Gladstone Gander
Gladstone Gander is a cartoon character created in 1948 by The Walt Disney Company. He is an anthropomorphic gander (male goose) who possesses exceptionally good luck that grants him anything he desires as well as protecting him from any harm. This is in contrast to his cousin Donald Duck, who is often characterized for having bad luck. Gladstone is also a rival of Donald for the affection of Daisy Duck. Gladstone dresses in a very debonair way, often in a suit, and wearing a bow-tie, fedora, and spats. He has a wavy hairstyle which is depicted either as white or blonde. In the story "Luck of the North" (December 1949), he is described as having a brassy voice.
Gladstone Gander
"Wintertime Wager" in Walt Disney's Comics and Stories #88 (January 1948)
Rob Paulsen (DuckTales 1987 series)
Corey Burton (Donald Duck: Goin' Quackers)
Paul F. Tompkins (DuckTales 2017 series)
Half-Duck, Half-Goose
The Luckiest Person in the World
Daisy Duck
Linda Paper[1]
Feather Mallard[2]
Fortuna
Goostave Gander (father)
Daphne Duck (mother)
Matilda McDuck (adoptive mother)
Donald Duck (first cousin)
Della Duck (first cousin)
Gus Goose (second cousin)
Scrooge McDuck (uncle's brother-in-law)
Huey, Dewey, and Louie (first cousins once removed)
Gander family (paternal relatives)
Duck family (maternal relatives)
Origin[edit]
Gladstone Gander first appeared in "Wintertime Wager" in Walt Disney's Comics and Stories #88 (January 1948), written and drawn by Carl Barks.[3] In that story he arrives at Donald Duck's house during a freezing cold Christmas Day to remind him of a wager Donald made the previous summer; that he could swim in the Frozenbear Lake during Christmas Day or forfeit his house to Gladstone. Donald eventually loses the wager but Gladstone later on loses a wager of his own, brought to light by Daisy Duck, and thus Donald's house is returned to him.
Barks gradually developed Gladstone's personality and demeanor after his first appearance and used him quite frequently—in 24 stories between 1948 and 1953, the first five years of his existence. In his first three appearances in 1948 ("Wintertime Wager", "Gladstone Returns", "Links Hijinks"), he was portrayed as the mirror image of Donald: an obstinate braggart, perhaps just a little bit more arrogant, but did not yet have his characteristic luck. In his next two appearances, "Rival Beachcombers" and "The Goldilocks Gambit", Gladstone is portrayed as merely lazy and irritable, and also gullible. The breakthrough of his lucky streak occurs in 1949, within the adventure story "Race to the South Seas!" (March of Comics #41). In that story, Donald and his three nephews set sail on a rescue mission from Duckburg to a remote Pacific island on which Scrooge McDuck is believed to have stranded, in an attempt to gain their uncle's favor. For the same reason Gladstone is in hot pursuit as well, but because he was "born lucky" as Donald explains to his nephews, without lifting a finger, is having a much easier time than them.
His and Donald's rivalry over Daisy is established in "Donald's Love Letters" (1949), "Wild About Flowers" (1950), and "Knightly Rivals" (1951), and as potential heirs to Scrooge's fortune in "Some Heir Over the Rainbow" (1953). After that, Barks felt unable to develop the character further, finding him basically unsympathetic, and began using him less frequently. But by then, Gladstone had found a steady place in the Duck universe as one of the main established characters; frequently used by other writers and artists both in the Americas and Europe. He was first used by an artist other than Barks in 1951: "Presents For All" by Del Connell and Bob Moore. He appears as a main character in the Big Little Book series book "Luck of the Ducks" (1969).