In honor of its twentieth anniversary: The Complete History of Surf Swell Island!

On August 9th, 2000, as part of their "smart surfing" campaign, Disney launched Surf Swell Island, a game designed to teach children about proper internet behavior (or, as it was sometimes referred to at the time, including in the title of a series of animated comics released as part of the same campaign, "cybernetiquette"). Today, August 9, 2020, marks the twentieth anniversary of the release of Surf Swell, therefore, I now present to you the History of Surf Swell Island, as best it can be reconstructed from contemporary sources (all of which are listed at the end of the article) and my own research. Extant assets from the game are rare, but I have made an attempt to illustrate this article with whatever relevant images I could find. Let's begin!

Disney's smart surfing initiative was a large facet of their online presence, Disney.com, managed by Disney Online, which was established in 1995. The initiative itself was established in 1999, first in Europe and then in the United States, with the intention of setting Disney.com apart from other sites. It included such endeavors as National Smart Surfing Week, Doug's Internet Safety Page, the GetNetWise Coalition, a game called "Don't Be in the Dark", the aforementioned Cybernetiquette, and, of course, Surf Swell Island.

The creation of the game was preceded by a study known as the "Annual Surf Swell Barometer" - a study of over 4000 families designed to measure habits and thoughts about the internet, conducted by Disney.com so as to better narrow down the type of content that would appear in Surf Swell.

Throughout the early months of 2000, Disney conducted further research to determine what the media reception of the game was likely to be, and what sort of features might be expected by a general audience. Disney didn't just want to create a game - they wanted to establish themselves as a leading online brand and the top provider of internet safety tips. They wanted, as one PR agency put it at the time, to "own" internet safety. Therefore, they wanted not just a game, but a media sensation.

To achieve this end, they began an expansive promotional campaign which lasted until the game's release.

Working with the PR network MSLGROUP, Disney began their campaign, hoping to build anticipation for Surf Swell's August launch. The first promotional stunt consisted of an e-mail sent to various media personnel containing a cryptic description of the game and a wish-you-were-here postcard from the titular island. Next, a trailer was released, and sent alongside a Surf Swell Island poster to media personnel. And finally, a series of press kits were distributed.

Surf Swell Island was officially announced to the public on July 22, 2000, via a Disney press release (unfortunately, as the official Walt Disney Company press release archive only contains press releases from 2001 or later, I was unable to locate the original announcement). The release outlined the goal of Surf Swell Island, and described the game in detail, listing for the first time the individual mini-games playable within Surf Swell Island - the Cliff of Mean Manners, No Privacy Beach, and the Virus Caves, each of which would teach children lessons about internet safety, and finally, Coconut Bowling, located in Tiki Fun Stuff Village, which would recap the lessons taught in the previous games. Once these mini-games were completed, the release stated, players would be able to access the Print Hut, wherein they would have the ability to print internet safety tips, pen-and-paper activities, and a certificate stating that they had completed the game. The release also stated that the game would be updated periodically as needed.

After this announcement, the promotional campaign continued. Disney announced a "Surf Swell Island Beach Bash" - a real-world event to be hosted on launch day, August 9th. Media personnel were invited, as were over 100 children from various camps and other such organizations.

Meanwhile, the Surf Swell Island PR network, MSLGROUP, secured coverage for the launch of Surf Swell Island in over 30 newspapers, over 70 news stations, and approximately 640 radio stations, thereby ensuring extensive media coverage of the game and the smart surfing campaign as a whole. Footage related to Surf Swell Island was distributed to television stations, and five announcements about the Surf Swell Island Beach Bash were issued to the media.

On August 9th, the day of the launch, the Surf Swell Island Beach Bash was held, and children were invited to interact with media personnel in attendance. Unfortunately, I have been unable to determine the location at which the event was held, or even whether or not it was held at an actual beach, although I can only assume that it was. The launch was also marked by radio broadcasts announcing the release of the game. And, of course, there was the most important launch day event: the release of the game.

Surf Swell Island went up at surfswellisland.com, a URL which would redirect users to http://disney.go.com/family/surfswell (both of which now connect to the main Disney site). 

The version of the site which went live on August 9th, 2000 - the same version that was described in the press release - was only up for a few months, before the game was updated for the first and last time in July of 2001. Information or images from this first version - Version One - of the game are extremely hard to find due to the fact that it only existed for a brief period of time, however, I'll do my best to describe it in as much detail as has been discovered.

