In the square at the center of Mickey's Toontown Fair stands a statue of Cornelius Coot, the official founder of Duckburg. Coot first appeared in a comics story by Carl Barks, in which Scrooge McDuck and the Maharajah of Howduyustan built competing statues of the town founder. In a later story, a fountain was erected in honor of Coot pumping mountain water into Duckburg to help irrigate the fields.
The version of the statue here dates back to the origins of the area as Mickey's Birthdayland. Even though the land was dedicated to Mickey Mouse for his 60th birthday, the setting was Duckburg, U.S.A., complete with miniature storefronts and building facades for kids to explore. The statue of Cornelius Coot made perfect sense, especially his offering up ears of corn. He was even surrounded by a planter-full of real corn stalks, one of the crops he helped make a reality with his irrigation efforts.
With the advent of Mickey's Toontown Fair, it was decided that the "corny" elements of the Cornelius Coot statue helped it fit in with the country setting, even if Duckburg was no longer part of the equation, so a new plaque was installed at its base crediting Coot as the founder of the Fair itself.
I think most guests are oblivious to the story being told in any land, but of all the lands, I think perhaps Toontown or perhaps Dinoland USA, have the story least understood by park guests.
ReplyDeleteThanks for sharing these details Shawn!
Matt