Donaldism refers to the fan culture that is found among fans of Disney comics and animated motion pictures and shorts. The word comes from "Donald Duck" and it was invented by the Norwegian Jon Gisle who first mentioned it in his book "Donaldismen" from 1973.

In some (especially European) countries, donaldism is mainly centered around comics and comic strips, while in other countries, e.g. the U.S.A., these are largely neglected while motion pictures and shorts are relatively much more popular. Originally the term, as defined by Gisle, referred to a "research branch and the material concerned by this research. In the latter meaning, the word denotes every Disney signed comic story. In the former meaning, donaldism is a branch of the comics research, specialising in the study of exactly Disney's production." (from Gisle's "Donaldismen", translated from the Danish edition of the book). While this original meaning of the word was defined in 1973, today donaldism tends to also cover general fandom within Disney comics and even motion pictures and shorts.

Although the term refers to the Duck universe (Donald Duck, Scrooge McDuck, etc.) and this universe seems to be the most popular one, there seems to be a wide acceptance to include other Disney universes, such as Mice (Mickey Mouse, Goofy, etc.), Forest (Brer Rabbit, Brer Bear, Li'l Bad Wolf, etc.), Scamp and Hiawatha, as well. These universes are also covered by Gisle's original definition.

Donaldist

A donaldist is a supporter of donaldism: A fan or even researcher of Disney comics.

According to the 1977 manifest of Norwegian donaldist society "Donaldistene", "donaldists are Donald Duck fans who study Donald Duck & Co [Norwegian Disney comic book, editor] from social and political structures/viewpoints. Moreover, they try in the best possible way to preserve donaldistic cultural material for own and others' collections." (translated from Norwegian)

Donaldistic Research

Since donaldism has its roots in Europe and much of the research is done there, past and present research mostly focus on Disney comics and comic strips. Some donaldist researchers strive for a scientific approach while others investigate and present matters in a less structured way. Research spans over topics such as religion in Duckburg, cars and bridges in the Duck universe, the length of Donald's beak compared to the hight of his head, identification of uncredited artists and writers, and indexing of stories and comic books.

One of the first, important discoveries was in 1960 when U.S. American fan John Spicer wrote the first fan letter to Carl Barks to which the good Duck artist replied. Until then, Walt Disney was thought to have drawn and written all comics himself, although fans suspected otherwise. It was later discovered that Disney himself had only been involved in the production of a handful comics.

The first research in the name of donaldism was done in 1973 by Jon Gisle and was presented in his book "Donaldismen". The book has a scientific, although humoristic approach to the material. In his book, Gisle defines and describes a time table of nine periods. They may be outdated today, but it seems that no one has extended and adjusted this time table to reflect today's situation. The nine periods are:

• Prehistoric donaldism 1949-52, 1957-58
• Early classic donaldism 1951-58
• Late classic donaldism (romance) 1957-63, 1972-
• Commercialism 1963-
• Fethrism 1965-67
• Trivialism 1965-
• Realism 1965-66, 1969-
• Synthetic fethrism 1971-
• Art nouveau 1973-

The Inducks project has provided important research during its more than ten years life span in the form of indexes of Disney comics. Its goal is to index every single Disney comic book in the world, and currently it is close to this goal regarding many European countries and the U.S.A. Since its beginning in or around 1994, it has identified artists for vast amounts of stories and is still actively doing so.

Donaldistic research is still being performed, although generally at a lower frequency than in the 1970s and 80s. Research results today are typically presented in fanzines or in Internet websites.

Donaldistic Fanzines

Donaldistic fanzines exist in various countries mainly in Europe and North America. Often they are published by donaldistic societies and clubs but also some are published by individuals. Most of them contain donaldistic research, interviews, and other articles of interest to donaldists. Here is a non-exhaustive list of donaldistic fanzines ordered by country.

Denmark

In Denmark, one of the main sources for donaldistic research and other donaldistic articles is Carl Barks & Co. The first issue was published in 1974, and the fanzine continued until 2000 at a varied frequency; sometimes several issues per year, sometimes years passed without an issue. The fanzine presented much donaldistic research, including a large index of Danish Disney comic books (which is now maintained by the Inducks project and the original authors). Despite its name, the fanzine contained material on various fields within Disney comics, but still with an overweight on material about Carl Barks, the passing of whom unleashed the discontinuation of the fanzine.

In 2001 a Danish donaldistic society (Dansk Donaldist-Forening in Danish) was formed by a group of Danish donaldists and the following year the first issue of their fanzine DDF(R)appet was published. DDF(R)appet has a publication frequency of approximately two issues per year, and among its articles are a few research presentations.

Finland

• Ankkalinnan Pamaus (1999- )
• Sarjainfo (1972- )

Germany

D.O.N.A.L.D. (Deutsche Organisation nichtkommerzieller Anhänger des lauteren Donaldismus) is the donaldistic society of Germany, and through its fanzine Der Donaldist (formerly Der Hamburger Donaldist) it has presented many contributions to donaldistic research in a massive number of issues since the first one in 1976.

Norway

In the homeland of donaldism, Norway, the donaldistic society Gammeldonaldismens Venner (Friends of the Early Donaldism), founded 1968, has published a fanzine, Donaldisten (The Donaldist) since 1973. Focusing on Jon Gisle's definition of donaldism, the issues contain many research results.

In 1995 publication of Donaldisten was continued by a new society, Donaldistene (The Donaldists), but after only one issue, a nine year time span passed until another issue was published in 2004. The new society focuses less on research, mirroring a general change among donaldists.

• Duckmite (1979, one issue)
• Duckburg (1981- )

Sweden

Sweden has a long tradition of publishing donaldistic research and other articles in their fanzine NAFS(K)URIREN since 1977. The fanzine is published once or twice a year by the Swedish donaldistic society, NAFS(K).

U.S.A.

• The Barks Collector (1976- )
• The Comics Journal (1976- )
• The Duckburg Times
• The Barks Catalog
• Barksburg (1982- )
• The Duck Hunter (1995- )

External Links

• DDF(R) (in Danish)
• D.O.N.A.L.D. (in German)
• Donaldistene (in Norwegian)
• Donaldistic research (in Danish)
• Inducks
• NAFS(k) (in Swedish)