Pato Donald and Copete: Disney Ducks in Nogales, Mexico

In December of 1987, our visit to family in Phoenix, Arizona included a memorable day trip to Nogales, Mexico.  I was thrilled to find a store selling Mexican Disney comic books.  As a Disney fan, my mind exploded when I discovered that Pato Donald (Donald Duck) and Copete (Fethry) were two different characters.

The source of the confusion was this book, Disney's Wonderful World Of Knowledge.

This was a popular series in the United States.  The books originated in Italy

In the book, we are greeted by our "friend Donald Duck."

Our friend Donald doesn't look like himself in this book.

Donald's wardrobe changes in The Wonderful World of Knowledge seemed very peculiar to me.

Really, really strange costume changes for Donald.  Batman?!?

As I would find out, this wasn't Donald Duck at all.  This was an international Disney comic book character named Copete (AKA Fethry) dressed as his superhero character, the Red Bat.  Disney's Wonderful World of Knowledge was an Italian book series, and this particular book starred a character that was not well known in the United States.  So the publishers just called him Donald.

I was really fascinated with the Mexican Disney comics in Nogales.

The comics I found were small, Digest-sized books.

Copete, I discovered, was a major player in Pato Donald comics.

Though Copete has been very popular outside the United States, apparently the character has been very polarizing in the Disney Comics world.  Count me as a fan of Copete.

Tio Rico (Uncle Scrooge) keeps Pato Donald and Copete's feathers ruffled.

Copete eventually starred in his own comic books.  He even has a nephew (I believe he is playing the newsboy in this particular comic).

Eventually, stories featuring Copete appeared in the United States.  But he is still not well known in America like he is in other countries.

The Pato Donald comic book turned out to be a fantastic souvenir of my trip to Mexico.  I especially love the ads.

This bird mascot is still being used today, though he has been redesigned.

Muy Bueno!  It's the Mexican Quik bunny!

Wow, a tombstone in a Nestle Quik ad.  Things got dark and real.

On the drive from Phoenix to Nogales in 1987, we stopped at a Burger King.  They were selling those Rodney Reindeer Hallmark plush toys.  I wanted one, but did not get one.

A few weeks ago, I was visiting my Mom in Venice, Florida.  We went to Goodwill and I found a Burger King Rodney with the tag.  He was only 57 cents.  This time, I got him.

Mission From Mars: A Close Alien Encounter Of The Candy Coated Chocolate Kind

Aliens and candy go together like E.T. and Reese's Pieces.  So the Mars, Inc. Candy company introduced "Mission From Mars" in 1991.

The Mission From Mars crew visits Earth because their natural candy resources have been depleted by a Marsquake.

It is well known that aliens love candy, soft drinks and brand name products.  This is documented in "E.T." (1982) and in the 1988 movie "Mac and Me" (a film about an alien race that enjoys drinking Coca-Cola, dancing at McDonald's and shopping at Sears).

When the Mission From Mars crew is not busy working, they enjoy watching "The Mattel and Mars Bar Quick Energy Chocobot Hour" on TV (their alien friends Kang and Kodos from "The Simpsons" told them all about that show).

Mission From Mars stars Captain Romtu (the helmeted alien), Gleep (an orange blob with long arms and legs), Scoota (a reptilian creature) and Bing (a springy cyborg).

Artist John Blair Moore (well known for his work on the "Darkwing Duck" comic book and "Invaders From Home") wrote and illustrated the Mission From Mars comic.

The Mission From Mars comic is a "mini comic book" found inside the 1991 Disney Comics Darkwing Duck Issue #2, which was also drawn by John Blair Moore.

The aliens landed on Earth on Halloween, the perfect time to easily promote delicious and healthy candy (hey, there's peanuts in a lot of these items, and that is sort of healthy).

M&M/Mars sponsored the "Star Wars" Star Tours attractions at Walt Disney World and Disneyland for years.

Be on the lookout for cameo appearances by Mars Candy Brands.

You'll find Milky Way, M&Ms and Snickers.  Gleep holds a bowl containing two brands of candy that I can't identify.

Bing snacks on a Twix bar (which side will he choose?) and Kudos.  Romtu enjoys a Mars Bounty bar, which I've never heard of before.

Gleep has a bunch of candy, including Starburst and 3 Musketeers.  He also has a Mars Almond Bar and PB Max, both of which have been discontinued.

Mission From Mars appeared at about the same time that Disney announced "The Disney Decade" expansion plans for Walt Disney World in Florida.  This was to include a New Tomorrowland described as "an intergalactic spaceport for arriving aliens."

I thought these characters would have fit in well at Tomorrowland's "Mission to Mars."  The "Alien Encounter" attraction ended up replacing that in 1994 (which was later replaced by "Stitch's Great Escape" in 2004).

In September 1991, Disney Adventures Magazine had a special Mission From Mars Contest.  The Grand Prize was a Mission From Mars Halloween Party, complete with alien costumes and candy (so you could re-enact the Mission From Mars comic, I suppose).  The First Prize was a cassette tape of the Mickey Mouse Club's band, "The Party."  Second Prize was a box of candy.

The Mission From Mars characters appeared as CGI characters for this ad (and probably the commercials, though I can't remember them), which were very new and very rare in 1991.  My, how times have changed.  These days it is the hand drawn characters that are rare!

Keep your eyes open for the return of the alien characters in "Mission From Mars 2:  Attack of the Russell Stoverlords."

Disney's TaleSpin: A Banned Holiday in Thembria

Walt Disney's Holiday Parade was a special comic book released by Disney Comics featuring stories spanning the decades. The content included a Carl Barks Donald Duck story, plus classic comics starring Li'l Bad Wolf, Pluto, Uncle Scrooge, Super Goof, Chip 'n' Dale, and Mickey Mouse. This great cover was drawn by Rick Hoover and colored by Gail Bailey.



New for this comic book was a TaleSpin story called "Shine a Little Light." There's no date anywhere on this comic book, but since TaleSpin was new for 1990, I'm guessing that's the year this comic was released.


In the TaleSpin story (written by Cherie Wilkerson, drawn by Cosme Quartieri), Baloo the Bear must make a delivery to Thembria, a cold and oppressive nation inhabited by an army of boars. Unfortunately, the diminutive Colonel Spigot decides to ban all private holiday celebrations.

Luckily, with the help of Spigot's gentle-giant assistant, Sgt. Dunder, Baloo is able to help the citizens of Thembria.

In the animated series, Colonel Spigot was voiced by Michael Gough (he played Gopher in the Winnie the Pooh series) and Sgt. Dunder was voiced by Lorenzo Music (Garfield the cat and Tummi Gummi on the Gummi Bears).

The TaleSpin coloring book offers a glimpse of a different spin on the Thembrians.



I'm guessing the Coloring Book was created when the show still had some development going on. It appears that Colonel Spigot was originally going to be a small lion.



Meanwhile, Sgt. Dunder was a big bobcat!



I think these designs are appealing, but I'm glad the characters were changed to boars.


I'm very curious about the original versions of these characters and how they changed during the development of TaleSpin.