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How old is Scrooge in DuckTales (2017)?

posted 7 years ago by MAGolding (1240)
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Kids who read the original Carl Barks Donald Duck and Uncle Scrooge comic books back in the 1940s, 1950s, and 1960s may have noticed that Scrooge McDuck sometimes mentioned various previous adventures looking for treasure around the world. Adventures that meant that Scrooge was at least as old as the parents of those kids and the grandparents of those kids and even the great grandparents of those kids - 1950s kids who are now old enough to have grandchildren and sometimes great grandchilden.

Don Rosa, the greatest of Carl Barks's successors as Duck artist, actually compiled a biography, The Life and Times of Scrooge McDuck (1992-1996). According to Rosa, Scrooge was born in Glasgow, Scotland in 1867, and met Donald Duck and Huey, Dewey, and Louie, in 1947 in "Christmas at Bear Mountain", having all of his Carl Barks adventures afterwards.

Don Rosa also believed that Scrooge died in 1967 aged 100, though that was never made official, and set all his Scrooge stories before 1967. And to get Scrooge McDuke to live "only" 100 years Don Rosa had to change or ignore a few of Bark's dates. Rosa lists the few Barks stories or plot details he ignored or changed for the Life and Times of Scrooge McDuck here:

http://stp.lingfil.uu.se/~starback/dcml/creators/rosa-on-himself.html#dates

see the heading The Life and Times of Scrooge McDuck (Lo$, 12-part series)

According to Wikipedia:

"According to Carl Barks' 1955 one-pager "Watt an Occasion" (Uncle Scrooge #12), Scrooge is 75 years of age. According to Don Rosa, Scrooge was born in Scotland in 1867, and earned his Number One Dime (or First Coin) exactly ten years later. The DuckTales episodes (and many European comics) show a Scrooge who hailed from Scotland in the 19th century, yet was clearly familiar with all the technology and amenities of the 1980s. Despite this extremely advanced age, Scrooge does not appear to be on the verge of dotage, and is vigorous enough to keep up with his nephews in adventures; with rare exception there appears to be no sign of him slowing down."

"Barks responded to some fan letters asking about Scrooge's Adamic age, that in the story "That's No Fable!", when Scrooge drank water from a Fountain of Youth for several days, rather than making him young again (bodily contact with the water was required for that), ingesting the water rejuvenated his body and cured him of his rheumatia, which arguably allowed Scrooge to live beyond his expected years with no sign of slowdown or senility. Don Rosa's solution to the issue of Scrooge's age is that he set all of his stories in the 1950s or earlier, which was when he himself discovered and reveled in Barks's stories as a kid, and in his unofficial timelines, he had Scrooge die in 1967, at the age of 100 years."

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Scrooge_McDuck#Age

So Rosa and Bark's versions of Uncle Scrooge were really old coots, even if Scrooge was not a member of the Coot family like his in law Elvira Coot (Grandma Duck).

So if the "present" in DuckTales (2017) is near the present date of 2018, and if Scrooge was born as early as Rosa claimed, Scrooge McDuck's birthday in "McMystery at McDuck McManor!", May 25, 2018, could be his 149th or 150th or 151st!

In the DuckTales episode "The impossible Summit of Mount Neverrest", December 2, 2017, Scrooge attempts to climb the never climbed Mount Neverrest, and admits to his nephews that he was the legendary "Neverrest Ninny" who failed 75 years earlier. Scrooge and his guide George Mallardy attempted the climb to celebrate Scrooge making his first million dollars. So if Scrooge was already an adult 75 years earlier he should be at least 95 in the episode.

The Klondike Gold Rush in the Yukon region of Canada happened in 1896 to 1899 in real history, and Barks and Rosa used the real historic dates for Scrooge's past adventures. According to stories in The Life and Times of Scrooge McDuke, Scrooge prospected for gold in the Klondike in 1896 to 1898, tangled with Goldie O'Gilt, and struck it rich.

And in the latest Duck Tale "The Golden Lagoon of White Agony Plains", June 23, 2018, Goldie O'Gilt returns to Scrooge's life and they seek a treasure they could never find back in their Klondike prospecting days. At one point Goldie uses a phone to take a picture, a use of current technology. They mention that it is over a hundred years since they tangled in the Klondike, which thus makes Scrooge at least 120 years old in the episode.

A Scrooge old enough to prospect in the Klondike by 1899 would be at least 120 in "The Golden Lagoon of White Agony Plains", and would turn 150 in 2017 if born when Rosa said, or maybe at least about 160 if all of Bark's dates are correct.

So it is probably understandable why the writers of "The Golden Lagoon of White Agony Plains" had Scrooge and Goldie explain to each other that they had stayed young by the use of varous mystical methods!

