Outlander creator Diana Gabaldon says there’s a simple reason why society shuns billionaires and still loves Scrooge McDuck.
The world doesn’t love billionaires like it used to, but Scrooge McDuck seems to be an exception. Is it because he’s a fictional person? Could the fact that he’s a duck have anything to do with it? Diana Gabaldon has ideas of her own.
Gabaldon is a best-selling author known for writing the Outlander series. She also wrote screenplays for Disney comics, which gave her a unique perspective on Scrooge McDuck. So what makes Scrooge different from other billionaires?
“Simply put, it’s Carl Barks,” Diana Gabaldon says during the Titans of Fantasy panel at New York Comic Con 2022. “[Banks]was the author of Scrooge McDuck, and he wrote Scrooge McDuck exclusively for 20 or 30 years. Then it spread to a few other writers, myself included, to my honor. But the reason it worked is partly because Carl Barks understood the character of Scrooge McDuck.”
“This guy is technically a miser. He has a piggy bank and all that, but the problem is he just loves money. He doesn’t exploit poor people or rob banks to get money. He really loves money and just dives into a piggy bank. We can all relate to that (laughs).”
I have to admit. Whenever Scrooge jumps into that golden hole, there is pure joy in his eyes. It’s hard not to feel endearing about it. If there were more billionaires like Scrooge, the world might be a better place.
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