Miss Penny Wise

character identification, ducks, mice, etc.

Postby Mr.McD » Sat Oct 28, 2006 4:19 pm

Hi

I read on this forum that Don Rosa excluded a character named Miss Penny Wise in his tale about Scrooge McDuck.

I tried to google her, but didn't find much, however I found this on Wikipedia: "However, Rosa left out important factors like Miss Penny Wise, the old lady which, according to Scrooge, is the only one who could ruïn him, because he is in debt with her."

Then to my question. Can anyone tell me more about Miss Penny Wise and perhas tell me in which story she appearse.
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Postby Robb_K » Sat Oct 28, 2006 5:50 pm

She appeared in WDC #164, (1954) in which Donald was selling/demonstrating McDuck's new baking flour. She had possession of an old letter that could "ruin" Scrooge. The story didn't elaborate on that, and Barks never mentioned it in any other story.
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Postby Egg » Sat Oct 28, 2006 6:26 pm

Miss Penny Wise appears in a Donald Duck ten-pager (WDC 164) where Donald is a peddler demonstrating McDuck flour for uncle Scrooge.

The name Penny Wise appears earlier in Barks work, on Scrooge's boat on the cover for the Uncle Scrooge money lake story. And on paintings of this cover. (OS 386)

Image

The term or phrase "Penny Wise" comes from "Penny wise and pound foolish". See the topic 'Expressions in Barks stories'.

Mr.McD wrote:I tried to google her, but didn't find much, however I found this on Wikipedia: "However, Rosa left out important factors like Miss Penny Wise, the old lady which, according to Scrooge, is the only one who could ruïn him, because he is in debt with her."

Miss Penny Wise owns an old note that could ruin Scrooge. I don't see information what the note exactly contains, whether or not it's necessarily a debt.
Could the note contain some secret about Scrooge, for example?

Here's the dialogue of Scrooge's meeting with Miss Penny Wise, taken from the story:

- - - - - - - - - -

10.1
Scrooge: Old Miss Penny Wise owns an old note of mine that could RUIN me!

10.2
Scrooge: She's the ONE person in the world that I FEAR! ... UH, OH!

10.4
Scrooge: Oh (Sob! Sob! Sniff!) This is the END! Miss Penny will foreclose on my ENTIRE fortune!

10.5
Miss Penny Wise: Why would I do THAT, Scrooge? I already have the MONEY I need!

10.6
Miss Penny Wise: And now I've got the only OTHER thing I ever wanted -

10.7
Miss Penny Wise: A genuine, old-fashioned GINGERBREAD house!

10.8
box: Later!
nephew1: Why does unca Donald look so SICK?
nephew2: He said he and unca Scrooge ate out a parlor and two bedrooms for some old maid! I don't get it!

- - - - - - - - - -

*EDIT* boardlinking updated to McDrake
Last edited by Egg on Sat Feb 10, 2007 1:53 am, edited 1 time in total.
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Postby Egg » Sat Oct 28, 2006 6:34 pm

In 1960s Duck stories by Dick Kinney appears a woman named Belle Duck (a.k.a. Bella Quack). Belle sometimes threatens to reveal an embarassing secret from the past if Scrooge won't pay for repairs to her old riverboat, "The Gilded Lily".
See: http://www.sullivanet.com/duckburg/loves/belle.htm

I'm curious if Miss Penny Wise can be seen as an early version of such women who in some way threaten Scrooge's fortune, like Glittering Goldie, and later Magica de Spell.
One-timers Glittering Goldie and Miss Penny Wise have in common that they have a history with Scrooge. Magica de Spell is new for Scrooge.

Glittering Goldie has been re-used in stories by other artists, some suggesting a love life with Scrooge. In 'Back to the Klondike' (OS 456) however, Goldie can only be seen seducing Scrooge for financial purposes. Either to become rich or to keep away from the poorhouse. I think that could be compared with the seduction tricks used by Magica de Spell, as shown in stories like 'Oddball Odyssey' (US 40) and 'Ten-cent Valentine' (WDC 258).

