Disney: Why are there more ducks in Duckburg than mice in Mickey Mouse?

Who knows how many times you have wondered: why the inhabitants of Topolinia they are not all mice while the inhabitants of Duckburgers are almost all ducks? The complex universe Disney, in fact, it revolves around these two symbol cities. However, punctually, it happens that someone returns to wonder why while Donald Duck he lives only among his fellow men, like Uncle Scrooge, Here, Quo, Qua or Paperoga, Mickey Mouse – a symbolic figure of the Disney world – is one of the few specimens to represent the category of mice in a city that bears a name very similar to his.

In addition to him and Minnie, in fact, the Topolinia mice are a third compared to most of the other inhabitants of the city which, for the most part, is inhabited by anthropomorphized dogs, with the exception of Pluto, the only real dog. To better understand the sociological history of the cities of Topolinia and Duckburg, it is good to take a step back and look at their history. Despite being two places of the imagination of the authors of “Mickey Mouse” (the comic series, ed) the two cities have a very detailed history, with a past, but also a present, which fit perfectly with the real world. An example that confirms this statement? Their geographical position. From some maps published over the years, we know that both cities look at each other on the shores of Humboldt Bay, in the fictitious state of Calisota. It is an imaginary point in the United States, a little north of San Francisco, on thePacific Ocean. Their distance is a few miles, yet in the uses, customs and traditions of their inhabitants they are very distant. The only thing they have in common is their great sense of belonging to the history of the American Pilgrim Fathers, from whom they inherited practically everything.

The origins of Topolinia …

The city of rats was born almost suddenly in 1950, putting in order the notes scattered here and there. Originally, there was Mouse City named after Floyd Gottfredson in history Mickey Mouse Outwits the Phantom Blot, dated 1933, but it was not the only existing city. In fact, among the stories of Mickey Mouse there was often also talk of a more generic Hometown in which mice and ducks had coexisted since 1928. Topolinia originated from the – metaphorical – ruins of these two cities, thus renamed Guido Martina. As mentioned, therefore, mice and ducks already lived together and then divided into different cities: however, there were already dogs around because it was precisely Mickey Mouse Outwits the Phantom Blot to introduce the character of Black spot which, later, it turns out to be an anthropomorphized dog just like Pippo.

The newborn Topolinia, therefore, takes on her shoulders the not easy role of becoming the protagonist of the events of one of the most loved fictional characters of every generation. Its inhabitants are holders of a deep sense of justiceson of the spirit of the Spanish buccaneers who landed in the bay in 1690 and followed by the advent of the English pioneers led by the legendary Jeremiah Ratt, true founder ofthe Topolinia. Its conformation is very similar to the Californian one, even if it has some features of Connecticut but also of di Philadelphia, with its alleys where you do not always walk quietly when the sun goes down. when it comes to beating the slums – they are perhaps the most recognizable trait. In short, there are the houses with Minnie’s flowers, but also disreputable places, patrolled by the Commissioner Basettoni and his men. The city is not very large, but it still has a large number of inhabitants also thanks to its futurist neighborhoods between stratified buildings and streets filled with taxis: however, its true identity is largely due to the Italian designers who, gradually, have added arcades, squares, museums: a constantly evolving toponymy that is not yet finished.

… and those of Duckburg

Duckburgon the other hand, it is a metropolis: capital of the state of Calisotawith over one million three hundred thousand inhabitants, and is double that of Topolinia. Its urban planning and its geography are scrupulously respected, thanks to a methodical and exhausting research that started in 1947 after the creation of Scrooge McDuck by Carl Barks. Around the figure of him, the city thrived in reflection of its riches. The districts of Duckburg are outlined and arranged in a spacious and orderly manner, bringing the city to take on the appearance of a San Francisco with webbed beak and feet. The deposit with its pool of gold coins is a point of reference, around which the ups and downs of the city branch out. His characters can be transformed: Donald can become Paperinikbut the city is always there with its pivotal points to make a compass, despite the dark adaptation that falls in the action nights of the superhero duck and that turns it into a new Gotham City.