Above, you'll see the map of Surf Swell Island which appeared in-game. Clicking on any part of the map would take the user to one of the five locations of Surf Swell Island, apparently a vacation destination with a culture themed entirely around internet safety.

Upon the start of the game, a flash animation would play, showing Mickey and friends driving to the airport, where they would take off for the island. The narrator would then reveal that all of Mickey's friends had gotten themselves into tricky situations on the island, and that the player would have to rescue them in order.

The map would then appear, and the user could select a location (unlike the later Version Two, which had a flash map, the map in this version was plain HTML). Each location would feature a game themed to a particular facet of internet safety. Upon finishing each game, the player would be directed to a short quiz about what was learned in the game.

First, there was the Cliff of Mean Manners. Designed to teach about proper internet etiquette, the game featured Goofy, who, having fallen off the cliff, had landed in a tree. The player would have to judge whether phrases displayed onscreen and read aloud by an announcer were "MEAN" or "NICE" - choosing correctly would elevate Goofy to the top of the tree and to safety, while getting it wrong would leave him at the mercy of the crabs that dwell at the bottom of the cliff.

The game featured the following description: Oh no! Goofy fell off the Cliff of Mean Manners into a tree! Do you know what good Internet manners are? Right! Well, help him climb away from those crabs by answering each question correctly. When you're done, stick around to see what you've learned.

And now, my first Surf Swell Island 20th anniversary gift to you: downloadable MP3 files of each of the questions as read by the announcer of the Cliff of Mean Manners. That link will take you to a MediaFire folder of them; do with them as you please. (Oh, and here's a line spoken by the narrator in the intro, as he tells the player that they must rescue all of Mickey's friends in order.)

Next was the Virus Caves, designed to teach about the danger of internet viruses, which saw Donald trapped in the aforementioned caves with a horde of living, talking computer viruses with only a peashooter. The player would take control of Donald, aiming his peashooter at the viruses and firing to stop them from conquering his computer. Each defeated virus would yield a blue file with which the Duck could repair his device.

The game featured the following description: Hey! Look who's stuck in the Virus Caves! Get Donald out of there before those yucky viruses jump into his computer and wreck it! Use your pea-shooter to shoot the mean, green viruses and pick up as many happy, blues files as you can. When you're done, stick around to see what you've learned.

Up next was No Privacy Beach, which starred Minnie, who had planned to relax on Surf Swell Island's beach, but gave her information to an online stranger and now finds herself stalked by mysterious people with cameras. The player would have to click the pests (including people with periscopes and menacing men) as they popped up from their hiding places, while a talking parrot nearby would explain that one should never give out information on the internet.

The game featured the following description: Uh-oh! Minnie gave her name, address and vacation information to that stranger on the Internet! Now Privacy Beach is No Privacy Beach! Help her get rid of all those nosy pests by clicking on them as they pop up. When you're done, stick around to see what you've learned.

And now for a second gift: downloadable MP3 files of all of the parrot's lines. Enjoy!

Finally, there was Coconut Bowling, a game hosted by Tiki Bob, a resident of the island, in Tiki Fun Stuff Village. In the game, players would take control of Mickey as he entered the Surf Swell Island Bowling Tournament, and would have to answer questions recapping the lessons of every other game. When a question was answered correctly, Tiki Bob would hand over four of the twenty coconuts necessary for completing the game. Upon gaining all coconuts, the player could start the game, upon winning, the player would gain access to the Print Hut.

The game featured the following description: Welcome to Tiki Fun Stuff Village! Before playing Coconut Bowling, Tiki Bob wants to review all that we've learned. Every correct answer earns you 4 coconuts. You need 20 to play. Good luck!

 

Above, you can see the Print Hut in all (well, most of) its glory, in what may be the only surviving image of Version One aside from the map. As you can see, the printable items included a certificate, a coloring page, a Virus Caves maze, a Cliff of Mean Manners maze, a word puzzle, three printable tiki heads, and a list of "top 10 smart surfing tips". A wallpaper was also available. Unfortunately, I have been unable to locate the actual files for any of these things - had I managed to do so, I'd have offered them here for download, but alas, we must make do with the thumbnail images above.

