Junior Woodchucks

The Junior Woodchucks of the World emblem. It is based on the acronym of the organization's name and an upside down version of an image of Thoth, the Egyptian God of Knowledge, that was used by the Guardians of the Library of Alexandria.[1]

The Junior Woodchucks of the World is a fictional scouting organization appearing in Disney comics and the DuckTales animated television franchise, most notably in adventures featuring Disney characters Huey, Dewey, and Louie as members.

The Junior Woodchucks were created by Carl Barks in 1951, in the story "Operation St. Bernard" (Walt Disney's Comics and Stories #125).[2] Later stories introduced a similar organization for girls, the Littlest Chickadees, to which Daisy Duck's nieces, April, May and June belong. The hallmark of the Junior Woodchucks is their spirited dedication to environmental protection, animal welfare and international peace, as well as the preservation of knowledge and the furtherance of science & technology. They are also known for their exalted titles & ranks (Huey, Dewey, and Louie being promoted to become Ten-Star Generals in the 1951 story of the same name) and the awarding of buckets of badges, along with strict ideals as to their certain decorum. In this way Barks poked gentle but pointed satire at some aspects of the Boy Scouts of America.[3]

Members always carry with them a copy of the Junior Woodchucks' Guidebook, a fictional guidebook filled with detailed and pertinent information about whatever country or situation the Woodchucks find themselves, ranging from the basic to the incredibly obscure. Its depth of coverage is remarkable, considering that it is a small paperback book. Narratively, the book is a device that allows the story's writer to insert any information or exposition that's needed to move the story forward.

Most of the early Junior Woodchucks stories appeared in Walt Disney's Comics and Stories, with some notable appearances in Uncle Scrooge. In 1966, they got their own title, Huey, Dewey, and Louie and the Junior Woodchucks, published by Gold Key Comics for 62 issues, and then continued by Whitman Comics for another 20 issues until 1983.[4] The stories which Carl Barks wrote for this comic book, among the last comic book stories he scripted, were drawn by Kay Wright, John Carey and Tony Strobl. More recently Daan Jippes has been commissioned by Egmont to redraw these stories emulating Barks' style and drawing inspiration from the sketches of Barks' storyboard-like scripts.

The non-Disney strip Big Nate also features a scouting organisation with the same name, to which eponymous Nate Wright and his friends Francis Pope and Teddy Ortiz belong, which was later changed to the Timber Scouts.

  1. ^ "The Guardians Of The Lost Library". coa.inducks.org. Retrieved 2016-02-18.
  2. ^ Becattini, Alberto (2019). "Disney Beyond Mickey". American Funny Animal Comics in the 20th Century: Volume One. Seattle, WA: Theme Park Press. ISBN 978-1683901860.
  3. ^ Andrae, Thomas (2006). Carl Barks and the Disney Comic Book: Unmasking the Myth of Modernity. University Press of Mississippi. pp. 69–72. ISBN 978-1578068586.
  4. ^ Becattini, Alberto (2016). Disney Comics: The Whole Story. Theme Park Press. p. 74. ISBN 978-1683900177.