THEABANDONEDPROJECT

Carl Barks was an exceptionally talented person with a mind that never stopped churning out ebullient new ideas. We have been blessed with hundreds of immortal comic book stories from the Disney duck universe, but Barks had many more story ideas that never left his private files. This website carries solid evidence of this fact through numerous pages showing some of his discarded ideas.
Later in life, when Barks took up painting in oils, his fame grew even more as new fans from other spheres of interest joined the established and devoted comic book fans. He received two approvals from the Walt Disney Company to paint duck paintings (the first one ran from 1971 to 1976, the second ran indefinitely starting in 1982). In the intermediate years Barks launched a very special series of small paintings humorously portraying hundreds of characters taken from both real life and myth. They were all shown in locations enhancing their historic background and rendered humanlike but with duck or goose beaks. Barks called this series Famous Figures of History as they might have looked if their Genes had gotten mixed with Waterfowl. In reality, the long-running series consisted of several sub-series, one of them being what Barks himself described as Kings and Queens of Myth and Legend.
For some unknown reason Barks abandoned this specific project. In fact it never really got off to a good start. Here you are presented to some of Barks' work on the series.

Barks did manage to publish a few oil paintings in his new series, but they appeared rather sporadically suggesting that he was not satisfied with the project as such. Most of the paintings merely show kings surrounded by their court, and they are not funny. The only possible exception is his Xerxes painting displaying a bored king, and this motif was even somewhat out of line, because Barks furnished the participants with waterfowl beaks! It seems significant that Barks' last published painting in the series (20 years from the start) was never finished suggesting that he had indeed abandoned the project.

Barks made several sketches for possible use in his series, but none of them were ever used. The following shows a collection. He also made lists of potential historic persons such as Catherine the Great, Henry the Eighth, Louis the 14th, and Tutankhamon, but they all shared the same fate.

King Croesus

Croesus was king of parts of Asia Minor (partly modern Turkey) and known for his great wealth.

King Haroun al Raschad (Barks misspelled Raschid)

Harun Al-Raschid (most common spelling) was an Iraqi Caliph mentioned in the book 1,001 Arabian Nights.

Genghis Goose (Initially, Barks wrote Genghis Duck)

Genghis Khan (Khan means Emperor or King) was ruler of all the nomadic Mongolian tribes.

Barbarian King with his Harem

Barks did not specify which king he had in mind, but it seems plausible he was from the Mongolian steppes.

Sargon the Magnificent

Sargon of Akkad AKA Sargon the Great was an Akkadian (Mesopotamian) king some 4,300 years ago.

Pharoah Ataduck (Barks misspelled Pharaoh)

Mustafa Kemal Atatürk was a Turkish President whose popularity was compared to that of an Egyptian Pharaoh.

King Minos

Minos was King of Crete and son of Zeus and Europa in Greek mythology. Builder of the famous Labyrinth.

Assyrian King

Barks did not specify which Assyrian (Mesopotamian) king he had in mind. The stiff image was time typical.

Alexander the Great

29-78 Ajax, Returning Hero

Alexander III, better known as The Great, was a Macedonian king, who spent most of his reign conquering many neighbouring and faraway nations and tribes. Initially, Barks titled him Alexander the Goose.
The main motif was later used in 29-78 Ajax, Returning Hero. Ajax was a Greek warrior king mentioned in Homer's Iliad about the Trojan wars.

King Arthur

Danish tourist poster

Arthur Pendragon was a British king who defeated an invading Saxon army. Still, he is probably best known for his many helpers - the Knights of the Round Table and the magician Merlin.
Barks' main motif depicts Arthur holding back 'traffic' for a brace of ducks, and based on its unique inventiveness, it is more than plausible that Barks borrowed the idea from a world-famous Danish tourist poster made by Viggo Vagnby in 1951 (later painted in 1959). The poster quickly became so popular that many newspapers in (especially) the USA took it up as part of a promotional campaign for Denmark as a fairy tale country with time and care for even little issues. You can see another very special rendering of the main theme HERE!

EXTRA

A general idea for a children's book had been rummaging in Barks' mind for some years during the 1970's, but he was unsure of its potential. After having researched the possibilities he finally closed the chapter in a letter to a friend in December 1979 by writing (excerpts):
... My idea for a children's book has sort of jelled on the art book slant. My Kings and Queens of Myth and Legend would seem to me to offer possibilities, though a series of twelve would provide a mighty thin book. Along with the reproductions of the paintings would be a tongue-in-cheek 'history' of the royal person, with perhaps some small pen and ink illustrations to clarify some of their doings ...
... I have been combing the overstocked shelves of the children's books section of bookstores for some months now, and I can't help feeling that the market for such works is already flooded. The plethora of titles boggles the mind of mothers who go searching for something entertaining for their kids. I think any book that could stand out in those piles of pretty eye-catchers would have to be equipped with sound tracks and spinning lights. Even then, mothers would dig around till they found some old nostalgic book like the ones they read as children. Dr. Suess. Arthur Rackham. Hans Christian Andersen ...

08-76 King Midas having Fun	01-77 Old King Cole	02-77 King Neptune
40-78 King Beowulf (see more HERE)	01-80 Xerxes and the Harem	08-96 Queen of Sheba (unfinished)