| "Tralla La" | |
|---|---|
 Cover of Uncle Scrooge #6, June 1954. | |
| Story code | W US 6-02 |
| Story | Carl Barks |
| Ink | Carl Barks |
| Date | October 29, 1953 |
| Hero | Scrooge McDuck |
| Pages | 22 |
| Layout | 4 rows per page |
| Appearances | Scrooge McDuck Donald Duck Huey, Dewey, and Louie |
| First publication | June 1954 |
"Tralla La" is a Scrooge McDuck comic book story by Carl Barks. The story was first published in Uncle Scrooge #6 (June, 1954). In the story, Scrooge searches for a utopia in which money plays no role.
"Tralla La" begins with Uncle Scrooge having a hard day at his office, and it doesn't get better when he attempts to walk along the street to relax; everyone he meets wants some of his money. The stress of this way of life gets to him and he suffers a nervous breakdown. Though he improves, he can't stand to see or hear about money, as he now associates it with all the troubles that got him to this point. In order to heal, he searches for a place where money has no influence. Tralla La may be such a place, where a peaceful society without a monetary system is rumored to exist.
Scrooge and his nephews, who are there to support his healing, finally locate the mythical place in a deep valley high in the Himalayas and arrive by parachute. There, they get acquainted with a more peaceful existence than to which they were accustomed.
However, as Scrooge seems to be healing, he doesn't realize he brought his troubles with him. He brought bottles of his medication along. The bottle caps he discards are considered rare treasures in Tralla La and become the basis of a new monetary system. The inhabitants of Tralla La become obsessed with these new treasures. To solve the issue, Scrooge has planes drop one billion bottle caps, but this becomes too many, and the inhabitants become angry, as their fields are now covered with caps. The Ducks must flee, as they apparently cannot find peace even in an Earthly paradise.
In a 1981 interview, Barks said, "The nerve medicine [in Tralla La] was a running gag to help pull parts of the story together. I had learned about running gags before I ever worked at Disney. It was a kind of thread or connecting link in stories, such as Wodehouse's stories, and in the movies: Chaplin and Laurel and Hardy had running gags. I liked those movies more than romantic ones or shoot-'em-up westerns. The running gags were a necessary part of the stories, like a period at the end of a sentence." [1]
A number of previous stories by Barks presented Scrooge's way of life as rather stressful, but this is the first story where this seems to be getting on his nerves. This is certainly not the last, but subsequent stories rarely focus on it.
Scrooge's effort this time is not to gain treasure, but find some peace and regain his health. However, as so often presented in Barks tales, in trying to escape his problems he only manages to carry them with him. Tralla La's (based on Shangri-La) inhabitants prove to share the human characteristic of greed, while Barks is allowed some bitter commentary on human nature and the impact of "inventing" money.
The theme of never finding peace no matter how hard the characters try is a running theme in Barks' tales, but here it takes center place. It is considered among Barks' most memorable because of its view of humanity, paradise, and the vulnerability of his characters.
This story features the first appearance of that inexhaustible font of knowledge, The Junior Woodchucks' Guidebook . [2]
The story was later adapted into an episode of DuckTales .
Don Rosa wrote a sequel to the story, Return To Xanadu , in which Tralla La is revealed to be the valley of Xanadu. Return to Xanadu was first published in the United States in Uncle Scrooge #261-262 (October–November 1991) and reprinted in #357 (September, 2006).
Carl Barks was an American cartoonist, author, and painter. He is best known for his work in Disney comic books, as the writer and artist of the first Donald Duck stories and as the creator of Scrooge McDuck. He worked anonymously until late in his career; fans dubbed him The Duck Man and The Good Duck Artist. In 1987, Barks was one of the three inaugural inductees of the Will Eisner Comic Book Hall of Fame.
Gladstone Gander is a cartoon character created in 1948 by The Walt Disney Company. He is an anthropomorphic gander who possesses exceptional good luck that grants him anything he desires as well as protecting him from any harm. This is in contrast to his cousin Donald Duck, who is often characterized for having bad luck. Gladstone is also a rival of Donald for the affection of Daisy Duck. Gladstone dresses in a very debonair way, often in a suit; wearing a bow-tie, fedora, and spats. He has a wavy hairstyle which is depicted either as white or blonde. In the story "Luck of the North" he is described as having a brassy voice.
Huey, Dewey, and Louie are triplet cartoon characters created by storyboard artist (screenwriter) Carl Barks for The Walt Disney Company from an idea proposed by cartoonist Al Taliaferro and are the nephews of Donald Duck and the grand-nephews of Scrooge McDuck. Like their maternal uncles, the brothers are anthropomorphic white ducks with yellow-orange bills and feet. The boys are sometimes distinguished by the color of their shirts and baseball caps. They featured in many Donald Duck animated shorts and in the television show DuckTales and its reboot, but comics remain their primary medium.
Scrooge McDuck is a cartoon character created in 1947 by Carl Barks for The Walt Disney Company. Appearing in Disney comics, Scrooge is a Scottish-American anthropomorphic Pekin duck. Like his nephew Donald Duck, he has a yellow-orange bill, legs, and feet. He typically wears a red or blue frock coat, top hat, pince-nez glasses, and spats varying in color. He is portrayed in animation as speaking with a Scottish accent. Originally intended to be used only once, Scrooge became one of the most popular characters in Disney comics, and Barks' signature work. Scrooge lives in the city of Duckburg in the fictional US state of Calisota, whose claimed location is in California in the real-world United States.
