Two weeks ago was Super Hero week on FromScreenToTheme.com in honor of the release of The Avengers. The film was a huge hit at the box office, earning more than $200 million on its opening weekend. Of course, this wasn’t the first time this story was told. That happened nearly 50 years ago in the form of comic books.

But even before Disney’s purchase of Marvel in 2009 for $4 billion, Disney was no stranger to the world of comics. In fact, Disney collaborated with the now defunct Dell Comics as early as 1930. Disney did everything from adapt their latest shorts/animated films in comic form to creating original stories starring dozens of characters. Mickey Mouse of course had his share of adventures in comics. Even relatively obscure characters such as Jose Carioca and the Uncle Remus characters had their own weekly comic strips. But of all the Disney characters, the one with the biggest success in comics was easily Donald Duck.

Mickey might be Disney’s mascot, but Donald has always been the more popular character. And it was in comics that he really got to shine. In these stories, Donald really expanded as a character and grew to be more than just the duck with the temper tantrum. Donald got to do seemingly everything, from common everyday activities such as selling stuff door to door to going on intrepid adventures across the globe.

These stories were created by Disney Legend Carl Barks (1901-2000). He was a Disney animator who worked on many of the early Donald Duck shorts, but due to constant problems with allergies at the Disney Studios due to their air conditioning, he had to find another job within the company creating comics, the first being Donald Duck Finds Pirate Gold in 1942. He would go to create them on a weekly basis until the early 1970s, and would then crate them sparingly. His last one, Somewhere in Nowhere, was published in 2000. His work over the decades earned him the nickname, “The Good Duck Artist.”

Barks was called “The Good Duck Artist” because these stories didn’t just focus around Donald Duck; he also focused on Huey, Dewey, and Louie, whom Barks had expanded their roles since first being introduced in the 1938 short, “Donald’s Nephews.” Instead of just being mischievous obstacles for Donald most of the time, they sort of became his sidekicks, being more clever and helpful than in the shorts.

In fact, Carl Barks actually created an entire universe of ducks, as can be demonstrated in this picture of the Duck Family Tree:

The most famous of all these ducks created specifically for these comics is easily Scrooge McDuck (aka Uncle $crooge), Donald’s Uncle. In fact, Scrooge would go on to become so famous he would receive his own comic book series.

These stories were huge back in their day, appealing to many fans ranging from chemists Joseph B. Lambert, Dr. Peter P. Gaspar, and G.S. Hammond, to filmmakers George Lucas and Steven Spielberg, who would admit to having stolen the entire opening of Raiders of the Lost Ark, particularly the infamous scene of Indiana Joes being chased y a giant boulder, from Carl Barks’ work. Among these collectors were my Dad and Uncle, whom I inherited these comics from.

These stories are not only fantastic entertainment, but really fascinating from a historical perspective. There are a ton of ads that are distinctively 1950s, as well as bonus comics that center around Mickey Mouse and other characters.

Many of these stories would go on to serve as the inspiration from the hit animated series, DuckTales. While these comics are still being created today by multiple writers and drawers (Don Rosa being the most famous artist to continue these stories after Barks), they sadly have decreased in popularity in the United States, the country they originated from. They still have a huge following overseas though, particularly in European countries such as Denmark.

As a couple who knew that a traditional wedding was not the way to go between all the people, music, and dancing, we decided to opt for something smaller or perhaps a destination wedding. I grew up as a fan of Disney World, Disney movies, and the Disney Channel. Especially after learning that I shared a birthday with Mickey Mouse. So I decided to take a look at the Disney's Fairy Tale Weddings website. Little did I know my now husband was on the same website that day thinking about having our wedding in Walt Disney World.

This occurred about two years after our previous trip to Disney World and from that day on, we knew Disney was the way to go and we were extremely excited! We quickly came up with a list of questions and called Disney's Fairytale Weddings to begin the planning process. The only problem was the fact that Disney has a timeline for everything. We called too far in advance for the majority of our questions to be answered. There were still a couple of decisions that we could begin thinking about at this point in time though. Which package do we want and where do we want the wedding to be within Disney World?

Disney's Fairytale Weddings offers three packages: the Escape Collection, Wishes Collection, and Couture Collection. Knowing that we did not want a big party, and coming from New Jersey, we would not have all of our friends and family joining us we opted for the Escape Collection, which is designed for 18 or fewer guests and does not include the big reception a typical wedding would have.

Our next decision was where we wanted the ceremony. In addition to having the option of Disneyland, Disney Cruise Line, or Hawaii, you can have your ceremony at multiple locations throughout Walt Disney World. We had heard the spiel on the monorail about the Wedding Pavilion several times and picked that as our location. It turns out we made the right decision. The Wedding Pavilion was absolutely gorgeous and the center window at the altar perfectly frames Cinderella Castle. Upon stepping inside, you would have no idea there is a construction nearby as everything was covered up and the cranes where shut off while we were there.

After months of waiting, it was time to pick our date and decide on other details. Disney's Fairy Tale Weddings sent us a form and PDF guide to choose everything we wanted from flowers to cake flavors, to songs that would be played throughout the ceremony. This was the extent of our wedding planning and it was a lot easier than we expected because after we returned the form, Disney took care of EVERYTHING!

Finally our big day arrived. A limo picked us up at the hotel and took us to the Wedding Pavilion where we were greeted by the wedding coordinator Disney provided. The floral arrangements looked great and my bouquet even had crystal Mickey's hidden inside. Our ceremony started out traditional, but as we had planned, it finished with a Disney twist as we lit a unity candle covered in Mickey's while Can You Feel the Love Tonight from The Lion King played followed by exiting to A Whole New World from Aladdin.

Immediately after the ceremony, Disney provided a photographer who took tons of pictures inside and outside of the Wedding Pavilion. Once we were finished with pictures, the limo took us back to The Grand Floridian where we were greeted by all of our guests for the cake and champagne celebration. We were all given a glass of Disney's signature Fairy Tale Cuvee for a toast. The cake looked and tasted amazing. We chose vanilla cake with raspberry mousse which was decorated with silver Mickey heads and topped with a Mickey groom and Minnie bride cake topper.

Before we could leave, our wedding coordinator presented us with two watches that you can only get from Disney's Fairytale Weddings set to the exact time we were pronounced husband and wife. The watches were not the only present given to us. We also received annual passes to Disney World (plus free cupcakes at half of the restaurants we ate at, handmade leis made with real flowers upon checking in at the Polynesian, and being able to skip the line at the Tomorrowland Speedway). It was the little extras that Disney provided that truly made our wedding magical and beyond our wildest expectations. Everyone was so nice and everything was so beautiful. If we had to do it all over again, I would not change a single thing.

For those of you wondering what happened after the ceremony and cake and champagne celebration, we went to dinner with our families at the Coral Reef, which was amazing, and that was followed by five more days of exploring throughout Walt Disney World!