When Carl Barks drew his comic book stories he was expected to use certain elements from the Disney universe. One of the most important elements was the whole concept of funny animals. When Barks started, he adopted several already existing characters such as Donald Duck and the nephews, and as he went on, he invented new ones such as Uncle Scrooge and Magica de Spell. It is easy for everyone to understand that the characters mentioned are members of the duck family, but Barks moved around the animal world. Beside the thousands of background characters he drew such as 'real' birds, pigs, and dogs, he also drew many recurring characters - from his own universe and from Disney's.

This page concentrates on those recurring characters and shows what kind of real animals Barks used as the basis for his comic book characters.

POULTRY

DUCKS It will come as no surprise to learn that most of the characters Barks used were based on ducks. Just the family name of Duck is a dead giveaway! But even when the surname is Quackfaster or Glomgold we have no doubt that they are ducks, too.	GEESE Gus Goose is obviously a goose, and he looks very much like one with his tall beak and plump figure. Gladstone Gander is more elegant looking and perhaps resembles a duck more than a goose. In countries where his surname is not connected to the goose family, he is very often mistaken for a duck.
CHICKENS To many readers Gyro Gearloose is very difficult to classify and he is frequently taken to be many kinds of different birds. But it is quite simple, really; Gyro is a chicken. Why? Because Barks has said so himself! And Gyro does perhaps resemble a broiler with his tall, rather slim appearance, the chicken beak, and the hair which has the colour of a comb.	HENS For some unknown reason hens are rather scarce in Barks' comics. Normally, we visualize hens as mindless chatterboxes perfectly suited for comical situations, but Barks abstained from the obvious. He only used Clara Cluck once.

DOGS

ST. BERNARD Barks took Bolivar - or Bornworthy as he was later called - from the existing Disney universe, and he used him sparingly. There is only so much fun that you can extract from a large, sleepy-eyed and slow dog, and Barks knew it.

BLOODHOUND Barks' own invention in the field of non-talking dogs was General Snozzie, an extremely gifted bloodhound belonging to the Junior Woodchucks' branch in Duckburg. He equipped Snozzie with almost supernatural abilities which earned him several appearances in the stories.

BEAGLES The most famous dogs in Barks' universe are, of course, the Beagle Boys; a group of identical looking characters who does not really look that much like beagle hounds. In fact, they could just as easily be taken for bears - which their name in Denmark also suggests!

DAWG Goofy is a dog, although a breed of his very own*. This fact has been officially announced by the Disney Company, and in the early years his name was Dippy Dawg (Crazy Dog). Barks only used Goofy in one story. He never liked the character, because he was normally reduced to being the laughing stock for all the other characters. *The photo depicts a Saluki that seems to bear some resemblance to Goofy. Nothing else!

BARNYARD ANIMALS

Clarabelle Cow

Mickey Mouse

Black Pete

WILD ANIMALS

Big Bad Wolf

Dumbo

Brer Fox