(To the left, you'll see a resident of Surf Swell Island who may or may not be the above-mentioned Tiki Bob, and who may also - judging by the limbs - be Mickey Mouse himself wearing a mask  - I have been unable to confirm, as no footage or images from Coconut Bowling exist as far as I know. Nevertheless, I have made an attempt to create a version of the image of this mysterious person with no blue line running through it; I present it to you below)

Because there are so few images from the game itself, I'll also show you the only surviving images of the 'Feedback' page and a mysterious page labeled only 'Beach Party' (possibly originally featuring images from the Beach Bash event, although this is only speculation), below.

Now, as I mentioned above, this first version of Surf Swell Island did not last long - not even a full year. In July of 2001, the game was completely revamped, and Version One was no more. In its place was Version Two, which would remain up on the site until 2016.

From here on out, this History will be much less sparsely illustrated - there are plenty of images from Version Two for me to choose from.

Above, you'll see the map of Version Two. The shape of the island is broadly similar, but there are many differences, chiefly the games, most of which have been changed completely. Let's take a look at the two maps side by side to compare:

Here we can see that the island is the same general shape in both, but the specifics of the landscape have changed. What was once the Cliffs of Mean Manners now has a waterfall flowing down it (and there's a possible narrative explanation for that, too - as we will soon see, the Privacy Falls can be blocked off by a dam). Someone has apparently constructed a door at the entrance of the Virus Caves - to keep the Viruses in, no doubt - and removed the skull-rock formation (presumably to increase tourism, although it doesn't seem to be working - note that the fancy cruise ship has been swapped out for a much smaller boat). 

No Privacy Beach seems to have been closed, with the lifeguard chair removed - and I can see why. The Temple of Tact, meanwhile, has been constructed between the central peak and the volcano - and the Tiki Fun Stuff Village behind it appears to be gone (note, though, that the boat in the Village was reused as the boat in the water on the second map, while one of those huts is now on the beach facing the other direction). The Challenge of Doom has been set up on the volcano, and, finally, the Print Hut had been removed, and the Treasure Palace has been erected atop the mountain in its place.

Now, then, on to the games!

Many things have been changed from Version One - the Cliffs of Mean Manners has been replaced by the Temple of Tact, No Privacy Beach has been replaced by Privacy Falls, Coconut Bowling has been replaced by the Challenge of Doom, and the Print Hut has been replaced by the Treasure Palace. The Virus Caves are still around, but they've been renamed "Virus Cave", in the singular.

Version Two started with a loading screen on which the player could solve a shuffled image of a Surf Swell mask while waiting.

Version Two also featured an intro in which Mickey and the gang travel to Surf Swell Island, where they are greeted at the shore by someone known as "The Great Tiki" (seen above).

First up in Version Two were the Privacy Falls. This game, featuring Mickey and Minnie, was designed to teach about privacy on the internet, much like No Privacy Beach. Questions about what information should or should not be revealed on the internet were displayed on a sign held by a statue, and also read by an announcer much as questions were in Version One. 

Players would have to choose "Yes" or "No", and, when all of the questions had been answered correctly, a dam would stem the flow of the Falls, allowing access to the minigame's "Challenge Chamber" - a new feature that would follow each of the Version Two minigames, requiring the player to answer more in-depth questions about the topic on a representation of a handheld computer that would appear onscreen (meant to "acknowledge the wireless movement", because, in the words of Disney themselves, "children will soon be able to access the Internet through their handheld computer games and other wireless devices.")

Upon the completion of the Challenge Chamber, the player would receive a jewel which would slot into a small totem, as well as one word of a sentence displayed on the bottom of the screen - in the case of Privacy Falls' Challenge Chamber, a red jewel and the word "Always."

Next, the Virus Cave. This version of the game was quite similar to that found in Version One. Viruses would emerge from all sides, heading for the Surf Swell Island mainframe computer contained deep in the caves. Donald, now wielding some sort of electric zapping device instead of a peashooter, faced them once again, and the player, again, had to click on the viruses to defeat them. Upon their defeat, the Viruses would tell about the sort of damage that they could have caused had they reached the computer - things such as "I could have crashed your hard drive" and "I like the taste of picture files". If the player did not manage to stop the Viruses in time, the screens of the computer would be replaced by a red screen and a blinking "System Error" message, until every screen had been virus'd and the player was forced to restart.

If every Virus was defeated, though, the computer would pull into the wall, allowing access to the next Challenge Chamber, where questions about computer viruses would have to be answered, the completion of which would award a blue jewel and the word "Be".

