ted Osborne; Inks by Ted Thwaites

The Water Cure . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 156

“in SeARCH OF JunGLe TReASuRe” . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 157aPrIl 5 – auGuST 7, 1937. Plot and pencils by Floyd Gottfredson;Script by Ted Osborne; Inks by Ted Thwaites

When Optimism Fails . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 194

“MOnARCH OF MeDiOKA” . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 195auGuST 9, 1937 – February 5, 1938. Plot and pencils by Floyd Gottfredson; Script by Ted Osborne; Inks by al Taliaferro (8/9-8/14) and Ted Thwaites (8/16/37-2/5/38)

above: Dr. Einmug, Floyd Gottfredson’s classic character from “Island in the Sky” (1937), became an ongoing star in the Disney comics of others (see page 259 for details). Example from British Mickey Mouse Weekly 163 (1939). Art by Basil Reynolds; image courtesy David Gerstein.

Ta b l e o f C o n T e n T s

The Gottfredson Archives:Essays and Special Features

The Cast: Mickey and Minnie . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 248by David Gerstein

Gallery feature—Gottfredson’s World:Oscar the Ostrich. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 249

“Mickey Mouse in the Foreign Legion” . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 250Painting by Floyd Gottfredson

Behind the Scenes: Legionnaires . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 251by David Gerstein, with storyboards by Ferdinand Horvath,Walt Kelly, and Joe Sabo

Gallery feature—Gottfredson’s World:Mickey Mouse Joins the Foreign Legion . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 254

“Mickey Mouse and the Seven Ghosts”. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 255Painting by Floyd Gottfredson

The Cast: Donald . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 256by David Gerstein and Thad Komorowski

Gallery feature—Gottfredson’s World: The Seven Ghosts . . . . . . . . . 257

Gallery feature—Gottfredson’s World: Island in the Sky . . . . . . . . . . 258

The Cast: Dr. Einmug . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 259by David Gerstein

“Mickey Mouse on Sky Island”. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 260Painting by Floyd Gottfredson

Gallery feature—Gottfredson’s World:In Search of Jungle Treasure . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 261

The Cast: Goofy . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 262by David Gerstein

“Mickey Mouse as His Royal Highness” . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 263Painting by Floyd Gottfredson

The Gottfredson Gang: In The World’s Words . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 264by David Gerstein, with text by Milton Dorr

Gallery feature—Gottfredson’s World:Monarch of Medioka . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 266

The Heirs of Gottfredson: Cèsar Ferioli. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 267by David Gerstein

“THe MySTeRy OF FReeFeR HALL” (A MiCKey SequeL) . . . 269Danish Anders And & Co. 2005-44 and 45 (november 3-10, 2005); version from Walt Disney’s Comics and Stories 674 (2006). Story by Don Markstein; art by cèsar Ferioli; color by egmont and Marie Javins; lettering by Susie lee

“Mickey’s tail was...”. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 279by Floyd Gottfredson

Above: Italian Topolino Collezione 27 (1983), collecting “Mickey Mouse Joins the Foreign Legion.”Art by Romano Scarpa; image courtesy Leonardo Gori.

January 6, 1936–

March 21, 1936

There are different kinds of animals in the Disney universe: anthro-pomorphic “funny animals” and uncivilized “animal-animals.” Mickey, Goofy, Minnie, et al. belong to the first group, while Pluto

belongs to the second group—as does the protagonist of this tale, “Oscar the Ostrich.”

it’s hard to get more uncivilized—or more animal—than Oscar, who is quite antisocial and totally self-centered. He destroys everything; he never obeys Mickey; he even fights with the ever-likeable Goofy (here called Goofy, and not “Dippy Dawg,” for the first time in the strip). And then Oscar eats. And eats, and eats, and eats.

That’s probably why readers like him so much. What slapstick comedy fan hasn’t laughed at exaggeratedly self-centered behavior? We wouldn’t admire it in real life; but in fiction, it’s funny to see society upended by an anarchic bird who insists on eating all he can eat. Reading the January 31 strip, in which Oscar races with Mickey’s car and shouts “Beeep! Beep!,” one wonders if Oscar influenced Chuck Jones’ creation of another anarchic bird—the famous Road Runner—for Warner Bros. cartoons.

American readers may be surprised to learn that Tony Dinero, Oscar’s similarly selfish and greedy italian owner, is quite a popular character in italy. in that country a sequel to “Oscar the Ostrich” was

published in 1982, and Tony later appeared in other Italian Disney stories. Perhaps the secret of Tony’s success is that he is not perceived

as strictly Italian. Dinero is Spanish, not Italian (the Italian word for money is denaro); and in the January 15 strip, Tony uses the French expression sapristi (“good lord”). When Tony does exhibit Italian dialect or dress, they reflect southern italy only; likely because the south was disproportionately represented among immigrants to America. Given the confusion between Italian and other ethnicities—and the great differences between regions of italy—Tony’s stereotypical aspects miss any one target too widely to offend.

“Oscar the Ostrich” finds us still midway through the Depression; formerly middle-class guys like Mickey and Horace now find buying a car quite difficult. Mickey even spends a sleepless night thinking about his debts—perhaps a familiar situation for many contemporary readers.

Nevertheless, the overall tone is humorous with a touch of the screwball—not unlike a Marx Brothers comedy. When a climactic multi-animal race multiplies Oscar’s anarchic behavior many times over, we care less about the economy and more about eating all we can eat.

— Stefano Priarone

ALL YOU CAN EAT

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