Scrooge Hasn’t Learned His Lesson When It Comes To Donald And Della, And This Is After Watching House

Scrooge hasn’t learned his lesson when it comes to Donald and Della, and this is after watching House of the Lucky Gander and reading DuckTales #2.

In House of the Lucky Gander Scrooge offers Donald as the prize to Toad Liu Hai, and for the viewers, we instantly knew Scrooge had a plan up his sleeve. Gladstone and the kids didn’t know, which explains Louie’s angry outburst.

We later discover this is isn’t the first time Scrooge has pulled this kind of crap on Donald, and yeah, it’s kind of upsetting because for Donald it isn’t as funny.

In Issue #2, Scrooge throws Donald into a freezer (read it and you’ll get it), so they can save the magical Viking sheep, and Donald ends up in a frozen block of ice at the end of the story. 

It’s intended to be funny. It’s comedy, and this kind of stuff happens to Donald Duck. It’s a part of his theme song, Who gets stuck with all the bad luck…

But you have to admit, throwing Donald into a freezer to save the day without hesitation was pretty mean-spirited.

It was more WTF Scrooge, and this makes HoTLG much worse. 

Donald’s expression appears to be a combination of shock and deep rooted resignation. This is what happens to Donald Duck when he’s with Scrooge McDuck.

His uncle is willing to capitalize on his bad luck without considering the negative effects it has on Donald.

In the issue, Scrooge blatantly prefers Della. He doesn’t try to hide it, and Donald complains and gripes but ultimately goes along with it. 

“Luckily, Della’s a wee bit more like me. Maybe a wee bit too much like me,” taken directly from the issue. 

That’s some blatant favoritism right there. It still exists to an extent in the show, but it isn’t as explicit because Della isn’t around to receive it.

On Della, it’s obvious she cares and loves her brother, but she appears dismissive/indifferent to this aspect in their relationship. Yeah, she worries about Donald when he shrinks, but she doesn’t seem to notice any problems with how Scrooge treats Donald.

She’s more oblivious than actively mean, and that could be a bigger problem in itself.

Donald undoubtedly loves his uncle. Donald puts a lot of stock in family, but I don’t think he likes Scrooge. Donald’s love for Scrooge could be the obligatory kind compared to what he may have with Gladstone.

Donald doesn’t like Scrooge. Scrooge’s actions make it impossible for Donald to love and like him, and Scrooge doesn’t realize what he’s doing is wrong.

HDLW pulled Scrooge out of his funk, and that’s a good thing. It’s good he’s returned to traveling, but when you get to it, it seems kind of selfish of him?

I’m not saying Scrooge doesn’t care. He does. But…the only reason he bonded with the children in the first place was due to an adventure and nothing outside of that. It makes you think on what kind of relationship, or lack thereof, he has with Donald due to his inability to click with him outside the boundaries of an adventure.

As a character, he hasn’t grown but returned to his default nature. HDLW have adventurer spirits, but you can only imagine if only one of them wasn’t an adventurer like at all. 

If they had a personality like Donald…Donald would’ve nipped that in the bud the moment it started. He wouldn’t have tolerated it, and Donald doesn’t treat any of his nephews like this. He loves them equally and shows it.

Scrooge’s character is going to have to move forward a.k.a acknowledging and correcting his faults/mistakes, especially when it comes to his treatment of Donald.

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There are explanations to this obvious favoritism. It may not simply go down to Donald’s bad luck and lack of adventure mindset. It isn’t about Donald’s bad luck being used to Scrooge’s benefit.

Someone (several) pointed out Della’s fighting was similar to Hortense. Scrooge immediately connected this to himself, but it could be a McDuck family trait. He’s connecting Della to Clan McDuck rather than the Duck Family.

In the comics, the McDucks were greedy, ill-tempered adventurers. It was in their nature to be that way.

Donald has Hortense’s temper, but his personality falls in line with Quackmore and his family. He’s a domestic duck where family is prioritized at the top of his personal list.

Quackmore and Scrooge’s relationship wasn’t the best, and it was more on Scrooge than Quackmore if you read Life and Times.

For Scrooge, it’s easier to connect with Della and dismiss Donald. He was fond of his baby sister, and this doesn’t justify his actions one bit.