Ludwig Von Drake

Do-Gooder

Cartoon
3D
2013
Ducktales (2017)

Full Name

Ludwig Von Drake

Alias(es)

Uncle/Unca Ludwig

Professor Von Drake
The Professor
Pops Von Drake

Origin

The Wonderful World of Color

Occupation

Scientist

Psychiatrist
Lecturer
Inventor
Professor
Musician
Physicist
World traveler
Host of The Von Drake Report (in the Disney anthology series)
Tour guide at the Hall of Science (in Mickey Mouse (2013))

Powers / Skills

Various inventions

Genius level intelligence

Hobby

Making inventions.

Goals

Various.

Family

Scrooge McDuck (brother-in-law)

Donald Duck (nephew)
Huey, Dewey, and Louie (grandnephews)
Mother Goose (grandmother)
Donald's father (brother)
Unnamed mother
Della Duck (niece)
Corvus, Anya and Klara von Drake (children)

Cuckoo-Loca
Pete (sometimes)

Enemies

Pete
Phantom Blot
Disney Villains

Type of Hero

Wise Scientist

Professor Ludwig Von Drake is an anthropomorphic duck created by Walt Disney. The paternal uncle of Donald Duck, he is portrayed as a brilliant, yet eccentric lecturer and scientist, who frequently displays his vast array of "expert" knowledge on a variety of subjects. He was originally voiced by the late Paul Frees but now is currently voiced by Corey Burton who also voices Dale, Spike Witwicky, Sunstreaker, Brawn, etc.

Biography[]

Professor Ludwig von Drake is one of Walt Disney's cartoon and comic book characters. He was first introduced on September 24, 1961, as the presenter (and singer of "The Spectrum Song") in the cartoon An Adventure in Color, part of the first episode of Walt Disney's Wonderful World of Color on NBC. Said to be an uncle of Donald Duck, he was supposedly named after either Ludwig von Mises or Ludwig van Beethoven. He is described as a scientist, lecturer, psychologist, and road traveler. The character displayed his "expert" knowledge on a variety of subjects in eighteen episodes of the classic anthology series, as well as on a number of Disneyland Records.

The Wonderful World of Disney[]

Von Drake became a very popular recurring character and made numerous appearances as host of the weekly show after his debut. In some cases, he even hung out with Walt Disney. In "An Adventure in Color/Mathmagicland", Walt introduced Ludwig as his "old friend and longtime companion" (despite needing a card to remember his name).

Several episodes were quite significant for Ludwig's character. In "The Hunting Instinct", Walt revealed that the Professor is the brother of Donald Duck's father. He went on to explain that the Ducks (who are Donald's paternal side of the family) are the "egg heads" of the Duck clan. In the same episode, Von Drake was given a companion, Herman Bootle Beetle, who would become a recurring sidekick to Von Drake; the latter refers to Herman as his best friend. In "Inside Donald Duck" (the first episode to feature Von Drake interacting with his nephew), Ludwig attempts to psychoanalyze Donald's problems using a variety of different tactics. In "Kids is Kids", she again looks at Donald for psychiatric research focusing on his family relationship with Huey, Dewey and Louie. Von Drake's grandmother, who Ludwig claims was none other than the original "Mother Goose", was featured in a cameo in "The Truth About Mother Goose".

DuckTales[]

Von Drake guest starred on DuckTales as psychiatrist Launchpad McQuack in the episode "The Golden Fleecing". In the episode, Launchpad claims to have experienced an encounter with a group of harpies who visited the professor to talk about a traumatic matter. However, Ludwig shrugs off the whole situation as just a dream, but eventually Launchpad returns with a lovelorn harpy as proof, leading to a nervous breakdown between him and an astonished Professor Von Drake.

Bonkers[]

Von Drake reprized his role as a psychiatrist in several guest appearances on Bonkers, mostly appearing in episodes produced by Duane Capizzi and Robert Hathcock.

He plays a key role in several episodes. In "Do Toons Dream of Animated Sheep?", he helped Bonkers discover the cause of his missing dreams. In "The Toon That Ate Hollywood", Von Drake created an invention capable of increasing the level of Toon humor, which is quite groundbreaking for the Toon world. However, the invention is eventually stolen by two villainous clowns. In "Bobcat Fever", Von Drake teams up with Bonker's partner Miranda to stop the Toon Microbe from infecting Bonker's brain. In "When the Spirit Moves You", ghosts begin to haunt the police station, leading to Von Drake devising a way to destroy them. In "Toon for a Day", Sergeant Grating believes he is a toon after receiving a blow to the head, which results in a professor arriving on the scene to deal with the problem psychiatrically.

Quack Pack[]

In Quack Pack, Von Drake lives in a laboratory in Duckburg and also runs a pizza delivery service to pay for his scientific equipment. In "The Really Mighty Ducks", Huey, Dewey, and Louie visit Von Drake after Donald orders them to clean their room. While there, they notice one of Von Drake's inventions and offer to test it. Ludwig allows them to and the machine gives them super powers. Huey gains super speed, Dewey incredible knowledge, and Louie super strength. Ludwig is also called upon by the president during global crises, and after the boys have gained their powers, they use them to fight crime. Later in the episode, Donald also uses the machine to become a supervillain.

