My father was retired military, and my mother was an educator. She was incredibly creative. I used to love going to her school during the summer and helping her decorate her classroom. I would draw Mickey Mouse, Donald Duck. She was a sixth grade teacher. She and my father are the ones that got me into my love of music.
When I was little, we had a Golden Book that had all these Disney characters in one portrait on the first page. My dad used to read from it every night. We'd play this game of find Pluto or find Donald Duck. He'd read us stories and do all the voices. Those are great memories.
Luckily for me, my father had impeccable taste. No contemporary collector was he. His treasure trove of comics included gems such as 'Little Lulu,' 'Frontline Combat' and 'Classics Illustrated.' But the works that stood head and shoulders above the rest were Carl Barks's 'Donald Duck' and 'Uncle Scrooge' comics from the 1940s through the 1960s.
My grandfather was actually a union organizer at Walt Disney. He was an animator. He used to draw Donald Duck for Walt Disney.
Throughout my teens, I just wanted to go somewhere I could wear a Donald Duck pin and no one would care.
Pretend you're a southern sheriff. Or Mae West. Or Donald Duck. Buy a western hat and walk around the house like a cowboy. The point of all this, of course, is to draw yourself out of your accustomed groove.
People think I have an interest in comics, but I'm only interested in comics from the '40s, like 'Donald Duck' comics.
When I was nine years old I use to copy - not trace - the covers of the Donald Duck comics. Many years later I became a close friend of Jack Hannah, the director of the Donald Duck film shorts.
Kate McCallister: Oh, did you see what Grandma Penelope sent you for the trip?
Kevin McCallister: Um, let me guess... Donald Duck slippers?
Kate McCallister: Close. An inflatable clown to play with in the pool.
Kevin McCallister: [sarcastically] How exciting.
Norma Desmond: Young man, tell me something; how long is a movie script these days? I mean how many pages?
Joe Gillis: Depends on what it is: a Donald Duck or a Joan of Arc.
