thetitbits1901-1941

During his life Barks worked as farmhand, writer, machinist, chicken farmer, cartoonist, in-betweener, comic book artist, grape picker, producer, traincar repairman, gagman, sawmill worker, plum picker, painter, carpenter, printshop assistant, oil worker, cattlestation worker, artist, logger, editor, factory worker, rivet heater, cowhand, farmer, muleskinner, and storyteller.

During his years as an in-betweener at Disney's, Barks received 20 dollars per week.

Barks' first encounter with the work of the Disney Studios was the cartoon Three Little Pigs from 1933 which he saw in the local cinema. He was later set to work as an in-betweener on a sequel called Three Little Wolves from 1936.

While Barks was living with his family in Roseville, California, he attempted to write short stories. But he quickly gave up the work at the typewriter, because he felt that his English was not good enough.

After one year as an inbetweener at 20 dollars a week Barks was transferred to the story department which paid 65 dollars weekly.

When the idea of introducing the three nephews to the cartoons arose, Barks worked at the story department and he was against the idea. It would just be two more characters to draw, he felt.

Several famous people were born on March 27th:

King Henry 2. of England 1133
Italian composer Arturo Toscanini 1867
Hungarian composer Béla Bartók 1881
American actress Gloria Swanson 1899
American storyteller Carl Barks 1901
British film instructor David Lean 1908
American singer Sarah Vaughan 1924
American actor David Janssen 1931
American singer Aretha Franklin 1942
British singer Elton John 1947
American singer Mariah Carey 1970

Barks sold his first drawing to the 'Calgary Eye-Opener' for 2 dollars.

All of his life Barks had to fight a multitude of allergies. One was his lactose intolerance, which made it impossible for him to digest dairy products properly. He loved milk with his breakfast cereals, but he had to use milk substitutes.

Every time Walt Disney came to be shown the full storyboard for an upcoming Donald Duck cartoon (in which Barks was often the presenter) he would spen ten minutes studying all the sketches before the official presentation. During the presentation an exchange of ideas would fly back and forth between Disney and the crew involved.

Supposedly, Barks' extraordinary talents were spotted early in his first months at Disney's, because he received a weekly pay of 20 dollars which was 2 dollars more than the other beginners.

As soon as Barks had been hired to work for Disney's in 1935 he was sent to the company's art school. Only 4 made it. Barks was one of them...

The Barks family grew all the produce they could for their own consumption on the farm, but once in a while they had to go to neighbouring Merrill to buy additional necessities. They rode in a surrey with the parents in the front seat and the two kids in the back.

Barks did not participate in the great strike at Disney's in 1941. At the time he was in the story department and it was just the animation departments that were on strike. Furthermore, he was against the strike which he felt was destroying some of the spirit in the studios.

Carl, as a child, had had the hard measles (Rubeola) that left him almost deaf. He had several devices in his home to help with listening to music and to allow him to hear television programs.

Barks' Zodiac sign was Aries. People born under the sign are resolute, enterprising, independent, competitive, confident, outspoken, practical, born leaders, and energetic. But they can also be ruthless, impatient, impulsive, self-centred, childish, and short-tempered.

Barks' first wife, Pearl Turner, was the daughter of Will Turner, who managed the sawmill in Merrill with his brother.

Mother Arminta knew that her two boys were not fond of the farm's carrots so she began to use them for 'pumpkin pies' instead. Carl later admitted that he could not understand from where she got all those pumpkins!

As a boy, young Carl would draw on every scrap of paper he could lay his hands on. He even used the margins of newspapers. When he was working with the farm's horses, he would draw in the dust on their harnesses during breaks!

When the Barks family went to Klamath Falls in order to buy supplies, the trip would take two days in a horse-driven surrey. Today, you can drive there in 20 minutes.

Two of the Donald Duck cartoons in which Barks was involved were nominated for an Academy Award (Oscar): Good Scouts from 1938 and Truant Officer from 1941. The winners turned out to be Ferdinand the Bull and Lend a Paw - both also from the Disney Studios.

Barks' early business cards simply read 'Artist'.

I remember there in Oregon on the home ranch, there was a dust problem from the wind blowing off the ploughing fields, and my mother got fed up with taking the curtains down and washing them. They had to wash everything by hand in those days. She got the idea of making little stencils like doilies and painting patterns on the windows so they looked like lace curtains. It saved all that washing, because you could look in from the outside and think, well, that house has got curtains up.