Disney: When Scrooge and his gang land in Russia after the collapse of the USSR

“That’s the biggest boss in town, Scrooge, Scrooge / That’s the most powerful dog, Scrooge, Scrooge / He’s worth billions, gold in dollars, Scrooge oooh / Fifi, Huey and Lulu oooh / We’ll join the Scrooge gang, oooh!” It cannot be said that the iconic credits of the animated series La Bande à Picsou by Jean-Claude Corbel and Claude Lombard shook the childhood of millions of people.

A must-see for Disney programs on France 3 and TF1 in the late 1980s. Scrooge Band It will be just as remarkable in its time for its breathtaking adventures and colorful gallery of characters. Leading the way, of course, is the trillion-rich duck. He is so rich that smart guys even enjoyed calculating the amount of his property.

In 1984, Michael Eisner, who had just taken over the Disney empire, firmly established a foothold in the world of animated series for television. Two animated series were launched. One, baptized The Adventures of Gummi Bears, was actually based on a children’s candy brand. The second, The Wuzzles, which lasted only one year, from 1985 to 1986, was a collaboration with the toy brand Hasbro.

Eisner wasn’t really sure about the series, which sounded like a false start, in addition to not having full creative control. The third attempt will be correct, too Scrooge’s Band. A massive box office hit, it would run for no fewer than 100 episodes, broadcast over four seasons between 1987 and 1990.

Cardboard in former Soviet countries

The success of the animated series certainly did not stop in the United States. Also, surprisingly, in Russia and the former Eastern Bloc countries. Because it was the first American animated series that aired during the collapse of the USSR in 1991. Disney cartoons, characters and comics were also part of children’s culture, even behind the Iron Curtain and absolute control of production.

But in the early 1990s, Disney was the only distributor able to provide weekly TV channels from the former Eastern Bloc countries Which became independent: Hungary, Poland, Bulgaria, Czechoslovakia… and Russia, therefore.

In the mid-1990s, Disney sold 750 watches in these countries, out of 3,500 watches in stock. The iconic credits Scrooge Band Even its version performed in Russian had rights. Yes Yes ! The proof is in the pictures!

A beautiful and rather ironic example of the power of American soft power is this image of the billionaire duck, the ultimate symbol of capitalism, crashing into the televisions of millions of Russians who have known nothing but the Soviet system.