Now, onto the Temple of Tact. This game, like the Cliff of Mean Manners, was designed to teach proper internet etiquette. Once again featuring Goofy, this game took the form of a temple with a locked door that Goofy needed to open. In the first round, words would be displayed on Goofy's handheld computer, and the player would have to select the corresponding emoticons displayed on the temple door to open it. In round two, a second door would appear, and Goofy's handheld computer would display "mean" phrases - the player would have to select the corresponding "nice" versions of those phrases from the door.

Once both doors were open, the player would proceed into the final Challenge Chamber. Once all of the questions were answered, the player would be rewarded with a green jewel and the word "Cyber".

Finally, it was on to the Challenge of Doom. In this minigame, starring Mickey, the player would have to answer all of the questions from the Challenge Chamber over again, each question making Mickey move further up the mountain towards the Treasure Palace, through three areas - the rope bridge, the rock climb, and the vines. 

Once this was done, Mickey would retrieve the final jewel - a yellow one - and the final word of the sentence, "Smart", would be revealed, making, all together, "Always be Cyber-Smart!"

Now the player could proceed to the Treasure Palace, where rewards were available. These included a printable "Certificate of Swellness" (available in color or black and white), a set of emailable e-cards (one featuring the Temple of Tact, one featuring the Virus Cave, one featuring Privacy Falls, one featuring the Challenge of Doom, and one featuring the completed totem with all of the jewels set in it), and a "Comic Creator" that allowed the player to match a Surf Swell character (Mickey, Minnie, the Great Tiki, or a Virus) with custom text and print it.

I have uploaded a full-size image of the color certificate below:

And there you have it! Everything that Version Two had to offer.

Version Two was taken down from the American site sometime in the early 2010s. The Australian and United Kingdom versions (which featured an Australian-accented narrator in place of the American-accented actor of the U.S. Version Two) lasted longer, staying up until 2016 - but they, too, were taken down. Now, all Disney.com has in the way of internet safety is this list and a page on their Timon and Pumbaa safety site.

Now, I give you the final set of Surf Swell Island 20th anniversary gifts:

First, here are downloadable MP3 files of all of the music from the first version of the game: https://app.mediafire.com/nkrspq6uj0agh. Give 'em a listen - some of them are pretty good, for what they are!

And, finally, here's the entire second version of the game, as an swf file: https://app.mediafire.com/fp5s3lmywt7zd. That folder also features separate swf files for each of the games, should you want to play them separately (note: the comic creator only works properly in the separate file, not in the full game file). Also included are the original pdfs of the glossary, teacher's guide, and parents' guide provided by Disney, the Certificate of Swellness, and the background image of the website on which the game was hosted.

If anyone reading this has any more information about Surf Swell Island, don't hesitate to contact me!

Well, I guess there's only one thing left to say - this chat room's lame, I'm outta here! Er, I mean, happy twentieth anniversary to Surf Swell Island!

Sources:

Disney.com to launch to Surf Swell Island: Adventures in Internet Safety by Laughingplace.com (July 2000)

Disney characters preach virtues of Internet child safety by David Goldstein (August 2000)

Disney.com's Surf Swell Island Launch by Provokemedia.com (July 2001)

With special thanks to

the Internet Archive, for the invaluable assistance they provide in researching any defunct website

and

Aristide Twain, for telling me about Surf Swell Island in the first place.

A Tale of Two Cousins (maybe?) - Sonny Eclipse and Officer Zzzzyxxx

Not directly Duck comics related - but still of interest!

Many people are familiar with Sonny Eclipse, the audio-animatronic lounge singer who hails from the planet Zork and performs at Cosmic Ray's Starlight Cafe, alongside his invisible backup singers, the Space Angels, and his sentient organ, Astro. But significantly fewer people have heard of Eclipse's cousin - Officer Zzzzyxxx, who managed the baggage screening desk in Tokyo Disneyland's version of Star Tours until its 2013 revamp.

Or are they cousins?

Yes, the animatronics were definitely made from the same mold, but that's not the question we're exploring here today. The question of the day is as follows: are the characters of Eclipse and Zzzzyxxx, in the official, in-universe canon, actually cousins? Many articles, and even a few mostly reputable theme park history books, make the claim that Disney has, at some point in the past, referred to them as cousins (or at least as members of the same species, Zorkies) in an official capacity. But have they? Or is it simply a fan creation that has been interpreted as official by myriad sources?

Let's find out.