Von Drake returned in "Duck Quake" where he created an earthquake maker that was eventually stolen overnight by Huey, Dewey and Louie.

Additionally, Ludwig appeared in episodes of "Need 4 Speed" and "Cat & Louse".

Mickey Mouse Works[]

In this series, Von Drake was given his own short series called "Von Drake's House of Genius", where he creates a new invention to make life easier, but the creations fail and are often eventually destroyed. He did, however, appear in three regular cartoons - one of which is "Relaxing with Von Drake", where the professor tries to relax Donald Duck's nerves. In "Hydro-Squirter", Von Drake accidentally creates a teleportation tub. In "Futuremania", the professor's latest invention is tested on Mickey, Donald and Goofy.

Von Drake also appeared in cartoons of other characters, most notably in "Mickey foils the Phantom Blot", where the professor asks Mickey, Donald, and Goofy to deliver his very valuable credit card to another place in another time. This is because the professor is being pursued by the criminal mastermind The Phantom Blot, who is trying to use the card for his own criminal ends. He also made a small cameo in "Locksmiths".

The series introduced Ludwig's mother, who could only be heard by voice. Later, her voice (provided by April Winchell) was heard again in House of Mouse.

House of Mouse[]

Ludwig is a recurring character in the series as a "nut professor" type character. He had roles in several episodes where he was the main focus. The most notable of these was "Ask Von Drake". Here, Mickey gets tired of Von Drake knowing absolutely everything and attacks the professor throughout the evening. Finally, Mickey comes up with one last challenge: to name every guest in the club. Von Drake seemingly easily passes the count of all the Disney characters (in song), but still ends up losing the challenge after Mickey points out that the professor forgot one person: himself.

In other episodes, the professor was often called upon to help solve some problems in the club. In "Super Goof", Von Drake was called in to determine where an approaching meteor would strike. In "House of Crime", when all the guests disappear, Von Drake creates a device that will lead the heroes to the culprit. Unbeknownst to them, The Phantom Blot was the culprit and he and the missing guests were inside Von Drake's machine. In "Dining Goofy", when Goofy gives the diners their bad food, Von Drake invents automated touchscreen computers for them to order their food. Ludwig also creates robotic duplicates of Mickey, Minnie, Donald, Daisy, Goofy, and Pluto in "House of Genius". Finally, when Ludwig brings his robot duplicate, Mickey tells the robot to send the real Ludwig.

Von Drake also appeared in Mickey's Magical Christmas: Snowed in at House of Mouse where he takes to the stage to give a lecture on The Science of Santa. This scene was later used again in the episode "Pete's Christmas Caper".

Mickey Mouse Clubhouse[]

Here, Von Drake is a recurring character and creator of the clubhouse. He created the clubhouse as a gift for Mickey and equipped it with various accessories that make life much easier, including Handy Helpers and Toodles. Ludwig often creates new inventions that accidentally go wrong.

Like his previous appearances, many of his inventions cause trouble, such as when Donald drank his potion and turned into a frog, or when magical goo he created multiplied Goofy. Despite this, a number of inventions saved the day, such as the time paint was drained from the world and he used a device to retrieve it. He is the most intelligent of the group and most problems are solved by his ideas and innovations.

Mickey Mouse (2013)[]

Ludwig returns in the Mickey Mouse animated series, first appearing in the episode "Down the Hatch" as a museum scientist and tour guide. The shrink ray falls into the hands of Mickey and Goofy, leading to an adventure in Donald's inner caves. Once Mickey and Goofy are gone, Donald lays an egg that hatches the duo. An astonished Ludwig congratulates the trio on their discovery of the "egg man" and contemplates further investigation, much to Donald's dismay.

Von Drake also appeared in the episode "Wonders of the Deep", where he takes Mickey, Donald and Goofy on a journey to explore the wonders of the deep. In the process, he is thrown from the submarine into the sea and eaten by clams. When the professor is freed from the clam inside the submarine, it is revealed that he was oblivious to any danger, much like the battle for the octopus, as he was still calculating the odds of finding one. Ironically, he learns there's still a chance and asks Mickey, Donald, and Goofy if they'd like to look for it, prompting a frightened Mickey and Donald to jump out of the submarine in the same clam that ate Von Drake.

In "Split Decisions", Von Drake visits Mickey and Donald; the former explains that Donald's temper has been more unruly than usual and that he needs correction because of his health and his relationship with Daisy. Von Drake uses the invention to remove Donald's anger, though it creates two incarnations of Donald who cause trouble: one who is sickeningly happy and another with a dangerously violent nature. While Von Drake works to recalibrate the machine, Mickey gathers the two Donalds to revive the original.

In "Duck the Halls", Von Drake migrates south for the winter season along with Daisy, Scrooge McDuck and Huey, Dewey and Louie as a family trip. Donald was supposed to join, but according to Daisy, he stayed to celebrate Christmas with Mickey and the others. Ludwig mourns the guinea pig's absence for his experiments, but more importantly explains that Donald is in grave danger if he stays in the north too long, as a duck cannot survive in such weather. After all, Christmas is celebrated in the South. Ludwig accidentally gets Scrooge's bag of holiday money, while Scrooge gets Ludwig's binoculars, though the two understandably exchange. As the day draws to a close, they are then seen playing checkers together.

