Della Duck facts for kids
Quick facts for kids Della Duck |
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Della Duck in the Donald Duck Family Tree by Don Rosa.
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| First appearance |
In print:
In animation:
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| Created by | Al Taliaferro and Ted Osborne |
| Voiced by | Paget Brewster (2018–2021) |
| Information | |
| Aliases | Dumbella Duck |
| Species | American Pekin Duck |
| Gender | Female |
| Family | Duck family |
| Children | |
| Relatives | Quackmore Duck (father) Hortense McDuck (mother) Donald Duck (older twin brother) Scrooge McDuck (maternal uncle) Ludwig Von Drake (uncle) Gladstone Gander (first cousin) Gus Goose (second cousin) Duck family (paternal relatives) Clan McDuck (maternal relatives) |
Della Duck (sometimes called Dumbella Duck) is a cartoon character. She was created in 1937 by Al Taliaferro and Ted Osborne. She's a key part of the Disney Duck family. Della is Scrooge McDuck's niece and Donald Duck's younger twin sister. She is also the mom of Huey, Dewey, and Louie Duck. Della is a white duck character who acts like a human. She has a yellow-orange bill, legs, and feet.
She's a main character in the 2017 DuckTales show. She often wears an aviator hat, a bomber jacket with a blue scarf, and brown pants. As an adult, she has a robot leg. Della is known for her loud and brave spirit. She's a female adventurer. In the new DuckTales, she has a prosthetic leg. She is a great role model for girls and people with disabilities.
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Della Duck's Story: From Comics to TV
Della Duck was first mentioned in 1937. This was in the Donald Duck comic strips. She was called "Cousin Della" back then. Her first mention on screen was in 1938. This was in the cartoon "Donald's Nephews." There, she was called "Sister Dumbella."
Before the 2017 DuckTales show, Della never appeared much. She was not in many animated films or TV shows. She also had only a few appearances in Disney comics. Because of this, not much was known about her until 2017.
How Della Duck Began
Della was first mentioned in a comic strip on October 17, 1937. She wrote a letter to Donald. In the letter, she said she was sending her sons to stay with him. This first time, Della was called Donald's cousin. But later stories called her his sister.
One year later, Della was mentioned again in a cartoon. This was in 1938's Donald's Nephews. This cartoon was the first time Della's sons appeared. They are Huey, Dewey, and Louie Duck. The cartoon starts with Donald getting a postcard. It was from his sister, signed "Sister Dumbella." She told him the boys were coming to visit.
Della appeared as a child in the 1990s comic series The Life and Times of Scrooge McDuck. In these comics, she and Donald wore matching sailor suits. She was also shown in the Duck family tree by Don Rosa.
Her first appearance as an adult in comics was in 2014. This was in a Dutch comic called 80 is Prachtig!. It was made to celebrate Donald's 80th birthday. In this comic, Donald finally tells his nephews about their mom. Della is shown in flashbacks. She is a successful test pilot. She was the first woman to fly across the Atlantic Ocean. The comic also shows her stranded in space. This happened after a rocket test flight accidentally sent her very fast through space.
Della's Youth in Dutch Comics
In 2017, Della appeared every month in Dutch Donald Duck comics. She was in 22 stories that year. These stories mainly showed her childhood with Donald. Two stories in March showed them closer to being teenagers. Della also appeared again in 2019. This was in the Donnie Duck comics, which are about Donald's childhood.
Della Duck in DuckTales (2017–2021)
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Della plays a big role in the 2017 DuckTales TV series. At first, she is not seen on screen. She is the mother of Huey, Dewey, and Louie. In the first season, we learn she is a great pilot. She is also a brave adventure partner. She went on adventures with her uncle Scrooge McDuck and twin brother Donald.
Della is first shown in the series at the end of the first episode. The triplets find a painting. Dewey sees Della in one corner of the painting. She is fighting pirates with Scrooge and Donald. This discovery makes the boys want to find out about their mom. This search becomes the main mystery of the first season.
Della first appeared as an adult in the United States in November 2017. This was in DuckTales comic books. These comics were connected to the new TV show. Della was shown for the first time in animation in 2017. This was in a DuckTales episode called "Last Crash of the Sunchaser!". This episode told Huey, Dewey, and Louie what happened to Della. Della found a rocket ship that Scrooge was building for her. She took it for an unauthorized flight. Then, she got caught in a cosmic storm. Scrooge tried very hard to find her, but he failed. Della was thought to be lost in space.
On August 18, 2018, Della spoke for the first time in DuckTales. This was in the season 1 finale. It was revealed that she survived the storm. She was still living in the remains of her rocket ship. Della Duck appears often in season 2 of the show. One episode, "Last Christmas!", shows younger versions of Della and Donald. In this episode, Donald calls his sister "Dumbella." This was an insult, but also a nod to Della's old name from the 1930s.