The very first place in which I found the claim was in the book More Secret Stories of Walt Disney World by Jim Korkis - a book which seems to be, generally, a very reputable source for trivia. The book mentions the supposed fact in the section about Cosmic Ray's only briefly - saying, in full: 

"Sonny was modified from a similar figure, Officer Zzzzyxxxx, who was at the baggage screening desk outside of the Star Tours attraction at Tokyo Disneyland. Today, Disney refers to them as "cousins".". 

 

No source is provided for the claim.

After reading this, I was intrigued. Taking to the internet, I searched up the claim, but, looking through all of the usual sources - Wikis, articles about the attraction, tourist guides - I could find no mention of Disney ever referring to them as cousins. Most mentioned in passing that Eclipse shares a design with Zzzzyxxx, but that was the extent of it.

Next, of course, I looked through even more obscure materials - Disney magazines from the time of the opening of the ride, promotional materials, back issues of Star Wars Insider - and, while some of them mentioned Sonny Eclipse, and some of them mentioned Zzzzyxxx, none of them mentioned any connection between the two.

By that point, I had become really intrigued. Was this, perhaps, a new tangentially-Duck-comics-related mystery - the very type that I so enjoy researching extensively? It seemed to be just that. I got to work researching straight away to see if I could find an official source that made the claim that the two characters were cousins.

My research first led me to Zzzzyxxx's Wookieepedia article. Although the article mentions the shared figure design, it does not, in its current state, make note of any familial relationship between Zzzzyxxx and Eclipse. However, as my good friend Aristide Twain uncovered, this wasn't always the case. As can be seen in the page history, earlier versions of the article did describe Zzzzyxxx as a Zorkie (Eclipse's species in-canon), and described him as hailing from "Joo Nerzey" (obviously in reference to Eclipse's canonical place of birth, Yew Nork.) These bits of information were removed from the page, as no source could be uncovered by the Wookieepedians. Additionally, Wookieepedia once hosted an article about Sonny Eclipse himself, although this, too, was deleted due to a lack of sources.

Continuing my research, I uncovered issue 53 of Celebrations magazine, an unofficial publication about the Disney theme parks. This issue of the magazine, published in 2017, happens to feature an article about Sonny Eclipse - in which the following is stated: 

"The show opened in 1994, as part of the “New Tomorrowland” renovation. The Animatronic figure used for Sonny was a modified version of Officer Zzzzyxxx, a figure found outside of the Star Tours attraction in Tokyo Disney. Sonny is commonly referred to as a distant cousin of Zzzzyxxx, with the latter hailing from the city of Joo Nerzey on Sonny’s home planet of Zork."

In addition to another instance of the cousin claim, we see yet another mention of the mysterious Joo Nerzey - taken, perhaps, from the now-altered Wookieepedia article, which contained the "Joo Nerzey" claim until 2012. No sources were listed in this magazine, either. My research continued.

Delving even further, I discovered a series of tweets by actor Andrew Barth Feldman, in which he explained the history of Sonny Eclipse - including the following bit of information: "They needed a mascot for the restaurant and found it in the model of Captain ZZZYXX, creating Sonny Eclipse. In terms of the story behind it in Disney terms, the two are cousins. They’re both “Zorkie.” Sonny is from Yew Nork City, ZZZYXX from Joo Nerzey."

Here we had another claim that Disney had officially established the cousinhood of Sonny and Zzzzyxxx - among a thread featuring other facts about Sonny's creation that were undoubtedly true.

Next, I stumbled upon a blog - disneyhipsters.com - which made this claim:

"In order to get more bang for their buck, Sonny's animatronic was made from a model of Captain ZZZYXX, from the Star Tours attraction at Tokyo Disneyland.  The captain is a Zorkie, like Sonny, and is indeed Sonny's cousin.  Unlike Sonny who is from Yew Nork City...ZZZYXX is from Joo Nerzey."

Continuing my search, I discovered a Japanese-language site, starwars.jp - a fan site, in spite of its official-looking URL. Their Zzzzyxxx article, translated from Japanese, says:

 "Zzzzyxxx is thought to have originally hailed from Joo Nerzey on the planet Zork. His race calls themselves Zorkies. And he wasn't the only Zorkie at Star Tours . Another Zorkie who worked at the company is Astro Organ performer Sonny Eclipse . Sony played Bossa Supernova and Eclipse Music Styling at Cosmic Ray's Starlight Cafe, the First Earth Restaurant Franchise From Outer Space in the Orlando Florida Spaceport. However, while Sonny's skin color is green, Zzzzyxx's skin color is the same as a standard human. There are various types of Zorkie skin colors, such as blue, pink, purple, green, and polka dots. And despite the different skin tones, Zzzzyxx and Sonny were thought to be relatives, perhaps cousins. Many tourists asked about the relationship between the two, but Zzzzyxx always answered in a mysterious language called Japanese, and there was no interpreter droid that could translate it ."