In Barks's work, The Duchess of Duckshire in 'The Thrifty Spendthrift' (US 47) is AFAIK the only woman hugging and kissing Scrooge.
The Duchess of Duckshire lives in an old mansion and Scrooge knows her name. (4.8)
She kisses stranger Scrooge for being generous for her dog Bruto. (18.2) She flatters blushing Scrooge, saying she must reward him. (19.4) And so she asks her secretary to draw up some papers giving Mr. McDuck ten of her best oil wells. (19.5)
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Postby Mr.McD » Sat Oct 28, 2006 8:32 pm

Thanks for all the replies.

I'll try to get a hang on that story.
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Postby Egg » Mon Feb 26, 2007 6:22 pm

Here are some old comments by Don Rosa, about Miss Penny Wise. Rosa has written 'The Life and Times of $crooge McDuck', which should have been a collection of biographical Barks-facts on Scrooge. This collection, however, shows that Rosa rather uses his own taste than sources by Barks. These comments come from the time that Rosa's 'The Life and Times' was being created, and debuting in the comics.
In short, Rosa openly gives whatever excuse he can to reject the story of Miss Penny Wise from Scrooge's history, saying Barks was having a bad day if he wrote that story. ("I say to hell with it, or however that saying goes.")


Don Rosa on DCML, 13 August 1993, about Miss Penny Wise:
Who is Miss Pennywise? That's Miss Quackfaster? In part 11 I simply show her soon after she's hired by $crooge's Bin-bound sisters and he blows his top as it being an extravagance to hire ANY office staff. (She looks the same as "now" except she has jet-black hair as the story takes place in 1909.) Later in the story (over 20 years later!) I show the office staff again with the Clerkly character in the background. Anyway, I didn't see a reason to tie Miss Quackfaster up into some big plot development, nor would I have had the room if I'd wanted to. As it is, I span 1909 to 1930 in 24 pages.

Don Rosa on DCML, 16 August 1993, about Miss Penny Wise:
I checked out that WDC&S #164 and saw the use of "Miss Penny Wise" who holds a note (i.e. a signed debt) from $crooge that would ruin him if she called it in... he would owe her his "entire fortune".
This is just too off-the-wall to give any credence to! There's times when I've read a Barks story that just seems too stupid to have been written by Barks -- for a decade or two, while I KNEW that Barks wrote everything he drew, I still thought "The Invisible Intruder" story (about the big bed nonsense) was damned odd -- finally I was relieved to learn that Barks did NOT write that story, nor did he write many others that he drew, most notably all the dumb DAISY DUCK'S DIARY and GRANDMA DUCK'S FARM FRIENDS stuff. This "Miss Penny Wise" story has that same feel to it -- the whole plot of Donald being a bad salesman for McDuck Flour, making a mess of things while merely selling to several residences, and $crooge having some reason to get upset over such a miniscule situation is rather lame -- but when the writer (Barks or not) finally must have a wrap-up, suddenly Donald's last customer holds a note that could ruin $crooge, therefore Donald's messing up her kitchen is suddenly makes a difference, even to the reader. If Barks did write that, I say he was having a bad day, and I still say it tastes like spinach and I say to hell with it, or however that saying goes.
In other words, I refuse to believe that $crooge McDuck owes every cent he ever earned to some unknown little old lady! This will be one of the Barks "facts" that I will ignore, gladly, as I gladly ignore the wrongheaded idea of the "Magic Hourglass". If any Barks fans wish NOT to ignore Miss Penny Wise, they can feel free to imagine she gained ownership of all that $crooge McDuck has sometime AFTER the events in my "Life and Times" series.

Don Rosa on DCML, 12 July 1994, about Miss Penny Wise:
No, I may be fascinated by Wilmer's ideas on Miss Penny Wise, but I've looked at that story carefully, and I regard the comment about her having something that can "ruin" $crooge as no more than a quick, throw-away remark that was needed at one point of one story to make the ending make sense. I just don't give it any thought. I ignore it as I ignore the Magic Hourglass.

Don Rosa on DCML, 12 July 1994, about Miss Penny Wise and Glittering Goldie:
One other important comment I forgot to make about Miss Penny Wise: if I did want to try to figure out her purpose, it would NEVER be as a one-time lover of $crooge (regardless of the aspect of her being a different species). To me, it is an ESSENTIAL part of $crooge's character and personality and motivations that Glittering Goldie was his only love, that that love may or may not have ever been consumated (there in White Agony Valley), and that that love will never be renewed. This is one of the best parts of the $crooge "legend".
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