Ludwig von Drake is an anthropomorphic duck.
Description
Ludwig von Drake is Donald Duck's Austrian uncle, and he is the scholar of the family. Credited with at least 98 dilplomas, Von Drake claims to be an expert on everything. However, though his vast knowlegde is undeniable, he is also unbelievably wacky; whenever he tries to explain anything (which he often does, unfortunately, being fond of lecturing), he digresses about varyingly crazy subjects until even himself has forgotten what the lecture was supposed to be about to begin with. Ludwig is also vain, naive and very absent-minded.
Biography
Ludwig was born of the short marriage between his temperamental mother and Humperdink Duck. Soon after Ludwig's birth, Mrs Von Drake moved back to her home town, Vienna, Austria, where Ludwig was raised. After various brilliant studies that earned him the aforementioned 98 diplomas, young Professor Von Drake moved to the United States, where he claims to have been responsible, in the following years, for the inventions of several types of popular music, starting with Charleston (he claims the first Charleston, Charleston Charlie, was a rip-off of his earlier Louisville Ludwig). He also lost much of his fortune during the Great Depression, though he allegedly did pull through thanks to a new composition of his.[2] In 1961, he was invited by Walt Disney to give a lecture about color on television[3], and for that purpose moved to Duckburg; initially housed by his nephew Donald, Ludwig eventually settled in Duckburg for good, buying a luxurious villa to accommodate him and his personal library. At some point after 1961[4], he also married Scrooge McDuck's sister Matilda McDuck.
Behind the scenes
Ludwig debuted in 1961.
Voice Actors
- Paul Frees (Classical voice from 1961 to 1986)
- Walker Edmiston (Ludwig's Think Tank)
- Albert Ash (Down and Out with Donald Duck)
- Corey Byrton ((Classical voice since 1987))
Notes and References
- ↑ The cartoon and the comic were released on the very same day.
- ↑ Ludwig von Drake gives all this information in A Symposium on Popular Songs.
- ↑ The lecture is shown in the animated made-for-TV film An Adventure in Color, Ludwig's first appearance.
- ↑ He still described himself as a bachelor in 1961's Kids is Kids.