Originally known to fans only as “The Good Duck Artist,” in 1935 Carl Barks went to work for the Disney Studios and storyboarded cartoons such as Donald’s Nephews and Donald’s Cousin Gus. In 1942, Western Publishing asked him to work on the comic story “Donald Duck Finds Pirate Gold,” and then to rewrite and draw a 10-page Donald story for Walt Disney’s Comics and Stories #31. Soon, he became a regular contributor, lasting 25 years in the position, until his retirement in 1967.

After retiring, though, Barks kept active. In 1971 he obtained permission from Disney to produce and sell oil paintings based on the Duck characters. In 1976 Disney withdrew permission, but in 1982 Another Rainbow Publishing, which had just secured a license from Disney to produce lithographs of Barks' paintings, commissioned him to paint two new oils per year. In 1995, Barks finally retired for real.

He died on August 25, 2000, just shy of 100 years old.