Barks, Carl (1901-2000) | Special Collections & Archives

Carl Barks (1901-2000) began working as an artist for the Walt Disney Studio in November, 1935. By 1937, Bark was transferred to the story board department where he worked on animated cartoons. He left Disney in 1942 and moved to Hemet, California to start a chicken farm. Barks's unsuccessful chicken farming venture led him to return full time to comic book work. In 1943, he began drawing Disney stories for Western Printing and Lithography which produced the Dell and Gold Key comic books.

He created Scrooge McDuck, the miserly uncle of Donald Duck, in 1947, Gladstone Gander in 1948, the Beagle Boys in 1951, and Gyro Gearloose, a self-portrait, in 1952. Barks retired in 1966 at age of 65. He began painting his characters in 1968 which were in great demand after 1976. This new income allowed him to purchase a home in Santa Barbara. Bark maintained an active career until his late nineties and spent his last years in Grants Pass, Oregon.