In "The Three-Legged Race", Ludwig teams up with a Martian robot to compete in the titular race. Like the other racers (minus Mickey), Von Drake cheats by using the robot's mechanics to sabotage Donald and Scrooge. In "Surprise!" Von Drake uses a growth beam to help bake Mickey's birthday cake. Ludwig had a larger role in the episode "Outta Time", again largely set in "Hall of Science", where he sends Mickey and Donald back in time to save Goofy after he accidentally uses the time machine during one of Ludwig's guided tours.

Mickey Mouse Mixed Adventures[]

Ludwig is a recurring character in the animated racing series who lives in Hot Dog Hills along with the other characters. On the top floor of Mickey's garage, he has a laboratory where he works on various inventions. He is able to communicate with Mickey and the others via a video monitor.

Again, he plays the role of a well-meaning professor who regularly creates inventions for the benefit of Mickey and his friends, only for those inventions to cause trouble in one way or another. Examples of this are "Smarty Goof", where he invents a hat capable of turning its host into a genius, and "Mouse vs. Machine!", where he creates an A.I. a car that challenges Mickey to a Roadster race to see if real drivers are still needed. In "Grandpa Beagle's Day Out", Ludwig is shown selling high-tech bikes on the side from a garage in town.

In the second season, Von Drake upgrades Mickey, Minnie, Donald, Daisy, and Goofy's vehicles to be "super-charged", which becomes a recurring gag on the show for ongoing episodes.

DuckTales (2017 series)[]

In the DuckTales reboot series, Ludwig is the director of S.H.U.S.H., Bentina Beakley's former employer, and an old colleague of Scrooge McDuck. He appears briefly in a flashback set in the 1960s in the episode "From the Confidential Casefiles of Agent 22!", where he enlists Scrooge and Beakley as partners to take down the F.O.W.L. operative, black heron. For the sake of their mission, Von Drake equips Scrooge with a new invention: the Von Drake Action Cane PPK.

In the present day (as seen in "Invaders of the Doomsday Vault!"), Ludwig's children Corvus, Anya, and Klara have taken over at least some of his duties, including the administration of Ludwig's Arctic "Doomsday Fair", which established the case for global catastrophe in the year. Inside the vault, Ludwig appears in a series of videotaped instruction manuals that Della Duck and Dewey use to loot Von Drake's money tree.

As seen in a flashback in "The First Adventure!", Bradford once suggested that S.H.U.S.H. to take over the world and free it from chaos. However, Von Drake denied Bradford's request, reminding him that Bradford got the job because Ludwig owed his grandmother a favor, and urged him to abandon his villainous plans. After his release, the scorned Bradford teamed up with Black Heron to form F.O.W.L.

In "The Last Adventure!", Ludwig is revealed to be alive as a prisoner in Bradford's secret lair. He explains that between being captured and being forced to work on Bradford's diabolical schemes, he became so busy that he never got around to dying. Ludwig reveals to Huey and Gyro Gearloose that Bradford—who hated his time as Junior Woodchuck—is plotting the eradication of everything adventurous, including Scrooge McDuck, his family, and his companions. Von Drake is later placed in a special containment unit alongside Huey, Dewey, Louie, Gyro, Gandra Dee, and Webby Vanderquack as Bradford's plan nears completion. While in captivity, Ludwig reveals to the nephews that Webby was created from Scrooge McDuck's DNA created by Black Heron along with May and June.

Later, Ludwig manages to escape alongside Gyro and Gandra and all three groups to break Bradford's Existence Erasure Portal. Ludwig teams up with Scrooge and the rest of the family to confront Bradford, who is eventually turned into a soulless vulture by Magica De Spell. With F.O.W.L. After being defeated, Ludwig returns to civilization with the rest of the heroes.

The Wonderful World of Mickey Mouse[]

Ludwig returned in the episode "House of Tomorrow", as a scientist and guide for Mickey, Donald and Goofy. He shows the trio his latest invention: the titular House of Tomorrow, which is home to the latest technology, including an artificial intelligence that caters to everyone's needs. However, it is not yet open; it will open tomorrow. Von Drake then leaves and the door opens, beckoning Mickey, Donald, and Goofy to go inside and check it out. Unfortunately, the A.I. goes so crazy with catering to the trio's needs that the house explodes in flames and the A.I. kicks the trio out of the compound. Von Drake panics when he returns to see his house in ruins, but decides to deal with it tomorrow.

Mickey Mouse Funhouse[]

Von Drake is a recurring character in the series who has several alter egos that reside in the worlds inside the funhouse. These include: King Ludwig of Majestica, the strange scientist Ludwig Von Drake in Halloweenville, and the resident scientist of Herotropolis. In "King Ludwig's Day Off", King Ludwig visits the titular funhouse for a vacation while Mickey and friends visit his kingdom.