The site also has a page about Sonny, which repeats the claims.

All very interesting information, most of it taken from a very canonical source - Sonny Eclipse's show at Cosmic Ray's. The wiki on StarWars.jp seems to present itself as an encyclopedic type of site rather than a place for fanon, but it's possible that the Zorkie, Joo Nerzey, and cousin claims were simply taken from Wookieepedia and once again misunderstood as canonical facts. The article is from 2013, a year after the claims were removed from Wookieepedia, but the author of the site certainly could have seen them there prior to that - the article does, after all, link to the English Wookieepedia's Zzzzyxx page.

So, did the claim originate from a bit of fanon inserted into Wookieepedia? Maybe, but I wanted to be sure. I continued my research.

I soon uncovered an article on wdwmousing.com, an article about Tomorrowland which happened to feature a section about Sonny Eclipse. A section which stated the following: 

"Sonny is believed to be the cousin of Officer Zzzzyxxx from the Star Tours Spaceport in Tokyo. While Sonny hails from Yew Nork City on the planet Zork, Officer Zzzzyxxx’s employment records suggest he originated in a region called Joo Nerzey on the same planet. Inhabitants of this world call themselves Zorkies and their skin pigmentation can range from standard human fleshtones to more colorful hues like ‘blue or pink or polka dot and purple-green’. During his act, Sonny makes passing mention of various members of his family, including his six-eyed, twelve-nostriled estranged wife (Luna), his parents (father Sola and mother Parsha), and his mother-in-law (Tota Leigh Clipse), but he never mentions his cousin Officer Zzzzyxxx, the only other member of the Zorkie race who currently resides on Earth. Some theorize that the two had a falling-out over Sonny’s childhood dream to pursue a musical career."

Now here was some in-depth information - and, at last, this article cited its sources! I clicked through to the ones pertaining to this bit on info about Sonny.

And there it was. An article from 2009, on the website endorexpress.net, about Sonny Eclipse, which featured the following blurb:

"Sonny is believed to be the ‘cousin’ of Officer Zzzzyxxx from the Star Tours Spaceport in Tokyo. While Sonny hails from Yew Nork City on the planet Zork, Officer Zzzzyxxx’s employment records suggest he originated in a region called Joo Nerzey on the same planet. Inhabitants of this world call themselves Zorkies and their skin pigmentation can range from standard human fleshtones to more colorful hues like ‘blue or pink or polka dot and purple-green’. During his act, Sonny makes passing mention of various members of his family, including his six-eyed, twelve-nostriled estranged wife (Luna), his parents (father Sola and mother Parsha), and his mother-in-law (Tota Leigh Clipse)… but he never mentions his cousin Officer Zzzzyxxx, the only other member of the Zorkie race who currently resides on Earth. Some theorize that the two had a falling-out over Sonny’s childhood dream to pursue a musical career."

The site also features an article on Zzzzyxxx himself, which contains a blurb nearly identical to that found on Zzzzyxxx's starwars.jp article - which was clearly taken from endorexpress rather than Wookieepedia as I had expected.

And, at the bottom of both of these endorexpress pages, the following line is present:

"Some details for this entry are from the Imagination of Alex Newborn."

And there, it seemed, was the answer. A fansite article from 2009 had done a bit of fan worldbuilding, which had been misinterpreted by a great many sources as something that had been officially stated by Disney.

But I wanted to be certain. So I contacted the author of the article, Alex Newborn, and asked him if the relationship between Sonny and Zzzzyxxx was one of the details for the entry that had come from his imagination.

He responded promptly, and told me everything he knew about the relationship between Sonny Eclipse and Officer Zzzzyxxx. With his permission, I've quoted the relevant section of his email below:

"To the best of my recollection, Disney never stated that the two had any connection whatsoever. We were just trying to do a little world-building and create an in-story link between the two animatronics which economically recycled a sculpt. None of us spoke or read Japanese, meaning little concrete info was known about Zzzzyxxx, but Sonny sang whole songs about what planet he was from, so it seemed prudent to borrow a few factoids about the one alien and transfer them to the other. Ergo, I made them both be from the planet Zork, but I changed things up a bit. I definitely made up the part about him being from Joo Nerzie (or however I spelt it) since the song established Sonny was from Yew Nork."

