Donald Duck: The Purloined Toys
Storycode: D99052 · Pages: 12
Script: William Van Horn · Art: William Van Horn
U.S. publications: WDC 640
Shortly after Christmas toys are mysteriously stolen from many children. Huey, Dewey and Louie are among the victims, too. The Ducks find tiny tracks in the snow and keep watch in the next night. And bingo, they observe small remote-controlled robots who have invaded a house and now are carrying toys into a van. They track the van down to Rufus Leaky, the madcap inventor of the miniature robots. With satisfaction he destroys the accumulated stolen goods. With the help of the police the toy thief can be arrested. As it turns out Leaky hates toys because he had not been allowed to have any as a child. His small robots, however, are perfect toys.
Bill’s eighth winter story contains a mosquito, too.
William Van Horn: “Every year I try to have at least one story playing in winter. Sometimes the snow just serves as a background and sometimes it is important for the plot of the story. In this case I needed the snow to make the tiny footprints visible. ‘The Purloined Toys’ is one of two winter whodunits I made for Egmont. Well, whodunit inasmuch as you do not know at least for some pages who did it or how the toy thefts were committed.”