The Clan McDuck is a fictional Scottish clan of cartoon ducks from which Disney character Scrooge McDuck is descended. Within the Donald Duck universe, the clan is related to the American Duck family through the marriage of Hortense McDuck and Quackmore Duck, Donald and Della Duck's parents, giving both of them partial Scottish ancestry.
Gyro Gearloose is a cartoon character created in 1952 by Carl Barks for Disney comics. An anthropomorphic chicken, he is part of the Donald Duck universe, appearing in comic book stories as a friend of Donald Duck, Scrooge McDuck, and anyone who is associated with them. He was also a heroic creator star of the animated DuckTales. He first appeared in the Carl Barks comic "Gladstone's Terrible Secret", and was the regular lead character in 4-page backup stories in Barks' issues of Uncle Scrooge, starting with issue #13 and continuing through #41.
Flintheart Glomgold is a cartoon character created in 1956 by Carl Barks. He is a South African American Pekin Duck and the business rival of Scrooge McDuck, usually portrayed as an ambitious, ruthless, and manipulative businessman who shares many of the same qualities as Scrooge—the drive for massive wealth, and the cunning and creativity to obtain the same—but he lacks any of Scrooge's tendencies towards generosity and compassion. In Don Rosa's The Life and Times of Scrooge McDuck, he is said to be a Boer.
The Donald Duck universe is a fictional shared universe which is the setting of stories involving Disney cartoon character Donald Duck, as well as Daisy Duck, Huey, Dewey, and Louie, Scrooge McDuck, and many other characters. Life in the Donald Duck universe centers on the city of Duckburg and is a part of the larger Mickey Mouse universe. In addition to the original comic book stories by Carl Barks, the Duckburg cast was featured in Little Golden Books, television series such as DuckTales (1987–1991), Darkwing Duck (1991–1992), and the DuckTales reboot (2017–2021), and video games such as DuckTales (1989), QuackShot (1991), Goin' Quackers (2000), and DuckTales: Remastered (2013).
The Beagle Boys are a group of cartoon characters created in 1951 by Carl Barks for the Donald Duck universe. They are a family clan of organized criminals who constantly try to rob Scrooge McDuck. Their introduction and first appearance was in "Terror of the Beagle Boys", although in this story they only appear in the last frame and have no lines. They appear again in the next issue in a similar fashion, in The Big Bin on Killmotor Hill.
The Junior Woodchucks of the World is a fictional scouting organization appearing in Disney comics and the DuckTales animated television franchise, most notably in adventures featuring Disney characters Huey, Dewey, and Louie as members.
Uncle Scrooge Adventures is a 1987-1997 Disney comic book series published by Gladstone Publishing under license from the Walt Disney Company. It features the adventures of Scrooge McDuck and his nephews Donald, Huey, Dewey, and Louie. It was usually distinguished from the main Uncle Scrooge title in its focus on longer, full-length stories, often in the pulp adventure style.
"The Old Castle's Secret" is a 32-page Disney comics adventure/mystery/horror story written, drawn, and lettered by Carl Barks. It was first published by Dell Publishing in Four Color #189. Characters include Scrooge McDuck, Donald Duck, and his three nephews. The story is about a treasure hunt led by Uncle Scrooge through an old castle in Scotland.
"A Christmas for Shacktown" is a 32-page Disney comics story written, drawn, and lettered by Carl Barks. The story was first published in Four Color #367, and tells of Donald Duck's attempts to raise money for a Christmas party for the poor children of Shacktown.
"Back to the Klondike" is a Disney comic book story created by Carl Barks, created in September 1952 and first published in March 1953 in Four Color #456. Scrooge McDuck returns to Klondike where he has made his fortune, bringing Donald and the three nephews along, to find back the gold he has left there.
"Christmas on Bear Mountain" (1947) is a Donald Duck story by Carl Barks, first published in Dell Comics Four Color Comics #178. It was the first appearance of Scrooge McDuck, a character who became a comic-book icon throughout the world.
"Land Beneath the Ground!" is a Scrooge McDuck comic book story that appeared in 1956 in the comic book Uncle Scrooge, written by Carl Barks.
"The Golden Fleecing" is a Scrooge McDuck comic book story from 1955, written and drawn by Carl Barks. It's about Scrooge who wants the Golden Fleece to make a jacket.
"Only a Poor Old Man" is a 32-page Disney comics story written, drawn, and lettered by Carl Barks. It was published in Four Color #386 as the first issue of Uncle Scrooge. Scrooge McDuck had already made his debut as a supporting character in the 1947 Donald Duck story "Christmas on Bear Mountain", and made several other appearances in Donald Duck stories in Walt Disney's Comics and Stories, but "Poor Old Man" was the first comic book story with Scrooge as the main character.
"The Money Champ" was originally published in Uncle Scrooge #27 in September, 1959 and is the second of three stories written and drawn by Carl Barks in which Scrooge's rival Flintheart Glomgold appears. Glomgold first appeared in "The Second-Richest Duck" in Uncle Scrooge #15.
"The Secret of Atlantis" is a 32-page Disney comics story written and drawn by Carl Barks, and lettered by his wife, Garé Barks.