Topolino #911

Zio Paperone e la scorribanda nei secoli

Literal: Uncle Scrooge and the scavenger gang through the centuries English release: Money is the Root of Upheaval

by Jerry Siegel, Romano Scarpa, and Sandro Del Conte

Release: 13 May 1973
Format: Comic Book
Genres: Science Fiction, Comedy
Audience: Families
Content: Definite Time Travel
Original Language: Italian

After waking an Egyptian pharaoh from a millennia-long sleep, Uncle Scrooge summons Donald and Gearloose, eventually realizing that they can restore the pharoah to his rightful throne via a trip to ancient Egypt in Gearloose’s not-quite-finished time machine. That doesn’t go quite as planned, and on the way home, they manage to turn the future into a money-mint-land or somnethin’?.

— based on Duck Comics Revue

Il veicolo aveva bisogno di una messa a punto! Comunque, siamo sulla “strada” giusta! Tenetevi forte!

Keep your seat belts buckled at all times! In the unlikely event of a water landing, your seat cushion doubles as a flotation device.

English

DEBUT

[ex=bare]“Zio Paperone e la scorribanda nei secoli” | Uncle Scrooge and the scavenger gang through the centuries[/ex], Topolino [Mickey Mouse] #911 (Mondadori, 13 May 1973).

VARIANTS

1 Italian variant

TRANSLATIONS

Translations to English, French, Modern Greek

TAGS(SPOILERS!)

Time Periods

Ancient History (3000 BC to AD 476: Bronze/Iron Ages): stated as 5,000 years before the present, although the setting is more recent modern Egypt
Circa AD 1800 to 1899: 1849
Circa AD 1970 to 1999: For the first printing, the trip started and ended in 1973.
Near Future, AD 2300 and Beyond: After the Gold Rush, they land in somewhat recognizable future—Nothing’s more sunny than scads of money!—undated in the Italian original and stated as AD 422,004 in the English edition
Far Future: a less recognizable, barren future—10,000 years after “the great wealth wars”!—stated as AD 447,000 in the Italian original and AD 844,008 in the English edition
End of the Earth: Luna crashes into Earth in the far future.

Time Travel Methods

Time Ships: comfortably seats four under a transparent bubble

Themes

Fix Your Own Future!: We wonder whether seeing the future he’s created will change Scrooge. If so, it doesn't seem like it will last very long, and the future he saw will still occur, but that question is never explicitly addressed.
Get Rich Quick through Time Travel: In 1849, Scrooge stakes a claim on a future gold mine.
Long Sleep, Cryogenics, Etc.: the pharaoh

Real-World Tags

Ancient Egypt
California Gold Rush
Old West
Slavery: Add these three to my labor force, as well!
Sphinx: Gearloose becomes the Sphinx!

Fictional Tags

Groupings

Disneyverse (conglomerate)
Cited in Time Machines by Paul J. Nahin (): mention of Gyro Gearhead, p. xvii

TIME TRAVEL ITINERARY (SPOILERS!)

From McDuck’s private museum, 1973 ⋙ to Ancient Egypt, circa 3000 BC. Note: McDuck, Donald, Gearloose (aka Archimede), and the Pharaoh travel back. The starting date varied in later releases.
From an unknown time ⋙ to the California Gold Rush, 1849. Note: The ducks left the Pharaoh behind.
From an unknown time ⋙ to a somewhat recognizable future created by Scrooge’s money madness at an unknown time. Note: A money-crazed future where Scrooge becomes the Supreme Magnate. This was AD 422,004 in the English edition, but Torcivia said that he thought it to be undated in the Italian original.
From an unknown time ⋙ to the far future with diamond buildings, but no people or ducks at an unknown time. Note: According to Torcivia, this was AD 447,000 in the original, but he pushed it to AD 844,008 in the English edition “to be DOUBLY SURE that no one gets scared of the world-ending.” We agree that Joe is a considerate soul!
From an unknown time ⋙ to McDuck’s private museum, 1973.

INDEXER NOTES (SPOILERS!)

Debut—The story script notes were written in English by <a href='Jerry_Siegel'>Jerry Siegel</a> specifically for the 1973 Italian market. An Italian script was written from those notes, though we don’t know who wrote that. When Disney decided to publish an English edition in 2018, a new script was commissioned from <a href='Joe_Torcivia'>Joe Torcivia</a> using Siegel’s notes. Torcivia kindly wrote about this process in the comment section of <a href='http%3A%2F%2Fduckcomicsrevue.blogspot.com%2F2018%2F08%2Fmoney-is-root-of-upheaval.html'>Duck Comics Revue</a>’s. We consider the Italian publication to be the orginal and the later English publication a worthy variant.