So there it was. More-or-less concrete proof that the cousin connection between Sonny and Zzzzyxxx, and the "Joo Nerzey" claim, were fan creations that were widely disseminated and misinterpreted as official, rather than something that was ever established by Disney. According to Newborn, the disclaimer on the site notifying readers that some elements were from his own imagination would sometimes disappear after the site was updated - some people would surely have seen the page without the disclaimer, and taken everything on it as canon information. Thus, the information that he had made up for the page and intended as a bit of fun speculation was spread to other sites, without anyone realizing that Disney had never actually said anything to that effect.

 It seemed that my quest had come to an end - I had found the answer. Sonny and Zzzzyxxx are not, according to the official canon, cousins.

(Another interesting discovery: the spelling of Zzzzyxxx's name has varied through the years. In his email, Alex Newborn mentioned that he had never actually seen an official source for Zzzzyxxx's name, but I believe I've found one - the Summer 1989 issue of Disney News Magazine, which spells the name "Zzyxx". The current most common spelling, "Zzzzyxxx", seems to have been originated by the staff of endorexpress, and made official by its inclusion in an article in Star Wars Insider issue 104, which was penned by Newborn. "Zzzyxxx", with only three Z's, has also cropped up on occasion, but never, it would seem, in an official publication. And finally, Kevin Rafferty, the creator of the character, refers to him as "Zzyzx" in his book Magic Journey: My Fantastical Walt Disney Imagineering Career.)

So, is this absolutely, definitely the explanation for the cousin claim? Well, probably, but just in case, I've also emailed Jim Korkis, author of the above-mentioned book, to ask whether he knows of any official sources. I shall write an update to this post if he responds.

Well, there you have it! I shall end this post with an image from the Spring 1993 issue of Disney News Magazine, featuring Imagineer Valerie Edwards working on the original model of Zzzzyxx:

There he is - the fellow that started the whole thing, in his infant days! Lovely.

UPDATE: Since publishing this post a scant few hours ago, I have made a discovery! While the claim that Sonny and Zzzzyxxx are cousins probably originated with Alex Newborn at endorexpress.com, it has been referenced in an official Disney publication! In his book Magic Journey: My Fantastical Walt Disney Imagineering Career, published by Disney Editions, Eclipse's and Zzzzyxxx's creator Kevin Rafferty writes the following:

"[George] Wilkins and I teamed up as composer and lyricist and wrote a lot of music over the years, including ... the Sonny Eclipse ("Biggest Little Star in the Galaxy") lounge act in Cosmic Ray's Starlight Cafe in Tomorrowland at the Magic Kingdom (Sonny Eclipse, by the way, is a distant cousin to Officer Zzyzx)."

And there you have it! I retract my original conclusion - Sonny Eclipse and Officer Zzzzyxxx are cousins - because, after all, what better source is there than their creator himself? And, besides, even if it wasn't the original idea - if fans of the characters like the idea, does one really need an official source to confirm it?

And thus ends the cousin mystery - probably. Apparently, I can make no guarantees where these two are involved.

Comics References in the Disney Parks

As a sequel to the last post, here are some more theme park attractions that reference Duck comics.

This won't be a comprehensive list, just a few interesting items. Starting with...

Camp Woodchuck Kitchen - Tokyo Disneyland

What better place to start than the location of the subject of my last post? Honestly, the entire restaurant is a Duck comic reference, but let's take a look at a few specific examples.

Map of the Black Forest

This map, which can be found hanging on the wall of the restaurant, charts nothing less than Duckburg's famous Black Forest, a common fixture of the comics since the days of the great Carl Barks.

But that's not the only reference the map has to offer. If you look to the top-right corner, you'll see old Mount Demontooth (here called "Demontooth Mountain"), which first appeared in the 1948 Barks story The Golden Christmas Tree, and later made an arguably-more-famous appearance as the setpiece of 1953's Mastering the Demontooth.

The mountain also appeared in Don Rosa's 1994 story The Invader of Fort Duckburg, where it can be seen on a map of Calisota (the state in which Duckburg is located) in roughly the same place in relation the the Black Forest that the Camp Woodchuck Kitchen map shows it to be.

