The smart book
The Clever Book (in the original: Junior Woodchucks Guidebook , originally: Junior Woodchucks' Book of Knowledge ) is a fictional manual that appears in the comic and cartoon stories about Donald Duck, especially with his nephew Tick, Trick and Track . It is the scout handbook of the Fähnleins Fieselschweif from Duckburg, in which information can be found on practically all questions in life. The book represents a typical plot devicebecause it is mostly used in a dramatic or hopeless situation and the existing problem can be solved by the information it contains (cf. Deus ex machina ). It contains amazingly specific information for a general and small manual in an appropriate situation.
The book was first introduced in Carl Barks ' comic book story The Lost Ten ( The Secret of Atlantis ), which he gave on July 30, 1953 to the American publisher and which was printed for the first time in March 1954. The book is first mentioned by name in the story The Fateful Crown Cork ( Tralla La , published in June 1954).
Fictional origin story
In Don Rosa's comics , the origin of the Smart Book is traced back to the Alexandria Library , the abridged summary of which is the little book. Later a version of this copy was discovered by the founder of Duckburg, Emil Erpel (in the original: Cornelius Coot ). One of his descendants, Emelrich Erpel (in the original: Clinton Coot) founded the Fieselschweif flag in memory of the guardians of the ancient library and every member of the scout troop received a copy of the Smart Book, which was updated again and again in the following years.
In a comic by Mau Heymans , the nephews go in search of the author of the book. You don't find him, however; at the end of the story it becomes clear that it is a question of a Duckburg who is continuing the book.
Other authors do not go into the genesis of the book.
Characteristics
The truly encyclopedic wealth of information in the thin, smart book is reminiscent of the Encyclopædia Britannica and appears "smarter than Google and Wikipedia combined". An indication of why there is so much information in such a small book is given in a story by Don Rosa (Disney Storycode: AR143, July 1989: Der Fluch des Nostrildamus , German first publication: Micky Maus 10/1990); it claims that the answer is given in footnote 137 in the Smart Book . In addition to the pure encyclopedic content, the Smart Book contains extensive map data, information on almost all common and extinct languages and a guide to survival in the wild. The book contains only such information that a bastard shouldn't know anyway; Basic scouting or geographic knowledge is required. In addition, information can be found relatively quickly without lengthy scrolling.
Real copycat products
On various occasions, real publishers and authors have tried to offer clever books that should imitate the fictional template. Those who made direct reference to the fictional book included various publications by Unipart Verlag around 1990, the content of which was based on the Smart Book ( survival tips, texts with condensed general knowledge, comic illustrations), as well as a universal manual from Christian Ankowitsch .
The magazine Micky Maus itself published a series of collections under the title “The Smart Book”, for example in issues 27/1994 to 24/1996; in issues 24/1997 to 5/1998; as well as in issues 12/2000 to 28/2000.
literature
- The clever book - The secrets of the Fieselschweif flag. Comic Collection Egmont, Cologne 2016, ISBN 978-3-7704-3869-3 .
Web links
- The Smart Book in Duckipedia
Individual evidence
- ↑ Wendi Arant, Candace R. Benefiel: The Image and Role of the Librarian , Haworth Information Press, 2003, p. 71. ISBN 0789020998
- ↑ Survival with the Fieselschweif flag , welt.de, February 21, 2007
- ↑ The secret book for indoors and outdoors . ISBN 978-3-8122-3173-2
- ↑ Dr. Ankowitschs Kleines Universal-Handbuch (review on media-mania.de)
- ↑ Mickey Mouse Magazine. Number 27, year 1994 of June 30, 1994. Ehapa-Verlag.