In February 2019, Disney promoted a special episode about Della. It promised to show what happened to her after she was lost in space. The episode, "What Ever Happened to Della Duck?!", aired on March 9, 2019. Critics praised the episode. Entertainment Weekly called it one of the best TV episodes of 2019. They said DuckTales had been hiding its best character.
After this, Della returned to Earth. She fixed her rocket, the Spear of Selene. But she had trouble connecting with her sons. She had no real experience being a mom. She wanted to be the "cool mom." The rest of the season showed her learning to be a parent. She encouraged Huey to try new things. She also grounded Louie for a risky scheme.
In the season two finale, moon aliens try to invade Earth. They use technology from Della's rocket. Della tries to hide her children. But Donald convinces her to fight with them. They stop the invasion. The alien ship gets stuck between Earth and the Moon.
In "What Ever Happened to Della Duck?!", it's shown that Della had to remove one of her legs. This was due to injuries from the rocket crash. She built a robotic prosthetic leg to replace it. The DuckTales creators talked with the Amputee Coalition. They wanted to show Della as an amputee correctly. Show producer Francisco Angones said Della's injury does not define her. He wanted to show that "she's a person who has a prosthetic and she's dealing with her limb loss but she's dealing with a lot of other things."
Della uses one of Donald's famous phrases, "Aw, phooey!" Like Donald, she can be hotheaded. She uses the phrase when she gives up on something. Or when she realizes things have gone very wrong. Della also has her own catchphrase: "Nothing can stop Della Duck!" This shows her unstoppable attitude.
Della Duck's Traits
Della's Voice Actor
Della first spoke in the season 1 finale of 2017's DuckTales. Paget Brewster voiced Della in that episode. She then joined the cast for seasons 2 and 3. Brewster told Entertainment Weekly she really wanted the role. She was excited to help create Della's story.
Brewster was worried she might have to do a Donald-like voice. She told Entertainment Tonight that she "could not pull it off." Critics have praised Brewster's voice work. Den of Geek said her "fantastic work" gave Della an "adventurous and loving spirit." The A.V. Club said Brewster was "selling Della with every passionate line-reading." Paget Brewster was nominated for a Daytime Emmy Award in 2020. This was for her performance as Della Duck.
Della's Personality
Della Duck is an extraordinary example of a strong female character, because she also is flawed. This isn't a perfect line drawing of someone; it's an interesting, deep character, and I think it gives kids the opportunity to see that you don't always have to be right, or perfect, or a superhero. You can have strengths and you can have weaknesses, and they're both of equal value if you are honest with who you are and do the best you can, and I think that Della Duck sort of embodies that.
Not much was known about Della's personality before the 2017 DuckTales series. In the Dutch comic 80 is Prachtig!, Della is shown as a brave and adventurous pilot. She wanted to be a pilot at the same time Donald wanted to be a sailor. Della was the first female pilot to fly across the Atlantic. She also flew as a test pilot. She even landed a plane that caught fire. She also piloted an experimental rocket ship.
Della also cared about her family while adventuring. Because of how fast she traveled, time passed differently for her. While Huey, Dewey, and Louie grew up, Della thought she had been gone for less than an hour. She wanted to finish her test flight and get home. She didn't know years would pass on Earth.
In 2017's DuckTales, Della is still an adventurous pilot. She is also a mom who loves her family. But the show also shows she shares traits with her relatives. Like Donald, Della can be temperamental. For example, she got angry after seeing a drawing by Gyro Gearloose. She tore up a rocket manual and stomped on it.
Della also shares traits with her sons. She is fearless and mischievous like them. These shared traits help them bond when she returns home. Like Huey, Della was a Junior Woodchuck. She even brought her guidebook to the moon. She could quote Junior Woodchuck rules by heart. Della also has Dewey's adventurous spirit. She has Louie's quick thinking and tendency to cause trouble.
Della is also shown to have an unstoppable attitude. This is clear in "What Ever Happened to Della Duck?!". The episode starts with Della crashing her rocket on the moon. Her leg is trapped. She sees a photo of her family. She realizes she can't move the wreckage alone. So, she removes her own leg. Then she declares she will return home. DuckTales producer Francisco Angones said Della "made the choice to amputate her leg [on the moon] and it proved, nothing would stop her."
Della is tough and determined. But after returning home, she struggles to adjust. She has lots of adventure experience. But she has little experience being a mom. She needed time to learn how to be a parent. DuckTales co-producers said they wanted to show how hard, but also rewarding, being a mom is. It was revealed in one episode that Della is afraid of fish.
Images for kids
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Della Duck in the Donald Duck Family Tree by Don Rosa.
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Della Duck as she appears in the DuckTales reboot.