 

Mudhen Lake, meanwhile, first appeared in 1954's A Fishy Business, also by Carl Barks.

And New Fort Duckburg is none other than the rebuilt Fort Drakeborough, which was first referenced in passing in 1956's Migrating Millions. The Fort's reconstruction was chronicled in 1997's W.H.A.D.A.L.O.T.T.A.J.A.R.G.O.N..

What of Precipice Peak? Well, the perilously tall mountain is from a 1960 Bob Gregory story, A Sticky Situation.

And finally, Pickpocket Peak is the home of the Tri-Crested Tittertwill in 1988's Assignment Birdwatch, by John Antrobus and Dave Angus.

And that's everything from the map of the Black Forest - but it's not all that the restaurant has when it comes to comic references!

The Tailpin Ceremony

This painting can be found on the wall of the Kitchen alongside the map, and, also like the map, has its own share of references.

First off, the most obvious: the Tailpin Ceremony itself, at which a Woodchuck becomes an Exalted Hightail, one of the highest ranks of the organization, is from the 1953 Carl Barks tale My Lucky Valentine.

Of course, in the story itself, Donald is very much not present for the ceremony - he's busy pushing his way through a snowstorm to deliver a letter that he'd really rather not. And Daisy is at her home, having a letter delivered. But maybe HD&L were only giving the title during the events of the story, and the official ceremony was held late.

And now, onto the characters. Watching from the background, we see Doofus and Webby from DuckTales (not comic references, exactly, but still references to Duck lore), and a few others.

First, there's a pigfaced lad at the far left, who appears to be the recurring Woodchuck character Lardello from the Italian comics.

(The outfits worn by the Woodchucks are clearly inspired by the Italian outfits rather than the Barks-created ones, by the way - just look at those green shirts, red neckerchiefs, and yellow-diamonded Woodchuck caps.)

And one over from the far right is another familiar face - Newton Gearloose, Gyro's nephew created by Vic Lockman in 1965, who's been a recurring comic character ever since!

The Woodchuck Guidebook

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The most famous fixture of the Junior Woodchucks in the comics, the Guidebook has appeared in thousands of stories - and here it is, in the flesh (er, paper?)!

This may well be a more specific reference, as well - this is obviously a very old copy of the Guidebook, and that, combined with its green color and the fact that it's being displayed in a case, may prove that it was inspired by the Prototype Guidebook, which appeared in a few Rosa stories.

Now, we're on to....

Mickey's Birthdayland (and whatever else it was called through the years) - Walt Disney World

Well, of course this place had Duck comic references - juts look at the sign that once greeted visitors upon entering the now-closed attraction:

The Clinton Coot Statue

The central landmark of the area was nothing less than Duckburg's famous statue of Clinton Coot, which first appeared in Carl Barks' 1952 story Statuesque Spendthrifts.

That wasn't all the attraction had in terms of references, though.

Here we have Cornelius Coot's County Bounty - which, I would imagine, is meant to be themed as some sort of general store, much like the one Cornelius's son Clinton once owned.

Grandma Duck's Farm

And then, of course, there's Grandma Duck's farm, one of the most common locations of the comics. In the theme park, it was home to Minnie Moo, a Holstein cow with a Mickey Mouse-shaped spot.

For your reading pleasure, here's a tie-in illustrated story (well, more of the reverse of that, really - an illustration accompanied by some text rather than some text illuminated with an illustration):

That about wraps up Mickey's Birthdayland. Let's take a look at one last location!

Il Paperino - Shanghai Disneyland

Yes, it's Il Paperino, an Italian and Donald Duck-themed ice cream restaurant in the Shanghai Disneyland theme park.

Paperino is, of course, Donald's Italian name - and the font on the sign there is the same as (or at least very similar to) the one used on the covers of the Italian comic books.

Donald Duck's Fore-feathers

Looking inside the restaurant, we find a painting which is very interesting to a comics fan:

Here it is - Donald Duck's Fore-feathers!

Now, this tree features a few characters from the comics - Hortense and Quackmore:

And Elvira and Humperdink (called Dabney in the image below - this was changed in later printings):

... but perhaps the most interesting thing about it is the new ancestors it introduces - sure to hold a place on any Duck family tree (they're definitely on mine!).

Well, I suppose that nicely finishes up this post! Let's end things with a rhyme:

He founded what!?