Ludwig Von Drake



Ludwig von Drake is one of Walt Disney's cartoon and comic book characters. He was first introduced on, as the presenter (and singer of "The Spectrum Song") in the cartoon An Adventure in Color, part of the first show of Walt Disney's Wonderful World of Color on NBC. Ludwig is a V.I.P. member of the Mickey Mouse Club. Said to be an uncle of Donald Duck, he was supposedly named after either Ludwig von Mises or Ludwig van Beethoven. The character displayed his "expert" knowledge on a variety of subjects in eighteen episodes of the classic anthology series, as well as on a number of Disneyland Records.

Paul Frees was the original voice of Ludwig von Drake. Frees retired from the role before his death in 1986, and Walker Edmiston took over. Corey Burton currently voices the character.

History
Ludwig von Drake comes from Vienna, Austria. Some creators have presumed that his family is a German branch of the Duck family but that hasn't been included in any major stories. (According to a theory by Don Rosa the professor married Matilda McDuck, one of Scrooge McDuck's sisters. .)

Ludwig has a fascination with knowledge. Since his youth he has been trying to obtain as many diplomas, in any science, as possible. He is often shown as having little social competence, however, and is often portrayed as being very forgetful, sometimes even somewhat senile. In the comics Ludwig usually visits with Donald Duck and Donald's nephews Huey, Dewey and Louie. On occasion, Daisy Duck would coax (or even trick) the professor into giving lectures and tours for her ladies' club. Sometimes Ludwig and Gyro Gearloose have competed as to who is the greater inventor.

Donald Duck
Among his many interests is psychology, and he has tried to make a psychological study of his nephew Donald Duck. Ludwig was best fleshed out in this anthology cartoon, where Donald's psychology was examined, as we got to see some of his worst temper tantrums. Ludwig however was well understood by the end of the cartoon. His Germanic ancestry betrayed itself in his language - for example "as we say in the psychiatry" is a very German Anglicanism. In comics translated into German he sometimes speaks with an Austrian accent, like "ein bisserl" instead of "ein bisschen". He also enjoys several off color jokes, for instance "What you have here is a depressed Duck! And there is nothing worse than depressed duck...unless you like depressed duck...but the taste is sometimes...." clearly making a pun off of the dish of pressed duck.

Later Appearances
Von Drake has appeared on several Disney animated cartoon series: DuckTales, Raw Toonage, Bonkers, Mickey Mouse Works, Quack Pack, House of Mouse, Mickey Mouse Clubhouse and in numerous television specials. In all of these, Von Drake wears a pink shirt, black tie, red vest, and a lab coat. In the 1963 version of Mickey and the Beanstalk (originally as the segment featured on Fun and Fancy Free), it is revealed that Ludwig Von Drake has a Bootle Beetle companion named Herman.

In Disney's House of Mouse, Von Drake appears as a recurring character. In "Ask Von Drake", Mickey tries to prove that Ludwig Von Drake doesn't know everything. At the end, Mickey convinces him that during the headcount of all the Disney characters, he forgot himself. Also, in "House of Genius", Ludwig creates robot duplicates of Mickey, Minnie, Donald, Daisy, Goofy, and Pluto. At the end, when Ludwig brings in a robot duplicate of himself, Mickey tells the robot to send the real Ludwig packing.

Ludwig Von Drake has also made numerous appearances in Mickey and Friends video games, most notable Mickey to the Rescue and Mickey's Speedway U.S.A.. Despite him being amongst the most famous and popular Disney characters he never made and appearance in the Kingdom Hearts Series.

Disney Sing Along Songs

 * Robin Hood (December 6, 1984) 228VS (October 14, 1986) 228V (July 12, 1991) 1189
 * Pinocchio (July 16, 1985) 239 V (October 14, 1986) 239 V (March 26, 1993) 239
 * Dumbo (December 3, 1985) [this version used the 1983 WDHV logo] 24 V (October 14, 1986) 24 V (July 12, 1991) 024
 * The Sword in the Stone (March 24, 1986) 229 V (October 14, 1986) 229 V (September 28, 1989) 229 (July 12, 1991) 229
 * Alice in Wonderland (May 28, 1986) 36 V (October 14, 1986) 36 V (July 12, 1991) 036
 * Sleeping Beauty (October 14, 1986) 476
 * Lady and the Tramp (October 6, 1987) 650
 * Cinderella (October 4, 1988)
 * Bambi (September 28, 1989) 024
 * The Little Mermaid (May 18, 1990) 913
 * Peter Pan (September 21, 1990)
 * The Jungle Book (May 3, 1991) 024
 * The Rescuers Down Under (September 20, 1991)
 * Fantasia (November 1, 1991)
 * 101 Dalmatians (April 10, 1992)
 * The Great Mouse Detective (July 17, 1992)
 * The Rescuers (September 18, 1992)
 * Beauty and the Beast (October 30, 1992)
 * Aladdin (October 1, 1993)
 * The Fox and the Hound (March 4, 1994)


 * Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs (October 28, 1994)


 * Mary Poppins (October 28, 1994)
 * Dumbo (October 28, 1994)
 * Alice in Wonderland (October 28, 1994)
 * Robin Hood (October 28, 1994)
 * The Sword in the Stone (October 28, 1994)
 * Pete's Dragon (October 28, 1994)
 * Bedknobs and Broomsticks (October 28, 1994)
 * The Three Caballeros (October 28, 1994)
 * So Dear to My Heart (October 28, 1994)
 * The Lion King (March 3, 1995)
 * Cinderella (October 4, 1995)
 * Pocahontas (February 28, 1996)
 * The Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh (March 27, 1996)
 * The Aristocats (April 24, 1996)
 * Oliver & Company (September 25, 1996)
 * Bambi (February 4, 1997)
 * The Hunchback of Notre Dame (March 4, 1997)
 * Fun and Fancy Free (July 15, 1997)
 * Pooh's Grand Adventure: (August 5, 1997)
 * Mary Poppins (August 26, 1997)
 * Sleeping Beauty (September 16, 1997)
 * Old Yeller [October 7, 1997]
 * The Jungle Book (October 14, 1997)
 * Hercules (February 3, 1998)
 * Peter Pan (March 3, 1998)
 * The Little Mermaid (March 31, 1998)
 * Melody Time (June 2, 1998)
 * The Black Cauldron (August 4, 1998)
 * Lady and the Tramp (September 15, 1998)
 * The Rescuers (November 20, 1998)
 * Mulan (February 2, 1999)
 * 101 Dalmatians (March 9, 1999)
 * The Adventures of Ichabod and Mr. Toad (May 25, 1999)
 * Dumbo (July 13, 1999)
 * Alice in Wonderland (July 13, 1999)
 * Robin Hood (July 13, 1999)
 * The Sword in the Stone (July 13, 1999)
 * Pinocchio (October 26, 1999)
 * The Great Mouse Detective (August 31, 1999)

Comics
The Disney studio encouraged the writers of Duck comics to introduce this new character in print, and already in September 1961, Von Drake started appearing in Al Taliaferro and Bob Karp's featured daily strips. However, aside from a solitary cameo appearance in a one page story in Uncle Scrooge #54 (December 1964), the character was not used by leading Disney duck artist Carl Barks.

In 1961, Dell Comics launched a comic book series starring von Drake and illustrated by Tony Strobl, but it only lasted for four issues before being discontinued. The character made subsequent appearances in other comic titles such as Walt Disney's Comics and Stories and in the Donald Duck newspaper strip.