My Obsession with Scrooge McDuck

As a kid I watched a ton of cartoons. By a lot I mean a lot! I may have watched more T.V than legally possible. The more I watched the more the characters started to stick with me. I loved Optimus Prime and his leadership, the courage of He-Man, how cool Heathcliff was even though he lived in a dump, and the wittiness of Bugs Bunny. None of these characters struck a chord with me as much as Scrooge McDuck.

Uncle Scrooge a Scottish born duck who is known for his love of money. His American grand -nephews Hewy, Dewey, and Louie never seemed to fully understand Scrooge and his obsession with money. He was rich beyond his means. They even had a robot in the home that would help around the house. Scrooge was portrayed a businessman who was very successful and was always looking at a way not to spend his riches. He worked his way up from the bottom and was all about hard work and earning every penny.

Scrooge resided in the town of Duckburg. Duckburg is a small town and not very rich. Scrooge had so many companies there that he kept the town running and continued to make more money and more money. He made so much money that he kept it in his “Money Bin” which sat on a big hill for everyone in Duckburg to see. It was like a slap in the face to all the residence. No wonder the Beagle Boys, a family of ex-cons, wanted his fortune. Every time they left their low-income home they had to look up and see the money bin knowing that Scrooge was probably in there swimming around in his fortune.

How did Uncle Scrooge obtain his fortune? According to “Voodoo Hoodoo” published in 1949, Scrooge used an army of “cutthroats” to get the tribe to abandon their lands in order to establish a diamond-mining colony. Foola Zoola an African sorcerer and chief of Voodoo cursed Scrooge. That may be why Uncle Scrooge was always obsessed with money. He seemed possessed when he would hear about a diamond or sunken treasure and dollar signs would pop up in his eyes. It was like he couldn’t control. Scrooge was always being led somewhere to find some lost gold. It wasn’t as if they had to pull his leg. He was always easily persuaded. The thought of more riches would lure him in. Now it’s all starting to make sense.

I wondered for years why that character always resonated with me. It’s because Scrooge McDuck is most Americans today. Just think about it. He was all about himself. He would risk his nephews lives, Mrs. Beakley, Launchpad, Gyro, Doofus, it didn’t matter. If he thought there was money involved he would travel any and everywhere and take any risk.

All he cared about was his money. You remember seeing more scenes with him swimming in his money than you do with his grand-nephews. Everyone in Duckburg knew that his biggest fear was being broke and back in the poor house. He was so concerned with things that didn’t really matter in life. After ruthlessly taking over an African country he became wealthy and his life mission was trying to maintain that wealth.

Why was he never married? All this time and he could never settle down with anyone? He was too obsessed with his career. What woman would want to come second to a man’s money? She’d never win. I think all these women knew that and it was hard for him to give it up.

His most prize possession? His number one dime. The first dime he ever earned. There was something mystical about it. He earned it signing shoes in Scotland. It was an American dime and not worth any money. Scrooge kept it as a reminder to never be fooled again. I never realized Scrooge has such a hardened heart.

There is a little bit of Scrooge in all of us. People always stress college for education. How often do we stress that we need to be educated. We are taught to go to college so we can go out and get a job and make money. It’s about earning potential and not about what you are passionate about. I’ll be the first to admit that once you start making money, it’s hard to give up that lifestyle. Most of us struggle with that, much like Uncle Scrooge and his quest to always make money. How else could he keep his private plane, or robot maid or lavish top hats and nice suits. How else can you pay for your new car, condo, wedding and still take trips to Vegas.

If Scrooge was around today he’d be on MTV Cribs with a Lamborghini and some “stunna shades” showing off his mansion and all his new gadgets with his bad nephews running around. He’d be a CEO of a major company donating to presidential campaigns that are helping pass laws to keep his businesses flourishing with little concern about the poor people in his town and the wages they make, as long as McDuck Industries kept making money.

He’d be that unmarried man/woman who was so career driven that they never settled down. Always about making that extra money. Like a friend told me the other day. Scrooge was always concerned about the end result and not invested in the process. You have to be invested in your relationships. Scrooge was invested in his money. It made him a wealthy man, but a lonely man.

As yourself, how much Scrooge McDuck do I have in me. I asked myself and I have more than I would like to admit. Still I strive to have a little less Scrooge and a little more of me.

Roll Out!!!!

Did I really wait a lifetime for this or, am I just imagining things. . It was finally here, a live action Transformers. I knew it would look good since Michael Bay and Steven Spielberg are involved. I sat through weeks of my friend leaving me mean messages like “Hey did you hear what happened? They are pulling Transformers out of the theaters because something is wrong with the movie. Sorry.” If any of that would have been true I’m not sure I wouldn’t be blogging from jail right now. My only question was about the plot and the actors in the film. If those two elements could be good I was guaranteed to be watching the movie of the summer.

I don’t know how to say this without sounding like a complete nerd, but the storyline is simple. Autobots and Decepticons lived peacefully on the same planet until the Decepticon leader Megatron wanted to take over and went after a cube called the Allspark. The Allspark was lost in space and ended up on Earth. The Autobots need to get the Allspark before Megatron gets his hands on it and destroys all human life on earth. Caught in the middle are Sam Witwicky (Shia Le Bouf) and Mikaela (Megan Fox). Sam has something that both the Autobots and the Decpeticons need to find the Allspark.

The plot is believable, and not too cheesy. The characters are good, and not too corny. Some good performances by Tyrese, Jon Voight, Anthony Anderson, and Josh Duhamel. We all know the real stars of the movie are. The Transformers!!! Prototype cars and CGI Robots. Is it possible for Optimus Prime to show up at the Oscars? Maybe he can roll on stage and take out Rosie O’Donnell. How much would you pay to see that? I’m up to $750 and I don’t feel ripped off yet.

The Autobots are include Bumblebee, Jazz, Ratchett and Ironhide and last but not least Optimus Prime. I always thought Jazz was the “black” Autobot. In my head it makes perfect sense. When I watched the cartoon he would always rhyme and he had sunglasses for eyes. He falls right in line with Franklin( from Peanuts), Hong Kong Phooey, and Destro from GI Joe. It didn’t help that I found out Eddie Winslow from Family Matters provides the voice.

The Decpeticons are lead by Megatron, Barricade, Destroyer, Bonecrusher, and Starscream. Megartron is especially evil in the movie, which was great. It was a lot like the 80’s cartoon in that aspect. They even threw in some lines from the animated movie.

The fight sequences were so big and elaborate, but I never felt lost like I couldn’t tell what was going on. I was 10 years old again. I was cheering and applauding Optimus Prime and I really wanted to see them get the best of the Decepticons. I loved the fact that they didn’t show all of the cool scenes on the trailer. There were still plenty of scenes where I could hear the whole crowd “ooooooh” and “ahhhhhh”. You couldn’t tell me it wasn’t real…………..well at least for those 2 ½ hours. After the movie to see all the smiles on my friends faces, I knew I wasn’t the only one who felt like they had a trip back to my childhood.

I haven’t enjoyed a movie with this much hype in a long time. It was well worth the wait. I lived up to my expectations and that’s saying something because my standards can be high at times. (yes I admitted it)

My Suggestion: Do you want to be the last person on earth who hasn’t seen this movie? I didn’t think so.

My Grade – 3.7: You didn’t get a 4.0 because you didn’t want your parents sticking you in a gifted school away from all of your friends.