Donald Duck's uncle was partly based on Wernher von Braun
Introducing the "world-famous authority on outer space..."
Did you know that the first character that Walt Disney created to specifically appear on television was inspired, in part, by early Space Age rocket scientists?
On this day 65 years ago (September 24, 1961), Disney introduced the "renowned scientist, lecturer, psychologist [and] world traveler," Ludwig Von Drake. A member of the Duck family (he is the "brilliant and eccentric" uncle of Donald Duck), Von Drake was "the outstanding genius of the century" (per Disney himself) who helped to explain scientific principles and technological concepts to the millions of people who tuned in every Sunday to watch Walt Disney's Wonderful World of Color on NBC.
A few years later, after expertly (but often absent-mindedly) addressing topics such as how color television works, the health benefits of exercising, and the history of aviation, Von Drake dove into the topic for which he said he wrote the book on, in the February 10, 1963, episode "Inside Outer Space."
This story was first published by Ars Technica. Read the original report