[–] Moonglum9 (11340) 7 years ago

McDuck, hmm? The name is a dead giveaway. He stayed young because he was an immortal Highlander.

[–] MAGolding (1240) 7 years ago

Since he's a duck, more like a "flylander"

[–] MAGolding (1240) 7 years ago

SPOILER WARNING! STOP READING UNLESS YOU SAW THE EPISODE "THE SECRET(S) OF CASTLE MCDUCK". SPOILER WARNING!

I just saw "The Secret(s) of Castle McDuck" August 4, 2018, and Scrooge's parents are alive!

As one of the boys said: "Your father's alive? I can't believe you're still alive!"

The explanation seems to be that when Scrooge financed the rebuilding of Castle McDuck he bought some cheap used druid stones.

The druid stones may also be the reason why the mists only clear enough for someone to reach the castle once every five years. I wonder if Fergus and Downy are only alive during that short once every five years moment and are ghosts the rest of the time.

How long are Duck generations? Hortense McDuck, sister of Scrooge and wife of Quackmore Duck, was born in 1876 according to Carl Barks and/or Don Rosa. Her grandchildren, Huey, Dewey, and Louie Duck, were born in 1940 according to Don Rosa, making Duck generations similar to humans ones. But in "The Secret(s) of Castle McDuck" a paper with the boys' birth date is seen, including the year "20__", the last digits being covered by a thumb.

Among humans, males can become parents at much older ages than females. Men in their nineties and even one over a hundred have allegedly become fathers. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_oldest_fathers

But two long paternal generations in a row is much rarer than one generation. President John Tyler was born in 1790 and his youngest grandson was born in 1935, 145 years later. If the boys were born in 2007 their father's father being born in 1862 would fit the dates for Scrooge's family. But I never heard of any human being born 138 years after their mother's mother. So I guess that Hortense and Quackmore, or Della and her mate, or both pairs in separate incidents, must have been in suspended animation, or time traveled, or something, to avoid aging for decades.

Or, since Fergus and Downy are now immortal, was Hortense born a century after her brother? Or were Della and Donald born in Castle McDuck about 1980 when their mother Hortense was about one hundred?

[–] MAGolding (1240) 7 years ago

Aha! In "the Other Bin of Scrooge McDuck!" Lena asks Webby about the # 1 dime as Webby reads from a book that Scrooge was born in 1867.

https://twitter.com/LunarArchivist/status/1023967182974267393

So the only question about Scrooge's ultra long lifespan is when the Duck Tales episodes happen, and thus his age in those episodes. See the thread "Eclipsed" for a discussion of possibilities.

[–] MAGolding (1240) 6 years ago

08-25-2018

In my post in my thread "How Old are Huey, Dewey, and Louie in Duck Tales (2017)?" I show that "McMystery at McDuck Manor", where Scrooge's birthday is celebrated, is probably after "The Impossible Summit of Mount Neverrest!" which happens about Christmas, and also probably before the birthday of Huey, Dewey, and Louie which should be about April 15 to 22.

Therefore Scrooge's birth date in Duck Tales (2017) should be sometime between about January 1, 1867 and April 22, 1867.

Since my calculations indicate that the first season of Duck Tales (2017) should be sometime between 2009-2010 and 2108-2109, Scrooge should turn between 143 and 242 in "McMystery at McDuck Manor".

[–] MAGolding (1240) 4 years ago

On Swc. 3 2020 I saw "The Impossible Summitt of Mount Neverrest!" again.

Calculating from the birth date of the boys in april of 20__, in "the secret(s) of Castle McDuck!", Duck Tales should happen sometime in the period of 2009 to 2112.

In "The Impossible Summitt of Mount Neverrest!" George Mallardy is described as the greatest mountaineer of the 20th century. So Mallardy probably died during the period of 1900/1901 to 1999/2000. Mallardy died on the same trip that Scrooge describes as beng 75 yeas earlier, soon after Scrooge made his first million and hired Mallardy to help him celebrate with an ascension of Mount Neverrest.

So Scrooge should have made his first million and made the failed attempt to climb Mount Neverrest sometime in the period of 1900 to 2000, and thus the first season of Duck Tales should be in the period 1975 to 2075.

If Duck Tales happens soemtime in the period of 2009 to 2112, the failed ascension of Mount Neverrest should have been in the period of 1934 to 2037.

If Duck Tales has a more or les contemporary fictional time setting "The Impossible Summitt of Mount Neverrest!" should be during December of 2017, thus mking Scrooge's first million and the failed attempt to climb Mount Neverrest in December, 1942, 75 years after Scrooge was born.