The Junior Woodchucks

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Story: The Junior Woodchucks is an organization of boy scouts. The most famous of its members are Huey, Dewey, and Louie who are ten-star generals. The Woodchucks have an analogous organization for girls named The Junior Chickadees. The organization boast such ranks and titles as K.I.N.G. (Knightly Intrepid Natatorial Guardian) and S.S.S.S.A.S.O.S.S. (Supremely Sagacious Spoor Sniffer and Saver of Stranded Souls) and merit badges were given out by the quart to Junior Woodchucks like Huey, Dewey, and Louie.

Like the unusual titles for boy scouts, the Woodchucks also have an extraordinary accessory. Besides the ordinary survival tools of boy scouts, they have The Junior Woodchucks' Guide Book, a book that contains information about literally anything. The book has been a great help at reading forgotten languages and solving problems that have puzzled scholars for centuries.


Continuity: Disney
Publisher(s): Disney
First app.: Comics: Walt Disney's Comics & Stories #125 (1951)
Creator(s): Carl Barks
Country of origin: USA


Background notes: The Junior Woodchucks was created by Carl Barks in 1951, when being a scout was much more common than today. The first stories have a feeling of the organization being just a vehicle for telling a story, but as Barks developed his characters, the idea with the Woodchucks as a concept turned into an important part of the stories. Especially the adventures of Uncle Scrooge relied heavily on the use of the Woodchucks and their fabulous The Junior Woodchucks' Guide Book.

The introduction of the Woodchucks also meant a shift in the relationship between Donald Duck and his nephews. A major part of Donald's personality revolved around him being a hothead and not really being a responsible adult. Instead of letting him grow up, the three nephews took over as the responsible people in the stories. In the stories today, 50 years later, this is still the case in many stories.

The Junior Woodchucks spun off into their own series in a way. Huey, Dewey, and Louie got their own series with the subtitle Junior Woodchucks. The series started in 1966 and lasted 61 issues. Later in 1979 Whitman continued the series but it only lasted 19 issues, ending with #81. A second series, a four-issue mini series, was published by Walt Disney Publication in 1991. The Woodchucks' famous guide was also published. Danbury Press published an illustrated book in 1973 based on the famous book.

The Woodchucks were also transferred into cartoons. With the introduction of DuckTales in 1987, the Junior Woodchucks were a natural setting for the adventurous stories with Uncle Scrooge, just like Carl Barks' original stories. The following series like Mickey Mouse Works and House of Mouse also contained stories about Huey, Dewey, and Louie as Junior Woodchucks.


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