The first change of this type occurs on
In the published version, McDuck simply chases the Swami up the side of a
pyramid. Using the pyramid at this point in the story constitutes a nice bit
of foreshadowing, for it is the very place where the treasure lies buried.
Page 15 of the shooting script refers to it as a "curious stone pyramid
that has been part of the b.g. [background] all along."
On
On
5. | Swami becomes very wrinkled and aged. Kid points: "Hey! Look! The king is turning [crossed out: into an] old, old-" Swami looking toward open doorway. "My armies are dust in the desert out there!" |
6. | Swami going into desert a bent, old man. Swami: "I go gladly to join them! Everlasting life, Good-by!" |
7. | Don and S by treasure pile. Don: "Well! The
one-time King exchanged this treasure for a handful of gray
powder!" |
8. | Kids looking askance: "Maybe-or very, very wise!" |
Note on published
Khan Khan's demise lasts only two panels in the shooting script as opposed
to three in the comic. Another difference is that the shooting script has
two panels in the last tier, instead of the long single one in the published
version. Apparently Barks wanted to underscore the nephews words of the
shooting script, which are different and certainly not as impressive in the
published version.
In The Carl Barks Library - Set V, Geoffrey Blum writes:
"Not having the sketch script,
it's not clear tell whether other, more significant changes were made by
Barks or by his editors before handing the script over to Strobl. Occasional
marginal notes will hint at a planned revision, but in many instances Barks
seems to have been satisfied with his first version. Where the effect of a
revision is to soften the story's bite, we may be pretty sure that the
editors had a hand in things."
About the alternate ending, Blum concluded: "This is certainly the work of
the editors, who must have found the Swami's transformation and death too
much like something from a horror comic."
Michael Barrier mentions that the story's
dialogue in Barks pencil script is identical
with that in the story as published. This seems to mean that the pencil
script may have been investigated by Michael Barrier before it got lost.
If so, Barrier's information would mean that Barks himself smoothened
and altered the shooting script version.
And why wouldn't Barks have made those changes? As with his decision to
change a violent sequence into a helicopter lift gag
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